Should bureaucratic officials that run departments (State, Defense, etc.) be elected? If yes, why? If no, why?

Answer 1

No. These officials constitute the staff of the President. And to make them elective would be to creat a politicized Cabinet, rather than a team that carries out the presidents orders.

I don't like Bush--he has abused his power and should be held accountable. But a move such as you suggest would effective paralyze any administration. We--America--would be cutting off our noses to spite our face.

What we need to do is work to elect better candidates--not blame the system because we as citizens allowed a demagogue to occupy the Oval Office.

Answer 2

No, it's bad enough that the politicians keep changing how the bureacracies operate and the objectives etc of the organizations based on which political party won the election.
The biggest thing wrong with state, local and federal government is that the elected politicians have authority over the governmental agencies.
Management people for these agencies should be people who have worked for the agencies a long time and worked their way up through the system, whichever agency you are talking about, revenue, public aid, public housing etc. Politicians make decisions based on political advantage, they do not understand how the agencies work, what the difficulties are, what the needs are, or anything else about it.
People get elected because they are good looking, because they talk well, etc. These agencies need experienced people who know the workings of the system.