American Government: Bureaucracy

constraints

Agency Allies Iron triangle: A close relationship between an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group. Issue network: A network of people in Washington, D.C.-based interest groups, on congressional staffs, in universities and think tanks, and in the mass media, who regularly discuss and advocate public policies

Organization of congress: Caucuses

An association of congressional members created to advance a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest Some of the most important: Democratic Study Group The Congressional Black Caucus Caucuses keep members informed, attempts to negotiate with leaders of other blocs so that votes can be traded, and other activities

Congressional oversight

Authorization legislation: Legislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency Appropriation: A legislative grant of money to finance a government of money to finance a government program or agency. Trust funds: Funds for government programs collected and spent outside the regular government budget. The Appropriations Committees and Legislative Committees Legislative Veto Committee clearance: The ability of a congressional committee to review and approve certain agency decisions in advance and without passing a law Legislative veto: The authority of Congress to block a presidential action after it has taken place. The Supreme Court has held that Congress does not have this power

The federal bureaucracy today: Recruitment and Retention

Civil service is designed to recruit qualified people on the basis of merit, not favoritism (in theory) Competitive service: The government offices to which people are appointed on the basis of merit, as ascertained by a written exam or by applying certain selection criteria. Decentralization of the competitive service system has allowed for greater use of ways other than exams to hire employees. Caused by three things: Old system was cumbersome and often not relevant to the complex needs of the departments These agencies needed more professionally trained employees who couldn't be ranked on the basis of a standard exam Civil rights groups pressed to make the racial composition of the federal bureaucracy look more like the racial composition of the nation. Kinds of workers recruited into civil service have changed. Blue-collar employment has fallen while federal government's white-collar workforce has become more diverse.

Growth of the bureaucracy

Constitution allows for the president to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate: "ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law" No mention of departments or bureaus. 1789: Department of State established by James Madison to assist secretary of state (Thomas Jefferson) After long debate, it was voted that the Department of State, and all cabinet departments created thereafter, would be run by people removable only by the president. This was meant as a way for the president to control his subordinates. Didn't really answer who'd control the bureaucracy. Congress could appropriate money, investigate, and shape laws that governed the bureaucracy, but couldn't remove officials.

Federal bureaucracy today

Employment of private forms and state or local agencies that are supported by federal funds has skyrocketed. Three persons earning their living indirectly from the government for every one earning it directly. Department of Justice has seen huge growth, due primarily to the fact that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has grown substantially Discretionary authority: The extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies not spelled out by laws The bureaucracy derives most of its power from discretionary authority. By this measure, the power of the bureaucracy has grown as well due to the amount of authority being delegated to it increasingly by Congress Three areas of delegated authority: Paying subsidies to groups and organizations in society Transferring money from the federal government to state and local governments Devising and enforcing regulations for various sectors of society and the economy Some of the delegated authority is closely monitored by Congress, some isn't Before the 1930s, the bureaucracy was much more limited in the extent of authority delegated to it, now it exercises broad powers. Four factors that help explain how officials use their power: The manner in which they are recruited and rewarded Their personal attributes, such as their socioeconomic backgrounds and their political attitudes The nature of their jobs The constraints that outside forces—political superiors, legislators, interest groups, journalists—impose on their agencies

Proxy government

Government by proxy: Washington pays state and local governments and private groups to staff and administer federal programs. Legislators make laws, the executive branch appoints bureaucrats who often make sure laws are carried out, bureaucrats in turn pay other people to do this work The "other people" are often state and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Social Security, Medicare, environmental protection, tax collection, some military duties. Criticism: Don't know how to keep track of how the money given to public and private agencies is used. Congress could change this, but it has an interest in setting policies and defining goals, not managing the bureaucracy President and Congress like to keep size of federal bureaucracy small by giving jobs to people not on federal payroll Defenses: Flexible system, takes advantage of skills in private and nonprofit sectors, defends the principle of federalism But it results in weird quirks—many people receive government money without ever interacting with someone in the government.

Distinctiveness of us bureaucracy

Institutions and traditions in American life have created an "adversary culture." Government agencies here operate under closer public scrutiny and with a better chance of court challenges to its authority than other countries. In many other countries, decisions made by government agencies are uncontested in many cases. Also note: in many Western European nations, governments own and/or operate many services and companies (ex: French government owning companies that make cars, Italian government owning oil refineries) In the US, very few enterprises are operated or owned publicly, such as the telephone system or the automobile industry.

