THE BUREAUCRACY

1. THE BUREAUCRACY

2. Distinctiveness of the United States Bureaucracy-size, scope, and political context The Constitutional system and traditions make the US bureaucracy distinctive. -political authority over the bureaucracy is shared by the president and congress -federal agencies share functions with related state and local government agencies. -adversary culture leads to closer scrutiny and make court challenges more likely

3. Scope of the Bureaucracy -Little public ownership of industry in the U. S. -High degree of regulation of private industries -Progressives and the New Deal bring about early regulation

4. II. The Growth of the Bureaucracy -Supreme Court gives the president sole removal power, strengthens executive role -Congress still funds and investigates the agencies, and shapes the laws they administer -Creates a check and balance of power

5. The Appointment of Officials -Officials affect how laws are interpreted, tone and effectiveness of administration, and party strength -Patronage in the 19th and early 20th centuries rewarded party supporters, induced congressional support, and built party organizations -Civil War beginning of bureaucratic growth, it pointed out the administrative weakness of the federal govt. and increased the demands for civil service reform -Post-Civil War begins industrialization, becomes necessary to regulate interstate trade- controversial

6. The Change in Role 1861-1901 new agencies performed mainly a service role due to: -constraints of limited govt., states’ rights, and limited power -laissez fare policies -Supreme Court held that executive agencies could only apply statutes passed by Congress -Wars led to reduced restrictions on administrators and an enduring increase in executive branch personnel Depression and WWII lead to government activism -Supreme Court reverses position and upheld laws that granted discretion to administrative agencies -introduction of income taxes supports a larger bureaucracy -public believes in need for military preparedness and social programs

7. III. The Federal Bureaucracy Today Direct and indirect growth: -modest increase in number of direct government employees -significant increase in the number of emplyees through use of private contractors, state and local government employees Growth in discretionary authority Defined as-the ability to choose courses of action and make policies not set out in the statutory law -Delegation of undefined authority greatly increased

8. Primary areas of deregulation: • -subsidies to groups and organizations • Grant in aid programs, transfer ring money from national to state and local govts. • -devising and enforcing regulations, especially for the economy

9. Factors explaining the behavior of officials: • Recruitment and rewards system • Personal and political attributes • Nature of work • Constraints imposed on agencies by outside forces

10. Recruitment and Retention • A.The Competitive service: bureaucrats compete for jobs through OPM: • Appointment by merit based on written exam • Departments are moving away from OPM due to: • -OPM is cumbersome and not geared towards individual department needs • -agencies have need of professionals who cannot be ranked by an examination- particular skill set • -agencies face pressure to diversify

11. B. The excepted service: - About 3 % of employees are appointed on grounds other than merit- presidential appointments, Schedule C jobs, and 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

12. The Buddy System -Name-request job: filled by a person the agency has already identified for middle and upper level jobs -job description often tailored for the person -circumvents the usual search process…..but also encourages issue networks based on shared policy views Firing a Bureaucrat: -most bureaucrats cannot be easily fired -the Senior Executive Service (SES) was established to provide the president and cabinet with more control in personnel decisions -SES still has not fired many individuals -

13. Why make it difficult to fire a bureaucrat? Positives -Agencies are dominated by lifetime bureaucrats who have worked for no other agency -assures continuity and expertise Negatives: -gives subordinates power over new bosses -workers know how to work behind their boss’s back through sabotage and delay methods

14. So who are the bureaucrats? Critics say that political appointees and upper-level bureaucrats are unrepresentative of the US society and believe that they work in their own occupational self interest Reality -bureaucrats are somewhat more liberal or conservative, depending on the appointing president -they do not take extreme positions -correlation between the type of agency and the attitude of the employee Example-activist agency tends to attract more liberal employees- Policy views reflect the type of work they do

15. Do bureaucrats sabotage their bosses? -most carry out policy regardless of personal beliefs -most have highly structured jobs -each agency has its own culture, an informal understanding among employees about how they are supposed to act -strong agency culture motivates employees, but it makes agencies resistant to change

16. Constraints on the bureaucracy -constraints much higher than on private business -hiring, firing, pay, and other procedures established by law, not by the market General Constraints: -Administrative Procedure Act-1946 -Freedom of Information Act- 1966 National Environmental Policy Act -1969 Privacy Act- 1974 Open Meeting Law-1976

17. Effects of Constraints - government moves slowly -government sometimes acts inconsistently -easier to block action than to take action -reluctant decision making by lower ranking employees -red tape Why so many constraints? -constraints come from the demand of the citizens -agencies try to respond to citizen demands for openness, honesty, and fairness

18. Congressional Oversight • Congress creates agencies and authorizes their programs • Congress appropriates monies to allow agency to spend money on programs • -Appropriations committee approves most expenditure requests • -House tends to recommend an amount lower than the agency requests • -House can influence an agency’s policies by “marking up” their budget

19. Appropriations committee becoming less influential because: • trust funds operate outside the regular government budget • Annual authorizations allow the legislative committee greater oversight • Budget deficits necessitate cuts • Informal controls over agencies: • -individual members of Congress seek priveleges for constituents • -Congressional committees may seek committee clearance, the right to pass on certain agency decisions

20. Five major complaints about the bureaucracy: Red tape, sometimes complex and conflicting Conflict- agencies work at cross purposes Duplication-two agencies doing the same thing Imperialism-tendency of agencies to grow Waste-spending more than necessary

21. Bureaucratic reform? • 11 reform attempts in the 1900’s • most stressed presidential control on behalf of efficiency, and accountability • Reform is difficult • Most rules and red tape are due to struggles between president and Congress • Periods of divided government worsen matters, especially in implementing policy