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Bureaucracy Assignment
Part I: Instructions: Use Short Answer Essays, Graphic Organizers/Diagrams, or
Bullet Outlines to demonstrate your understanding of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Nature of Bureaucracy
The Size of the Bureaucracy
The Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy
Staffing the Bureaucracy
Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform
Bureaucrats as Politicians and Policymakers
Congressional Control of the Bureaucracy
Part II: Investigating: The Bureaucracy --Give a brief description of the each
cabinet department (15)
Part III: The Bureaucracy --Give a brief description of 10 independent executive
agencies
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After students have read and studied this chapter, they should be able to:
 Explain the differences between private and public bureaucracies.
 Identify the models of bureaucracy.
 Explain how the bureaucracy has developed throughout our history.
 Identify the types of governmental organizations in the federal bureaucracy and distinguish between
functions and responsibilities (including Cabinet departments, independent executive agencies,
independent regulatory commissions and government corporations).
 Identify the legislation controlling political activity by the bureaucracy (the Civil Service Reform Act
of 1883 and the Hatch Act).
 Explain Congressional control on bureaucracies, including enabling legislations and budgetary
authorization.
 Identify the recent reforms within the federal civil service.
o Sunshine laws
o Sunset laws
o Whistle-blowers
 Explain the iron triangle model of the bureaucracy and the role of executive agencies, subcommittees
and interest groups.
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
How necessary is bureaucracy? If we can agree that individuals need rules and regulations to live
together, then there must also be a bureaucracy. Rules and regulations are meaningless unless they are
administered; the bureaucracy is necessary for the administration.
An example of a bureaucracy that students should be able to identify with is the one at your college or
university. Each professor is a specialist who is a part of a division or department (chain of
command). Most professors use a syllabus (formal rules) and administer grades on an objective basis
(decision-making based on neutrality). (Of course, we are more used to thinking of the university
bureaucracy as including only non-teaching staff.)
What could be done to eliminate iron triangles? Prohibit agencies from testifying before Congress?
Where does Congress receive important information on how a program is functioning? (the agencies)
Eliminate subcommittees in Congress? Why does Congress have subcommittees? (specialization.)
Eliminate interest groups? How is that possible in a democracy?
Ask the students to review Federalist #10. Although the term “iron triangle” had not yet been used, did
Madison foresee problems of this nature? What action do you think Madison would advocate
concerning the relationship between interest groups and the bureaucracy?
In modern times, we tend to equate the term “bureaucracy” with “red tape” or “inefficiency.” How does
the goal of neutrality and the need for specialization help reinforce those images?
BEYOND THE BOOK
Today, all Americans benefit from government services and regulations daily. Chances are that the
government was involved in your life in many ways today. You may have driven to school in
automobile that was subject of many federal safety and environmental regulations. You may have
driven on federal highway, or a state road whose maintenance was supported with federal funds.
Chances are that your school receives subsidies from the federal government, and some students
attend with the help of federal grants or federally subsidized loans. Even the food you eat in the
cafeteria is subject to federal regulation to protect your health, and if you receive mail today, it will
have been delivered by a federal “bureaucrat” (that is, a letter carrier!).
It is normally very hard to fire a civil servant, and few are dismissed even for the most conspicuous
dereliction of duty of their jobs. One category of bureaucrat, however, is fired rapidly in almost all
cases. When whistleblowers report agency fraud or abuse to the press or to investigatory bodies,
managers somehow find it miraculously easy to fire them, despite the normal institutional barriers to
dismissing civil servants and despite the existence of special legislation to protect whistleblowers.
This suggests that the real reason that civil servants are rarely fired is not that it is truly impossible,
but that managers have no motivation to go to the trouble of getting rid of employees who are merely
incompetent. Only when an employee appears to threaten the agency itself (or the manager’s own
job) is the manager stirred to action. Why managers normally have no motivation to fire anyone is a
question worth pondering.
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. The Nature of the Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is a large organization that is structured hierarchically to carry out specific
functions. The purpose of a bureaucracy is the efficient administration of rules, regulations, and
policies. Governments, businesses and other institutions such as colleges and universities perforce
have bureaucracies.
A. Public and Private Bureaucracies. Public bureaucracies are governmental bureaucracies that do
not have a single set of leaders in the way that private or business bureaucracies do. The
purpose of a private-sector company is to make a profit. A bureaucracy within a company will
attempt to administer the policies of the company to maximize profits for the company. Unlike
a private company, the government is supposed to provide services to the public. A
governmental bureaucracy is concerned with administering policies that provide services to the
people. These fundamental differences between public and private bureaucracies make
comparisons difficult.
