Thursday March 6, 2014
• OBJ: SWBAT demonstrate their
understanding of the Federal Bureaucracy
and how it is funded by role playing a
budget committee.
• Drill: What problems can you see with
allowing the FB to continue?
• HW: Bureaucracy vocab, definition and
importance. You may work with a partner.
Due Monday
Review Quiz
Define/explain political socialization
– The process by which people develop their political
beliefs, ideology, and party affiliation
List the four elements/beliefs of American
political culture
– Liberty, equality, equal opportunity, democracy, civic
duty, individual responsibility
List the five factors that influence a person’s
political socialization (That we studied, not
the four from the review book)
– Family, media, major events, peers, education
Name any four cross-cutting cleavages
– Race, gender, region, age, religion
How Bureaucracy Works
• Authority mostly from Congress
– Congressional intent
– Delegation of details; often ambiguous
– Administrative discretion
• Report to President & OMB
– Executive orders (Affirmative Action)
– OMB and regulatory oversight
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•
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Congressional oversight & budget
Court orders (e.g. ADA & Supreme Court)
Responsiveness to the public
Too many masters?
Civil servants in the federal bureaucracy may
sometimes successfully resist presidential
initiatives because
A. They can go directly to Congress with their budget
requests
B. They have more opportunities to influence public
opinion than the president does
C. They are directly responsible to Congress, but not
to the President
D. They may not be removed from office for political
reasons
E. They have influence over the president through
campaign contributions
Which of the following is true of independent
regulatory commissions?
A. They exercise quasi-legislative, quasi-judicial, and
executive functions.
B. They each form part of one of the 14 cabinet-level
executive departments.
C. They regulate certain parts of the federal
bureaucracy.
D. They are directly responsible to the President.
E. They were created by the executive branch to help
execute federal law.
Congress oversees the agencies in the executive branch
in all of the following ways except:
A. Giving any one job to more than one agency, keeping
any single agency from becoming all powerful
B. Influencing the appointment of agency heads.
C. Authorizing money that may be spent on a given
program by an agency
D. Holding hearings to question possible agency abuses
E. Firing agency heads, cabinet secretaries, and White
House staff
The president may exercise authority over the
executive branch agencies in all of the following
ways except:
A. Appointing people who support his point of view to
senior executive levels
B. Issuing executive orders to agencies
C. Exercising authority through the Office of
Management and the Budget
D. Appointing federal court justices to investigate
alleged wrongdoing of an agency
E. Reorganizing or combining agencies to reward or
punish them
Congressional oversight is primarily carried out
by:
A. Committee staff dealing with the staff of a
bureaucratic agency
B. Committee hearings on budget and
performance issues
C. Committee chairs contacting agency heads
via memo
D. The White House congressional liaison
speaking with committee members
E. The committee chair contacting the president
Bureaucratic characteristics include all of
the following except:
a. Hierarchy
b. Extensive rules
c. A division of labor
d. Specialized tasks
e. Patronage system for promotion
What criticisms and
compliments do the
cartoonists have for the
National Aeronautics
and Space
Administration (NASA)
and its programs?
What criticisms and compliments does the cartoonist have for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its
programs?
Congress can control the bureaucracy through its
oversight powers. Legislative oversight by
Congressional committees and subcommittees
could include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Creating or abolishing a department
Spreading out responsibility for a job to several agencies
Authorization of the maximum amount of money an
agency may spend on a program
Appropriation of funds, usually less than is authorized,
but is the amount the agency gets for that fiscal year.
Setting the statutory authority (laws/rules) for an agency
Rejecting Presidential appointments to lead agencies
Requesting a government audit by the GAO
Conducting hearings to investigate actions taken or not
taken
II. The President can control the bureaucracy by:
•
Appointing agency heads and sub-heads---contingent on Congressional
approval
•
Issuing Executive Orders
•
Using the “bully pulpit” and “going public” to gain public support for
changes
•
Calling for a special commission to review an issue
•
Using staff to pressure bureaucrats
•
Allowing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to cut or
increases funding---contingent on Congressional approval
•
Reorganizing or combining agencies---contingent on Congressional
approval their boss. Created an office of special counsel where federal
workers can "tattle" on their bosses and have their job protected.
