The Federal Bureaucracy

The Federal BureaucracyMax Weber Bureaucracy Characteristics • Hierarchical authority structure – chain of command• Task specialization –

individuals have unique jobs, division of labor

• Extensive rules – clear policies for the organization to follow

• Clear goals – clearly defined mission

• Merit principle – hiring and promotion based on qualities, no jobs for favors

• Impersonality – performance judged on productivity

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

The Department of Motor Vehicles; a good example of

impersonality

Large, complex organization of appointed, not elected, officials

• “bureau” – French for small desks, referring to the king’s traveling business men who set up small desks in town squares

• Bureaucracy = “government of small desks”

The Federal Bureaucracy

The Federal BureaucracyMax Weber• Famous early 20th

century German economist

• Bureaucracy – well organized, complex machine that is a “rational” way for society to organize its business

The Growth of The Federal Bureaucracy

The Federal Bureaucracy has only one task—to faithfully execute all the laws

The Framers believed that the bureaucracy would be relatively small and left most of the details up to the

president and Congress

The Spoils System• Federal bureaucracy

was originally drawn from an elite group of upper-class white males

• Proclaiming “to the victor belongs the spoils,” Andrew Jackson awarded federal posts to party loyalists• Known as patronage

The Growth of The Federal Bureaucracy

The Growth of The Federal BureaucracyThe Civil Service• The Pendleton Act (1883)

created the federal civil service • Civil Service system --

workers are selected according to merit, not party loyalty

• The 0ffice of Personnel Management (OPM)• Administers civil service laws

and regulations• Is in charge of hiring for most

federal agencies

The Growth of The Federal BureaucracyEffects of Civil Service Reform• Govt. employees are much more competent• Creating nonpartisan civil service means insulating

workers from risk of being fired when new party comes into power; this means it’s pretty hard to fire anyone

• Hatch Act (written 1939; renewed 1993): employees are prohibited from active participation in partisan politics

The Growth of The Federal BureaucracyWhy? Society has become increasingly complex• Science and technology• (NASA) is an example

• Business regulation• think -- The Jungle

• Social welfare• Civil War (veteran pensions)• Great Depression• income security and social services to

Americans in need • Ambitious administrators• top agency officials look for new ways to serve

clients, which in turn leads to new programs, larger staffs, and larger budgets

The Growth of The Federal BureaucracyConstraints• Typical govt. bureau can’t hire, fire, build, or sell w/o

going through statutory procedures• Administrative Procedures Act (1946): agency must

give notice, solicit feedback, hold hearing before adopting new rule/policy

• Freedom of Information Act (1966): agency must allow all citizens to inspect their records

• National Environmental Policy Act (1969): agencies must issue environ. impact statements

• Privacy Act (1974): keeps citizens’ records confidential• Open Meeting Law (1976): all parts of all meetings

must be open to public• Biggest constraint: Congress rarely gives any single job

to any single agency

Federal and State EmployeesThe federal bureaucracy includes all of the agencies, people, and procedures through which the federal government operates• There are

approximately 2.7 million civilian and 1.4 million military federal employees

• Half of all the civilian federal employees work for the department of defense and an additional 28 percent work for the postal service

Federal and State Employees• Federal government employees currently account

for 3 percent of all civilian jobs• Number of federal government employees has

remained constant since 1950• The number for state and local government

employees has steadily increased since 1950• Block grants have contributed to the widening

gap between the number of federal and state employees by shifting resources from the federal government to state and local government

• Federal mandates have also shifted more responsibility to states, causing an increase in the number of their public employees

Not So Big by Comparison

The Federal Bureaucracy: Organization and Key Functions

Cabinet Departments• There are 15 cabinet departments• Exception of Justice (headed by the Attorney

General), each department is headed by a secretary

• All 15 heads are chosen by the president and approved by the Senate

• Treasury Department has authority over the printing of currency

• Cabinet secretaries often develop a strong loyalty to their departments• Cabinet members are often not close

presidential advisors

The Federal Bureaucracy: Organization and Key Functions

Independent Regulatory Agencies• Created to protect the public by regulating key

sectors of the economy• Best known independent regulatory agencies• Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)• National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)• Federal Reserve Board (FRB)

