1. Chapter 15
The Bureaucracy

2. Vocabulary Appropriation Authorizing Bureaucracy Committee clearance
Competitive service
Discretionary authority
Iron triangle
Issue network
Laissez-faire
Legislative veto
Red tape
Trust funds

3. Key Discussion Questions
Compare and contrast the United States and British models of government bureaucracy.
Sketch the history of the executive branch bureaucracy and its different uses.
Discuss the recruitment, retention, and demographic profiles of federal bureaucrats.
Show how the roles and mission 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.

4. Distinctiveness of the U.S. bureaucracy
Bureaucracy: A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials
While size and complexity can cause problems for bureaucracies, the political context in which these organization act may be what creates problems

5. Distinctiveness of the U.S. bureaucracy
Distinctiveness of American bureaucracy
Political authority over the bureaucracy is shared by president and Congress
Federal agencies share functions with related state and local government agencies
Adversary culture leads to closer scrutiny and makes court challenges more likely

6. Distinctiveness of the U.S. bureaucracy
Scope of Bureaucracy
Little public ownership of industry in the U.S.
High degree of regulation of private industries in the U.S.

7. The growth bureaucracy
Constitution made little provision for administrative system, so provides little guidance
One early controversy ended when the Supreme Court gave the president sole removal power
Congress still funds and investigates agencies, and shaped the laws they administer

8. The growth bureaucracy
The appointment of officials
Officials affect how laws are interpreted, tone and effectiveness of administration, party strength
Patronage in 19th and early 20th centuries rewarded supporters, induced congressional support, built party organizations
Civil War a watershed in bureaucratic growth; it showed the administrative weakness of federal government and increased demands for civil service reform
Post-Civil War period saw industrialization, emergence of national economy- power of national government to regulate interstate commerce became necessary and controversial

9. The growth bureaucracy
A service role
: new agencies primarily performed service roles
Constraints of limited government, states’ rights, and fragmented power
Laissez-faire philosophy
Supreme Court held that, under the Constitution, executive agencies could only apply statues passed by Congress
2. Wars led to reduced restrictions on administrators and an enduring increase in executive branch personnel

10. The growth bureaucracy
A change in role
Depression & WWII led to government activism
Supreme Court upheld laws that granted discretion to administrative agencies
Heavy use of income taxes supported war effort and a large bureaucracy
Public believe in continuing military preparedness & various social programs
9/11 attacks could also affect bureaucracy as profoundly as WWII & the Depression
New cabinet agency (Dept. of Homeland Security) was created
Consolidation of intelligence-gathering activities under National Intelligence Director

11. The federal bureaucracy today
Direct and indirect growth
Modest increase in number of government employees
Significant indirect increase in number of employees through use of private contractors, state and local government employees

12. The federal bureaucracy today
Growth in discretionary authority-the ability to choose courses of action and to make policies not set out in the statutory law
Delegation of undefined authority by Congress greatly increased
Primary areas of delegation
Subsidies to groups and organizations
Grant-in-aid programs, transferring money from national to state and local governments
Devising and enforcing regulations, especially for the economy

13. The federal bureaucracy today
Factors explaining the behavior of officials
Recruitment and reward systems
Personal and political attributes
Nature of work
Constraints imposed on agencies by various outside actors

14. The federal bureaucracy today
Recruitment and retention
Competitive service: bureaucrats compete for jobs through OPM
Appointment by merit based on written exam or through selection criteria
Competitive service system has become more decentralized, less reliant on OPM referral
OPM system is cumbersome and not geared to department needs
Agencies have need of professionals who cannot be ranked by examination
Agencies face pressure to diversify federal bureaucracy personnel

15. The federal bureaucracy today
Excepted service: bureaucrats appointed by agencies, typically in a nonpartisan fashion
About 3% of excepted employees are appointed on grounds other than merit-presidential appointments, Schedule C jobs, non-career executive assignments
Pendleton Act (1883): Changed the basis of government jobs from patronage to merit
Merit system protects president from pressure and protects patronage appointees from removal by new presidents

16. The federal bureaucracy today
The buddy system
Name-request job: filled by a person whom agency has already identified for middle-and-upper level jobs
Job description may be tailored for person
Circumvents the usual search process
Encourages issue networks based on shared policy views

17. The federal bureaucracy today
Firing a bureaucrat
Most bureaucrats cannot be easily fired, although there are informal methods of discipline
Senior Executive Service (SES) was established to provide the president and cabinet with more control in personnel decisions
But very few SES members have actually been fired or even transferred, and cash bonuses have not been influential

18. The federal bureaucracy today
The agencies’ point of view
Agencies are dominated by lifetime bureaucrats who have worked for no other agency
Long-term service assures continuity and expertise
Long-term service also gives subordinates power over new bosses: can work behind their boss’s back through sabotage, delaying, etc.