B. Models of Bureaucracy.
1. Weberian Model. Analyses of how bureaucracies operate and how they should operate are
often based on the work of Max Weber (pronounced VAY-ber), a famous German
sociologist. Weber believed that all bureaucracies share certain qualities:
 Hierarchy. Every person who works in an organization has a superior to whom they
report.
 Specialization. Workers have an area of expertise as opposed to being knowledgeable
about all aspects of the organization.
 Rules and regulations. Decisions are made based on set rules and organizations treat
all people the same based on these formal rules.
 Neutrality. Bureaucrats are supposed to administer the rules without bias. No one
should be given preferential treatment.
The Weberian model views bureaucracy as a hierarchically organized model with formal
rules and regulations. Power flows from the top down. Decisions are technical in nature.
The focus is placed on rational and unbiased decision-making.
2. Acquisitive Model. The acquisitive model is a view of bureaucracy where decisions are
made for the needs of the top bureaucrats. Each division of the bureaucracy is most
concerned with protecting the “turf” of the department and expanding the size of its budget.
Once created, an agency will continue to seek new goals in order to justify the existence of
the agency.
3. Monopolistic Model. This model views bureaucracy as the sole provider of a service.
Without competition, the department has little or no incentive to be efficient, and typically
is not penalized for waste or inefficiencies.
C. Bureaucracies Compared. The sheer size of the U.S. bureaucracy—which follows from the
sheer size of the country—may make the bureaucracy more autonomous than in some other
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nations. Our federal system also limits the “top-down” system that empowers the political
leadership. States may need to be persuaded rather than ordered.
2. The Size of the Bureaucracy
In 1789, the size of the federal bureaucracy was extremely small. The federal bureaucracy has
grown considerably since that time. Most of this growth has been the result of a continuing
expansion of the role of the government. In 1789 there were few policies implemented by the
federal government. State governments made most policies that affected the people. Today there
are about 2.7 million civilian employees of the federal government. The two biggest employers are
the U.S. Postal Service, with almost 800,000 workers, and the Department of Defense, with more
than 650,000 civilian staff. In recent years, the greatest growth in government employment has
been at the local level. Federal employment has remained stable. However, the federal government
also uses a large number of contractors and subcontractors who are not counted as employees.
Federal spending today is equal to about 30% of the nation’s GDP.
3.
The Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy
a. Cabinet Departments. The cabinet departments are the fifteen major service organizations of
the federal government. They are the departments of:
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 Agriculture
 Commerce
 Defense
 Education
 Energy
 Health & Human Services
 Homeland Security
 Housing & Urban Development
 Interior
 Justice
 Labor
 State
 Transportation
 Treasury
 Veterans Affairs
b. Independent Executive Agencies. These are governmental entities that have a single
function and are not part of a cabinet department. The director of the agency reports to
the president. Examples of these agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), the General Service Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
c. Independent Regulatory Agencies. These are agencies outside the major executive
departments charged with making and implementing rules and regulations to protect
the public interest. Examples include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
i. The Purpose and Nature of Regulatory Agencies. These agencies are supposed to
be independent of the rest of the government to guarantee their impartiality. In
theory, their rulings should be based on the law and on technical knowledge, not
politics.
ii. Agency Capture. It is argued, however, that many agencies have come to be
dominated by the industries they were meant to regulate. This process is called
agency capture.
iii. Deregulation and Reregulation. Calls for a reduction in the general level of
governmental regulation met with success during the administrations of presidents
Carter and Reagan. A degree of reregulation occurred under the elder Bush
(George H.W. Bush). Under Clinton, some economic regulations were lifted, but
environmental ones were tightened.
d. Government Corporations. These are agencies that charge the public for a specific
service. Examples of government corporations include the Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA), the United States Postal Service, and Amtrak. They differ from private
corporations in that they do not have shareholders, but are owned by the government.
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4.
Staffing the Bureaucracy
Bureaucrats can be placed into two categories: political appointees and civil servants.
a. Political Appointees. The president appoints individuals in the first category. The most
important factor in this selection process is political party. The overwhelming majority
of presidential appointees are of the same party of the president. These “political
plums” are bestowed to qualified individuals who typically helped the president get
elected. Among the biggest “plums” are ambassadorships. These may be reserved for
large contributors to the president’s campaign. One of the most dubious political
appointments in recent years was George W. Bush’s appointment of Mike Brown as
head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Brown’s lack of expertise was
revealed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
i. The Aristocracy of the Federal Government. The powers of political appointees
appear formidable on paper, but may be less so in reality. Often, such appointees
lack detailed knowledge of the institutions they are running. They may be in place
only two or so years and have little time to learn. Top career bureaucrats can often
frustrate the plans of their political boss.
ii. The Difficulty in Firing Civil Servants. The problem is compounded by the fact
that firing a civil servant is a difficult and very time-consuming process.
