Bureaucracy
Learning Objectives: Bureaucracy
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Defining Bureaucracy
Historical Development of the Bureaucracy
Politics vs. Administration
The President is not their boss…
Political Control of the Bureaucracy
Departments, Agencies, and Government Corporations
How the Texas “fractured” Executive impacts the state
bureaucracy
Key Terms: Bureaucracy
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Spoils System
Merit
Bureaucrats
Whig Theory
Garfield Assassination
Civil Service
Pendleton Act of 1883
Politics-Administration Dichotomy
Devolution
Privatization
Glass Ceiling
Cabinet Departments
Independent Agencies
Adjudication
Administrative Discretion
•Hatch Act 1937
•Administrative Procedures Act 1947
•Neutral Competence
•Reinventing Government
•Quasi-Judicial Power
•Regulatory/Policing Power
•Civil Service Reform Act 1978
•Senior Executive Service (SES)
•Office of Personnel Management
•Collective Bargaining
•Affirmative Action
•Independent Regulatory Agencies
•Government Corporations
•Rule-Making
The Bureaucracy
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What is Bureaucracy?
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A complex, hierarchically arranged organization composed
of many small subdivisions with specialized functions
Bureaucracy means “rule by officialdom”
Bureaucracy is complex
Bureaucracy is hierarchical
The Bureaucracy
• Five Functions of Bureaucrats
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Implement the law
Provide expertise
Provide research and information to the President
Provide research and information to Congress
Quasi-judicial powers and responsibilities
The Bureaucracy
• A few myths about Bureaucrats
– They’re appointed by the President and can be fired by the
President
– Only about 9,000 out of 3,000,000 civilians employees of the
Federal Government are appointed by the president
– Of those, only about 3,000 – 5,000 could conceivably be fired
by the President (unless they massively violate the conditions
of employment – PATCO strike of August 1981)
The Bureaucracy
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A few more myths about Bureaucrats…
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They’re paper-pushers
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Only about a half million government employees have characteristically
bureaucratic positions such as clerk or general administrator
The government employs about 147,00 engineers and architects, 84,000
scientists, and 2,400 veterinarians
They work in Washington DC
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Only about 10% of government civilian employees work in Washington
D.C
Most work in the federal government
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About 22% of government employees work for the federal government
The Bureaucracy
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History of the Bureaucracy
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The Whig Theory (1780s – 1828)
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The idea that public service was domain of an elite class.
Families had a tradition of public service.
The Spoils System (1828 – 1883)
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Andrew Jackson used government jobs or “patronage” to reward
supporters and to remove elitists from the bureaucracy
The Bureaucracy
• History of the Bureaucracy
– The Civil Service System (1883 – Present)
• Garfield’s Assassination 1881
• The Pendleton Act (Civil Service Reform Act of 1883) established the
principle of employment on the basis of merit and created the Civil
Service System to oversee the hiring and firing of government
employees
• Professor Max Weber’s ideas (1870s)
• Professor Woodrow Wilson’s ideas (1880s)
• The Progressive Era and Bureaucratic Reform
• Calls for “neutral” competence and expertise
The Bureaucracy
• History of the Bureaucracy
• The Civil Service System (1883 – Present)
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New Deal reforms
The federal bureaucracy grew tremendously
FDR and political control issues
Hatch Act of 1937
• Post WWII and beyond
– The need for technological expertise
– The need for control
– The “thickening” of government
The Bureaucracy
• History of the Bureaucracy
• The Civil Service System (1883 – Present)
• Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
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Jimmy Carter’s “Greatest Domestic Policy Achievement”
Created the Office of Personnel Management
Revised and expanded the Grade (“GS”) system
Created the Senior Executive Service
The Bureaucracy
• Issues for bureaucracy today:
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Diversity and ”Glass Ceiling” Issues
Technological Competence
Privatization
“Devolution”
“Re-inventing Government”
The Bureaucracy
• Which branch controls the bureaucracy?
– The Executive branch with chief executive?
– The Legislative branch with the budget?
– The Judicial branch with the judges/justices that interpret the
Constitution?
