the federal bureaucracy - hillgrove ap gopo -...

The Federal

Bureaucracy

AP Government

Unit 4

Bureaucracy – what the heck is

it?

Professional corps of unelected

officials organized in a pyramid

hierarchy, functioning under

impersonal uniform rules and

procedures.

Bureaucracy literally means

“rule by desks”

Characteristics

Administration of

government through

departments

Consists of

unelected often

highly trained

professionals

Task specialization

Hierarchical

authority

Impersonal

Inclined to follow

rigid or complex

procedures

May stifle

effectiveness and

innovation

Red tape

Parts of the Executive Branch

AKA…The Bureaucracy

President

Executive Branch DepartmentsMakes up the main portion

of the Cabinet

Executive Office

of the PresidentIncludes White House Staff

Independent Agencies, Boards

& Commissions

U.S. Department of Justice

Organizational Chart

Federal Bureaucracy

Mechanism that carries out day to day business of government.

Created to carry out broad range of tasks, to provide necessary services, and to act as experts in particular areas of policy.

Grown to 2.8 million civilian employees

AKA the Fourth Branch

Figure 15.2

The Bureaucrats Who They Are and How They Got There

Most demographically representative part of government.

Diversity of jobs mirrors private sector.

Organization of Federal Bureaucracy

Consists of:

EOP

Executive departments

Independent agencies

Government corporations Includes Independent Executive

Agencies

Independent regulatory commissions

President

Executive Departments

Executive Office

of the President


& Commissions

Executive Office of the President

“The EOP”

Not a single office or department, but a

collection of agencies that are directly

responsible for helping president deal with

Congress and manage larger executive

branch.

President


Executive Office

of the President


& Commissions

Parts of the EOP:

White House Staff

White House staffers are usually

Former campaigners, trusted workers

Hired and fired at will of president

Most powerful White House Staffer is Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff one of President's closest advisers, also close friend.

Nicknamed "the gatekeeper."

Responsible for overseeing actions of other members of White House staff, managing president's timetable, and controlling outsiders' access to president.

Executive Office of the Presidency

“EOP Agencies”

Report directly to President

Most important agency-

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Other important EOP agencies

National Security Advisors (NSA)

Council of Economic Advisors

Some EOP agency heads hired and fired at will

Congress not involved with approval of National Security Advisor or the President’s personal White House staff


Department heads advise President on policy issues and help execute policies. Each Executive Department also part of President’s Cabinet

Cabinet not mentioned in Constitution

Created first by Washington

Cabinet secretaries appointed by president and need

Senate approval President controls Cabinet

Considered “yes” men and women!

Don’t disagree (in public at least!)

14 Cabinet Departments

15 Executive Departments headed by a

secretary

Department of Justice headed by Attorney

General

Each has own budget, staff and policy

areas Some Republicans (and Libertarians) have been

trying to eliminate several departments including

Education and Energy


The Executive Departments

1. Agriculture

2. Commerce

3. Defense

4. Education

5. Energy

6. Health and Human Services

7. Homeland Security

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html

8. Housing and UrbanDevelopment

9. Interior

10. Justice

11. Labor

12. State

13. Transportation

14. Treasury

15. Veteran’s Affairs

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html

THE CABINET DEPARTMENTS

The fifteen cabinet departments, in order of creation, are:

1) State (1789) - advises the president on foreign policy, negotiates treaties, represents the United States in international organizations

1) Treasury (1789) - collects federal revenues, pays federal bills, mints coins and prints paper money, enforces alcohol, tobacco and firearm laws

1) Defense (1789) - manages the armed forces, operates military bases

1) Interior (1849) - manages federal lands, refuges, and parks, operates hydroelectric facili-ties, manages Native American affairs

1) Justice (1870) - provides legal advice to the president, enforces federal laws, represents the United States in court, operates federal prisons

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6) Agriculture (1889) - provides agricultural assistance to farmers and ranchers, inspects food, manages national forests

6) Commerce (1903) - grants patents and trademarks, conducts the national census, pro-motes international trade

6) Labor (1913) - enforces federal labor laws (child labor, minimum wage, safe working conditions), administers unemployment and job training programs

6) Health and Human Services (1953) - administers Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid Programs, promotes health care research, enforces pure food and drug laws

6) Housing and Urban Development (1965) - provides home financing and public housing programs, enforces fair housing laws

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11) Transportation (1967) - promotes mass transit programs and programs for highways, railroads, and air traffic, enforces maritime law

11) Energy (1977) - advances the energy security of the U.S. and takes care of the nation’s nuclear security