b. History of the Federal Civil Service. Historically, individuals of the party of the
president staffed the bureaucracy. The first political party, the Federalists, held the
early positions for the first twelve years of the government. When Thomas Jefferson
was elected, he replaced many bureaucrats with members of his own party. The
Jeffersonian Republicans controlled the government for the next twenty-four years, and
so the bureaucracy did not turn over.
i. To the Victor Belong the Spoils. Andrew Jackson found that many existing
bureaucrats were unwilling to implement many of his programs. Thus, Jackson
made the decision to fire more officials than any president before him, on the
principle “to the victor belong the spoils.” Thereafter, whenever a president was
elected who was of a different party from the previous president, most federal
employees were replaced.
ii. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. Reform of the bureaucracy selection
process began in 1883. The Pendleton Act established the Civil Service
Commission and created a situation in which civil servants were to be selected on
merit, not political affiliation. At first only 10 percent of federal employees were
covered, but the program expanded over time to cover most administrators.
iii. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. This created the Office of Personnel
Management to oversee testing and hiring, and the Merit Systems Protection Board
to hear employee grievances.
iv. Federal Employees and Political Campaigns. In 1939, the Hatch Act prohibited
civil servants from active involvement in political campaigns. It sought to ensure a
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5.
neutral bureaucracy, and sought to protect bureaucrats from being pressured by
their superiors to make political contributions or engage in campaigning. While
some have complained that the Hatch Act violates the constitutional rights of civil
servants who wish to be politically active, the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that
the government’s interest in preserving a nonpartisan civil service was so great that
the prohibition should remain. The Federal Employees Political Activities Act of
1993 removed some Hatch act restrictions, allowing bureaucrats to participate in
campaigns voluntarily.
Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform
There have been a number of attempts at opening up the process of administering policy
and making the bureaucracy more efficient and responsive to citizen needs.
a. Sunshine Laws before and after 9/11. Sunshine laws require agencies to conduct many
sessions in public.
i. Information Disclosure. The 1966 Freedom of Information Act opened up
government files to citizen requests for information, in particular about themselves.
ii. Curbs on Information Disclosure. After 9/11, however, the government established
a campaign to limit disclosure of any information that could conceivably be used
by terrorists.
b. Sunset Laws. These require legislative review of existing programs to determine their
effectiveness. If the legislature does not explicitly reauthorize a program, it expires.
While many states have enacted this process, unfortunately Congress has not made it
the law in the federal bureaucracy.
c. Privatization. The privatization of services occurs when the government contracts with
the private sector for certain services, in the belief that some services can be provided
more efficiently by private firms. This practice occurs more frequently on the local
level.
d. Incentives for Efficiency and Productivity.
i. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1997 seeks to improve
governmental efficiency by requiring government agencies to describe their goals
and create mechanisms for evaluating whether these goals have been met.
ii. Bureaucracy Changed Little, Though. One argument is that bureaucratic
inefficiencies are the direct result of the political decision-making process. If
Congress wants a more efficient bureaucracy, it should examine its own demands
on the system.
iii. Saving Costs through E-Government. The Internet has also improved the
efficiency of federal government. Now, citizens can find information on
government Web sites, and can communicate directly with government offices
through e-mail.
e. Helping Out the Whistle Blowers. The Whistle-Blower’s Protection act of 1989 was an
attempt to encourage federal bureaucrats to report waste and fraud within agencies by
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protecting them. It established the Office of Special Counsel to investigate complaints
about government waste or inefficiency.
6. Bureaucrats as Politicians and Policy-Makers
Although Congress has the power to legislate, it must rely on the executive branch to
administer the laws. When Congress enacts legislation that is very precise the bureaucracy
simply administers the law. However, it is rare that laws are so precise that there is no room
for questions concerning interpretation and application. Therefore, the bureaucracy usually
must make policy decisions concerning interpretation and application of a statute. This
administrative discretion is not accidental. Congress has long realized that it does not have
the technical expertise to draft laws that cover all contingencies.
a. The Rulemaking Environment. Proposed rules are published in the Federal Register
and interested parties have an opportunity to comment on the proposal.
i. Waiting Periods and Court Challenges. Sixty days must pass before the rule goes
into effect. Interested parties can ask the agency for changes or ask Congress to
overrule the agency. Directly affected parties can also sue before or after the sixty
days on the grounds the rule exceeds the agency’s mandate or is unfair. The courts
tend to presume in favor of the agency in such cases—those objecting must have a
strong case if they expect to win.
ii. Controversies. An example of controversial administrative decisions involves the
steps to implement the Endangered Species Act, which can interfere with the
property rights of landowners.