19. The federal bureaucracy today
Personal attributes
Includes social class, education, political beliefs
Allegations of critics are based on the fact that political appointees and upper-level bureaucrats are unrepresentative of U.S. society and the belief that they have an occupational self-interest

20. The federal bureaucracy today
3. Surveys of bureaucrats
a) Bureaucrats are somewhat more liberal or conservative, depending on the appointing president, than the average citizen
b) Bureaucrats do not take extreme positions

21. The federal bureaucracy today
Correlation found between the type of agency and the attitudes of the employees
Activist agency bureaucrats tend to be more liberal (FTC, EPA, FDA)
Traditional agency bureaucrats tend to be less liberal (Agriculture, Commerce, Treasury)
Bureaucrats’ policy views reflect the type of work that they do

22. The federal bureaucracy today
Do bureaucrats sabotage their political bosses?
Most bureaucrats try to carry out policy, even those they disagree with
But bureaucrats do have obstructive powers- Whistleblower Protection Act (1989)
Most civil servants have highly structured jobs that make their personal attitudes irrelevant
Professionals’ loosely structured roles may cause their work to be more influenced by personal attitudes
Professional values help explain how power is used
Example: Lawyers vs.. economists at the Federal Trade Commission

23. The federal bureaucracy today
Culture and careers
Each agency has its own culture, an informal understanding among employees about how they are supposed to act
Strong agency culture motivates employees but makes agencies resistant to change

24. The federal bureaucracy today
Constraints
Much greater on government agencies than on private bureaucracies
Hiring, firing, pay, and other procedures are established by law, not by the market

25. The federal bureaucracy today
General Constraints
Administrative Procedure Act (1946)
Freedom of Information Act (1966)
National Environmental Policy Act (1969)
Privacy Act (1974)
Open Meeting Law (1976)
Several agencies are often assigned to a single policy
Effects of constraints
Government moves slowly
Government sometimes acts inconsistently
Easier to block action than take action
Reluctant decision making by lower-ranking employees
Red tape

26. The federal bureaucracy today
Constraints come from citizens: agencies try to respond to citizen demands for openness, honesty, fairness, etc.

27. The federal bureaucracy today
Agency allies
Agencies often seek alliances with congressional committees and interest groups
Iron triangle- a tight, mutually advantageous alliance
Resulted in client politics

28. The federal bureaucracy today
Far less common today- politics has become too complicated
More interest groups, more congressional subcommittees- more competing forces
b) Courts have also granted more access
Issue networks: groups that regularly debate government policy on certain issues
Contentious- split along partisan, ideological, economic lines
New presidents often recruit from networks

29. Congressional oversight
Forms of congressional supervision
Congress creates agencies
Congress authorizes funds for programs
Congressional appropriations provides funds for the agency to spend on its programs

30. Congressional oversight
The Appropriations Committee and legislative committees
Appropriations Committee may be the most powerful of all the congressional committees
Most expenditure recommendations are approved by House
Tends to recommend an amount lower than the agency requested
Has power to influence an agency’s policies by “marking up” an agency’s budget
But becoming less powerful
Trust funds operate outside the regular government budget and are not controlled by the appropriations committees
Annual authorizations allow the legislative committees greater oversight
Budget deficits have necessitated cuts

31. Congressional oversight
Informal congressional controls over agencies
Individual members of Congress can seek privileges for constituents
Congressional committees may seek clearance, the right to pass on certain agency decisions

32. Congressional oversight
The legislative veto
Definition: a requirement that an executive decision must lie before Congress for a specified period before it takes effect
Declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court in Chadha (1983)
Debate about the legislative veto continues

33. Congressional oversight
Congressional Investigations
Power inferred from the congressional power to legislate
Means for checking agency discretion and also for authorizing agency actions independent of presidential preferences

34. Bureaucratic “pathologies”
Five major complaints about bureaucracy:
Red tape- complex and sometimes conflicting rules
Conflict- agencies work at cross-purposes
Duplication- two or more agencies seem to do the same thing
Imperialism- tendency of agencies to grow, irrespective of programs’ benefits and costs
Waste- spending more than is necessary to buy some product or service

35. Bureaucratic “pathologies”
Each complaint has logical origins in the constitutional order and policy-making process
Also, some exaggerations and unusual circumstances generate difficulties

36. Reforming the Bureaucracy
Numerous attempts to make the bureaucracy work better for less money
11 reform attempts in the 1900s
Prior reforms stressed increasing centralized control on behalf of efficiency, accountability, and consistency
National Performance Review (NPR) in 1993 designed to reinvent government calling for a new kind or organizational culture
Less centralized management
More employee initiatives
Fewer detailed rules, more customer satisfaction

37. Reforming the Bureaucracy
Bureaucratic reform is always difficult to accomplish
Most rules and red tape are due to struggles between president and Congress or to agencies’ efforts to avoid alienating voters
Periods of divided government worsen matters, especially in implementing policy
Presidents of one party seek to increase political control (executive micromanagement)
Congresses of another party respond by increasing investigation and rules (legislative micromanagement)