Bureaucracy – what the heck is
it?
Professional corps of unelected
officials organized in a pyramid
hierarchy, functioning under
impersonal uniform rules and
procedures.
Characteristics
Administration of
government through
departments
Consists of
unelected often
highly trained
professionals
Task specialization
Hierarchical
authority
Impersonal
Inclined to follow
rigid or complex
procedures
May stifle
effectiveness and
innovation
Red tape
Parts of the Executive Branch
AKA…The Bureaucracy
President
Executive Branch DepartmentsMakes up the main portion
of the Cabinet
Executive Office
of the PresidentIncludes White House Staff
Independent Agencies, Boards
& Commissions
Federal Bureaucracy
Mechanism that carries out day to day business of government.
Created to carry out broad range of tasks, to provide necessary services, and to act as experts in particular areas of policy.
Grown to 2.8 million civilian employees
AKA the Fourth Branch
Figure 15.2
The Bureaucrats Who They Are and How They Got There
Most demographically representative part of government.
Diversity of jobs mirrors private sector.
Organization of Federal Bureaucracy
Consists of:
EOP
Executive departments
Independent agencies
Government corporations Includes Independent Executive
Agencies
Independent regulatory commissions
President
Executive Departments
Executive Office
of the President
Independent Agencies, Boards
& Commissions
Executive Office of the President
“The EOP”
Not a single office or department, but a
collection of agencies that are directly
responsible for helping president deal with
Congress and manage larger executive
branch.
President
Executive Departments
Executive Office
of the President
Independent Agencies, Boards
& Commissions
Parts of the EOP:
White House Staff
White House staffers are usually
Former campaigners, trusted workers
Hired and fired at will of president
Most powerful White House Staffer is Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff one of President's closest advisers, also close friend.
Nicknamed "the gatekeeper."
Responsible for overseeing actions of other members of White House staff, managing president's timetable, and controlling outsiders' access to president.
Executive Office of the Presidency
“EOP Agencies”
Report directly to President
Most important agency-
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Other important EOP agencies
National Security Advisors (NSA)
Council of Economic Advisors
Some EOP agency heads hired and fired at will
Congress not involved with approval of National Security Advisor or the President’s personal White House staff
Executive Departments
Department heads advise President on policy issues and help execute policies. Each Executive Department also part of President’s Cabinet
Cabinet not mentioned in Constitution
Created first by Washington
Cabinet secretaries appointed by president and need
Senate approval President controls Cabinet
Considered “yes” men and women!
Don’t disagree (in public at least!)
14 Cabinet Departments
15 Executive Departments headed by a
secretary
Department of Justice headed by Attorney
General
Each has own budget, staff and policy
areas Some Republicans (and Libertarians) have been
trying to eliminate several departments including
Education and Energy
Executive Departments
The Executive Departments
1. Agriculture
2. Commerce
3. Defense
4. Education
5. Energy
6. Health and Human Services
7. Homeland Security
http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html
8. Housing and UrbanDevelopment
9. Interior
10. Justice
11. Labor
12. State
13. Transportation
14. Treasury
15. Veteran’s Affairs
THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS
The fifteen cabinet departments, in order of creation, are:
1) State (1789) - advises the president on foreign policy, negotiates treaties, represents the United States in international organizations
1) Treasury (1789) - collects federal revenues, pays federal bills, mints coins and prints paper money, enforces alcohol, tobacco and firearm laws
1) Defense (1789) - manages the armed forces, operates military bases
1) Interior (1849) - manages federal lands, refuges, and parks, operates hydroelectric facili-ties, manages Native American affairs
1) Justice (1870) - provides legal advice to the president, enforces federal laws, represents the United States in court, operates federal prisons
22
THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS
The fifteen cabinet departments, in order of creation, are:
6) Agriculture (1889) - provides agricultural assistance to farmers and ranchers, inspects food, manages national forests
6) Commerce (1903) - grants patents and trademarks, conducts the national census, pro-motes international trade
6) Labor (1913) - enforces federal labor laws (child labor, minimum wage, safe working conditions), administers unemployment and job training programs
6) Health and Human Services (1953) - administers Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid Programs, promotes health care research, enforces pure food and drug laws
6) Housing and Urban Development (1965) - provides home financing and public housing programs, enforces fair housing laws
23
THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS
The fifteen cabinet departments, in order of creation, are:
11) Transportation (1967) - promotes mass transit programs and programs for highways, railroads, and air traffic, enforces maritime law
11) Energy (1977) - advances the energy security of the U.S. and takes care of the nation’s nuclear security
11) Education (1979) - administers federal aid programs to schools, engages in educational research
11) Veterans Affairs (1989) - promotes the welfare of veterans of the armed forces
11) Homeland Security (2002) - prevents terrorist attacks within the United States, reduces America's susceptibility to terrorism, minimizes damage and helps recovery from attacks that do occur
24
Independent Agencies
and Commissions
Government offices that report to President but have
more independence (AKA Quasi- Independent)
FDIC, CIA, SEC, EPA…
Make regulations to help implement laws
Don’t report to president for instructions
Deal with own issues and staff independently
President appoints agency heads for fixed terms
Agency heads must be approved by Congress
Can be removed only for “a just cause”
Independent Regulatory
Agencies (IRA’s)
Independent of executive departments. Meant to impose and enforce regulation free of
political influence, help carry out policy or provide special services. Securities and Exchange Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
IRAs run by board rather than 1 person. President appoints board members, members serve
terms longer than single Presidential term
Board members also appointed at different times, so unable to stack Boards or Commissions.
