The Federal Bureaucracy

The bureaucracy is the mechanism that carries out the day to day business of government.  The bureaucracy was created to carry out a broad range of tasks, to provide necessary services, and to act as experts in particular areas of policy. The bureaucracy has grown ever larger to number 2.8 million civilian employees AKA…the Fourth Branch

The Weberian Model of Bureaucracy Max Weber’s theory was that the political process is controlled by political elites in the bureaucracy These bureaucrats use the following model to make government more efficient and run like a well-organized machine with lots of working parts.  Hierarchical authority structure  Task specialization  Operate on merit principle  Behave with impersonality

Figure 15.2 The Bureaucrats Who They Are and How They Got There  Most demographically representative part of government.  Diversity of jobs mirrors the private sector.

The Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy The federal bureaucracy consists of the  Cabinet departments  Independent agencies  Government corporations  Independent regulatory commissions

How Bureaucracies Are Organized The Cabinet Departments  14 Cabinet departments headed by a secretary  Department of Justice headed by Attorney General  Each has its own budget, staff and policy areas Some Republicans (and Libertarians) have been trying to eliminate several departments including Education and Energy

Figure 15.4 How Bureaucracies Are Organized “ The Department of the Interior”

How Bureaucracies Are Organized The Independent Regulatory Agencies  Independent: Responsible for some sector of the economy making rules and judging disputes to protect the public interest.  Headed by a commission of 5-10 people.  Rule making is an important function watched by interest groups and citizens alike.  Concern over “capture” of the agencies by Congress or the President

How Bureaucracies Are Organized The Government Corporations  Business like- provide a service like private companies and typically charges for its services.  Postal Service, Amtrak are examples Independent Executive Agencies  The agencies that don’t fit in anywhere else.  NASA is an example

Government Corporations Government corporations (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service and AMTRAK) are designed to run like businesses and hopefully generate a profit. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What Roles Do Government Bureaucrats Perform? Bureaucrats:  communicate with each other  maintain paper for accountability  interpret the law  and implement the objectives of the organization. Congress has delegated a significant amount of authority to the federal bureaucracy by granting agencies the power to draft federal regulations (rule-making) and to adjudicate conflicts over these regulations.

Changes in the Bureaucracy Prior to 1883, bureaucrats were political appointees—a result of the spoils system or patronage. The assassination of President Garfield in 1881 led to the passage of the Civil Service Act of 1883, which created a merit system for the hiring of federal bureaucrats. “I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts... Arthur is President now.'"

How Do Bureaucrats Get Their Jobs Today? Most must apply with Office of Personnel Management  The federal office in charge of most of the government’s hiring. Merit System: Entrance exams and promotion ratings to find people with talent and skill.  System of hiring and promotion based on merit and nonpartisanship

Recruiting from the Plum Book Published by Congress Lists the very top jobs available for Presidential appointment. Presidents work to find capable people to fill the positions. Some plum jobs (ambassadorships) are patronage.

Bureaucracy “Personalities” The Bureaus and Agencies tend to take on their own ‘personalities’ This may be from the type of person who applies a job as well as the type of work that is done there Conservatives dominate the Dept of Defense Liberals dominate the social service departments Other examples:  “Activist” bureaus and agencies: EPA, FDA, Federal Trade Commission  “Traditional” bureaus and agencies: Agriculture, Treasury, and Commerce

Discretionary Authority The real power of the bureaucracy is the ability for bureaucrats to choose courses of action and make policies that affect all Americans This “discretionary authority” can carry the weight of laws for the general public and businesses/corporations Examples:  Safety features on cars  Pollution emission standards  Product standards

The Executive Branch IMPLEMENTS Laws What Implementation Means  It involves the translating the goals and objectives of a policy into an operating, ongoing program for the chief executive.  In other words….making the law work in the real world! Creating / assigning an agency the policy Turning policy into rules, regulations and forms. Coordinating resources to achieve the goals.

Why the Best-Laid Plans Sometimes Flunk the Implementation Test  Program Design is bad.  Administrative Routine. Difficult to bring uniformity to complex organizations. It is often difficult to change the routines of long time employees  Lack of Clarity. Congressional laws are ambiguous and imprecise. Sometimes the laws conflict with each other.  Lack of Resources. Agencies may be big, but not in the right areas.

How Presidents Try to Control the Bureaucracy Appoint the right people. Issue executive orders. Tinker with the agency’s budget. Reorganize an agency.

The Congressional Connection Congress appropriates funds for the bureaus and agencies  Traditionally the Appropriations Committee held the majority of this power However, the committee has lost some of its power due to: Trust funds operate which operate outside the regular government budget to assure citizens services and benefits  Social Security Annual Authorizations which gives the whole Congress a chance to voice an opinion yearly on appropriations for bureaus and agencies Recent budget deficits have meant that Congress is trying to reduce spending

How Congress Tries to Control the Bureaucracy Influence presidential appointments. Tinker with the agency’s budget. Hold hearings. Rewrite the legislation or make it more detailed.

