1. Chapter 15
The Bureaucracy

2. Key Questions and Objectives
Compare and contrast the United States and British models of government bureaucracy.
Sketch the history of the executive branch bureaucracy and the different uses to which it has been put.
Discuss the recruitment, retention, and demographic profiles of federal bureaucrats.
Show how the roles and missions of the agencies are affected by internal and external factors.
Review congressional measures to control the bureaucracy and evaluate their effectiveness.
List the “pathologies” that may affect bureaucracies and discuss why it is so difficult to reform the executive branch bureaucracy.

3. The Bureaucracy
There is probably not a man or women in the US who had not, at some point, complained about “the bureaucracy”
The post office takes forever to mail Christmas presents
The IRS took months to send your tax refunds
For most people and politicians, bureaucracy is pejorative (disapproving) word implying waste, confusion, red tape, and rigidity

4. The Bureaucracy
bureaucracy = a large, complex organization composed of appointed officials
By complex it means that authority is divided among several managers
No one person is able to make all the decisions
Examples of bureaucracies:
A large corporation
A major university
A government agency
Even Congress today has become a bureaucracy
Many of problems that we blame on “the bureaucracy” are in fact the result of what Congress, the courts, and the president do

5. The Bureaucracy: THEN
The US Department of Justice (a bureaucracy) was established in 1789
Before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was launched in 1970, the federal government’s environmental protection activities were virtually nonexistent
The first federal law providing for subsidized school lunches was passed in 1946, but it was not until the 1960’s that Washington began expanding its programs in this area to include ever greater # of children eligible for both free (or reduced price) breakfasts and lunches

6. Instead of shrinking the bureaucracy its GROWING
The Bureaucracy: NOW
“Wars on crime” and “wars on drugs”, the USDOJ and other federal agencies now spend billions of dollars each year to to fund federal, state, and local agencies engaged in combating street crime
FBOP (Federal Bureau of Prisons) now runs one of the largest prison systems in the world
The media stories and public outcries that accompanied the discovery of lethal toxic waste sites in and around NY’s Love Canal
Bureaucracy is an outgrowth of representative democracy
15 Federal government cabinet agencies – 6 of which were created AFTER 1964:
Dept of Veteran Affairs (1989)
Dept of Homeland Security (2002)
Instead of shrinking the bureaucracy its GROWING

7. Distinctiveness of the American Bureaucracy
Constitutional system and traditions
Supervision shared
A federalist structure shares functions
Adversary culture leads to defense of rights and lawsuits
Scope of bureaucracy
Little public ownership of industry in the US
France – gov’t owns R/Rs, car companies, and cigarettes
Italy – same as France and oil refineries
High degree of regulation in the United States of private industries – 3% of Americans are on publicly operated enterprises

8. Proxy Government
“Government by proxy”= the practice of the federal government paying state and local governments and private groups to staff and administer federal programs – WHY??
Examples: Social Security, Medicare, environmental protection, collecting income taxes, many military duties and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
Other Examples: war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina
Points of debate
a)  Concerns about how 3rd parties use the $ we give them
b)  Congress and the president like to keep the bureaucracy small
c)  Defenders highlight flexibility, principles of federalism and good use of private and nonprofit skills

9. Proxy Government -- FRQ
Two factors giving bureaucratic independence:
1) Structure of the bureaucracy
Large
Specialized units/expertise
Tenure protections/hard to fire
Based on merit
Independent agencies/independent regulatory commissions
2) Complexity of public policy problems
Delegated authority — because Congress and the president cannot handle everything, they delegate authority to the bureaucracy
Discretionary authority — because legislation lacks details, the bureaucracy can fill in the gaps

10. Proxy Government -- FRQ
3 explanations of a constitutional provision that can check the Bureaucracy:
Congress
1) Appropriations - can reward or punish agency
2) Legislation — can pass legislation affecting the bureaucracy
3) Rejection of presidential appointments to the bureaucracy
4) Impeachment of executive officials
Courts
1) Court rulings that limit bureaucratic practices
2) Judicial review — can declare bureaucratic actions unconstitutional
3) Injunctions against federal agencies

11. Proxy Government -- FRQ
3 explanations of a constitutional provision that can check the Bureaucracy:
Interest Groups
1) Use of the 1st Amendment
Lobbying
Protests
Media Usage
Speech
2) Litigation

