BUREAUCRACY
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Staffing the Bureaucracy
Modern Attempts at
Bureaucratic Reform
Iron Triangles
Article II, Section 2, Clause 1
The President. . .may require
the Opinion, in writing, of the
principle Officer in each of the
executive Departments, upon
any subject relating to the
Duties of their respective
Office.
What is a Bureaucracy?

Large, complex organization
Appointed not elected officials
 Hundreds government agencies

System of departments and divisions
 Key factors

Hierarchy of command
 Specialized division of labor
 Clear lines of authority , rules
 Merit based decisions

Constitutionally, executive branch is
responsible for enforcement of legislation
 Congress controls overall organization

Can create
 Can destroy


Founding Fathers had little to say about
executive branch agencies.
Take direction from legislative
 Responsible for selecting heads of nec. Depts.

Public Perception of Bureaucracies
Impersonal
 Inclined to follow rigid or complex
procedures
 May stifle effectiveness and innovation
 “red tape”
 gridlock

What is the Federal Bureaucracy?
http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/historical-tables/totalgovernment-employment-since-1962/

4.4 million employees

2.8 million - civilians or “civil servants”
President only appoints ~ 3%
 15 cabinet level departments
 200+ independent agencies

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
2000+bureaus, divisions, branches etc.
Biggest:
Defense, - 3.23 million ee’s
 US Postal Service - 546,000 (23,600 retire)

What are the functions of the
Federal Bureaucracy?
1.
Implementation
Carry out laws of Congress, exective orders of
the President
2.
Administration
routine administrative work; provide services
Social Security Admin - sends checks
3.
Regulation
Issue rules and regulations that impact public
EPA - sets clean air standards
How is the Federal Bureaucracy
Organized?
Consists of:
1. Cabinet Departments
2. Independent Executive Agencies
3. Independent Regulatory
Commissions
4. Government Corporations
Federal Bureaucracy
President
Executive
Office
of the
President
(Ex: OMB, NSC)
Congress
Cabinet
Departments
(Ex: State, Defense)
Independent
Executive
Agencies
(Ex: CIA, NASA)
Government Corporations
(Ex: Amtrack, Postal Service)
Independent
Regulatory
Commissions
(Ex: FCC, SEC)
The Cabinet Departments
15 departments - Created by Congress
 Headed by cabinet Secretary (except
Justice - Attorney General)
 Appointed by Pres., confirmed by Senate

Department head
 Advisor to President
 In line for Pres. Succession


60% of the workforce
Independent Executive
Agencies
Established by Congress
 Resemble cabinet dept


Narrower area of responsibility
Given a specific mandate and generally
perform a service function
 Not part of any cabinet department
 Ex: CIA, NASA, EPA, Social Security Ad.

Independent Regulatory
Commissions
Created by Congress
 Exist to regulate a specific economic
activity or interest


FCC, Federal Reserve Board, SEC
Operate independently from Congress
and the Pres.
 Once appointed and seated, cannot be
removed without cause.

Government Corporations
Government owned businesses
 Created by Congress
 May or may not be profitable
 Services a public need that could be
provided by private business.
 Ex: Postal Service, Amtrak, Tennessee
Valley Authority, PBS

Appointees /Civil Servants

Appointed positions considered “political
plums”
Often go to politically well connected
 Listed in the Policy and Supporting Positions
or the Plum Book


Rest of the employees belong to the civil
service

Obtain jobs through a formal process
Appointees
Suggestions solicited from politicians,
businesspersons and other prominent
individuals
 Often a way for president to pay off
outstanding political debts

Ambassadorships often used to reward
individuals for their campaign contributions
 All appointments have to be confirmed by the
Senate

Appointment errors
 Michael
Brown to head FEMA
• No experience in emergency planning and
relief efforts
 George
C. Deutsch to head NASA
• Did not graduate from Texas A&M as he
had indicated on his résumé
Political Appointees
Average term of service is less
than two years
 Many appointees are figureheads
 Civil servants who occupy permanent
staff may not feel compelled to carry
out their directives

• Know they will not be around long
Civil Servants
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97% are career government employees
who work in the executive branch
 Most are white collar workers: secretaries,
clerks, lawyers & engineers
 Pendleton Act: employees are selected by
merit standards

Tests
 Educational criteria
 Prevents employees from being fired for
political reasons

Difficult to discharge
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 Fewer
than .01% of federal employees
have been fired for incompetence
 Prevents implementation of dramatic
change
 How to fire a bureaucrat p. 323 table 9.2
• Easier to fire for misconduct than for
incompetence
How Bureaucrats Work
Not elected officials
 Usually outlast the president who so
heavily dictates public policy
 Since their department, agency,
commission etc. are created by Congress,
their decisions have the authority of law
 Discretionary power to make policies and
choose actions that are not spelled out in
advance by laws

American Bureaucracy

Divided supervision – 2 masters
Congress power to create, organize, destroy
 President constitutional authority to supervise

• Most agencies do not have direct contact


Encourages bureaucrats to play one branch
against the other
Counterparts at the state and local levels
PA Attorney General, Dept Agriculture, ED
 Complicated lines of authority/communication

Close public scrutiny – transparency
 Emphasis:

Am political culture
 Individual rights
 Defense against abuse by government
 Court challenges to agency actions 50% of
federal court cases


Regulation rather than public ownership
Who supervises the Federal
bureaucracy?

