Bureaucracy

What is a bureacracy?

- A bureaucracy is a way of administratively organizing large numbers of people who need to work together. Organizations in the public and private sector, including universities and governments, rely on bureaucracies to function. - Even though bureaucracies sometime seem inefficient, setting up a bureaucracy helps ensure that thousands of people work together in compatible ways by defining everyone's roles within a hierarchy. - A system where decisions are made through different departments. It generally means a form of government that has lots of rules, regulations, and paperwork. As a result, it can be slow and complicated.

Independent Executive Agencies

- A collection of all the agencies that don't fit into the cabinet departments, independent regulatory commisions, or government corporations

Hatch Act

- A federal law prohibiting gov't employees from active paticipation in partisan politics while on duty or for employees in sensitive positions at any time. - While off duty they may engage in political activities, but they cannot run for partisan elective offices or solicit contributions from the public. - Employees with sensitive positions, such as those in the national security area, may not engage in political activities even while off duty. - The other side to this is that you cannot be dismissed from your job based on political views

Government Corporations

- A government organization that, like business corporations, provides a service that could be delivered by the private sector and typically chrges for its services. The U.S. Postal Service is an example.

Patronage

- A system in which jobs and promotions are awarded for olitical reasons rather than for merit or competence. - It used to be that working in a congressional campaign, making large donations, and having the rigt connections helped people secure jobs with the gov't. Nineteenth- century presidents staffed the gov't with their friends and allies.

Free enterprise

- A system in which private businesses are able to compete with each other with little control by the gov't. - A capitalist economy can regulate itself in a freely competitive market through the relationship of supply & demand with a minimum of governmental intervention and ergulation - gov't places very few restrictions on the types of business activities or ownership in which citizens participate

Civil service

- A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to creat e a nonpartisan gov't service - All those employed in gov't adminstration excepted in the armed forces, legislature, or judiciary

Iron triangles

- Also known as subgovernments, a mutually dependen, mutually advantageous relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees. Iron triangles dominate some areas of domestic policymaking - Agencies' strong ties to interest groups on the one hand and to congressional committees on the other further complicate efforts to control the bueraucracy. It is difficult to make policy independent of each others when the 3 are mutually dependent. - Iron triangles are characterized by mutual dependency in which each element provides key services, information, or policy for the others.

Issue network

- An alliance of various interest groups and individuals who unite in order to promote a common cause or agenda in a way that influences gov't policy. - These networks have led to more widespread participation in bureaucratic policymaking.

Demographics of bureaucrats

- Average 47 years old, 48% college graduates, 57% male, 66% white. - The bureaucacy is more broadly representative of the American people than are the members of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the gov't

Civil servant vs. bureaucrat

- Bureaucrats have a negative connotation and have been criticized as being too complex, inefficiet, or too inflexible (red tape). Civil servants have a positive connotation and reflect service to humanity, flexibility, innovation. - Bureaucracy is the procedures of government which the civil service carry out- all the rules and regulations of day to day administration. Civil service is the workforce employed by the gov't to carry out its duties.

Independent regulatory commissions

- Each independent regulatory commission has the responsibility for making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest in a prticular sector of the economy, as well as for judging disputes over these rules. - Governed by a small numbe rof commissioneres, usually 5 to 10 members ppointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. - Designed to be somewhat insulated from the influence of politics. Their independence makes them less responsive to the president and Congress than other agencies.

Examples of independent regulatory commissions

- FCC: Federal communications commission- regulating TV, radio stations, and the internet - FTC: Federal trade commission- regulates business practices and monopolitic behavior, policies accuracy of advertising - SEC: Securities and exchange commission - police the stock market - NLRB: National labor relations board- labor management relations - FRB: Federal reserve board- govern banks, regulation supply of money and interest rates

What do bureaucrats do?

- Gov't bureaucrats perform a wide variety of tasks. Their job is to implement government policy, to take the laws and decisions made by elected officials and put them into practice. Some bureaucrats implement policy by writing rules and regulations, whereas others administer policies directly to people (such as distributing small business loans or treating patients at a veteran's hospital). - Congress passes laws, but it cannot follow through on all the little decisions that have to be made as the law is translated into actions. Bureaucrats, then, may make policies and choose actions that are not spelled out in advance by laws. - Most of them take a written examination administered by the Office of Personnel Management and they meet selection criteria, such as training, education levels, or prior experience. - The variety of people who work for the federal bureaucracy is greater than most people realize. They may do scientific research, clerk in welcare offices, decide burn policies for national forests, or do undercover intellgidence work. - Bureaucrats play various roles in modern society, by virtue of holding administrative, functional, and managerial positions in the gov't. They carryout the day-to-day implementation of enacted policies for central gov't agencies, such as postal services, education/healthcare administration, and various regulatory bodies.

Bureaucracy and democracy

- In democratic theory, popular control of government depends on elections, but we could not possible elect the millions of federal civilian and military employees. - The fact that voters do not elect civil servants does not mean that bureaucracies cannot respond to and represent the public's interests. - Bureaucrats are more representative of the American people than are elected officials.