11) Education (1979) - administers federal aid programs to schools, engages in educational research

11) Veterans Affairs (1989) - promotes the welfare of veterans of the armed forces

11) Homeland Security (2002) - prevents terrorist attacks within the United States, reduces America's susceptibility to terrorism, minimizes damage and helps recovery from attacks that do occur

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Figure 15.4

Example

“The

Department

of the

Interior”

Independent Agencies

and Commissions

Government offices that report to President but have

more independence (AKA Quasi- Independent)

FDIC, CIA, SEC, EPA…

Make regulations to help implement laws

Don’t report to president for instructions

Deal with own issues and staff independently

President appoints agency heads for fixed terms

Agency heads must be approved by Congress

Can be removed only for “a just cause”

Independent Regulatory

Agencies (IRA’s)

Independent of executive departments. Meant to impose and enforce regulation free of

political influence, help carry out policy or provide special services. Securities and Exchange Commission

Consumer Product Safety Commission

IRAs run by board rather than 1 person. President appoints board members, members serve

terms longer than single Presidential term

Board members also appointed at different times, so unable to stack Boards or Commissions.

The Independent

Regulatory Agencies

Responsible for some sector of economy making rules and judging disputes to protect public interest Example: Food and Drug Administration and

Interstate Commerce Commission

Headed by commission of 5-10 people.

Rule making important function watched by interest groups and citizens alike.

Concern over “capture” of agencies by Congress or President (want to remain independent!)

THE INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES

Examples:

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

– Regulates all communications by telegraph, cable, telephone, radio, and television.

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

– Prevents businesses from engaging in unfair trade practices; stops the formation of monopolies in the business sector; protects consumer rights.

• Federal Election Commission (FEC)

– Administers and enforces the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA); discloses campaign finance information and oversees the public funding of presidential elections.

• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

– Regulates the nation’s stock exchanges; requires full disclosure of the financial profiles of companies that wish to sell stocks to the public.

• The Federal Reserve Board (The Fed)

– Establishes monetary policy >> refers to the money supply and interest rates.

• Monetary policy = controlling the money supply. Fiscal policy = taxing and spending.

– Sets bank interest rates; controls inflation; regulates the money supply; adjusts banks reserve requirements.

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The Government Corporations

Similar to Independent Agencies but more

“Business-like” entities

Provide service like private companies and typically

charges for services.

Designed to run like businesses and hopefully

generate profit

(Postal Service, Amtrak)

Independent Executive Agencies

Agencies that

don’t fit in

anywhere else.

NASA

About 1,000 of the more than 7,000 presidentially-appointed

positions to be filled during any presidential transition process require

confirmation by a majority vote of the U.S. Senate.

1. Secretaries of the 15 Cabinet agencies, deputy secretaries, under secretaries and

assistant secretaries, and general counsels of those agencies: Over 350 positions.

2. Certain jobs in the independent, non-regulatory executive branch agencies, like

NASA and the National Science Foundation: About 120 positions

3. Director positions in the regulatory agencies, like the Environmental Protection

Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration: 130 positions

4. U.S. Attorneys and marshals: About 200 positions

5. Ambassadors to foreign nations: 150 positions

6. Presidential appointments to part-time positions, like the Board of Governors of

the Federal Reserve System: 160 positions

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/sentateconfirm.htm

What Roles Do Government

Bureaucrats Perform? Communicate with each other

Maintain paper for accountability

Enforces/carries out law

Implement objectives of organization.

Congress delegated significant amount of authority to bureaucracy by granting agencies power to draft federal regulations (rule-making)

FROM SPOILS TO MERIT

• “To the victor belong the spoils” (1828)– The spoils system or patronage, started by Andrew Jackson, was used for filling

federal jobs

– President rewarding supporters with jobs based on service, not on merit

• Garfield’s assassination by a disappointed office-seeker (1881)

• Creation of the Pendleton Act (1883)– Eliminated the spoils system (patronage); created merit system

– An exam-based merit system would be used to fill government jobs

– Civil Service Commission was created to administer these exams

• Hatch Act (1939)– Political activities of bureaucrats are limited

• Civil Service Reform Act (1978)– Abolished the U.S. Civil Service Commission

– Created the OPM (Office of Personnel Management) to provide guidance to agencies of the executive branch

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THE MODERN BUREAUCRACY• A bureaucracy is a large, complex organization of

appointed, not elected, officials.– LARGE: Three million civilian federal employees

• Department of Defense is the largest department = about 50% (even without active military which is about 1.4 million)

• Post Office has about 28%

– <10% of top-level jobs are appointed (political appointees) by the president >> PATRONAGE

– >90% of federal employees are civil service workers >> MERIT SYSTEM

• Tenure protection, difficult to fire (unless appointed by president)

– Specialized units with expertise in a field37

Sample Civil Service Exam

QuestionsWhich of the following pairs of words has

the OPPOSITE meaning?

guarded-suspicious

legendary-mythical

expeditious-leisurely

rancid-putrid

delicate-frail


QuestionsLook at this series: 44, 44, 50, 50, 56, . .