b. Negotiated Rulemaking. In an attempt to reduce the number of court cases challenging
administrative decisions, the executive branch has encouraged interested parties to
participate in the drafting of administrative decisions concerning laws enacted by
Congress. This is called negotiated rulemaking. While negotiated rulemaking has not
eliminated court cases of this nature, it has reduced the number of challenges to
administrative decisions in certain policy areas such as the environment. Congress
endorsed this policy with the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990.
c. Bureaucrats Are Policymakers. The federal bureaucracy has become a major source for
decision-making concerning public policy. Different theories have been advanced to
describe the impact of outside groups on the process.
i. Iron Triangles. Key concept: An iron triangle, or a three-way alliance among
legislators, bureaucrats, and interest groups that seeks to make or preserve policies
that benefit their respective interests. Advocates of this theory usually believe that
special interests have too much influence. The bureaucrats, then, no longer act as
impartial administrators. Instead, bureaucrats act as agents for the special interests
and attempt to influence Congress to enact laws that favor the special interest. The
committee structure in Congress may help perpetuate this system. The members of
Congress who serve on committees and subcommittees are interested in gaining
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7.
8.
support for their constituents who would benefit by the enactment of legislation
favoring a particular special interest.
ii. Issue Networks. Others assert that iron triangles do not fully describe the complex
web of relations between the executive and legislative branches and interest
groups. Most scholars now see the policy process as being one where issue
networks dominate. That is, legislators, interest groups, bureaucrats, scholars and
experts, and members of the media who share a position on a given issue may
attempt to exert influence on the executive branch, on Congress, on the courts or
on the media to see their policy position enacted. Obviously, issue networks with
opposing positions may come into political conflict with each other.
Congressional Control of the Bureaucracy
a. Ways Congress Does Control the Bureaucracy. The ultimate control is in the
hands of Congress because Congress controls the purse strings. Congressional
control of the bureaucracy includes the establishment of agencies and
departments, the budget process, and oversight conducted through investigations,
hearings, and review.
b. Reasons Why Congress Cannot Easily Oversee the Bureaucracy. While
Congress is able to identify certain bureaucratic failures, especially the
catastrophic mistakes such as the CIA and 9/11 and FEMA and Hurricane
Katrina, there are so many bureaucratic shortcomings that there are not enough
hours in the day or months in the year to identify them all.
Features
a. What If . . . The Public Graded Federal Bureaucracies?
The resulting publicity could put pressure on poorly performing agencies. The reaction
to FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Katrina demonstrates the disgust the people
sometimes feel for the bureaucracy. Still, it is hard to see how true leverage over the
bureaucracy could be obtained without making it easier for bureaucrats to be fired.
b. Politics and Diversity: A Public Railroad, No Matter What the Cost.
The government corporation Amtrak, which provides passenger rail service, loses $1-2
billion a year. Cross-county routes are especially unprofitable. Attempts to eliminate
unprofitable routes run up against the opposition of the members of Congress from the
affected districts.
c. Which Side Are You On? Unifying Our Antiterrorism Effort Was the Right Thing to
Do.
The new Department of Homeland Security, established in 2003, united various
agencies dealing with the threat of terrorism, the control of the borders, and natural
disasters, a move that was seen by many as essential to protecting our security.
However, it did not include agencies such as the FBI and CIA, which are key to the
anti-terrorism effort and thus far the Department of Homeland Security has hardly been
the success imagined by its advocates.
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d. Beyond Our Borders: Privatizing the U.S. Military Abroad.
While the call for privatization is sounded in Washington today, the military
discovered the necessity and advantages of privatization over a decade ago. With the
downsizing in the armed forces it has been essential to contract out any number of
services formerly performed by uniformed personnel. There are over ten thousand
private contractors on the ground in Iraq.
Burns:
Lecture Notes:
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. The Nature of the Bureaucracy
A. A bureaucracy is a large organization that is structured hierarchically to carry
out specific functions. The ideal purpose of a bureaucracy is the efficient
administration of rules, regulations, and policies. Governments, businesses and
other institutions such as colleges and universities have bureaucracies.
B. Public bureaucracies are governmental bureaucracies that do not have a single
set of leaders in the way that private, or business bureaucracies do. The
purpose of a private sector company is to make a profit. A bureaucracy within
a company will attempt to administer the policies of the company to maximize
profits for the company. Unlike a private company, the government is
supposed to provide services to the public. A governmental bureaucracy is
concerned with administering policies that provide services to the people.
These fundamental differences between public and private bureaucracies make
comparisons difficult.
C. Analysis of how bureaucracies operate and how they should operate are often
based on the studies conducted by Max Weber (pronounced VAY-ber), a
famous sociologist. Weber’s studies indicate that all bureaucracies share
certain qualities.