• Answer: All and None…
The Bureaucracy
• Political Control of the Bureaucracy
• Congressional mechanisms
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Power of the purse
Revision of empowering or limiting statutes
Senate approval of certain appointees
Threats of hearings and investigations
The power to create or destroy agencies
• Presidential mechanisms
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Appointment power
Budget proposal
Reorganization of bureaucratic structure
Executive orders
• Judicial mechanisms
– Judicial Review
The Bureaucracy
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The Shape of the Federal Bureaucracy
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Cabinet Departments
Independent Agencies
Independent Regulatory Agencies/Commissions
Government Corporations
Major operating departments of government
headed by the “Secretary of...” except Justice,
which is headed by the Attorney General
The Bureaucracy
• The Executive Branch Departments in order of creation:
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State (1789)
Defense (1789)
Treasury (1789)
Justice (1789)
Interior (1849)
Agriculture (1862)
Commerce (1913)
Labor (1913)
Health & Human Services (1953)
Housing and Urban Development (1965)
Transportation (1966)
Energy (1977)
Education (1979)
Veterans’ Affairs (1988)
Homeland Security (2002)
The Bureaucracy
• Independent Agencies
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Administered by a presidential appointee with no fixed term
Responsible for narrower set of functions than department
• Some are housed in departments
– Social Security Administration is part of HHS, Coast Guard
is part of Transportation
• Others are independent of any department
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Examples include The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA)
The Bureaucracy
• Independent Regulatory Agencies and
Commissions
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Independent of any department or agency
Each headed by a group of 5 - 10 commissioners who are
appointed by president to fixed terms and not subject to
removal by president
Example include the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) and Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
The Bureaucracy
• What Government Agencies and
Commissions Do:
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Agency investigations
Rule making
Adjudication
Informal actions
The Bureaucracy
• Government Corporations
– Permits organizations to use businesslike method and remain
politically independent
– Run by boards of directors appointed by President to long
terms
– Examples include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC), the Student Loan Management Authority (SallieMae)
and the U.S. Postal Service
The Bureaucracy
• Reasons for the growth of Federal
Bureaucracy
– We have over 3 million federal bureaucrats paid for by the
taxpayers
– Issues and problems require more expertise today because
society and technology is so complex
– The size of our nation in both geographic size and population
leads to more bureaucrats
– Americans demand more services from their government,
requiring the use of more people to provide those government
services
The Bureaucracy
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Bad Things That Bureaucrats Do…
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Bureaucracies will try to expand authority
Bureaucracies will try to develop political constituencies
Bureaucracies will fight over jurisdiction
The “spend it or lose it” mentality
Bureaucracies will expand their internal work
Bureaucracies will become paternalistic and aloof
“The Peter Principle” – incompetence always rises to the top…
Who’s to blame when there’s a problem?
Texas Bureaucracy
• Appointed Boards and Commissions
• Administrative Departments
– Responsible for implementing policies:
• Texas Department of Criminal Justice
• General Land Office
• Texas Department of Agriculture
• Lottery Commission
• Texas Department of Transportation
Texas Bureaucracy
• Appointed Boards and Commissions
• College and University Boards of Regents (e.g., UT, A&M, etc.)
– Nine members serve six-year overlapping terms
• Licensing Boards (e.g., Nursing, Cosmetology)
– Licenses various professions
• Regulatory Boards (e.g., PUC, TEQC)
– Regulates various industries
– Set rules for operations pursuant to laws
• Social Service Agencies (e.g., CPS, Texas Employment
Commission)
– Promotion of certain social groups
• Promotional and Preservation Agencies (e.g., Texas Historical
Society)
– Provides economic development or preserves the state’s historical heritage
Texas Bureaucracy
• Administrative Politics - The Legislature
– All state agencies that are not established by the Constitution
are creations of the legislature
– Sweeping legislative power
– The difficulty of vigorous oversight
– Oversight mechanisms
– Sunset review
– Legislative Budget Board
Texas Bureaucracy
• Administrative Politics - The Governor
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Appointment power
Far reaching but limited
Budget power
The line-item veto
• Administrative Politics - Interest Groups
– Every program and the agencies that administer them have several interest
groups
– Rallying support
• Administrative Politics – Bureaucrats
– Bureaucrats have particular goals
Review Questions
• What was the Spoils System? Why was it so detrimental to
government?
• What was the Pendleton Act? What was the Hatch Act? How do
these two acts impact the federal bureaucracy?
• What is the difference between a cabinet department, an
independent agency, a independent regulatory agency, and a
government corporation?
• What was the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978? Why Did
President Carter think it was so important?
• What is Reinventing Government?
Discussion Questions
• Why was Garfield’s Assassination so important in understanding
the reform of the Federal bureaucracy?
• What were the political implications of removing bureaucrats
from politics? Should we be concerned about the partisan politics
of the folks in the Driver’s License office?
• What exactly is Reinventing Government? What were the
accomplishments of the Vice President Gore’s National
Performance Review?
• What impact do issues like diversity, affirmative action, and the
glass ceiling have on making bureaucracy at all levels reflect the
face of America?
• Do regulatory agencies have too much power? Consider the
curious case of Martha Stewart…