What number should come next?

44

48

56

62


QuestionsWhich of the following pairs of words has

the SAME meaning?

sly-cunning

infallible-weak

decisive-hesitant

predictable-mysterious

derisive-complimentary


QuestionsChoose the correct sentence from the

following list. The search took place without incident, except for a

brief argument between two residents.

The search took place without incident. Except for a


The search took place. Without incident except for a


The search, took place without incident except, for a



QuestionsChoose the correct sentence from the

following list. The search took place without incident, except

for a brief argument between two residents.

The search took place without incident. Except for a


The search took place. Without incident except for a


The search, took place without incident except, for a


Bureaucracy “Personalities” Tend to take on own ‘personalities’

Conservatives dominate Dept. of Defense

Liberals dominate social service departments like

Education and Health and Human Services

Other examples:

“Activist” bureaus and agencies:

EPA, FDA, Federal Trade Commission

“Traditional” bureaus and agencies:

Agriculture, Treasury, and Commerce

TOP Jobs

Recruitment for top bureaucratic jobs

from Plum Book

Published by Congress

Lists very top jobs available for Presidential

appointment.

Use patronage to find applicants

Ambassadorships, top level officials…

Presidents find “capable people” to fill

positions.

Discretionary Authority

Real power: ability for bureaucrats to choose courses of action and make policies that affect all Americans

“Discretionary authority” can carry weight of laws for general public and businesses/corporations

Examples:

Safety features on cars

Pollution emission standards

Product standards

CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCONGRESSIONAL INFLUENCE

Congress has a great amount of power over the bureaucracy because Congress can exercise LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT.

What are the numerous ways in which Congress can exercise “oversight” of the bureaucracy?

• Creation of agencies

– Constitutional power to create and abolish executive departments and independent agencies, or to transfer their functions

• Advice and consent

– Congress can influence the appointment of agency heads

– The Senate has the power to confirm presidential appointments

• Appropriations of agency budgets

– Congress determines how much money each agency gets

• Annual authorization legislation

– No agency may spend money unless it has first been authorized by Congress

– Authorization legislation originates in a congressional committee and states the maximum amount of money that an agency may spend on a given program

– Even if funds have been authorized, Congress must also appropriate the money

• Rewriting legislation

– If they wish to restrict the power of an agency, Congress may rewrite legislation or make it more detailed

– The more detailed the instructions, the better able Congress is to restrict the agency's power49

CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCONGRESSIONAL INFLUENCE

Congress has a great amount of power over the bureaucracy because Congress can exercise LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT.

What are the numerous ways in which Congress can exercise “oversight” of the bureaucracy?

• Duplication

– Giving any one job to more than one agency, keeping any single agency from becoming all powerful

– For example, drug trafficking is the task of the Customs Services, the FBI, the DEA, the Border Patrol, and the Department of Defense

– Keeps any one agency from becoming all-powerful

• Holding hearings and conducting investigations

– Congress can call bureaucrats to testify before committees and subcommittees to determine whether the agency is complying with congressional intent

– Congress can investigate agencies

• Reorganization

– By realigning or restructuring departments, agencies and their responsibilities, Congress can contain costs, reduce bureaucratic overlap and improve accountability.

• Sunset laws

– Provides for the law to cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law

– Sunset laws create a finite lifespan for a bureaucratic agency

– In order to be reauthorized, these bureaucracies must prove their effectiveness and merit50

CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCONGRESSIONAL INFLUENCE?

What are the limits on congressional influence?

