 Politics and the Public Interest
 Politics and the Public Interest
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Which came first, the chicken or the Hatch Act?
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Whatever happened to Wilson’s Politics/Administration Dichotomy?
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Was Weber right? Can the bureaucracy become a well oiled machine?
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Do you like Wilson’s “Few Modest Suggestions that May Make a Small Difference?”
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Is Caiden right? Do we risk the loss of liberty and civilization if we take neutrality too far?
 The Big Three
 Federal Public Administration Legislation That You Should Know!
 Pendleton Act - 1883
 Hatch Act - 1939
 Civil Service Reform Act - 1978
 The Big Three
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Federal Public Administration Legislation
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Pendleton Act - 1883
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Chet Arthur
US Civil Service Commission
Job Related Competence
Civil Service Reform Act - 1978
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Jimmy Carter
Senior Executive Service
Merit System
First major reform since 1883
 The Hatch Act of 1939
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The “Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities”
Prohibited Political Activity by Federal Employees
Was originally aimed at
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Protecting, not stifling, employees
creating a more merit based system
Was VERY stringent: No active participation in campaigns, period.
 The Hatch Act Revisions
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1939, 1940, 1966 Prohibited any active participation in political campaigns
1972 DC District court rules unconstitutional
1973 Supreme Court overrules; Act upheld
1990 Repeal/revision passed; Bush I vetoes
1993 Repeal/revision Passed; Clinton Signed
 The Hatch Act Today
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Federal Employees may not run for public office or solicit campaign contributions from the general
public
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Much greater flexibility including allowing employees to take part in party leadership
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Is an elected official a federal employee?
 A question for you to ponder…
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How involved should an administrator be in the “politics” of her program?
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Public Information
Public Advocacy
Legislative Monitoring
Lobbying
Are the taxpayers paying you to convince lawmakers to spend more of their money?
David and Goliath
 Will We Ever Be Free of Politics?
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Partisan (Party) Politics
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“Big D, Big R”
Local Politics
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Is it ALL local?
Non-partisan
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Is a non-partisan election also non-political?
Inter-agency turf wars
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You can’t serve those people; those are my people!
Office Politics
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Where’s a good label when you need one?
 “The Difference Between Neutral and Mindless”
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Gerald Caiden
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What are the weaknesses of neutrality?
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What is his conclusion about the concept of neutrality?
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Bureaucracy and the Public Interest
 James Q. Wilson
 Paying the Price
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Have we “paid a price for having emphasized rules and constraint to the neglect of task and
mission?” (p. 470)
Do you agree that “detailed regulation, even of public employees, rarely is compatible with energy,
pride in workmanship, and the exercise of initiative?” ( p. 471)
Can we “deregulate government?” (p. 471)
 “De-regulate government”
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- Gives 5 pieces of advice:
1) Know culture/mission of your agency
2) Negotiate essential vs. marginal constraints
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3) Match authority and control of resources to tasks.
4) Judge by results - (Review the study design example.)
5) Recognize that these are government/political system problems, not agency problems.
 James
Q. Wilson
Bureaucracy and the Public Interest
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- Key areas:
p.474-475- demonstration project model
p.476 - discussion of how US political system affects PA
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“Not designed to be efficient or powerful, but to be tolerable and malleable”.
p.476 - The paradox of rules and openness.
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Note - this reading is an excerpt from a much larger book by Wilson.
 Application
 Can you apply some of these theories to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security?
 Unit 4 Readings:
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Text:
 Stillman - Inside Public Bureaucracy p. 180
 Wilson - Bureaucracy and the Public Interest p. 469
Handouts:
 Josephson - Six Pillars of Character
 The ASPA Code of Ethics
 The Difference Between Neutral and Mindless (Caiden)
Cases:
 Case – “They Had a Plan” page 422 Stillman
 How Kristin Died p. 64
 Bluestone - handout
PowerPoint Outlines are on the Web
Web Item of Interest Due Dec. 11th!
The Final is Test 4 for Unit Four and then a Comprehensive Section.
Tues, Dec. 16th 10:30-12:30