President:
Appoints and removes agency heads
 Reorganize
 Issue executive orders
 Reduce an agency’s budget


Congress:
Create or abolish agencies/departments
 Cut or reduce funding
 Investigate agency activities
 Hold committee hearings
 Pass legislation that alters agency functions
 Influence or fail to confirm presidential
appointments


Federal Courts:

Judicial review - rule whether the agency
acted within the law

Provide due process for individual affected
by a bureaucratic action
The real power in the Federal
Government? - 4th branch
Modern Attempts at
Bureaucratic Reform
Sunshine Laws
before 9/11
 1976
 All
- Sunshine Act
agencies headed by committee hold
their meetings in public
 Exception: court proceedings
personnel problems
 Sunshine laws exist at all levels of govt.
Sunshine Laws
after 9/11
Since 9/11 trend towards less information
disclosed
 Within weeks of 9/11 thousands of
documents were removed from Internet
by federal agencies

Diagrams of power plants
 Structural details on dams
 Safety plans for chemical plants


Military, FBI restricted info. regarding
current and planned activities

Once people begin to feel safe, will take
agencies to court demanding access to
the information - re-impose the Sunshine
Laws
Sunset Laws
Laws requiring that existing programs be
reviewed regularly for their effectiveness
and be terminated unless specifically
extended as a result of these reviews.
 Congress must reauthorize the program
or it would be terminated - its sun would
set
 Most laws do not have sunset clauses; in
such cases, the law goes on indefinitely.

Benefits of a Bureaucracy
Effective for large groups of people
 Reduction of conflicts over who makes
decisions
 Job specialization: promotes focus on
one job


Gain mastery of specialized skill
Downside of a Bureaucracy

Red tape: procedures or outcomes??
Complex rules and procedures
 All parts of organization must work together
 Result of bigness


Conflict
Agencies that work at cross purposes
 Agriculture research service tells farmers
how to grow crops more efficiently
 Agricultural stabilization & Conservation
service pays framers to grow fewer crops


Duplication


Custom Service & DEA both attempt to
intercept illegally smuggled drugs
Imperialism – unchecked growth
Tendency of agency to grow without regard to
benefits provided or cost incurred
 Seek vague goals, receive vague mandates,

• Take the broadest possible view of their power
• Dept. Trans. Required wheelchair lifts on all buses

Waste

Agency spends more than is necessary to buy
some product or service
• $300.00 hammer purchased by the military


What is the motivation to keep the costs down?
Accountability
Difficulty in firing or demoting incompetent
workers
p.323
 Oversight difficulty – size, structure, complexity

Privatization
Replacement of government services by
private sector
 Successful on local level

Trash collection
 Snow removal


US Defense Dept contracted out many
services in Iraq and Afghanistan
Cost savings through
E-government
Improved efficiency with which
government agencies deliver services to
public
 Web-sites to deliver information to public
 2003: federal agencies are required by
the Government Paperwork Elimination
Act to use electronic commerce whenever
it is practical

Whistleblowers
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Someone who brings to public attention
gross governmental inefficiency or an
illegal action
 1978 Civil Service Reform Act

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Prohibits reprisals
1989 Whistle-Blower Protection Act

Established commission responsible for
investigating complains and reprisals
Iron Triangles

When competing interests are in agreement,
Political Scientists call this an IRON TRIANGLE

Bureaucratic Agency forms ties with Interest
Groups who form ties with Legislative
Committees

EXAMPLE: Tennessee Valley Authority


Created in 1933
GOAL: Cheap electric power for economic
development in Tennessee
Ex: Defense Policy

1. Department of Defense - Bureaucratic
agency

2. Defense Contractors - Interest Groups

3. House & Senate Armed Services
Committees
Ex: Transportation Policy

Congress: Transportation Committee

Bureaucracy: Department of
Transportation

Interest Groups: Truckers Union, AAA
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EXCHANGES
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Bureaucratic Agency  Interest Groups
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Information regarding enforcement of laws
Share research process, findings
Access
Enforcement support
Bureaucratic Agency  Congress Comm.
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Budgetary support
Informed about issues being discussed
Access to leg process
Enforcement support
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Congress Comm.  Interest Groups
Tailoring legislation
 Access to legislative arena
 Keeping each other informed
 Electoral support
 Campaign contributions

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Create your own Iron Triangle

Follow instructions on work sheet
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Use pages 328, 251, 585 to help you get
started.
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