Essential Questions

1. Essential Questions • What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy? • How does the president/Congress interact with the bureaucracy? • What are the main functions of the Bureaucracy? • What is the difference between an agency and a commission? • What is a government corporation? • Why does the bureaucracy have both legislative and judicial powers? • How are Iron Triangles bad? • Explain the concept of Civil Service • Explain discretionary authority.

2. Chapter 5: The Bureaucracy Essential Question: How does the bureaucracy carry out laws, implement policy, and interact with the executive, legislative, and judicial branches?

4. bureaucracy Definition:an administrative system, especially in a government, that divides work into specific categories carried out by special departments of nonelected officials

5. Characteristics of a Bureaucracy • administration of government through departments • consists of unelected often highly trained professionals • task specialization • hierarchical authority

6. The Federal Bureaucracy is: • 4 million employees; 2.8 million are civilians or “civil servants” • President only appoints 3% (patronage or political appointments) • 15 cabinet level departments • 200+ independent agencies with 2,000+ bureaus, divisions, branches, etc. • Biggest - Dept. of Defense, U.S. Postal Service, Veterans Administration

7. The President Supervises the Bureaucracy The President can: • appoint & remove agency heads • reorganize the bureaucracy • issue executive orders • reduce an agency's budget President Bush speaks about his budget priorities for FY 2007

8. Congress Oversees the Bureaucracy Congress can: • create or abolish agencies & departments • cut or reduce funding • investigate agency activities • hold committee hearings • pass legislation that alters an agency's functions • influence or even fail to confirm presidential appointments Former FEMA Chief Michael Brown testifies before House committee investigating Hurricane Katrina

9. Congressional Oversight • Committee hearings – Congress’ check on the bureaucracy and president • Power of the Purse – Congress’ check on the agencies of the bureaucracy • Authorization of spending – state max agency can spend • Appropriations – approval of the spending (part of budget) • Legislative veto – requirement that certain agency decisions must wait for a defined period of either 30 or 90 days • INS v Chadha (1983) – SCOTUS. ruled legislative veto to be a violation of the separation of powers

10. Federal Courts Check the Bureaucracy Federal courts can: • through judicial review rule on whether the bureaucracy has acted within the law and the U.S. Constitution • provide due process for individuals affected by a bureaucratic action Supreme Court of the United States

11. Federal Bureaucracy

12. Cabinet-level Departments

13. Agencies within Cabinet Departments • Directors – heads of agencies appointed by President • Divisions, bureaus, offices, services, administrations, and boards • EXAMPLES: • Treasury Department: • Internal Revenue Service (IRS) • Department of Justice: • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) • Department of Homeland Security agencies: • Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) • Coast Guard • Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

14. Functions of the Federal Bureaucracy Implementation- carry out laws of Congress, executive orders of the President Administration- routine administrative work; provide services (ex: SSA sends social security checks to beneficiaries) Regulation- issue rules and regulations that impact the public (ex: EPA sets clean air standards)

15. Independent Agencies & Commissions • Board or Commission of 5-7 members heads these with staggered terms

16. Independent Executive Agencies • Established by Congress with separate status outside the executive branch • Given a specific mandate and generally perform a service function, not a regulatory one. • Some examples include: Social Security Administration, CIA, NASA, EPA.

17. Independent Regulatory Commissions • IRCs exist to regulate a specific economic activity or interest such as the Federal Communications Commission (public air waves) or Federal Reserve Board (banking system, money supply) • IRCs operate independently from Congress and the President • Once appointed and seated, members cannot be removed without cause

18. Government Corporations • Hybrid government agency and private company

19. Government Corporations • Government owned businesses created by Congress • May or may not be profitable, but serve a public need • Kind of like privatization, but not totally • Usually not supported with taxes

20. Quasi-legislative powers of Bureaucracy • Make narrow industry-specific regulations • Discretion in how to carry out law • Congress has delegated much lawmaking power to these departments and agencies • Independent agencies and commissions have even greater leeway and power to shape policy • Laws defining these ^^^ are vague • Officials in these ^^^ are removed from political pressures

21. Quasi-judicial powers of Bureaucracy • Adjudicate violators of their regulations • Oversee or regulate certain industries • Can impose fines or other punishments • Compliance monitoring – making sure firms and companies subject to regulations are following those standards and provisions • EX: EPA - collects evidence from samples; checks for whether rules are being followed; report to rule writers about effectiveness

