When it comes to bureaucracy, sometimes less is more.
In response to the growing number of graduate students, the Student Government Association recently added seven new graduate seats to its senate. Although it seems logical to increase the amount of representation as the number of students grows, it is often the case that as a bureaucratic body increases in size, its efficiency declines.
According to a New Scientist article, “Explaining the Curse of Work,” the British Naval Historian C. Northcote Parkinson documented this phenomenon in his book, “Parkinson’s Law.” He gives numerous examples from throughout English history of various legislative bodies that began small and full of gusto, and slowly, as they grew larger, lost their focus and dissipated. Most notably, the English attempted cabinets consisting of five to 10 members, yet the endeavor failed as the body approached around 50 members.
Already, many SGA meetings are long; the amount of debate has naturally increased as the members have. Adding more graduate seats isn’t necessarily a bad move; indeed, SGA will need to find a way to adjust for graduate representation. However, it is important to make sure that every added seat is actually necessary, that there are no other types of consolidation that can be managed, and that it doesn’t bog down the proceedings to a point where the body becomes ineffective.