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Influences on the Power of the Bureaucracy. Chapter 13: Wilson AP Government and Politics Homework : Read Wilson, Chapter 13 (391-401) and take notes. What Powers does the B’ucy have?. Legislative The process of rulemaking: discretionary authority
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Influences on the Power of the Bureaucracy Chapter 13: Wilson AP Government and Politics Homework: Read Wilson, Chapter 13 (391-401) and take notes
What Powers does the B’ucy have? • Legislative • The process of rulemaking: discretionary authority • Congress writes broad laws, agencies are often given the power to “fill in the blanks” by writing specific rules and regualtions • Why does giving the bucy this power make sense? • Why might it be controversial? • Executive - of course the agencies are responsible for carrying out the laws drafted by Congress • Judicial – in the case of regulatory commissions and other agencies, the power to decide when regulations have been violated and what the punishment should be is part of the job of the bucy, not the courts
Who Exercises These Powers? • Who are the “’crats”? • Directly (bucy; about 2 million) and indirectly (private companies and contractors; as many as 8-10 million more) employed or funded by the federal government • 1883 Pendleton Act ushers in modern era of merit-based hiring for most of bucy, rather than patronage • Competitive (general exam by OPM) vs. excepted (hired by agencies for specific jobs) service • Appointed excepted = modern patronage • Name – request – specific person hired for specific job
What impacts the decisions made by ‘crats? • The bureaucrats themselves • Personal Attributes • Culture of the agency • Constraints • Interest Groups • Political Executives • Congressional committees and subcommittees • Outside the beltway? • Media • Universities • Think-tanks
Lines of Benefit: IronTriangles • An older model used to describe how policy is made
Velcro Triangles? • More recently, the “iron triangle” explanation of policy outcomes has fallen out of favor with political scientists… • A new, more fluid model has been proposed • Issue networks – affiliations of political executives, interest groups, congressional committees, media, think tanks, private companies, and others who all work together on a particular issue to enact a change in policy.
A Rudimentary Issue Network • For a change in American policy towards Cuba…