The Independent
Regulatory Agencies
Responsible for some sector of economy making rules and judging disputes to protect public interest Example: Food and Drug Administration and
Interstate Commerce Commission
Headed by commission of 5-10 people.
Rule making important function watched by interest groups and citizens alike.
Concern over “capture” of agencies by Congress or President (want to remain independent!)
THE INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES
Examples:
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
– Regulates all communications by telegraph, cable, telephone, radio, and television.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
– Prevents businesses from engaging in unfair trade practices; stops the formation of monopolies in the business sector; protects consumer rights.
• Federal Election Commission (FEC)
– Administers and enforces the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA); discloses campaign finance information and oversees the public funding of presidential elections.
• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
– Regulates the nation’s stock exchanges; requires full disclosure of the financial profiles of companies that wish to sell stocks to the public.
• The Federal Reserve Board (The Fed)
– Establishes monetary policy >> refers to the money supply and interest rates.
• Monetary policy = controlling the money supply. Fiscal policy = taxing and spending.
– Sets bank interest rates; controls inflation; regulates the money supply; adjusts banks reserve requirements.
30
The Government Corporations
Similar to Independent Agencies but more
“Business-like” entities
Provide service like private companies and typically
charges for services.
Designed to run like businesses and hopefully
generate profit
(Postal Service, Amtrak)
About 1,000 of the more than 7,000 presidentially-appointed
positions to be filled during any presidential transition process require
confirmation by a majority vote of the U.S. Senate.
1. Secretaries of the 15 Cabinet agencies, deputy secretaries, under secretaries and
assistant secretaries, and general counsels of those agencies: Over 350 positions.
2. Certain jobs in the independent, non-regulatory executive branch agencies, like
NASA and the National Science Foundation: About 120 positions
3. Director positions in the regulatory agencies, like the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration: 130 positions
4. U.S. Attorneys and marshals: About 200 positions
5. Ambassadors to foreign nations: 150 positions
6. Presidential appointments to part-time positions, like the Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System: 160 positions
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/sentateconfirm.htm
What Roles Do Government
Bureaucrats Perform? Communicate with each other
Maintain paper for accountability
Enforces/carries out law
Implement objectives of organization.
Congress delegated significant amount of authority to bureaucracy by granting agencies power to draft federal regulations (rule-making)
FROM SPOILS TO MERIT
• “To the victor belong the spoils” (1828)– The spoils system or patronage, started by Andrew Jackson, was used for filling
federal jobs
– President rewarding supporters with jobs based on service, not on merit
• Garfield’s assassination by a disappointed office-seeker (1881)
• Creation of the Pendleton Act (1883)– Eliminated the spoils system (patronage); created merit system
– An exam-based merit system would be used to fill government jobs
– Civil Service Commission was created to administer these exams
• Hatch Act (1939)– Political activities of bureaucrats are limited
• Civil Service Reform Act (1978)– Abolished the U.S. Civil Service Commission
– Created the OPM (Office of Personnel Management) to provide guidance to agencies of the executive branch
36
THE MODERN BUREAUCRACY• A bureaucracy is a large, complex organization of
appointed, not elected, officials.– LARGE: Three million civilian federal employees
• Department of Defense is the largest department = about 50% (even without active military which is about 1.4 million)
• Post Office has about 28%
– <10% of top-level jobs are appointed (political appointees) by the president >> PATRONAGE
– >90% of federal employees are civil service workers >> MERIT SYSTEM
• Tenure protection, difficult to fire (unless appointed by president)
– Specialized units with expertise in a field37
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsWhich of the following pairs of words has
the OPPOSITE meaning?
guarded-suspicious
legendary-mythical
expeditious-leisurely
rancid-putrid
delicate-frail
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsWhich of the following pairs of words has
the OPPOSITE meaning?
guarded-suspicious
legendary-mythical
expeditious-leisurely
rancid-putrid
delicate-frail
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsLook at this series: 44, 44, 50, 50, 56, . .
