Download Feb. 20

The Bureaucracy
I. DEFINITION
II. The 19th-century problems
III. The turn-of-the-century solution: the civil service model
IV. New Problems
V. Bureaucracy around the world
VI. The Italian Bureaucracy
I. A DEFINITION:
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executive branch employees that provide & supervise government services
II. The 19th-century problems
•
•
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political spoils system of appointment
goods system of selling public jobs
As a result, employees often:
– were politically biased
AND/OR
– were incompetent
AND/OR
– saw job as path to easy money by either:
• not working
• selling government services
III. The turn-of-the-century solution
•
the modern civil service
– open, competitive exams
• cultivate expertise
• fair recruitment to reduce politicization
– tenure
• continuity
• end to politicized firings
– regularization: “bureaucracy”
• reduce favoritism &/or corruption
IV. New Problems
•
“Red Tape” (via regularization)
– complexity of procedures
– employees’ ability to “hide” behind detailed rules
•
Lack of Political Control (via exams &/or tenure)
– most of executive branch not appointed
– bureaucratic expertise can be politically powerful
• bureaucrats control information
• often write their own evaluation procedures
V. Bureaucracy around the world
• Affluent countries have adopted the civil service model
– but many southern European & eastern European countries have some dynamics of the
spoils (patronage) model patched into a civil service framework via bypasses of civil
service rules
• Most middle-income & lower-income countries:
– have weak civil service models with even more frequent exceptions than the experience on
the “European periphery”
• contemporary Russia has many offices available via “goods market” bidding
• Argentina, Brazil, & Nigeria have many permanent civil servants that get in office via
bypasses of weak civil service expertise requirements
VI. The Italian Bureaucracy
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•
A. a very large & functionally diverse bureaucracy
– a unitary state tradition of national scope
– a region-based reality of diversity
• BUR as potential agent of change/control
• v. BUR as defender of regional traditions
– the south has had larger bureaucracy
– southerners comprise 2/3 of all bureaucrats
– myriad agencies & parastatal companies
– frequent calls to add new services & agencies
B. a visible majority of Italian citizens are dissatisfied w/ the bureaucracy’s performance
– too much red tape:
• “enforce the law for enemies & interpret it for friends”
– too much independence (& not enough expertise)
• most civil servants have tenure (which is rarely denied or later removed)
• the exams are very general (& frequently bypassed)
• each agency controls its own personnel w/ minimal interference
• most agencies provide sketchy information on activities to EXEC & LEG oversight
bodies
– politicians often prefer not to reveal political hires
• many bureaucrats work short hours &/or 2nd jobs
– pay is low for most posts, but benefits are good
Subnational Government
I. Unitary States
II. Federal States
III. Subnational Government in Italy
I. Unitary States
 A. DEFINITION
– national government has full, ultimate authority throughout the land

B. Real-Life Conditions (e.g. France, Italy, Japan, UK)
– that said, unitary governments can & do delegate some authority
– the key issue is often money:
• how much money is automatically distributed to the subnational units?
• can the subnational units raise their own revenues?
– in most unitary states, the fiscal autonomy of subnational units is fairly limited (especially
compared to most federal states)
– the more dominant the national government, the less extensive day-to-day political
participation will tend to be
II. Federal States
 DEFINITION
– national & subnational units each have own spheres of policy-making

B. Real-Life Conditions (e.g. US, Germany, India)
– that said, this division of spheres is rarely clear-cut
• national & subnational units often work on the same issues
– the more fiscal autonomy the subunits have, the more vibrant federalism will tend to be
• the less fiscal autonomy, the more dominant the national government will tend to be
– the more dominant the national government, the less extensive day-to-day political
participation will tend to be
– federalism often makes nationwide reform harder by increasing the number of decision
arenas & participants
III. Subnational Government in Italy
 A unitary state on the road toward greater subnational autonomy
 20 regional governments
– authorized by 1948 constitution (in wake of fascist concentration of power) but only 5
established initially in geographic periphery
• the other 15 established in 1970
– governed by largely parliamentary E-L relations
– share responsibilities w/ national government but historically were dependent on national
funds
– 1998 tax reform created an earmarked regional VAT to pay for health & welfare services
managed by the regions
• made regions less dependent on annual appropriations from Rome
 provincial governments
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–
–
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used to be the main subnational unit before 1948
administer responsibilities of municipal governments
responsible for unincorporated areas
dependent on national funds
 municipal governments (i.e. communes)
– provide many services (some re: unfunded mandates)
– dependent on national funds