Download The Nature of Governmental Activity

Lecture 9
The American government and
Public Bureaucracy
Introduction to Public Bureaucracy
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How to View the American Federal System

Traditional way: Layer cake—compartmentalized functions

Marble cake—division of functions intricately mixed

Kettl/Fesler (2005): neither layer nor marble, rather, different
levels of government concentrating on different services

How do you view the system of the American government?
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The Federal Government

Federal government concentrates spending in far fewer
categories

Huge increase in entitlement program spending (on
programs such as Medicare, to which individuals are “entitled”
by law) over last four decades

Huge decrease in defense spending over the last four decades

Entitlements, defense, and interest on the national debt = 85%
of federal spending
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Figure 3
Source: OMB Historical Tables: Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2004
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Figure 7
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The Executive Branch

What does it do?
Organization in executive branch affects outcome of
policies and executes public polices.

Led by the chief executive and checked by the other branches
of government

Components
Cabinet departments
Independent agencies
Bureaus
Field offices
Executive Office and White House
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Cabinet Department

Cabinet: from 16th century, when English king began
meeting with closest advisers in a cabinet, or small room

Fifteen cabinet departments, including Department of
Homeland Security (established in 2002)

90% of executive branch’s civilian employees and 80% of
all spending
– Defense has largest number of employees
– Education is the smallest dept.
– Health and Human Services spends the most
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Independent Agencies

Independent agencies: outside cabinet departments, account
for one-tenth of federal government’s employees and one-fifth
of its spending
– Largest: Social Security Administration became
independent agency
• Why are they independently established?
– Created by Congress to insulate from presidential control
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Independent Agencies (continued)

Regulatory commissions: one method of power in which
agencies can monitor major features of transportation,
communications, power production and distribution, banking,
etc.

Service-based independent agencies: special historical
condition for particular mission

Government corporations: type of independent agency
engaged in lending, insurance, and other business-type
operations
– e.g., Corporation for Public Broadcasting, FDIC
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Bureaus and Field Offices

Bureaus: principal operating organizations of the government;
cover many organizations within larger departments
– e.g., Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Internal Revenue Service

Bureaucracy is government by bureaus
– Many at state and local levels

Most government operations, including bulk of federal
operations, done in the field

Thousands of field offices in states and overseas
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Office of Management and Budget

Bureau of Budget established in 1921 in Treasury Department;
became part of EOP in 1939

Office of Management and Budget (OMB): renamed by
President Nixon in 1970; largest unit of EOP; annually
reviews all agencies’ spending proposals

What does it do?
Communicate the policy agenda of the year to the
executive branch departments
Analyzes proposals and makes recommendations to
president with professional expertise
Compiles requests into budget for Congress
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Rise of E-government

New approach to government organization via computers

IRS encourages taxpayers to file electronically
– ex. From 2003 to 2004, e-filing increased by 15%.

Pro
Potential to improve government services and save
resources
Citizens connect more easily to government

Con
Questions of accessibility and equity
Organizational questions such as security and privacy
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State Governments

Unlike federal spending, state spending patterns have
remained relatively constant.

States concentrate their services on welfare, higher education,
and highways.

States play a major banking role by receiving federal grants
and administering them.
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Local Governments

In 2002, there were more than 86,000 local governments.

Unlike other levels of government, local government is
singularly devoted to the direct delivery of services (services
provided directly to citizens, such as police and fire protection,
education, and hospital care).

Primary spending is on elementary and secondary education,
health, hospitals, welfare, and utilities.
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American Civil Service Systems

Civil service system
Employment system used by democratic governments to
minimize political tinkering with the administrative process

The basic principles of civil service systems
 Hired by merit
 Paid according to position (“equal work for equal job”)
 Protected from political interference and dismissal
 Obligated to accountability
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Civil Service Reform


Spoils system
Hiring and firing on the basis of political loyalty
active support for the party or candidate
and
The 1883 Pendleton Act - Federal Reform and Merit system
The desire to hire the most competent workers or to keep
partisan politics out of hiring process
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Personnel Merit Selection

Three principles
1) Open competitive examinations,
2) Relative security of tenure,
3) Protection from political pressures for the federal
bureaucracy

What would be advantages of the merit system?
- More systematic and rational distribution of offices with
political neutrality
- Remedies for the political corruption
- Technical expertise
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Fundamental Elements of
the Civil Service System

Position classification
Each position is identified in terms of the special knowledge
the job requires, its level of difficulty, and the responsibilities
that come with it. (ex) GS system

Staffing

Compensation
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Position Classification in the Civil Service

Positions are defined according to occupation, degree of
difficulty, and responsibility.

General Schedule (GS level) that governs most employees
includes 15 grades.

The system attempts to prevent political interference in the
hiring process.
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Compensation in the Civil Service

Lower federal pay than what employees would earn in similar
private-sector jobs

Generous fringe benefits

Civil service principle and comparable worth
Individuals should receive equal pay for jobs of
comparable value
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Employee Rights and Obligations

Unionization: 41% of government employees at the federal,
state, and local levels are covered by unions; rise in
unionization of public employees

Collective bargaining: used to determine conditions of
employment; has increased in the public sector; Strikes are
illegal for public employees.
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