What number should come next?
44
48
56
62
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsLook at this series: 44, 44, 50, 50, 56, . .
What number should come next?
44
48
56
62
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsWhich of the following pairs of words has
the SAME meaning?
sly-cunning
infallible-weak
decisive-hesitant
predictable-mysterious
derisive-complimentary
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsWhich of the following pairs of words has
the SAME meaning?
sly-cunning
infallible-weak
decisive-hesitant
predictable-mysterious
derisive-complimentary
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsChoose the correct sentence from the
following list. The search took place without incident, except for a
brief argument between two residents.
The search took place without incident. Except for a
brief argument between two residents.
The search took place. Without incident except for a
brief argument between two residents.
The search, took place without incident except, for a
brief argument between two residents.
Sample Civil Service Exam
QuestionsChoose the correct sentence from the
following list. The search took place without incident, except
for a brief argument between two residents.
The search took place without incident. Except for a
brief argument between two residents.
The search took place. Without incident except for a
brief argument between two residents.
The search, took place without incident except, for a
brief argument between two residents.
Bureaucracy “Personalities” Tend to take on own ‘personalities’
Conservatives dominate Dept. of Defense
Liberals dominate social service departments like
Education and Health and Human Services
Other examples:
“Activist” bureaus and agencies:
EPA, FDA, Federal Trade Commission
“Traditional” bureaus and agencies:
Agriculture, Treasury, and Commerce
TOP Jobs
Recruitment for top bureaucratic jobs
from Plum Book
Published by Congress
Lists very top jobs available for Presidential
appointment.
Use patronage to find applicants
Ambassadorships, top level officials…
Presidents find “capable people” to fill
positions.
Discretionary Authority
Real power: ability for bureaucrats to choose courses of action and make policies that affect all Americans
“Discretionary authority” can carry weight of laws for general public and businesses/corporations
Examples:
Safety features on cars
Pollution emission standards
Product standards
CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCONGRESSIONAL INFLUENCE
Congress has a great amount of power over the bureaucracy because Congress can exercise LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT.
What are the numerous ways in which Congress can exercise “oversight” of the bureaucracy?
• Creation of agencies
– Constitutional power to create and abolish executive departments and independent agencies, or to transfer their functions
• Advice and consent
– Congress can influence the appointment of agency heads
– The Senate has the power to confirm presidential appointments
• Appropriations of agency budgets
– Congress determines how much money each agency gets
• Annual authorization legislation
– No agency may spend money unless it has first been authorized by Congress
– Authorization legislation originates in a congressional committee and states the maximum amount of money that an agency may spend on a given program
– Even if funds have been authorized, Congress must also appropriate the money
• Rewriting legislation
– If they wish to restrict the power of an agency, Congress may rewrite legislation or make it more detailed
– The more detailed the instructions, the better able Congress is to restrict the agency's power49
CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCONGRESSIONAL INFLUENCE
Congress has a great amount of power over the bureaucracy because Congress can exercise LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT.
What are the numerous ways in which Congress can exercise “oversight” of the bureaucracy?
• Duplication
– Giving any one job to more than one agency, keeping any single agency from becoming all powerful
– For example, drug trafficking is the task of the Customs Services, the FBI, the DEA, the Border Patrol, and the Department of Defense
– Keeps any one agency from becoming all-powerful
• Holding hearings and conducting investigations
– Congress can call bureaucrats to testify before committees and subcommittees to determine whether the agency is complying with congressional intent
– Congress can investigate agencies
• Reorganization
– By realigning or restructuring departments, agencies and their responsibilities, Congress can contain costs, reduce bureaucratic overlap and improve accountability.
• Sunset laws
– Provides for the law to cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law
– Sunset laws create a finite lifespan for a bureaucratic agency
– In order to be reauthorized, these bureaucracies must prove their effectiveness and merit50
CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCONGRESSIONAL INFLUENCE?
What are the limits on congressional influence?