1. Hierarchy - Every person who works in an organization has a superior to
whom they report.
2. Specialization - Workers have an area of expertise as opposed to being
knowledgeable about aspects of the organization.
3. Rules and regulations - Decisions are made based on set rules and treat all
people encountering the organization the same based on these formal rules.
4. Neutrality - Bureaucrats are supposed to administer the rules without bias,
no one should be given preferential treatment.
D. Models of Bureaucracy
1. The Weberian model views bureaucracy as a hierarchically organized model
with formal rules and regulations. Power flows from the top down.
Decisions are technical in nature. The focus is placed on rational unbiased
decision-making.
2. The acquisitive model is a view of bureaucracy where decisions are made
for the needs of the bureaucrats. Each division of the bureaucracy is most
concerned with protecting the “turf” of the department and expanding the
123
size of their budget. Once created an agency will continue to seek new
goals in order to justify the existence of the agency.
3. The monopolistic model views bureaucracy as the sole provider of a
service. Without competition, the department has little or no incentive to be
efficient, and they typically are not penalized for waste or inefficiencies.
II. The Size of the Bureaucracy
In 1789 the size of the federal bureaucracy was extremely small in comparison to
the size of the current bureaucracy. As Figure 12-1 in the text demonstrates, the
federal bureaucracy has grown considerably since that time. Most of this growth
has been the result of a continuing expansion of the role of the government. In
1789 there were few policies implemented by the federal government. Most
policies that affected the people were made by state governments. Today, the
services the population receives from the government are far more numerous than
in the time of the founders. Much of the growth in the federal government took
place following the implementation of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal
programs, which led the United States out of the Great Depression. New Deal
programs, like the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Works Progress
Administration required bureaucracies to administer them. Today, all Americans
benefit from government services and regulations daily. Chances are that the
government was involved in your life in many ways today. You may have driven to
school in automobile that was subject of many federal safety and environmental
regulations. You may have driven on federal highway, or a state road whose
maintenance was supported with federal funds. Chances are that your school
receives subsidies from the federal government, and some students attend with the
help of federal grants or federally-subsidized loans. Even the food you eat in the
cafeteria is subject to federal regulation to protect your health, and if you receive
mail today, it will have been delivered by a federal “bureaucrat” (also called a letter
carrier!)
III. The Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy
A. The cabinet departments are the fourteen major service organizations of the
federal government. The George W. Bush administration included the
following cabinet members as of April 2003:
DEPARTMENT
SECRETARY
Secretary of Agriculture
Ann Veneman
Secretary of Commerce
Don Evans
Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld
Secretary of Education
Rod Paige
Secretary of Energy
Spencer Abraham
Secretary of Health & Human Services
Tommy Thompson
Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
Mel Martinez
Secretary of Homeland Secretary
Tom Ridge
Secretary of Interior
Attorney General
Secretary of Labor
Gale Norton
John Ashcroft
Elaine Chao
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Secretary of State
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Treasury
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Colin Powell
Norman Mineta
Paul O'Neill
Anthony Principi
B. Independent executive agencies are governmental entities that have a single
function that is not part of a cabinet department. The director of the agency
reports to the president. Examples of such agencies include: Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) General Service Administration (GSA) and the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
C. Independent regulatory agencies are agencies outside the major executive
department charged with making and implementing rules and regulations to
protect the public interest. Examples include the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
D. Government corporations are agencies that charge the public for a specific
service. Examples of government corporations include: Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA); United States Postal Service; and AMTRAK.
IV. Staffing the Bureaucracy
A. Bureaucrats can be placed into two categories: political appointees and civil
servants. The president nominates individuals in the first category, and if the
Senate approves the individual, the president will appoint the person to the
bureaucratic position. The most important factor in this selection process is
political party. The overwhelming majority of presidential appointees are of
the same party of the president. These “political plums” are bestowed to
qualified individuals who typically helped the president get elected. The biggest
“plums” are ambassadorships. These are typically reserved for high
contributors to the president’s campaign.
B. Historically, the bureaucracy was staffed by individuals of the party of the
president. The first political party, the Federalists held the early positions for
the first twelve years of the government. When Thomas Jefferson was elected
he replaced many bureaucrats with members of his own party. Andrew Jackson
was credited, or blamed for furthering this tradition in 1828 with the so-called
spoils system. Jackson was faced with Jefferson’s “natural aristocracy”
bureaucracy. Many of these bureaucrats were unwilling to implement many of
his populist programs. So Jackson fired many officials, citing “to the victor
belong the spoils.”
C. Reform of the bureaucracy selection process began in 1883. The Pendleton Act
established the Civil Service Commission. Civil servants, the second category
of bureaucrats, are selected on merit not political affiliation.
