Many concerned with how government functions consider creating competition between bureaucracies an attractive option. Others are skeptical of what impact rival agencies have when they are operating within a political context. Reflecting these discrepant viewpoints, some scholars believe that regulators will compete vigorously for resources and responsibilities; others assert that agency members will act passively as they attempt to protect their autonomy.
To assess these contrasting perspectives and determine why competitive agency structures might exist, the following analysis examines one of the classic situations where agencies can serve as functional substitutes: the relationship between the United States Forest Service and the National Park Service. The results demonstrate that agencies put far more weight on autonomy than competition. The principal advantage of functional rivalry for politicians—at least where federal lands are concerned—is to expand the choice set of alternatives available to them.
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Beginning in March 1942, three months following the Japanese attack at
Pearl Harbor, and lasting until as many as 16 months following the end of
World War II, slightly more than 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were
excluded, detained, and held in “relocation centers” by the
United States government, ostensibly because they were considered a threat
to national security. Nearly 70% were American citizens by birth; the rest
were Japanese nationals who were legally barred from naturalization
because of the de jure racist policies of the time (Daniels,
Taylor, and Kitano 1991). Despite this
treatment, over 1,200 individuals volunteered to serve in the U.S. armed
forces while several thousand others were drafted from the relocation
centers. Most served in a segregated unit in the European Theater, while
others served as interpreters in the Pacific Theater, all while their
families remained behind barbed wire in relocation centers. These
individuals served with great distinction within some of the most highly
decorated units of the U.S. Army (Crost 1994).
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