Congress may not really want to clamp down on the bureaucracy:

• Members profit politically from the existence of federal programs within their states or districts

(e.g., military base closure)

• Easier for Congress to simply pass broadly worded laws and have experts within the bureaucracy

fill in the holes

• No electoral payoff; Political ramifications

• Oversight is labor intensive/hard work; Lack of technical expertise

• Congress creates opportunities for casework through red tape

• Congress lacks expertise/agencies have expertise

• Congress does not want to be blamed for bad policy

• Time-consuming

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CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYPRESIDENTIAL INFLUENCE

Appointments

• Appointment of top-level bureaucrats (including Cabinet secretaries)

• Fire top-level bureaucrats (including Cabinet secretaries)

Executive Orders

• An executive order is a directive, order, or regulation issued by the president

• An executive order of the President must find support in the Constitution, either in a clause granting the President specific power, or by a delegation of power by Congress to the President

Economic Powers

• Proposes agency budgets (either an increase or a decrease in $)

Other Powers

• Propose the reorganization of the executive branch

• Presidential power of influence over different agencies direction

What are the limits on presidential influence?

• Senate confirmation needed for top personnel

• President cannot fire vast majority of bureaucrats

• Reorganization must go through Congress

• Agency budgets must go through Congress52

CONTROLLING THE BUREAUCRACYCOURT AND INTEREST GROUP INFLUENCE

COURTS AND THE BUREAUCRACY

Powers

• Court rulings that limit bureaucratic practices

• Judicial review - can declare bureaucratic actions unconstitutional

• Injunctions (a judicial order that restrains a person/group from beginning or continuing an action threatening

or invading the legal right of another) against federal agencies

INTEREST GROUPS AND THE BUREAUCRACY

Powers

• Lobbying

• “Revolving door” - Agencies are staffed by people who move back and forth between the public/private sector

• Client groups

– Some agency-interest group relations are so close that the interest group is said to be a client of the

agency (e.g., dairy groups and Agriculture Dept)

• Iron triangles: congressional committee, relevant agency, related interest groups

• Issue networks: informal groups of people within both the public/private sectors who have common interests

• Agency employees are recruited from the regulated industry (vice versa)

• Agencies rely on support from regulated industries in making budget requests

• Litigation: Take a bureaucratic agency to court53

Legislative Veto

Requirement that executive decision

must lie before Congress for specified

period before takes effect

Congress could review and VETO

decision if both Houses agreed

Supreme Court asked to rule on this

practice in Chadha case

INS v. Chadha (1983) Mr. Chadha stayed in U.S. past visa deadline and

ordered to leave country.

Immigration Service allowed him to stay because of

complications and extreme hardship

House suspended INS’s deportation ruling using

what was called “Legislative veto”.

Question of law:

Did Congress which allowed a legislative

veto of presidential actions, violate the

separation of powers doctrine?

Importance Court said “Yes!”

Court ruled that Act violated

Constitution

Chief Justice Burger concluded even

though Act would have enhanced

governmental efficiency, violated "explicit

constitutional standards" regarding

lawmaking and congressional authority.

Legislative veto declared

unconstitutional.

The Peter Principle

“In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to

his level of incompetence."

Formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter in 1968

book

Pertains to level of competence of human

resources in hierarchical organization.

Explains upward, downward, and lateral

movement of personnel within hierarchically

organized system of ranks.

Understanding Bureaucracies Iron Triangles and Issue Networks

Iron triangle: “mutually dependent

relationship between bureaucratic agencies,

interest groups, and congressional

committees or subcommittees”.

Exist independently of each other.

Tough but not impossible to get rid of.

Some argue iron triangles being replaced by

wider issue networks that focus on more

policies.

IRON TRIANGLES vs. ISSUE NETWORKS

IRON TRIANGLES

• Definition: Alliances among bureaucrats, interest groups, and congressional subcommittee members and staff sometimes form to promote their common causes. Also known as subgovernments.

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The Iron Triangle

Describes cozy relationships in US politics

between 3 entities:

Legislative Branch (especially subcommittees)

Bureaucracy

Lobbyists and interest groups

The Legislative Branch (especially subcommittees)

Who Benefits from the Iron

Triangle?

Powerful interest groups

Members of Congress

Federal employees

Consumers are often left out in the cold by this arrangement.

Result in passing of very narrow, “pork barrel” policies

A Divided Government Kills

Iron Triangles

(or maybe only maims them!)

Only when Congress and White House both

controlled by same party can strong alliances

between branches form

divided government can stop these alliances

When legislative and executive branch have

conflicting political agendas, make cozy

relationships nearly impossible.

The 21st Century Iron Triangle

Issue Networks

“Iron triangle” fallen out of favor among political scientists because no longer accurate description of changed political dynamics.