D. Further reform came in 1939 with the passage of the Hatch Act. This act
prohibited civil servants from active involvement in political campaigns. It
sought to ensure a neutral bureaucracy, and sought to protect bureaucrats from
being pressured for political contributions by elected officials. While some
have complained that the Hatch Act violates the constitutional rights of civil
servants who wish to be politically active, the Supreme Court has ruled that the
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government’s interest in preserving a nonpartisan civil service was so great that
the prohibition should remain.
V. Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform
A. There have been a number of attempts at opening up the process of
administering policy and making the bureaucracy more efficient and responsive
to citizen needs.
1. Sunshine laws require agencies to conduct many sessions in public.
2.
Sunset laws require congressional review of existing programs to
determine its effectiveness.
3.
The privatization of services occurs when the government contracts
with the private sector for certain services, with the idea that some
services can be provided more efficiently by private firms. This practice
occurs more frequently on the local level.
B. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1997 seeks to improve
governmental efficiency by requiring government agencies to describe their
goals and create mechanisms for evaluating whether these goals have been met.
C. The Internet has also improved the efficiency of federal government. Now,
citizens can find information on government websites, and can communicate
directly with government offices via email.
D. The Whistle-Blower’s Protection Act is an attempt to encourage federal
bureaucrats to report waste and fraud within agencies. It established the Office
of Special Counsel to investigate complaints about government waste or
inefficiency.
VI. Bureaucrats as Politicians and Policy-Makers
A. Article I, Section One of the Constitution states, “All legislative Powers herein
granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States,...” Although
Congress has the power to legislate, it must rely on the executive branch to
administer the laws. When Congress enacts legislation that is very precise the
bureaucracy simply administers the law. However, it is rare that laws are so
precise, that there is no room for questions concerning the law. When Congress
passes a law that is vague in some respect, the task of the bureaucracy is to
eliminate the vague portion of the law by making policy decisions. If the
policy-making of the bureaucracy conforms to the desires of Congress there are
only minimal problems with the process. However, when the policy-making
decisions by the bureaucracy do not conform to the desires of many of the
members of Congress, there are major problems within the system.
B. Congress also creates enabling legislation, which delegates the power to
implement legislation to agencies. Through the creation of agencies like the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Occupational Safety and
Health Commission, Congressional agendas are implemented.
C. The rule-making environment will also include the federal courts if a party
challenges the decision of an agency or department. In deciding the case, the
courts assume the decision of the executive branch is valid unless the party
challenging the decision is able to prove the decision clearly violates the
parameters set forth by Congress in passing the law.
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D. In an attempt to reduce the number of court cases challenging administrative
decisions, the executive branch has encouraged interested parties to participate
in the drafting of administrative decisions concerning new laws enacted by
Congress. This is called negotiated rulemaking. While negotiated rulemaking
has not eliminated court cases of this nature, it has reduced the number of
challenges to administrative decisions in certain policy areas like the
environment.
E. The federal bureaucracy has become a major source for decision-making
concerning public policy. Since the bureaucrats have gained considerable
power in this century there has been a development of considerable controversy
concerning the proper role for such decision-making. An iron triangle, or a
three-way alliance among legislators, bureaucrats and interest groups, seeks to
make or preserve policies that benefit their respective interests. Advocates of
this theory assert that there is too much influence exerted by special interests
who gain the support of bureaucrats. The bureaucrats, then, no longer act as
impartial administrators. Instead, bureaucrats act as agents for the special
interests and attempt to influence Congress to enact laws that favor the special
interest. Furthermore, the committee structure in Congress perpetuates this
system. The members of Congress who serve on committees and
subcommittees are interested in gaining support for their constituents who
would benefit by the enactment of legislation favoring a particular special
interest.
F. Others assert that iron triangles do not fully describe the complex web of
relations between the executive and legislative branches and interest groups.
Most scholars now see the policy process as being one where issue networks
dominate. That is legislators, interest groups, bureaucrats, scholars and experts
and the media who share a position on a given issue may attempt to exert
influence on the executive branch, on Congress, on the courts or on the media
to see their policy position enacted.
VII. Congressional Control of the Bureaucracy
How much control of the bureaucracy Congress has is debatable. Some would
argue that control of the bureaucracy is up to the president, while others contend
the ultimate control is in the hands of Congress. Regardless of which view one
takes it is clear that the bureaucracy must answer to both the president and
Congress. Congressional control of the bureaucracy includes the establishment of
agencies and departments, the budget process, and oversight conducted through
investigations, hearings and review.