22. Iron Triangles and Issue Networks

23. Pendleton Act of 1883 • Patronage (spoils system) – the practice of rewarding loyal party leaders with federal jobs. • 1870 – Congress passed law enabling President to create rules and regulations for a civil service. • Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 – created the merit system: competitive written exams for many job applicants. Passes in reaction to assassination of President Garfield by disgruntled citizen wanting an appointment. • Created Civil Service Commission to oversee process • Professionalized the bureaucracy with experts

24. Regulatory Commissions • 1887 – Interstate Commerce Commission – created to enforce federal law regarding train travel and products traveling across state lines. • 1903 - Department of Commerce • 1906 – Food and Drug Administration • 1913 – Internal Revenue Service • 1913 – Department of Labor • 1960’s – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission • Consumer Product Safety Commission • Environmental Protection Agency

25. Hatch Act of 1939 • 1939 – 1940 • Distanced federal and state employees paid with federal funds from politics • Prohibits federal workers from becoming involved in federal political campaigns • 1993 – Federal Employees Political Activities Act (FEPAA) • Can express opinions about candidates, contribute to a campaign fund, join political parties, and attend political functions after hours • Cannot engage in political activity while on duty or in uniform

26. Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 • 1978 – altered how a bureaucrat is dismissed, limited preferences for veterans, put upper-level appointments back into the president’s hands. • Created Senior Executive Service – allowed president to move senior level executives laterally • Created Office of Personnel Management • Created Merit Systems Protection Board

27. Office of Personnel Management • Runs the merit system and coordinates the federal application process for jobs and hiring

28. Discretionary authority – Rule Making • Congress has granted departments, agencies, bureaus, and commissions – staffed with experts in their field – varying degrees of discretion in developing rules and interpreting legislation in 3 ways: • Creating agencies to pay subsidies to groups (farmers, SS) • Creating a system to distribute federal dollars going to the states (grants) • Giving many federal offices the ability to devise and enforce regulations for various industries or issues

29. TSA – Rule Making Example • Transportation Security Administration • Agency in the Department of Homeland Security that monitors passengers boarding airplanes • Congress entrusts the TSA to monitor airlines and make rules to keep passengers safe.

30. Discretionary Authority - Interpreting Policy • DREAM Act – (Development, Relief, and Education of Alien Minors) – U.S. would neither arrest nor deport illegal immigrants who had come into the U.S. as children – president can enforce the law with some discretion • Marijuana – Justice Department would not use federal resources to crack down on selling or using mj in states where voted to legalize during Obama’s admin. Trump admin has left it up to local U.S. Attorneys to determine how mj policy is handled.

31. Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 • Prohibits a federal agency from retaliating or threatening an employee for disclosing acts that he or she believes were illegal or dishonest.

32. Freedom of Information Act of 1966 • Gives public the right to request access to records or information.

33. Court of Appeals and challenges to agency decisions • U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal have become the final arbiter of agency decisions in most cases (S.Ct. doesn’t hear many appeals from the circuit courts.) • Courts have deferred to agencies when laws defining their responsibilities are vague or ambiguous • Under Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council (1984), the Supreme Court ruled that agencies can not only determine what the law is, they can also change that interpretation at any time.

34. Duplication within agencies • Rare for agencies to have exclusive authority over a particular responsibility • Creates competition among agencies and causes jurisdictional issues. • Creates redundancy that expands government cost and frustrates taxpayers • Examples: • FBI and DEA • Army and Navy • CIA and NSA

35. Bureaucracy thwarting the President • Going Native • someone who is appointed by president but loses connection to president and gains connection to those who work there, loyalty goes toward them instead of president. • Presidents can and do fire cabinet secretaries for not following the presidential agenda

36. impersonal inclined to follow rigid or complex procedures may stifle effectiveness and innovation “red tape” PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF BUREAUCRACIES

37. The 4th branch of government https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8EQAnKntLs

38. Essential Questions • What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy? • How does the president/Congress interact with the bureaucracy? • What are the main functions of the Bureaucracy? • What is the difference between an agency and a commission? • What is a government corporation? • Why does the bureaucracy have both legislative and judicial powers? • How are Iron Triangles bad? • Explain the concept of Civil Service • Explain discretionary authority.