President’s Project Memo

1. President’s Project Memo • Use the statistics chart to analyze and discuss the table in comparison with what you know about the current crisis. • How do inflation rates, unemployment rates, changes in economic growth compare to the current crisis. • After the first part of your memo, which would be a comparison, the second part should be your conclusion with your educated guesses as to why the differences or similarities exist between the past years and the current crisis.

2. The 4th Branch? Federal Bureaucracy

3. What the Bureaucracy Does • A Bureaucracy is the large organization that is structured hierarchally to carry out specific functions. • Subject to Congress for their funding, staffing and existence • 1789- 3 departments with 50 employees. Now we have 2.7 million employees and over 15 departments • The primary task of the Bureaucracy is…. • Implementation • The efforts of departments and agencies to translate laws into specific bureaucratic routines

4. Implementation • Very easy process when the bosses are particular in making the laws • ****Congress***** • However, when they are not specific, it requires the B-Crats to interpret and then implement • What happens when B-Crats must interpret and then implement? • LAW MAKING/policy making- because Congress is unable to oversee the day to day administration of its programs so it delegates to the admin agencies

5. Law Making • In these situations, Congress delegates the appropriate agency a broad authority and then bureaucrats have to make actual laws through Rule Making and Administrative Adjudication

6. Rule Making • In theory, agencies should put into effect laws passed by Congress. • Rule making- doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Their proposed implementation/regulation of a law is published in the Federal Register, a daily publication, where interested parties can comment on it. • Once it is published, there is a 60 day waiting period before enforcement occurs and this is the chance people, businesses, state/local governments can ask Congress to overturn the legislation. • After 60 days, if not contested then enforcement occurs.

7. Rule Making • Negotiated Rule Making Act of 1990- authorizes agencies to allow those affected by the new rule to participate in the rule drafting process.

8. Administrative Adjudication • Applying Rules and Precedents to specific cases to settle disputes between regulated parties • Judicial Power • Consumer Product Safety Commission held hearings on safety of bleachers • Issued guidelines about Bleacher construction. Guidelines had the power of law

9. Iron Triangles • Refer to page 437 of your text book

10. How you can become a B-Crat!!! • The Spoils system • “To the Victor Goes the Spoils” • Replacing all bureaucratic positions of an old party with the winning party • Overturned by Civil Service Act of 1883 (PENDELTON ACT)- placed limits on the spoils system. • Employment based on the basis of open and competitive exams, created the Civil Service Commission to administer the personnel service.

11. More Reform • Elrod v Burns (1976) and Branti v Finkel (1980)- SC used 1st amendment to forbid discharging officials or threatening to do so, solely for the employees not supporting the political party in power. • 1978 Civil Service Reform Act- abolished the Civil Service Commission and set up the OPM (office of personnel management) which recruits, interviews and tests candidates and recommend their top three to agencies to hire. • The MSPB Merit Systems Protection Board evaluates employee wrong doing

12. The Hatch Act • Prohibits federal employees from actively participating in the management of political parties or campaigns.