Congress may not really want to clamp down on the bureaucracy:
• Members profit politically from the existence of federal programs within their states or districts
(e.g., military base closure)
• Easier for Congress to simply pass broadly worded laws and have experts within the bureaucracy
fill in the holes
• No electoral payoff; Political ramifications
• Oversight is labor intensive/hard work; Lack of technical expertise
• Congress creates opportunities for casework through red tape
• Congress lacks expertise/agencies have expertise
• Congress does not want to be blamed for bad policy
• Time-consuming
51
CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYPRESIDENTIAL INFLUENCE
Appointments
• Appointment of top-level bureaucrats (including Cabinet secretaries)
• Fire top-level bureaucrats (including Cabinet secretaries)
Executive Orders
• An executive order is a directive, order, or regulation issued by the president
• An executive order of the President must find support in the Constitution, either in a clause granting the President specific power, or by a delegation of power by Congress to the President
Economic Powers
• Proposes agency budgets (either an increase or a decrease in $)
Other Powers
• Propose the reorganization of the executive branch
• Presidential power of influence over different agencies direction
What are the limits on presidential influence?
• Senate confirmation needed for top personnel
• President cannot fire vast majority of bureaucrats
• Reorganization must go through Congress
• Agency budgets must go through Congress52
CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCOURT AND INTEREST GROUP INFLUENCE
COURTS AND THE BUREAUCRACY
Powers
• Court rulings that limit bureaucratic practices
• Judicial review - can declare bureaucratic actions unconstitutional
• Injunctions (a judicial order that restrains a person/group from beginning or continuing an action threatening
or invading the legal right of another) against federal agencies
INTEREST GROUPS AND THE BUREAUCRACY
Powers
• Lobbying
• “Revolving door” - Agencies are staffed by people who move back and forth between the public/private sector
• Client groups
– Some agency-interest group relations are so close that the interest group is said to be a client of the
agency (e.g., dairy groups and Agriculture Dept)
• Iron triangles: congressional committee, relevant agency, related interest groups
• Issue networks: informal groups of people within both the public/private sectors who have common interests
• Agency employees are recruited from the regulated industry (vice versa)
• Agencies rely on support from regulated industries in making budget requests
• Litigation: Take a bureaucratic agency to court53
Legislative Veto
Requirement that executive decision
must lie before Congress for specified
period before takes effect
Congress could review and VETO
decision if both Houses agreed
Supreme Court asked to rule on this
practice in Chadha case
INS v. Chadha (1983) Mr. Chadha stayed in U.S. past visa deadline and
ordered to leave country.
Immigration Service allowed him to stay because of
complications and extreme hardship
House suspended INS’s deportation ruling using
what was called “Legislative veto”.
Question of law:
Did Congress which allowed a legislative
veto of presidential actions, violate the
separation of powers doctrine?
Importance Court said “Yes!”
Court ruled that Act violated
Constitution
Chief Justice Burger concluded even
though Act would have enhanced
governmental efficiency, violated "explicit
constitutional standards" regarding
lawmaking and congressional authority.
Legislative veto declared
unconstitutional.
The Peter Principle
“In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to
his level of incompetence."
Formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in 1968
book
Pertains to level of competence of human
resources in hierarchical organization.
Explains upward, downward, and lateral
movement of personnel within hierarchically
organized system of ranks.
Understanding Bureaucracies Iron Triangles and Issue Networks
Iron triangle: “mutually dependent
relationship between bureaucratic agencies,
interest groups, and congressional
committees or subcommittees”.
Exist independently of each other.
Tough but not impossible to get rid of.
Some argue iron triangles being replaced by
wider issue networks that focus on more
policies.
IRON TRIANGLES vs. ISSUE NETWORKS
IRON TRIANGLES
• Definition: Alliances among bureaucrats, interest groups, and congressional subcommittee members and staff sometimes form to promote their common causes. Also known as subgovernments.
61
The Iron Triangle
Describes cozy relationships in US politics
between 3 entities:
Legislative Branch (especially subcommittees)
Bureaucracy
Lobbyists and interest groups
Who Benefits from the Iron
Triangle?
Powerful interest groups
Members of Congress
Federal employees
Consumers are often left out in the cold by this arrangement.
Result in passing of very narrow, “pork barrel” policies
A Divided Government Kills
Iron Triangles
(or maybe only maims them!)
Only when Congress and White House both
controlled by same party can strong alliances
between branches form
divided government can stop these alliances
When legislative and executive branch have
conflicting political agendas, make cozy
relationships nearly impossible.
The 21st Century Iron Triangle
Issue Networks
“Iron triangle” fallen out of favor among political scientists because no longer accurate description of changed political dynamics.
