Rules and red tape

the long version

Red tape, like "politics" or "public interest," is one of those terms everyone knows, but for which there is surprisingly little shared meaning. Is red tape perceptual or objective? Is it neutral, or negative, or can red tape even be positive? Does it necessarily entail delays? Does red tape equate with bad management? Does it flow from rules or are rules themselves red tape? Barry Bozeman, author of the classic Bureaucracy and red tape, and Mary Feeney re-examine these questions and more with a new focus on their application to public management. --Publisher description.