History Main / BeleagueredBureaucrat

* When told "[[NotAGame This is serious]]!" or even "This is a MatterOfLifeAndDeath!" they will snap "Yes, and so are the other dozen things I'm expected to do today."

* Dr. Lisa Cuddy of ''{{House}}'' constantly gives the impression that she has far too much on her plate, and in her ADayInTheLimelight episode "5 to 9," this impression is confirmed with a vengeance, showing that the titular physician, for all the antagonism he gives Cuddy, is only about 50% of her problems.

* Dr. Lisa Cuddy of ''{{House}}'' constantly gives the impression that she has far too much on her plate, and in her ADayInTheLimelight episode "5 to 9," this impression is confirmed with a vengeance, showing that the titular physician, for all the antagonism he gives Cuddy, is only about [[BeyondTheImpossible 50% of her problems]].

** Bernard wades into this territory every now and then; the most notable examples are "The Economy Drive," where he is one of the few DAA staffers left after Hacker attempts an ill-considered economy drive, and "A Diplomatic Incident," where he is tasked with the organisation of Hacker's predecessor's funeral. (The latter, by the way, is [[Funny/YesMinister one of the series' Crowning Moments of Funny]].)

* The entire point of ''ParksAndRecreation''. Laid out clearly in the Season 2 episode "Christmas Scandal," where the office divides up Leslie Knope's schedule and realizes [[{{Workaholic}} exactly how busy she is]].

* They will constantly look frazzled and will usually be short tempered even after work. This is often played quite seriously.

* Many, many heads of state run into this problem. One indicator of a strong leader is how good an administrator they are.
** Many heads of state don't run into this problem, being deliberate figureheads. In that case, the local head of ''government'' probably does instead.

[[PlayingWith/BeleagueredBureaucrat The Playing With page]].

This trope is quite closely related to {{Hanlons Razor}}. Don't always assume that people in office work or government aren't managing things properly because they're corrupt or malicious. They may simply have way too much work on their hands, and not have the skills or resources to deal with them.

* Many, many heads of state run into this problem. One indicator of a strong leader is how good an administrator they are.

* As mentioned below, social workers, parole officers, other public officials and civil servants, and even nurses and doctors, can fall victim to this trope. There's been records of failings being almost wholly down to staff shortages and poor logistics putting too much work on too few people.

[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]
* Many, many heads of state run into this problem. One indicator of a strong leader is how good an administrator they are.
* Busy libraries can give this impression. If you see a long snake-like queue, it's probably best not to bother the staff about that book you want to locate. They're probably praying for their next tea break.
* As mentioned below, social workers, parole officers, other public officials and civil servants, and even nurses and doctors, can fall victim to this trope. There's been records of failings being almost wholly down to staff shortages and poor logistics putting too much work on too few people.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]

[[AC: {{Television}}]]
* Just one of Jim Hacker's many problems in ''{{Yes Minister}}''. His woes regarding this trope continue in the sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister''.
** Bernard wades into this territory every now and then; the most notable examples are "The Economy Drive," where he is one of the few DAA staffers left after Hacker attempts an ill-considered economy drive, and "A Diplomatic Incident," where he is tasked with the organisation of Hacker's predecessor's funeral. (The latter, by the way, is [[Funny/YesMinister one of the series' Crowning Moments of Funny]].)
* In ''StarTrek'', [[TheFederation Starfleet Command]] sometimes give the impression of being somewhere between this and {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}.
* The entire point of ''ParksAndRecreation''. Laid out clearly in the Season 2 episode "Christmas Scandal," where the office divides up Leslie Knope's schedule and realizes [[{{Workaholic}} exactly how busy she is]].
* Dr. Lisa Cuddy of ''{{House}}'' constantly gives the impression that she has far too much on her plate, and in her ADayInTheLimelight episode "5 to 9," this impression is confirmed with a vengeance, showing that the titular physician, for all the antagonism he gives Cuddy, is only about [[BeyondTheImpossible 50% of her problems]].
* A general example: Some of the more sympathetic portrayals of social workers or probation/parole officers can fall under this: When called out on that one mistake or oversight that leads to the VictimOfTheWeek's demise, they invariably point out the huge number of cases that the desperately understaffed office is saddled with and the fact that they can't be in two places at once. Which, sadly, tends to be TruthInTelevision in more than a few cities.
* The 1970s New Zealand stage show, and later 1980s TV sitcom, ''Gliding On'' parodied this trope.

[[quoteright:240:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2005-04-14.gif]]

* The French foreign affairs minister's staff in ''[=~Quai d'Orsay~=]'' collectively qualifies.

* In ''{{Star Trek}}'', [[TheFederation Starfleet Command]] sometimes give the impression of being somewhere between this and {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}.

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* A general example: Some of the more sympathetic portrayals of social workers or probation/parole officers can fall under this: When called out on that one mistake or oversight that leads to the VictimOfTheWeek's demise, they invariably point out the huge number of cases that the desperately understaffed office is saddled with and the fact that they can't be in two places at once. Which, sadly, tends to be TruthInTelevision in more than a few cities.

* Hell, even school can be like this sometimes. You're sometimes expected to do so much homework you're bound to forget ''something.''

* Just one of Jim Hacker's many problems in ''{{Yes Minister}}''. His woes regarding this trope continue in the sequel, ''{{Yes Prime Minister}}''.
** Bernard wades into this territory every now and then; the most notable examples are "The Economy Drive," where he is one of the few DAA staffers left after Hacker attempts an ill-considered economy drive, and "A Diplomatic Incident," where he is tasked with the organisation of Hacker's predecessor's funeral.

* Lisa Cuddy of ''{{House}}'' constantly gives the impression that she has far too much on her plate, and in her ADayInTheLimelight episode "5 to 9," this impression is confirmed with a vengeance.

* The Lamplighter-Marshal in D.M. Cornish's MonsterBloodTattoo series is this; it is telling that his first on-screen appearance has him running all about his domain having been sent to the wrong place by a (probably malicious) clerk. Otherwise, however, he's a perfectly ReasonableAuthorityFigure [[spoiler:until he's called away as part of a power-play by his EvilChancellor, who just happens to be a genuine ObstructiveBureaucrat in charge of a legion of ObstructiveBureaucrats. Not quite the man you want in charge of what is effectively a military frontier.]]

* When told "[[NotAGame This is serious]]!" they will snap "Yes, and so are the other dozen things I'm expected to do today."

If its the king who is beleaguered, this is one way an {{Evil Chancellor}} may get into power. The chancellor offers to do some of the work for the king and the grateful leader allows more and more of the responsibility of running the country to get shifted to the chancellor until soon the chancellor is running more of the country than the king is. And of course, the king never believes anyone who tells him about the abuses of power or the scheming of the chancellor against the throne: to the king, the chancellor is a great guy who has made his job much easier and who he trusts absolutely.