Issue networks: new term to describe looser and broader coalitions of today
Rarely find just 2 competing sides to an issue anymore
Issue Networks Agency Officials
Members of
Congress
Interest Groups
Lawyers
Consultants
Public Relations
Experts
The Courts
These groups
constantly
changing/adapting
in Issue Networks
unlike Iron Triangle
which generally
stayed static
Important Bureaucratic Regulatory Acts
1. Pendleton Act (1883)
2. Hatch Act (1939)
3. Administrative Procedure Act (1946)
4. Freedom of Information Act (1966)
5. National Environmental Policy Act (1969)
6. Rehabilitation Act (1973)
7. Budget Reform Act (1974)
8. Privacy Act (1974)
9. Open Meeting Law (1977)
10. Civil Service Reform
Act (1978)
11. Whistle Blower Act
Protection Act (1989,
93-01)
12. National Performance Review (1993)
13. Federal Employees Political Activities Act (1993)
14. The E-Government Act of 2002
Pendleton Civil Service
Reform Act (1883)
Established US Civil Service Commission
which placed most federal employees on
merit system and marked end of so-called
“spoils system”.
Hatch Act (1939)
Main provision: prohibit federal employees (Civil Servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. Bureaucrats may NOT become involved in political
campaigns
Named after Senator Carl Hatch of NM, law was officially known as “An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities”.
Freedom of
Information Act (1966)
Assures media and private citizens a legal right to government information
AKA “Open Records Laws” or “SunshineLaws”
Requester doesn’t usually have to give explanation for request, but if information not disclosed a valid reason has to be given.
The National Environmental
Policy Act (1969)
Requires federal agencies to integrate
environmental values into decision making
processes by considering environmental
impacts of proposed actions and
reasonable alternatives to those actions
Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring,
instrumental in continued support of NEPA
Rehabilitation Act (1973) Includes variety of provisions focused on
rights, advocacy and protections for
individuals with disabilities.
"Handicapped" if he or she:
Has mental or physical impairment which
substantially limits one or more of such
person's major life activities;
Has record of such impairment/regarded as
having such impairment.
Budget Reform Act of 1974 Congressional effort to control presidential
impoundments.
Requires president spend all appropriated funds. If Congress notified of which funds will not be spent and, within 45 days, agrees to delete items, money can be saved.
If president wishes to delay spending money, Congress must be informed and may refuse delay by passing resolution requiring immediate release of funds.
The Privacy Act (1974) Protects citizens from obtrusive searches into private
lives
Specific exceptions for record allowing use of personal records: The Federal Census
Department of Labor Statistics
For routine uses within a U.S. government agency
For archival purposes "as a record which has sufficient historical or other value to warrant its continued preservation by the United States Government"
For law enforcement purposes
For Congressional investigations
Other administrative purposes (Patriot Act- 2002 and 2006)
Federal Open Meeting Law (1977)
Opened doors for media and private
citizens to more than 50 federal
boards and agencies.
All agencies under act must
announce meetings at least a week
in advance.
Closed session allowed under specific
circumstances, but reason for closed
meeting must be certified by legal
officer of agency.
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
Attempted to reform civil service of federal government
Addressed incompetent workers, automatic pay increases, and lack of incentive for good work
Not successful in any of these areas.
The Whistleblowers
Protection Act (1989, 1993, & 2001)
Designed to protect people who come
forward with disclosure about improper
conduct by public bodies or public sector
employees.
Thus…the name “whistleblower”
National Performance
Review 1993
Created during Clinton Administration by VP Al Gore. Often called “Reinventing government”
From red tape to results: creating government that works better and costs less.
Encouraged agencies to find more effective means of doing government business.
Mildly effective
Federal Employees Political
Activities Act- 1993
Allows federal employees to run for public office in non-partisan elections or donate funds to political campaigns Still prohibited from engaging in
partisan political activity or soliciting funds for partisan candidates
Created because of fears that Hatch Act too restrictive
The E-Government Act
of 2002
An effort to mandate that all government
agencies use “Internet-based information
technologies to enhance citizens’ access
to government information and services”.
This includes applying for social security,
and Medicare benefits.
(George W. Bush) Intelligence Act (2004)
Provides for reform of intelligence
community, terrorism prevention and
prosecution, border security, and
international cooperation and coordination.
Created Dept. of Homeland Security.
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act (2010)
Landmark legislation represents most
profound restructuring of financial
regulation since Great Depression
including new regulations on banks,
mortgage lenders, and other consumer
protections