III. The courts can control the bureaucracy by:
•
Ruling on actions taken by agencies (Using the power of Judicial
Review, more on this soon!)
•
Protecting due process rights of those impacted by a bureaucratic
decision
IV. The people can control the bureaucracy through:
– Enforcing the Administrative Procedures Act (1946): Requires the
public to be notified of any new rule change, allow comments to be provided,
and hearings to be held.
– Complying with the Freedom of Information Act (1966): Allows citizens
the right to inspect all government records except those containing classified
military intelligence.
– Enforcing the Open Meeting Law (1976): Requires that part of every
meeting must be open to the public unless military secrets are being
discussed.
– Enforcing the Hatch Act: Prohibits federal employees from taking an active
role in politics. Bureaucrats can't:
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•
•
•
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run for public office
fund raise for politicians during work
discourage political activity
Bureaucrats can
vote and assist in voter registration
contribute money to campaigns
campaign off duty
hold elected office in political parties
V. Bureaucrats can regulate themselves by:
• Invoking the Whistleblower Protection Act (1989): Made it easy for
a bureaucrat to report wrong doing on the part of
• One person speaks at a time
• Congresspersons may ask questions and follow up
questions
• All Congresspersons must ask a question before someone
else can ask a second question
• The more narrow the question, the better the response
• All NASA members must answer a question before
someone else can answer a second question
• NASA people may only answer questions, they may not ask
them
• A second NASA person may assist with an answer only if
they are recognized by the chair of the committee
• NASA officials cannot take the 5th, this is not a criminal
investigation
• The oversight hearing should last 30 minutes. Go through
the issues methodically. Ending early means that you did
not read the information or you want a bad grade.
Congress
1
1
2
2
NASA
3
4
3
4
II. The President can control the bureaucracy by:
•
Appointing agency heads and sub-heads---contingent on
Congressional approval
•
Issuing Executive Orders
•
Using the “bully pulpit” and “going public” to gain public
support for changes
•
Calling for a special commission to review an issue
•
Using staff to pressure bureaucrats
•
Allowing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
to cut or increases funding---contingent on
Congressional approval
•
Reorganizing or combining agencies---contingent on
Congressional approval
III. The courts can control the bureaucracy by:
•
Ruling on actions taken by agencies (Using the power of
Judicial Review, more on this soon!)
•
Protecting due process rights of those impacted by a
bureaucratic decision
IV. The people can control the bureaucracy through:
– Enforcing the Administrative Procedures Act (1946): Requires the public to
be notified of any new rule change, allow comments to be provided, and
hearings to be held.
– Complying with the Freedom of Information Act (1966): Allows citizens the
right to inspect all government records except those containing classified
military intelligence.
– Enforcing the Open Meeting Law (1976): Requires that part of every meeting
must be open to the public unless military secrets are being discussed.
– Enforcing the Hatch Act: Prohibits federal employees from taking an active
role in politics. Bureaucrats can't:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
run for public office
fund raise for politicians during work
discourage political activity
Bureaucrats can
vote and assist in voter registration
contribute money to campaigns
campaign off duty
hold elected office in political parties
V. Bureaucrats can regulate themselves by:
• Invoking the Whistleblower Protection Act (1989): Made it easy for a
bureaucrat to report wrong doing on the part of
Is Congress effective in exercising legislative oversight
of the federal bureaucracy? Support your answer by
doing one of the following:
Explain two specific methods Congress uses to exercise
effective oversight of the federal bureaucracy
OR
Give two specific explanations for the failure of
Congress to exercise effective oversight of the federal
bureaucracy.
Budget Committee
• Half of you are Congressmen working on
the budget committee, the other half work
for NASA and are trying to fight for your
budget.
• Read your scenario.
• Look over the documents, create your
questions/arguments.
• We will have a mock budget hearing.
Wrap Up
• What was your main argument?
• Why do you think government agencies
have trouble keeping or increasing their
operating budget?
• How do decide which agencies deserve
funding?