12. Crash Course: Bureaucracy Basics Video

13. Growth of the Bureaucracy
The early controversies
Senate consent to removal of officials is challenged by supporters of a strong president
President is given sole removal power but Congress funds and investigates
The appointment of officials
Officials affect how laws are interpreted, the tone of their administration, and their effectiveness
Use of patronage in the 19th and early 20th centuries to reward supporters
Civil War a watershed in bureaucratic growth; created many new offices and hearing new officials
Civil War also showed the weakness of the federal bureaucracy and increased demands for civil service reform

14. Futurama’s Bureaucrat Song

15. Growth of the Bureaucracy: A service role
1861–1901: shift in role from regulation to service
1) Department of Agriculture (1862)
2) Department of Labor (1882)
3) Department of Commerce (1903)
More than 200,000 new federal employees were added, with only about half of this increase in the Post Office
Reflects desire for limited government, laissez-faire beliefs, and the Constitution’s silence

16. Growth of the Bureaucracy: A change in role
Depression and World War II lead to a role of government activism
Introduction of heavy income taxes supports a large bureaucracy
Impact of 9/11 terrorists attacks
Creation of Department of Homeland Security
Consolidation of federal agencies
Authority over dozens of intergovernmental grant-making agencies
Further consolidation and a new National Intelligence Director

17. Bureaucratic Organization or Disorganization?

18. Growth of the Bureaucracy Today
No president wants to admit that he/she has increased the size of the bureaucracy
13 million people work indirectly for the federal government as employees of private firms and state and local agencies that are largely supported by federal funds
Modest increase in the # of government employees
Significant indirect increase in number of employees through use of private contractors, state and local government employees
Growth in discretionary authority= the extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies not spelled out in advance by laws

19. Figure 15.2: Federal Government: Money, People, and Regulations
just the bottom chart.
Why is there a spike at the beginning of this chart?
What is the overall trend of our economy dedicated to the federal government?
Expenditures and employment: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 483 and 582; regulations; Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Miemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington D.C>: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), tables 6-12, Post-2000 data updated by Marc Siegal.

20. Figure 15.2: Federal Government: Money, People, and Regulations
just the bottom chart.
Expenditures and employment: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 483 and 582; regulations; Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Miemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington D.C>: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), tables 6-12, Post-2000 data updated by Marc Siegal.

21. Figure 15.2: Federal Government: Money, People, and Regulations
What are pages in the federal registrar associated with?
just the bottom chart.
Expenditures and employment: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 483 and 582; regulations; Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Miemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington D.C>: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), tables 6-12, Post-2000 data updated by Marc Siegal.

22. Recruitment and Retention
The competitive service: most bureaucrats compete for jobs through Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
(1)  Appointment by merit based on a written exam
(2)  Decreased to less than 54% of federal government work force
The excepted service: most are appointed by other agencies on the basis of qualifications approved by OPM
(1)  Fastest growing sector of federal government employment
(2)  Examples: postal service employees and FBI agents

23. Recruitment and Retention
But president can also appoint employees: presidential appointments, Schedule C jobs, and NEA jobs
When President Kennedy took office in 1961, he had 451 political jobs to fill
When Obama took office in 2009, he had more than 4 times as many (2,000 jobs for patronage)
Pendleton Act (1883): transferred basis of government jobs from patronage to merit after President Garfield was shot by a disappointed office seeker
Merit system protects president from pressure and protects patronage appointees from new presidents (“blanketing in”)

24. Scene from comedy Spies Like Us featuring Chevy Chase and Dan Akryod

25. Figure 15.1 Characteristics of Federal Civilian Employees, 1960 and 2004
Insert Figure 15.3 (formerly 13.3). If you can’t get the entire chart on the slide, use the bar graphs for sex and race.