Firing a bureaucrat

Many civil servants who are not appointed by the presidency have jobs that are beyond the president's removal reach. This means that most people are not fired or demoted unless their superior is prepared to invest a great deal of time and effort in the effort. One way of bypassing this is to deny promotions, transfer people to undesirable locations, or assigning them meaningless work.

Growth of the bureaucracy:Appointment of Officials

Officials that presidents appoint affect how laws are interpreted, so the political ideology of the job holders is important Who gets appointed, and what their ideology is, also impacts the tone of the administration, and what things it will stress as being important. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Congress was the dominant branch and their preferences often heavily influenced who would be appointed by the executive branch. This in turn led to appointments being often given out as a form of patronage—rewarding supporters with jobs. The bureaucracy grew not necessarily because of the government taking on new jobs, but rather was more of a result of greater demands being placed on the government's existing duties. The Civil War was a defining moment in the growth of the bureaucracy. Fighting the war required many new officials to be hired, and revealed the administrative weaknesses of the federal government. Weaknesses were addressed and improved, which required further growth. Following the Civil War, a period of rapid industrialization took place, and a national economy emerged. The regulation of interstate commerce became a monumental task for Congress. Regulating alone required the creation of whole new departments and officials.

Agency's point of view

Personal Attributes Sabotaging Political Bosses Culture and Careers Constraints

The buddy system

Recruitment of civil service is more complicated and more political than laws and rules might suggest Name-request job: A job filled by a person whom an agency has already identified. In essence, people learn about a job from someone who already has a job in government, or the head of a bureau decides in advance who he or she wants to hire. There are still forms that need to be filled out, but it also names the person whom the agency wants to support for hire. Sometimes members of Congress themselves can insist on a hire when they are trying to reward supporters. This is the "buddy system" This system doesn't necessarily produce bad employees, but it does often result in people whose policy views are close to those in office being hired in greater numbers. Many times, this is based on party affiliation. Similar to the "old boys" system

Bureaucratic pathologies

Red tape: Complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done. Reform? Less central management More employee initiative Fewer detailed rules More emphasis on customer satisfaction

Distinctiveness of US bureaucracy

Three aspects of the United States' constitutional system and political traditions that makes its bureaucracy different from that of other countries. Political authority over the bureaucracy is shared among several institutions. In parliamentary systems, appointed officials of the national government work for cabinet ministers, who work for the prime minister. In the US, the president and Congress both exercise authority over the bureaucracy. Every appointed official answers to the executive branch and the legislative branch. Bureaucracies in America will often play the two branches against each other and make use of the media. Most of the agencies of the federal government share their functions with agencies in state and local government. Department of Education gives money to local school systems, Department of Health and Human Services reimburses states for money spent on healthcare and taking care of the poor, etc. In Parliamentary systems, programs run by the government are run almost entirely by the central government, not local government

Growth of the bureaucracy: A Change in Role

Today's bureaucracy is largely a product of two events: Depression in the 1930s, and President Roosevelt's New Deal program World War II Public attitudes and interpretation of the constitution in regards to the bureaucracy changed roughly in these periods. Government was expected to help deal with economic and social problems after this point, and Supreme Court rulings reflected changes in opinion. Federal incomes taxes were also used heavily to finance government, and there were few tax reductions after the war

Growth of the bureaucracy:A Service Role

Towards the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, many new federal employees were hired to work in the role of civil service. Performed research, statistical gathering, dispensing federal land, or passing out benefits. Several reasons why federal officials performed a primarily service-oriented role. Strong belief in limited government Importance of states' rights Fear of concentrated discretionary power Laissez-faire: An economic theory that government should not regulate or interfere with commerce. Strong commitment to this within the United States, especially during the 19th and early 20th century. This slowly changed over time, though, especially during wars. Wartime changes Number of civilian employees rose sharply, many not involved in the war effort. They were needed in other ways, and after the wars, the number of employees didn't drop by much. Government agencies argue that their activities have some sort of relation to the war, and legislators don't want to be identified as having voted against the war effort. 1944: Reindeer Service in Alaska, agency of the Interior Department, asked for more employees because reindeer are "a valued asset in military planning" Yes, someone actually said that