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Federal Bureaucracy

Federal Bureaucracy. Chapter 15. Bureaucracy: Definition. Government Organizations, usually staffed w/ officials selected on the basis of their expertise, that implement public policy. Hierarchical in structure Free of political accountability (although affected by budget and oversight)

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Federal Bureaucracy

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  1. Federal Bureaucracy Chapter 15

  2. Bureaucracy: Definition • Government Organizations, usually staffed w/ officials selected on the basis of their expertise, that implement public policy. • Hierarchical in structure • Free of political accountability (although affected by budget and oversight) • Ideal Set-Up: Members apply specific rules of action to each case in a rational, nondiscretionary, predictable, and impersonal way.

  3. What does it do? • It is the muscle behind government. Everything from protecting the environment to collecting revenue to regulating the economy. • American Bureaucracies use a $2 trillion budget. • Depending on the area of bureaucracy, some act with great autonomy.

  4. The Bureaucrats • Civil Servants • Patronage – Jobs and promotions awarded for political reasons. • Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 created a federal civil service so hiring and promotion would be based on merit. • Civil Service – Hiring and promotion based on the merit and nonpartisan government service.

  5. Growth of the Federal Bureaucracy • 1789 – 50 federal government employees • 2000 – 2.8 million (excluding military, subcontractors, and consultants who work for the federal government) • A lot of growth at the state level since 1970 • Roughly 21 million employed today by states and the federal governments.

  6. Organization of the Bureaucracy • A complex society requires a variety of bureaucratic organizations. • Four components of the Federal Bureaucracy • Cabinet Departments • Independent executive agencies • Independent regulatory agencies • Government Organizations

  7. Cabinet Departments • 15 departments which serve as the major service organizations of federal government. • Political appointments (secretaries) at the top who are directly accountable to the president. Regular staff is permanent.

  8. Independent Executive Agencies • Not within cabinets and report directly to the President. • This gives the agency independence from cabinets that may not favor them. • Ex. EPA

  9. Independent Regulatory Agencies • Make and implement rules and regulations in a particular sector of the economy to protect the public interest. • Implement specific laws that are passed by congress and is suppose to work in the public interest. • Ex. Federal Reserve Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

  10. Staffing the Bureaucracy • National Aristocracy: Thomas Jefferson fired Federalist employees and placed his own men in government positions. • Spoils System: Andrew Jackson used government positions to reward supporters (Bureaucracy became corrupt, bloated, and inefficient)

  11. Civil Service Reform • Pendleton Act of 1883: Employment on the basis of merit and open, competitive exams. Created the civil service commission. • Hatch Act of 1939: Government employees cannot take an active role in the political management of a campaign. • Rutan vs. Republican Party of Illinois: Ruled employers cannot use political affiliation as a basis for hiring or promoting.

  12. Who should control the bureaucracy? • Should be responsive to elected officials. • Although members of the bureaucracy are not elected they must be held accountable and being responsive to elected officials gives the public say. • Bureaucracies should be autonomous in nature.

  13. Theories of Bureaucratic Politics • Politics-Administration Dichotomy • Iron Triangles • Issue Networks • Principal Agent Model

  14. Politics-Administration Dichotomy • Bureaucracy is neutral and not political – Bureaucrats are experts in their fields so should be left alone without political influence. • However people have realized over time that politics and administration are really NOT separate.

  15. Iron Triangles • Reinforcing relationships between Interest Groups, Congressional Subcommittees, and Bureaucratic Agencies. • Policy decisions are made jointly by these 3 groups who feed off each other to develop and maintain long-term relationships.

  16. Issue Networks • The relationship between bureaucracy is not as rigid as the iron triangle theory would have us believe. • Multiple actors are involved and political elites play a big role in an issue.

  17. Principal Agent Model • Principals and agents both seek to maximize their interests. Principals want to control the bureaucracy and agents want the least amount of control exerted over them. • Keep agents in check using monitoring/oversight and minimizing goal conflict.

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