• Independent regulatory agencies are led by small commissions appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate• Note commissioners cannot be removed by

the Senate during their terms of office

The Federal Bureaucracy: Organization and Key Functions

The Federal Reserve Board• Federal Reserve Board’s Primary responsibility is to

set monetary policy• Monetary policy includes setting bank interest

rates, controlling inflation, regulating the money supply, and adjusting bank reserve requirements

• Federal Reserve Board has great independence• This freedom removes monetary policy from

politics• As a result, the Federal Reserve Board is

usually able to use its economic expertise to develop monetary policies without undue interference from political parties and interest groups

The Federal Bureaucracy: Organization and Key Functions

The Government Corporations• Government corporations provide a service that

could be provided by the private sector• Best Known --• Corporation for Public Broadcasting• Tennessee Valley Authority• Amtrak• U.S. Postal Service

The Federal Bureaucracy: Organization and Key Functions

Independent Executive Agencies• Independent Executive Agencies include most of

the non-cabinet departments• Examples –• National Aeronautics

and Space Administration (NASA)

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Implementation and RegulationImplementation• Implementation is translation of policy goals

into rules and standard operating procedures• Break down• conflicting goals• faulty program design• lack financial resources• fragmentation of responsibilities• 46 agencies for counterterrorism ==

Office of Homeland Security (2001) • Congress provides federal agencies with general

mandates• Discretion to set specific guidelines for a

given problem or situation

Regulation• Regulation is the use of governmental authority

to control or change practices in the private sector

• Supreme Court first upheld the right of government to regulate businesses in Munn v. Illinois (1877)

• Reagan / Bush1 federal government deregulated or lifted a number of restrictions on business• Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB)

Implementation and Regulation

Implementation and RegulationRegulation v. Deregulation• Conservatives say: regulation has become too

burdensome, inhibits business, personal freedom• Regulation raises prices!• Regulation hurts our competitiveness overseas!• Regulation doesn’t always work; gov’t can be

dumb!• Liberals say: regulation is vital to prevent abuse,

corruption, public fraud• There is often environmental damage due to

deregulation!• Remember the savings and loan bailout, mid-

1980s? Deregulation caused that!• Remember the financial meltdown of 2009?

Deregulation!

The President and The Bureaucracy Appointments• Presidents have power to appoint senior agency

heads and subheads• Enables president to exercise influence over

an agency• President’s power limited• Senate has power to approve president’s

appointments• Agency heads often develop a strong loyalty

to their departments / do not aggressively purse a president’s policy agenda

The President and The Bureaucracy Executive Orders• Directive, order, or regulation issued by

president• Based on constitutional or statutory authority

and have force of law• 9066 -- Interment

Economic Powers• President may use Office of Management and

Budget to cut or add to an agency’s budget• REMEMBER -- Congress has the sole power to

appropriate funds to an agency

Congress and the BureaucracyDivided Authority• Divided supervision in which both president /

Congress exercise authority over the federal bureaucracy• Creates checks and balances while at the

same time often encouraging agencies to play one branch of government against the other• Defense appropriations

Congress and the BureaucracyOversight• Congress responsibility to exercise legislative

oversight over the federal bureaucracy• Oversight methods:• Budgetary control • Holding hearings and conducting

investigations• Reorganizing an agency• Setting new guidelines for an agency

Interest Groups and The BureaucracyIron Triangles• Alliance among an administrative agency, an

interest group, and a congressional committee to make or preserve policies that benefit their respective interests• Each member provides key services,

information, or policy for the others• So pervasive and powerful often called

subgovernments

BUREAUCRACY

CONGRESS

INTEREST GROUPS

Interest Groups and The BureaucracyIssue Networks• Coalition of interest groups and people who join

together to advocate for a specific problem and for changing a government policy that pertains to that problem

• Alliances created through an issue network make it possible for people to join together on their issue to create change in government policies that pertain to that issue

Interest Groups and The BureaucracyIssue Networks• Members of issue networks usually are political

executives, government officials, public servants, scholarly analysts, reporters, members of foundations and White House staff members

• Need for different professions is essential for an issue network to function, because many types of expertise are needed to change existing policy