Executive Branch and
Bureaucracy
The working part of the government
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current students. No other person may use or reprint without his permission.
Bureaucracy
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What is the modern bureaucracy?
How did we get the modern bureaucracy?
What does the U.S. bureaucracy do?
What can go wrong with bureaucracies?
How does the U.S. system try to prevent
problems with the bureaucracy?
Bureaucracy
• “The complex structure of offices task rules
and principles of organization that are
employed by all large-scale institutions to
coordinate effectively the work of their
personnel.” --Max Weber (1864-1920)
Some things are inherently public goods
• Public goods
– national defense
– police
– roads
– public schools
– libraries
– clean air
– parks
– And lots of other things
Collective Action Problems:
• Societies under-produce non-exclusive collective
(public) benefits because individuals have no incentive
to contribute when they can enjoy the benefits without
personal cost (“free riders”).
• Self-interested individuals would not have national
defense police roads public schools libraries clean air
etc.
• Self-interested individuals would not be able to pay for
any public benefits.
• Governments and bureaucracies are one way modern
societies produce and pay for collective benefits.
What sorts of tasks do
bureaucracies do?
• If there is a profit in something, some
corporation or individual will produce it for
profit.
• If it is a simple, small-scale task, people or
small groups can solve it for themselves
What sorts of tasks do
bureaucracies do?
• Usually unprofitable to individuals to produce
(but a public good that we all benefit from)
• Large-scale and complicated tasks
• Is it fair that bureaucracies have to do some of
the most difficult tasks in our society?
Growth of Modern State
• Patronage System
– “To the victor go the spoils”—Andrew Jackson
• Merit system and Reforms
– Pendleton Act 1883
• Progressive Era (1880-1920s)
• Great Depression and WWII (1930-40s)
• Great Society (1960s)
Types of Bureaucracies
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Departments
Independent Agencies
Regulatory Boards
Government Corporations
Duties
• Implement policy
• Regulate
– (administrative discretion)
• Information
• Data collection
Other Issues
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Performance
Openness
Neutral Competence
Politicization
Iron Triangles
Oversight
Other Issues
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Performance
Openness
Neutral Competence
Politicization
Iron Triangles
Oversight
Iron Triangle
Term describing when the bureaucratic organization clientele groups
and congress seek to control policy and prevent outside intervention.
Oversight of the Bureaucracy
• President
• Congress
• Courts
Oversight of the Bureaucracy
• President
– Chief Executive
– Appoint top officers
– Centralize decisions
– Reform reorganize and abolish
Oversight of the Bureaucracy
• Congress
– Budget
– Confirmation
– Hearings and investigations
Oversight of the Bureaucracy
• Courts
• Citizens and States can take bureaucracies to
court
– Unconstitutionality
– Failure to act on legislative directive is opposed to
the mission of the agency?