Download Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy – Ch. 13
Key Terms
Bureaucracy
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Is an efficient and an effective way
to organize people to do work.
They are found wherever there are
large organizations
Three features
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1. Hierarchical authority
2. Job specialization
3. Formalized rules
Facts – Federal Bureaucracy
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Federal bureaucrats are career employees
15 Cabinet-level Departments
60 independent agencies
2000 –Bureaus, divisions and offices
2.8 million workers
Diverse group – Rocket scientist to Janitor
Figure 13.2: Federal Government: Money,
People, and Regulations
Source:
Expenditures and employment, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 483 and 582;
regulations: Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington, D.C.:
.
Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), tables 6-12, 6-14
Figure 13.3: Characteristics of Federal Civilian
Employees, 1960 and 1999
Sources:
Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1961, 392-394; Statistical Abstract of the United
States, 2000, Nos. 450, 482, 500, 595, 1118.
Discretionary Authority
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The power to choose courses of action and
to make policies that are not spelled out in
advance by laws.
Examples may include: safety regulations,
which drugs should be legal & which
corporate mergers shall be allowed
Name-request job
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The hiring of a person whom an agency has
already identified
Called the “buddy system”
This also occurs in the private sector
Iron Triangles
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Relationship & pattern of interaction that
occur among an agency, interest group &
congressional committee or subcommittee
Ex. – AARP, the Social Security
Administration, & the House subcommittee
on aging – all would probably agree on the
need for increased SS benefits
Issue networks
Not as concrete as “Iron Triangles”
 More common today
 Agency officials, members of Congress,
lobbyists, think tanks, media and
professors
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Authorization legislation
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Part of Congressional oversight
States the amount of money that can be
spent by a program
Usually begins in a legislative committee
Appropriation
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Money formally set aside for a specific
purpose
Done by the appropriations committee in the
House
Congressional Oversight
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1. agency needs congressional approval
2. Congress must authorize money
3. House Appropriations Committee has
special power over agencies
4. Investigate agencies by holding hearings
Red Tape
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The complex rules and procedures that must
be followed to get something done
“bureaucratic delay or confusion”
Policy making
Implementation – the process by which
a law or policy is put into operation by
the bureaucracy
 Ex. – law grants money for persons
who are handicapped – bureaucrats will
decide “handicapped”
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Problems with the Bureaucracy
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Red Tape
Conflict
Duplication
Imperialism
Waste
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The text defines bureaucracy as “a large
complex organization composed of
appointed officials.” What does this mean?
Can you envision a large, simple
organization? Could such an organization
accomplish anything consistently?
Executive Branch
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Executive Branch of government
includes President, VP, cabinet, &
Agencies
Executive Office the President (EOP)
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Umbrella agency- includes
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White House office
OMB
Council of Economic Advisers
National Security Council
National Drug Control Policy
Office of Vice President
WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
Closest advisors
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Staffs organized in 3 ways:
– Pyramid structure- Eisenhower,
Nixon, & Reagan
– Circular structure- Carter
– Ad hoc structure-Clinton
–
 Most
important of the EOP
offices- White House Office
 INCLUDES-
CHIEF OF STAFF,
COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT,
PRESS SECRETARY, EXPERT
ADVISORS
The National Security Council
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Advises the president on domestic,
foreign, and military matters that
relate to the nation’s security
Members – VP, Sec. Of Defense &
State, director of CIA, & Chairman of
Joint Chiefs of Staff
National Security Council
Office of Management & Budget
OMB
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Largest office in EOP
Major task is to prepare the
federal budget – President must
submit to Congress in Jan, or Feb.
Office of National Drug Control Policy
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Prepares an annual national drug
control strategy
Coordinates the efforts of more
than 50 federal agencies fighting
the war on drugs
WHO GETS APPOINTED - CABINET
 PRESIDENT
KNOWS FEW
PERSONALLY
 MOST HAVE HAD FEDERAL
EXPERIENCE
 Rivalry often develops between
Cabinet and White House staff
Table 12.1:
The Cabinet
Departments
Journal – Constitutional Democracy
and Bureaucratic Power
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What constitutional powers does Congress
have over the bureaucracy?
What is the basis for the claim that the
President is “Chief Administrator?”
Figure 13.4: Department of Homeland Security as
Proposed by George W. Bush, June 6, 2002
Source:
Ivo H. Daalder, Statement before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United
States Senate, October 12, 2001
.