Private corporation

- Incorporated firm whose shares are not publicly traded, and are held by small number of stockholders

Cabinet departments

- Major adminstration units with responsibility for broad area of government - Each is headed by the secretary (except department of justice who is headed by attorney general) which is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate - each depatment manages specific areas and budgets

How to get a civil service job

- One has to pass a test. For each open position, the OPM will send the top 3 candidates to the agency currently hiring, and one will be selected for the job. The OPM has elaborate rules about hiring, promotion, working conditions, and firing. If they pass, their names are sent to aggencies when jobs requiring their particular skills become availble.

How do presidents try to control the bureaucracy

- Presidents try to impose their policy preferences on agencies Methods include: 1) Appoint the right people to the head of the agency - Putting their people in charge is one good way for presidents to influence agency policy 2) Issue orders - Presidents can issue executive orders to agencies. These orders carry the force of law and are use to implement statues, treaties, and provisions of the Constitution ex: George W. Bush issued executive orders creating a new cabinet position to coordinate homeland security and a Homeland Security Council, authorizing the ecretatories of the navy, army, and air force to call up reservists for active duty, lifting a ban on the CIA engaging in political assassination, and establishing military tribunals to try terrorists. 3) Alter an agency's budget - The office of Management and Budget is the president's own final authority on any agency's budget 4) Reorganize an agency

Private sector/public sector

- Private sector is he part of the national economy that is not under dierct gov't control - Part of a country's economic system that is run by individuals and companies, rather than the government. Most private sector organizatinos are run with the intention of making profit. - Larger in free enterprise economies, such as the United States, in which the gov't imposes relatively few restrictinos on business - The segment of the economy under the gov't control is known as the public sector. Ex: Military, polic, public roads, bridges, tunnels, water supply, public transit, public education, health care - Charities & non profit organizaions are considered to make up the third segment, known as th evolunteer sector. Private sector examples: privately owned small businesses, large multinational corporations that exert considerable economic and political influence (Ford, Home depot, Apple)

Executive orders

- Regulations originating with the executive branch. Executive orders ar eone method presidets can use to control the bureaucracy. - Congress & potus have responsibility for making the bureaucracy responsive to elected officials

Office of Personnel Management

- The OPM is in charge of hiring for most federal agencies, usig elaborate rules in the process. The president appoints its director, who is confirmed by the Senate.

Administrative discretion

- The exercise of professional expertise and judgement, as opposed to strict adherence to regulations or statues, in making a decision. A discretionary action is informatl, and therefore, unprotected by the safeguards inherent in formal procedure. - Some administrators exercise more discretion than others. Street level bureaucrats have a lot of discretion (police officers, wlfare workers, lower court judges). No amount of rules, not even thousands of pages as with IRS rules, will eliminate the need for bureaucratic discretion on some policies. Ex: It is up to the highway patrol officer who stops you to choose whether to issue you a warning or ticket

Example: regulating food

- The fact that we rarely think about food safety is testimony to the success of bureaucrats in carrying out their tasks - The EPA oversees pesticides on crops, the Centers for Disease Control and prevention track food-related illnesses, an dthe department of homeland security coordinates agencies' safety and security activities. - Congress created the system layer on top of layer, with little regard to how it should work as a whole. Some critics argue that the system is outdated and that it would be better to create a single food safety agency that could target inspections, streamline safety programs, and use resources more efficiently. However, such proposals have generated little enthusiasm in Congress, where committees are sensitive about losing jurisdiction over agencies.

Merit principle

- The process of promoting and hiring gov't employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than their political connections. - Designed to ensure fair/open recruitment and competition and employment practices free of politica linfluence or other nonmerit factors.

Policy implementation

- The stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy and the consequences of the policy for the people affected. Implementation involves tanslating the goals and objectives of policy into an operation, ongoing program - In other words, implementation is a critical aspect of policymaking. - Congress typically announces the goals of a polyc in broad terms, sets up an administrative appratus, and leaves the bureaucracy the task of working out the details of the program

Bureaucracy and the scope of the government

- To many, the huge American bureaucracy is the prime example of the federal gov't growing out of control. - One should keep in mind, however, that the federal bureaucracy has not grown over the past 40 years. Moreover, since the population of the country has grown significantly over this period, the federal bureaucracy has actually shrunk in size relative to the population it serves. - Originally, the fed bureaucracy had the modest role of promoting the economy, defending the country, managing foreign affairs, providing justice, and delivering the mail. Its role gradually expanded to included providing serviecs to farmers, businesses, and workers. - With social and economic changes in th US, a variety of interests placed additional demands on the gov't - We now expect gov't-- and the bureaucracy-- to play an an active role in dealing with social and economic problems.

deregulation

- the lifting of government restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities - The idea behind deregulation is that the number and complexity of regulator policies have made regulatino too complicated and burdensone. Apparently, regulation has raised prices, hurts America's competitive position abroad, and doesn't work well.