This chapter describes the nature of the federal bureaucracy and its personnel. It
clarifies the bureaucracy’s responsibilities, organizational structure, and
personnel management practices. This chapter also focuses on bureaucratic
policymaking and the ways in which agencies acquire the power they need in
order to maintain themselves and their programs. It examines the power
imperatives of the bureaucracy, and the related issue of bureaucratic
accountability. The main points of the chapter are:
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Bureaucracy is an inevitable consequence of complexity and scale.
Modern government could not function without a large bureaucracy.
Through authority, specialization, and rules, bureaucracy provides
a means of managing thousands of tasks and employees.
The bureaucracy is expected simultaneously to respond to the
direction of partisan officials and to administer programs fairly and
competently. These conflicting demands are addressed through a
combination of personnel management systems—the patronage,
merit, and executive leadership systems.
Bureaucrats naturally take an "agency point of view," which they
promote through their expert knowledge, support from clientele
groups, and backing by Congress or the president.
Although agencies are subject to control by the president,
Congress, and the judiciary, bureaucrats are able to achieve power
in their own right. The issue of bureaucratic power and
responsiveness is a basis of current efforts at "reinventing"
government.
Bureaucracy is a method of organizing people and work which is based on the
principles of hierarchical authority, job specialization, and formalized rules. As a
form of organization, bureaucracy is the most efficient means of getting people to
work together on tasks of great magnitude and complexity. However,
bureaucracy can also be inflexible and wasteful, which has led to numerous
attempts to reform it.
The United States could not be governed without a large federal bureaucracy.
The day-to-day work of the federal government, from mail delivery to provision of
social security to international diplomacy, is done by the bureaucracy. The
federal bureaucracy’s 2.5 million employees work in roughly 400 major agencies,
including cabinet departments, independent agencies, regulatory agencies,
government corporations, and presidential commissions.
Yet the bureaucracy is more than simply an administrative giant. Bureaucrats
exercise considerable discretion in their policy decisions. In the process of
implementing policy—which includes initiation and development of policy,
evaluation of programs, delivery of services, regulation, and adjudication—
bureaucrats make important policy and political choices.
Each agency of the federal government was created in response to political
demands on national officials. During the country’s earliest decades, the
bureaucracy was small, a reflection of the federal government’s relatively few
responsibilities outside the areas of national security and commerce. As the
economy became increasingly industrialized and its sectors increasingly
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interconnected in the late nineteenth century, the bureaucracy expanded in
response to the demands of economic interests and the requirement for
regulation of certain business activities. During the Great Depression, socialwelfare programs and further business regulatory activities were added to the
bureaucracy’s responsibilities. After World War II, the heightened role of the
United States in world affairs and public demands for additional social services
fueled the bureaucracy’s growth. Government agencies continued to multiply in
the 1970s in response to broad consumer and environmental issues as well as to
technological change. The bureaucracy’s growth slowed in the 1980s because of
federal budget deficits and the philosophy of the Reagan administration.
Because of its origins in political demands, the bureaucracy is necessarily
political. An inherent conflict results from two simultaneous but incompatible
demands on the bureaucracy: that it respond to the demands of partisan officials
but also that it administer programs fairly and competently. These tensions are
evident in the three concurrent personnel management systems under which the
bureaucracy operates: patronage, merit, and executive leadership.
The federal bureaucracy is actively engaged in politics and policymaking. The
fragmentation of power and the pluralism of the American political system result
in a policy process that is continually subject to conflict and contention. There is
no clear policy or leadership mandate in the American system, so government
agencies must compete for the power necessary to administer their programs
effectively. Accordingly, civil servants tend to have an agency point of view: they
seek to advance their agency’s programs and to repel attempts by others to
weaken their position. An agency perspective comes naturally to top-level
bureaucrats. Their roles, long careers within a single agency, and professional
values lead them to believe in the importance of their agency’s work. In
promoting their agency, civil servants rely on their policy expertise, backing of
their clientele groups and support from the president and Congress. When they
are faced with a threat from either the president or Congress, agencies can often
count on the other for support. Institutional rivalry, constituency differences, and
party differences are the chief reasons for conflict between the president and
Congress over control of the bureaucracy.
Because bureaucrats are not elected by the people they serve yet wield
substantial independent power, the bureaucracy’s accountability is a major issue.
The major checks on the bureaucracy are provided by the president, Congress,
and the courts. The president has some power to reorganize the bureaucracy,
appoints the political head of each agency, and has management tools (such as
the executive budget) that can be used to limit bureaucrats’ discretion. Congress
has influence on bureaucratic agencies through its authorization and funding
powers and through various devices (including sunset laws and investigative
hearings) for holding bureaucrats accountable for their actions. (See OLC
graphic, "Federal Bureaucracy: The Budget," at www.mhhe.com/patterson5). The
judiciary’s role in the bureaucracy’s accountability is smaller than that of the
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elected branches, but the courts do have the authority to force agencies to act in
accordance with legislative intent, established procedures, and constitutionally
guaranteed rights.
