Ah...benevolent bureaucracy. The hallmark of progressive democracy, and perhaps that of fascism as well, depending on your definition of "benevolence."
Wisconsin is lucky to have the Legislative Reference Bureau, which gives non-partisan analysis of policy and statutes, often of great literary value. For instance, the LRB taught me so much about the history of pasteurization in its analysis of raw milk legislation that I no longer feel bad about daydreaming during my history of science lecture today.
Agencies like the LRB illustrate the importance of an effective bureaucracy in making the state accessible to the citizens. For instance, every piece of legislation introduced to an Assembly or Senate committee includes a summary of the proposed policy, which allows those of us without law degrees to actually understand what the bill does. This service is not even made available in the U.S. Congress, which is part of the reason politicians have such an easy time misinforming the public on legislation.
