Everyone is frustrated with bureaucracy. Bureaucracy means inflexibility, doing everything by the book, and being unable to see the big picture. When someone uses the term bureaucrat, one can be sure that it is not a compliment. Bureaucracy is not only confined to the government. This phenomenon is also evident in large organizations, in the private sector. But there is no question that whatever is wrong with bureaucracy one can see it in full display in the federal government. Even with a highly industrialized nation such as the United States of America, there is no easy way to get around the complexities of bureaucracy.
It is easy to criticize bureaucrats but without them, there will be chaos. According to Sidlow and Henschen, the bureaucrats at the federal government are doing important jobs from delivering mail to ensuring that the policies of elected officials are carried out (2005). They make sure that restaurants are clean, that corporations do not break the law, and ensure that there is no discrimination in the workplace, etc. But as the workload becomes increasingly important it is easy for bureaucracy to grow into something too complicated and too costly to maintain. In this regard, privatization is seen as one type of bureaucratic reform.
The logic of privatization is not hard to understand. It is common knowledge that private organizations are more efficient than their counterparts in the government. As a result, “Virtually all of the states have privatized at least a few of their services … In other cities; services ranging from janitorial work to recreational facilities are handled by the private sector. In a free market, the private sector can provide cost-efficient services.