26. Buddy System
Name-request job: filled by a person whom an agency has already identified for middle- and upper-level jobs
Schools do this all the time
A person hears about a job from someone who already has one, or the head of a bureau decides in advance whom he/she wishes to hire
Job description may be tailored for that person
Circumvents (goes around) usual search process = buddy system
Why do companies do the buddy system?
1) You get someone you know is capable of handling the position
2) You get someone that can work well with others already in the office

27. Firing a Bureaucrat
Most bureaucrats cannot be easily fired – it takes a great deal of TIME and EFFORT
Similar to Teacher’s Tenure
To cope with the inability to fire bureaucrats:
1) Deny them promotions
2) Transfer them to undesirable locations
3) Assign them to meaningless work

28. Firing a Bureaucrat
The Senior Executive Service (SES) was established to provide the president and cabinet with more control in personnel decisions
SES managers receive cash bonuses for good performance – didn’t prove to be an important incentive
But very few SES members have actually been fired
SES members cannot be involuntarily transferred

29. The Agency’s Point of View
Agencies are dominated by lifetime bureaucrats who have worked for no other agency
System assures continuity and expertise
But also gives subordinates power over new bosses
They can work behind boss’s back through:
Sabotage
Delaying
And others

30. Personal Attributes
Personal Attributes= social class, education, and personal political beliefs
The federal service as a whole looks VERY much like a cross-section of the American society in education, sex, race and social origins
Allegations of critics:
Higher civil servants are elitists
Career bureaucrats are more likely to hold liberal views, vote Democrat and trust government
Correlation between type of agency and attitudes of employees: activist versus traditional

31. Personal Attributes
“Activist” agencies = Federal Trade Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration tend to have more liberal views
“Traditional” agencies = Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, and Department of the Treasury tend to have more conservative views
Democrats and people with liberal views are tend to be overrepresented in social service agencies
Republicans and people with more conservative views tend to be overrepresented in defense agencies

32. Do Bureaucrats Sabotage Their Political Bosses?
If so, such sabotage hurts conservatives more than liberals; bureaucrats tend to be liberal
But loyalty to bosses runs strong—despite the power of bureaucrats to obstruct or complain
(1)  Whistleblower Protection Act (1989) created Office of Special Counsel
They investigate complaints from bureaucrats that they were punished after they reported to Congress about waste, fraud or abuse in their agencies
(2)  “Cooperation is the nature of a bureaucrat’s job”

33. FBI Whistleblower & Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Video

34. Do Bureaucrats Sabotage Their Political Bosses?
Most civil servants: highly structured roles make them relatively immune to personal attitudes
Professionals such as lawyers and economists in the Federal Trade Commission: loosely structured roles may be much influenced by personal attitudes
Culture and Careers
Each agency has its own culture
Jobs with an agency can be career enhancing or not
Teaching AP, Running ASB, being an Arts Chair
 Strong agency culture motivates employees but makes agencies resistant to change

35. Postal Service Reform
Article I, Section 8 allows the Constitution to “establish Post Offices”
Today’s United States Postal Service (USPS) is the 2nd largest employer in the nation (behind Walmart)
It has mail routes on every square mile of the nation
It delivers to more than 100 million addresses each week
It has more offices than McDonalds, Starbucks and Walmart stores combined

36. Postal Service Reform But USPS is in trouble
Since 2001, the volume of mail delivered by USPS has dropped by about 25%
Its workforce has fallen by more than 300,000
Facebook, , and texting, as well as other kinds of electronic communication have increasingly displaced the use of “snail mail”
Other shipping businesses have grown to take away some business from USPS like UPS and Federal Express (Fed Ex)
American Postal Workers Union part of AFL-CIO

37. Constraints on the Bureaucracy
Biggest difference between a government agency and a business: hiring, firing, pay, procedures, and so forth
Constraints are much greater on government agencies than on private bureaucracies
Hiring, firing, pay, and other procedures are established by law, not by the market
Constraints come from citizens: agencies try to respond to citizen demands for openness, honesty, and fairness

38. Constraints on the Bureaucracy
General constraints
(1)  Administrative Procedure Act (1946)
Before a new rule – an agency must give notice, solicit comments, and hold hearings
(2)  Freedom of Information Act (1966)
Citizens have the right to inspect all government records except those with military actions & national security
(3)  National Environmental Policy Act (1969)
Agency must issue an environmental impact statement
(4)  Privacy Act (1974)
Government records must be kept confidential (Social Security and tax records)
(5)  Open Meeting Law (1976) – must be open to the public

39. Constraints on the Bureaucracy
One of the biggest constraints on bureaucratic action is that Congress rarely gives any job to a single agency
Effects of constraints
(1)  Government moves slowly
(2)  Government acts inconsistently
(3)  Easier to block than to take action
More voices heard, the more they may cancel each other out
(4)  Reluctant decision-making by lower-ranking employees – let your boss make the decision
(5)  Red tape
The more constraints to serve, the more forms to fill out