Issue networks: new term to describe looser and broader coalitions of today

Rarely find just 2 competing sides to an issue anymore

Issue Networks Agency Officials

Members of

Congress

Interest Groups

Lawyers

Consultants

Public Relations

Experts

The Courts

These groups

constantly

changing/adapting

in Issue Networks

unlike Iron Triangle

which generally

stayed static

Important Bureaucratic Regulatory Acts

1. Pendleton Act (1883)

2. Hatch Act (1939)

3. Administrative Procedure Act (1946)

4. Freedom of Information Act (1966)

5. National Environmental Policy Act (1969)

6. Rehabilitation Act (1973)

7. Budget Reform Act (1974)

8. Privacy Act (1974)

9. Open Meeting Law (1977)

10. Civil Service Reform

Act (1978)

11. Whistle Blower Act

Protection Act (1989,

93-01)

12. National Performance Review (1993)

13. Federal Employees Political Activities Act (1993)

14. The E-Government Act of 2002

Pendleton Civil Service

Reform Act (1883)

Established US Civil Service Commission

which placed most federal employees on

merit system and marked end of so-called

“spoils system”.

Hatch Act (1939)

Main provision: prohibit federal employees (Civil Servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. Bureaucrats may NOT become involved in political

campaigns

Named after Senator Carl Hatch of NM, law was officially known as “An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities”.

Administrative Procedure Act

(1946)

Governs way in which agencies propose

and establish regulations

Freedom of

Information Act (1966)

Assures media and private citizens a legal right to government information

AKA “Open Records Laws” or “SunshineLaws”

Requester doesn’t usually have to give explanation for request, but if information not disclosed a valid reason has to be given.

The National Environmental

Policy Act (1969)

Requires federal agencies to integrate

environmental values into decision making

processes by considering environmental

impacts of proposed actions and

reasonable alternatives to those actions

Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring,

instrumental in continued support of NEPA

Rehabilitation Act (1973) Includes variety of provisions focused on

rights, advocacy and protections for

individuals with disabilities.

"Handicapped" if he or she:

Has mental or physical impairment which

substantially limits one or more of such

person's major life activities;

Has record of such impairment/regarded as

having such impairment.

Budget Reform Act of 1974 Congressional effort to control presidential

impoundments.

Requires president spend all appropriated funds. If Congress notified of which funds will not be spent and, within 45 days, agrees to delete items, money can be saved.

If president wishes to delay spending money, Congress must be informed and may refuse delay by passing resolution requiring immediate release of funds.

The Privacy Act (1974) Protects citizens from obtrusive searches into private

lives

Specific exceptions for record allowing use of personal records: The Federal Census

Department of Labor Statistics

For routine uses within a U.S. government agency

For archival purposes "as a record which has sufficient historical or other value to warrant its continued preservation by the United States Government"

For law enforcement purposes

For Congressional investigations

Other administrative purposes (Patriot Act- 2002 and 2006)

Federal Open Meeting Law (1977)

Opened doors for media and private

citizens to more than 50 federal

boards and agencies.

All agencies under act must

announce meetings at least a week

in advance.

Closed session allowed under specific

circumstances, but reason for closed

meeting must be certified by legal

officer of agency.

Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

Attempted to reform civil service of federal government

Addressed incompetent workers, automatic pay increases, and lack of incentive for good work

Not successful in any of these areas.

The Whistleblowers

Protection Act (1989, 1993, & 2001)

Designed to protect people who come

forward with disclosure about improper

conduct by public bodies or public sector

employees.

Thus…the name “whistleblower”

National Performance

Review 1993

Created during Clinton Administration by VP Al Gore. Often called “Reinventing government”

From red tape to results: creating government that works better and costs less.

Encouraged agencies to find more effective means of doing government business.

Mildly effective

http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/nprrpt/annrpt/redtpe93/index.html

Federal Employees Political

Activities Act- 1993

Allows federal employees to run for public office in non-partisan elections or donate funds to political campaigns Still prohibited from engaging in

partisan political activity or soliciting funds for partisan candidates

Created because of fears that Hatch Act too restrictive

The E-Government Act

of 2002

An effort to mandate that all government

agencies use “Internet-based information

technologies to enhance citizens’ access

to government information and services”.

This includes applying for social security,

and Medicare benefits.

(George W. Bush) Intelligence Act (2004)

Provides for reform of intelligence

community, terrorism prevention and

prosecution, border security, and

international cooperation and coordination.

Created Dept. of Homeland Security.

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and

Consumer Protection Act (2010)

Landmark legislation represents most

profound restructuring of financial

regulation since Great Depression

including new regulations on banks,

mortgage lenders, and other consumer

protections

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