Nevertheless, the bureaucracy is not fully accountable. Bureaucrats exercise
substantial independent power, a situation that is not easily reconciled with
democratic values, particularly the principle of self-government. Efforts to
reconcile the conflicting requirements of bureaucracy and democracy must take
into account society’s interest in having both competent administration and
responsive administration.
Efforts are currently under way to scale down the federal bureaucracy. This
reduction includes cuts in budgets, staff, and organizational units, and also
involves changes in the way the bureaucracy does its work. This process is a
response to political forces and also new management theories.
The Bureaucracy
The Federal government is BIG—it employs nearly 2.7 million
civilian federal workers and 1.4 million uniformed military
personnel. The government spends $2 trillion in fiscal year 2002.
During Jefferson time just over 2000 people worked for the
government. We like the countless services the government
offers—postal services, national parks, food and drug inspections,
federal emergency relief, so on. But we dislike the idea of too
powerful and unaccountable big government and wasteful agencies
full of lazy, unimaginative workers.
Chief characteristics are continuity, predictability, impartiality,
standard operating procedures, and red tape—time consuming,
paperwork, indecisive, numerous rules and regulations.
Bureaucrats career government employees, work in the 15 cabinet
level departments, and more than 50 independent agencies.
Embracing 2000 bureaus, divisions, branches, offices, services,
and other subunits of government.
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The FIVE big agencies—Dept of Army, Navy, Air Force (all in the
Dept of Defense) the Dept. of Veteran Affairs, and the US Postal
Service, tower over the others in size.
Bureaucracy a rational, efficient method of organization—a body
of non-elected and non appointed officials in the executive branch
who work for presidents and their political appointees.
During earliest years—1789-1829, the federal service in America
was drawn larger from an upper class, white male elite. In 1829
Andrew Jackson called for greater participations by the middle and
lower classes. He introduced what was labeled as a spoils system,
which is characterized by the phrase “to the victor belong the
spoils” party loyalists should be rewarded and that government
would be effective and responsive only if supporters of the
president held most of the key federal posts.
In 1881, Congress passed the Pendleton Act (largely in response to
the assassination of Pres. James Garfield) it set up a limited merit
system based on a testing program for evaluating candidates.
Federal employees were to be selected and retained according to
their merit not their party connections. Federal service was placed
under the control of a three person board Civil Service
Commission (existed 1883-1978).
In 1978, the Civil Service Reform Act abolished the Civil Service
Commission and split its functions between two agencies. One
dealt with hiring, recruiting, and promotions the other
discrimination and grievances. I also created the Senior Executive
Service approximately 8000 career officials filled without
senatorial confirmation. Government salaries haven’t been able to
be competitive to compete with private sector clubs.
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Today Office of Personnel Management administers civil service
laws, rules, and regulations (www.opm.gov) which protects the
integrity of the federal merit system and the rights of federal
employees.
What Do Bureaucrats Do?
After Congress has passed and the president has signed a bill into
law, it must be implemented. Implementation of legislation is the
function of the executive branch, its bureaucracy, and in some
instances, state, county, and local governments.
How IS the Bureaucracy Organized?
Formal Organization: The executive branch department are headed
by cabinet member called secretaries (save Justice—attorney
general). Cabinet secretaries are directly responsible to the
president.
Bureau the largest subunit of a government department or agency.
e.g. Bureau of the Census in the Commerce Dept, the Forest
Service in the Agriculture Dept, the Social Security Administration
in the Dept of Health and Human Services, the United States Mint
in the Treasury Dept, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and National
Park Service, Bureau of Prisons in the FBI.
Government corporation Cross between business corporation and
a government agency.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation-- a cross between business corporation and
regular agencies.
Independent agency a government entity that is independent of
legislative, executive, and judicial branch. General Services
Administration, for example, operates and maintains federal
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properties, is not represented in the cabinet, but the director is
responsible to the White House and actions are closely watched by
Congress.
Independent regulatory board An independent agency or
commission wit regulatory power whose independence is protected
by Congress
Office of Management and Budget -primary task is to prepare the
president’s budget. It determines which programs will get more
funds, which will be cut, and which will remain the same.
The Hatch Act in 1939 Congress passed an act to prevent
pernicious political activities (Chief Sponsor) The purpose was to
neutral the danger of federal civil service from being able to shape
or dictate. In 1993, Congress with the encouragement of the
Clinton administration overhauled. Guidelines and Restrictions
Federal officials were banned from running as candidates in
partisan politics. Most could be involved in fund raisers and
campaigns in some agencies (save CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and
some IRS barred from all partisan activity.).
Iron Triangles---see Wilson notes
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