40. Why so many Constraints?
Where does all of the red tape come from?
From us/ the people/ the public
Many people don’t trust the government, and therefore they insist that everything the government does is done in the sunshine
No secrets
No closed meetings
No hidden files

41. Agency Allies
Agencies often seek alliances with congressional committees and interest groups  Iron Triangle
These alliances are far less common today—politics has become too complicated
(1)  More interest groups, more congressional subcommittees, and easier access for individuals
(2)  Far more competing forces than ever given access by courts
Issue networks: groups of people that regularly debate government policy on certain issues
Networks are contentious and partisan
New president often recruits from networks

42. Congressional Oversight
Forms of congressional supervision:
1) Approval necessary for creation (no agency can exist with Congressional approval FIRST)
2) Authorization of money, either permanent or fixed number of years (no $ can be spent w/out Congress’ approval FIRST)
3) Appropriation of money allows spending

43. Appropriations Committee and Legislative Committees
House Appropriations Committee most powerful
Most expenditure recommendations are approved by House
Has power to lower agency’s expenditure request
Has power to influence an agency’s policies by marking up an agency’s budget
But becoming less powerful because of
(1) Trust funds: Social Security – bypass the House
(2) Annual authorizations – are automatic expenditures
(3) Meeting target spending limits (budget deficits)
All of these reflect Congress’ POWER OF THE PURSE

44. Appropriations Committee and Legislative Committees
Legislative committees are important when
a)  A law is first passed
b)  An agency is first created
c)  An agency is subject to annual authorization
Informal congressional controls over agencies
a)  Individual members of Congress can seek privileges for constituents
b)  Congressional committees may seek committee clearance: right to pass on certain agency decisions
c)  Committee heads may ask to be consulted

45. The Legislative Veto
Legislative Veto = the authority of Congress to block a presidential action after it has taken place
Chadha case (1983) - Declared legislative veto unconstitutional by Supreme Court
Struck down because the Constitution clearly states that “every order, resolution, or vote of the House and Senate... Shall be presented to the president” who either approves it or returns it with a veto attached
Weakens traditional legislative oversight but Congress continues creating such vetoes – they have gone unchallenged

46. Congressional Investigations
The investigative power is not mentioned in the Constitution, but has been inferred from power to legislate
Sometimes investigations are constructive and other times destructive
Means for checking agency discretion
Means for limiting presidential control
If the bureaucracy sometimes works at cross-purposes, it is usually because Congress – or competing committees in Congress – wants it that way

47. Congressional Investigations Video

48. Bureaucratic Pathologies (Problems)
1) Red tape: complex, sometimes conflicting rules
As early as the 7th century, legal and government documents in England were bound together with a pinkish-red tape
Since then “red tape” has come to mean “bureaucratic delay or confusion”
2) Conflict: agencies work at cross-purposes
3) Duplication: two or more agencies seem to do the same thing
4) Imperialism: tendency of agencies to grow, irrespective of programs’ benefits and costs
5) Waste: spending more than is necessary to buy some product or service

49. Bureaucratic Pathologies (Problems)
Waste is probably the biggest criticism that people have of the bureaucracy
Everybody has heard stories of the Pentagon paying $91 for screws that cost 3 cents
No doubt there is waste in the government
Unlike a business that is trying to maximize profits, there are few incentives to keep costs down
If a government official cuts costs, he or she receives no reward, and the agency cannot keep the savings, the money must go back to the Treasury – seems like a broken system

50. Bureaucratic Pathologies (Problems)
Most of the screws, hammers, and light bulbs purchased by the government are obtained at low cost by means of competitive bidding among several supplies
You make more friends by helping people than by hurting them
So Congress is more inclined to add new programs rather than to cut old ones

51. Reforming the Bureaucracy
National Performance Review (NPR) in 1993 designed to reinvent government by VP Al Gore
Key changes needed:
Efficiency, accountability, and consistent policies
The main problem with bureaucracy is that it had become:
1) too centralized
2) too rule bound
3) too little concern with making programs work
4) too much concerned with avoiding scandal

52. Reforming the Bureaucracy
Most rules and red tape are due to struggles between the president and Congress or to agencies’ efforts to avoid alienating influential voters
Periods of divided government worsen matters, especially in implementing policy
Reform is not impossible, is it just difficult
A weak, divided bureaucracy, such as exists in the US, may strike us an inefficient, but that very efficiency may help protect our liberties