How congress controls the bureaucracy

-Congress exhibits a paradoxical relationships w/bureaucracies. On the one hand, members of Congress may find a big bureaucracy congenial. Big government provides services to constituents, who may show their appreciation at the polls. Moreover, when Congress lacs the answers to policy problems, it hopes the bureaucracies will find them. On the other hand, Congress has found it challengig to control the gov't it helped create. Ways of control: 1) Influence the appointment of agency heads 2) Alter an agency's budget 3) Hold bearings - Committees and subcommittees can hold periodic hearings as part of their oversight responsibilities, and in these hearings they may parade flagrant agency abuses of congressional intent in front of the press. 4) Rewrite the legislation or make it more detailed

Regulation

-The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector - Regulations by gov't, filling hundreds of volumes, pervade Americans' everyday lives and the lives of businesses, universities, hospitals, and other institutions. - Congress gives bureaucrats broad mandates to regulate activities as diverse as interest rates, the location of nuclear power plants,and food additives - Almost every regulatory policy was created to achieve some desirable social goal.

List four prevalent myths about bureaucracy

1) Americans dislike bureaucracy 2) Bureaucracies are growing bigger every year 3) Most federal bureaucrats work in Washington DC 3) Bureaucracies are ineffective, inefficient, and always mixed in with red tape

4 types of bureaucratic agencies

1) Cabinet departments 2) Independent regulatory commissions 3) Government Corporations 4) Independent executive agencies

3 elements of policy implementation

1) Creation of a new agency or assignment of a new responsibility to an old agency 2) Translation of policy goals into operational rules and development of guidelines for the program 3) Coordination of resources and personnel to achieve intended goals

Which elements does a bureacracy depend on?

1) Hierarchical authory structure (power flows from the top down and responsibility flows from the bottom 2) Uses task specialization so that experts instead of amateurs perform technical jobs 3) Develops extensive rules (Standard operation procedure, SOP). SOP informs workers about how to handl tasks and situations. Everybody always follows the same procedures to increase efficiency and perdictability so that the organization will produce similar results in similar circumstances. SOP can sometimes make bureaucracy move slowly b/c new proceduers must be developed as circumstances change. 4) Merit principle, in which entrance and promotion are awared on the basis of demoonstrated abilities rather than "who you now 5) Bureaucracies behave with impersonality so that they treat all clients impartially.

Implementation failures

1) Program design - Congress passed a bill to gurantee haelth insurance when people change/lose jobs, yet the law has been ineffective b/c insurance companies often charge these individuals premiums far higher than standard rates and thus they cannnot afford the insurances 2) Lack of clarity - Broad policy. No clear means of implementation. Congress passes bill w/o thinking about implementation, then blames the bureaucracy when it fails 3) Lack of resources - Head start program can only serve half of the children who are eligable to participate due to lack of resources. 4) Lack of authority - FDA is responsible for the prescription drugs it regulates, but lacks authority to test the drugs itelf and must rely on the manufacturer 5) Administrative routine - Most bureaucrats follow the Standard Operating Procedures. This rigidity makes new policy implementation difficult/impossible. 6) Administrator's dispositions - Bureaucrats are given administrative discretion, allowing them to select among various responses to a given problem. Some street-level buraucrats, those who are in constant contact with the public, exercise even more discretion than most bureaucrats, making policy implementation challenging 7) Fragmentation - many responsibilities fall under the direction of several departments, so new policies are hard to enforce across departments - the federal government has 96 agencides involved with the issue of nuclear prolifertion.

In what ways are government corporations like private corporations and different from other parts of the government

1) Provide a service that could be handled by the private sector 2) Charge for their services through often at rates cheaper than what the consumer would pay

Red tape

An idiom that refers to excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered or bureaucratic and hinders/prevents actino or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations.

How civil servants are protected by the civil service system

Protecting all workers against political firings is a pre- requisite for a nonpartisan civil service. It may also protect a few from dismissal for a good cause.

Diversity of bureaucratic jobs

The diversity of bureaucratic jobs mirros the diversity of privaate-sector jobs. Ex: accountants, bankers, electricians, home economics, judges, kitchen workers, lawyers, narcotics agents, radiologists, truck drivers, x-ray techncians, zoologists

discretion

The freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation

Civil servant

A person in the public sector employed for a government epartment or agency. About 90% of all federal bureaucrats are hired under regulations of the civil service system.

Privatization

A political philosophy of devolution, or the transfer of certain powers from the federal gov't back to the states.

General Schedule rating

A schedule for federal employees, ranging from GS 1 to GS 18, by which salaries can be keyed to rating and experience

Incentive system

An alternative to command and control, with marketlike strategies such as rewards used to manage public policy

Senior executive service

An elite cadre of about 9,000 federal gov't managers at the top of the civil service system. GS 16- 18.

Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883

Passed in 1883, an act that created a federal civil service so that hiring and promotion would be based on merit rather than patronage.

Standard operation procedure

Step by step set of instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations.

Command and control policy

The typical system of regulation whereby government tells business how to reach certain goals, checks that these commands are followed, and punishes offenders ex: making excessive amounts of pollution illegal