Committee Clearance A committee clearance is an informal way that Congress can still control the bureaucracy Congress may obtain the right to void the decision of a bureau or agency chief  This may be political or personal reasons

Fun with Bureaucracy #1 “Murphy’s Law” "If anything can go wrong, it will“ Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981

Other “ Murphy’s Laws” Murphy's First Law:  Nothing is as easy as it looks. Murphy's Second Law:  Everything takes longer than you think. Murphy's Third Law:  Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst Murphy's Fourth Law:  If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, Murphy's Fifth Law:  If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway. Murphy's Seventh Law:  Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. Murphy's Eighth Law:  If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

Fun with Bureaucracy #2 The Peter Principle “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." Formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in his 1968 book of the same name, the Peter principle pertains to the level of competence of the human resources in a hierarchical organization. The principle explains the upward, downward, and lateral movement of personnel within a hierarchically organized system of ranks.

Understanding Bureaucracies Iron Triangles and Issue Networks A mutually dependent relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees. Exist independently of each other. They are tough, but not impossible, to get rid of. Some argue iron triangles are being replaced by wider issue networks that focus on more policies.

The Iron Triangle Iron triangle is a phrase from the 1960’s and 1970’s used to describe the cozy relationships in US politics between these three entities:  the Legislative Branch (especially subcommittees)  the Bureaucracy  Lobbyists and interest groups

The Legislative Branch (especially subcommittees)

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. Iron triangles result in the passing of very narrow, “pork barrel” policies also known as earmarks that benefit only one small segment of the population

1990’s and Beyond- Issue Networks The nature of political alliances has also changed: they are rarely permanent anymore. Issue networks are looser and broader coalitions than iron triangles The term “iron triangle” has fallen out of favor among political scientists because it was no longer an accurate description of changed political dynamics. A triangle no longer exemplifies the complicated structures generated by the fragmentation of complex issues.  You rarely find just two competing sides to an issue anymore

A Divided Government Kills (or maybe maims) Iron Triangles Another trend which outdates the concept of iron triangles is divided government. When the legislative branch and the executive branch are controlled by different political parties, conflicting political agendas make cozy relationships nearly impossible. Only when Congress and the White House are both controlled by the same party can strong alliances between the branches form.

Important Acts and Cases to Know Pendleton Act (1883) Hatch Act (1939) Administrative Procedure Act (1946) Civil Service Reform Act (1978) Whistle Blower Protection Act (1989) Freedom of Information Act (1966) National Environmental Policy Act (1969) Privacy Act (1974) Rehabilitation Act (1974) Open Meeting Law (1977) INS v Chadha (1983) National Performance Review (1993)

Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883) This established the United States Civil Service Commission which placed most federal employees on the merit system and marked the end of the so-called “spoils system”.

Hatch Act (1939) The main provision of the Hatch Act of 1939 is to prohibit federal employees (Civil Servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. Named after Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico, the law was officially known as “An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities”.

Administrative Procedure Act (1946) The federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 governs the way in which agencies propose and establish regulations

Freedom of Information Act (1966) This Act assures the media and private citizens a legal right to government information  Also known as “Open Records Laws” or “Sunshine Laws” The requester does not usually have to give an explanation for their request, but if the information is not disclosed a valid reason has to be given.

The National Environmental Policy Act (1969) Requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions  The popularity of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, was instrumental in the continued support of the NEPA

Rehabilitation Act (1973) The Act includes a variety of provisions focused on rights, advocacy and protections for individuals with disabilities. "Handicapped" if he or she:  Has a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities;  Has a record of such impairment or is regarded as having such impairment.

The Privacy Act (1974) Protects citizens from obtrusive searches into their private lives The Privacy Act states in part  No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains.... There are specific exceptions for the record allowing the 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 and 2006)

Federal Open Meeting Law (1977) The law opened the doors for the media and private citizens to more than 50 federal boards and agencies. All agencies under the act must announce their meetings at least a week in advance.  Closed session are allowed under specific circumstances, but the reason for the closed meeting must be certified by the legal officer of the agency.

Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 Attempted to reform the civil service of the federal government Was not successful.

Legislative Veto A requirement that an executive decision must lie before Congress for a specified period before it takes effect Congress could then review and VETO the decision if both House’s agreed The Supreme Court was asked to rule on this practice in the Chadha case

INS v. Chadha (1983) Mr. Chadha had stayed in the U.S. past his visa deadline and was ordered to leave the country.  The Immigration Service allowed him to stay because of complications and extreme hardship The House of Representatives suspended the INS’s deportation ruling using what was called the “Legislative veto”. Question of law:  Did Congress which allowed a legislative veto of presidential actions, violate the separation of powers doctrine?

Importance The Court said “Yes!” The Court ruled that the Act violated the Constitution  Chief Justice Burger concluded that even though the Act would have enhanced governmental efficiency, it violated the "explicit constitutional standards" regarding lawmaking and congressional authority. The legislative veto was declared unconstitutional.

The Whistleblowers Protection Act (1989, 1993, & 2001) The Whistleblowers Protection Act was designed to protect people who come forward with a disclosure about improper conduct by public bodies or public sector employees.  Thus…the name “whistleblower”

National Performance Review 1993 The National Performance Review was created during the Clinton Administration by Vice- President Al Gore.  Often called “Reinventing government”  From red tape to results: creating a government that works better and costs less. From red tape to results: creating a government that works better and costs less It encouraged agencies to find more effective means of doing government business. Mildly effective