Part 1
• “[No] industrial society could manage the
daily operations of its public affairs without
bureaucratic organizations in which
officials play a minor policymaking role”
• –Norman Thomas
• Bureaucracy is an inevitable consequence of
compatibility and scale
• The bureaucracy is expected simultaneously to
respond to the direction of partisan officials and
to administer programs fairly competently
• Bureaucrats naturally take an “agency point of
view.” they seek to promote preserve their
agency’s program and power
• Although agencies are subject to scrutiny by the
president, Congress and the judiciary,
bureaucrats are able to achieve power in their
own right.
• Bureaucracy- A system of organization and control based on
the principles of hierarchical authority, job specialization, and
formalized rules
• Hierarchical Authority- A basic principle of bureaucracy that
refers to the chain of command within an organization whereby
officials and units have control over those below them
• Job Specialization- A basic principle of bureaucracy that holds
the representation should be explicitly defined and that a
precise division of labor within the organization should be
maintained
• Formalized Rules- A basic Principle of bureaucracy that refers
to the standardized procedures and established regulations by
which a bureaucracy conducts its operation
• Americans often think bureaucracy as a set of
rules and rigidity
• A Bureaucracy is a efficient and effective
organization
• Americans often equate the bureaucracy with the
Federal government
• Bureaucracy is found when large population and
tasks are needed to be managed
• All large scale organizations, public and private,
are in bureaucratic form
• Administrators function as a group, NOT
individually; their behavior is based on position,
specialty, and rule
• 2.5 million US employees in the federal
Bureaucracy
• Bureaucracy has more impact on Americans
than the President and Congress
• Examples: mail delivery, maintains national
forest and parks, administers social security,
builds dams and generates hydroelectric power,
enforces environmental protection laws,
develops the country’s defense, provides
school lunch programs, and regulated the stock
market
• 5 forms of organization: Cabinet
department, independent agency,
regulation agency, government's
corporation, or president commission
• Cabinet (Executive) department- the
major administrative organizations within
the federal executive bureaucracy, each of
which is headed by a secretary or, in the
case of Justice, the attorney generals.
Each department has responsibility for a
major function of the federal
government's, such as the defense,
agriculture, or justice
• Vary in size, visibility, and importance
• Department of State: one of the oldest and smallest,
25,000 employees
• Department of Defense: +600,000 civilian employees
separate from the 1.4 million uniform active service
members
• Department of Health and Human Service: largest
budget and spends ¼ of all federal spending
• Department of Homeland Security: formed in 2002
• Each department is semiautonomous- composed of
smaller groups- with labels of “bureau”, “agency”,
“division”, or “service.
• Example: department of justice is made up of the FBI
and other groups
• Independent Agency-bureaucratic
agencies that are similar to cabinet
departments but usually have a narrower
area of responsibility. Each agency is
headed by a presidential appointee who is
not a cabinet member. Example: NASA
and the CIA
• Independent agencies exist apart from
cabinet departments
• Regulatory Agencies- Administrative units, such as the
Federal Communication Commissions (FCC) and EPA,
that have responsibilities for the monitoring and
regulation of ongoing economic activities.
• Regulatory agencies are “independent” by virtue of their
relative freedom from political control
• Heads are presidential appointees, but cannot be
removed by the pres.
• Commissioners serve a fixed number of years, a legal
stipulation to free them from political interference
• EPA lacks autonomy- self-rule- and the head
presidential appointee can be removed by the pres.
• Government Corporations- Bodies that
are similar to private corporations in that
they charge for services but differ in that
they receive federal funding to help defray
expenses. Their directors are appointed
by the pres. With senate approval.
• Government's corporations include: US
postal service, Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC), Nat’l Railroad
passenger corporation (Amtrak),
• Presidential Commissions- organizations
within the bureaucracy that are headed by
commissioners appointed by the pres.
• Commission on Civil Rights and Commission on
the Arts
• Some Commissions are temporary to the specific
issue
• 2001 Pres. Bush established the President’s
commission to strengthen social security; to
study ways of reforming social security
• 2.5 million employees include professionals, service
workers (from the mailman to high supervisors).
• +90% are hired by merit criteria: education, experience,
Performance/ Competitive tests
• The majority of all federal employees are on the GS
scale for job ranking. (smallest g-1 highest g-18)
• The merit system prevents discrimination if partisanship
is present
• Public employees receive fringe benefits, full- health
insurance, secure retirement plans, and vacation & sick
leave
• Federal employees can form Labor Union, but have
limited authority; Government's maintains full control of
job assignments , compensation, and promotions
• Taft Hartley Act 1947- Prohibits striking by
federal employees and permits the firing of
workers who do strike.
• Example: President Reagan fired air-traffic
controllers on strike 1980
• The hatch act of 1939- prohibits civil servants
from holding key positions in election
campaigns
• 1993 Congress eased the prohibition and kept
prohibition for high-ranking career
bureaucrats
• Policy Implementation- The Primary function of
the bureaucracy; it refers to the process of
carrying out the authoritative decisions of
congress, the president, and the courts.
• The bureaucracy’s main function is policy
implementation
• Policy implementation is sometimes described as
“mere administration”, it is highly significant and
creative function
• Administrators create policy ideas that are
brought to the pres. Or members of congress
• Legislative Acts identify general goals, which
bureaucrats call specific programs
• The Telecommunication Act of 1996- To
promote competition and reduce regulation in
order to secure lower prices and higher
quality services for Americans
telecommunication consumers, and
encourage the rapid deployment of new
telecommunication technologies.
• The implementation of the Act was left for the
FCC to decide and promote competition.
• Rulemaking- Determines how laws will
work in practice; administrative agencies’
real power
• Agencies are responsible for the delivery
services
• Some agencies allow employees to be
discreet enough it can be described as
“street-level” bureaucracy
• The bureaucracy administers policy and
makes policy
• Agencies serve society and maintain
partisan interest, which is a constant
conflict
• This conflict describes the management
systems of bureaucracy: The patronage,
merit, and executive leadership systems.
• Patronage System- approach to manage the
bureaucracy whereby people are appointed to important
government's positions as a reward for political services
they have rendered and because of partisan loyalty
• Spoils System- Practice of granting public office to
individuals in return for political favors they have
rendered.
• The nations first 6 pres. (from G. Washington to John Q.
Adams) believed specific men should be allowed to
manage national government's.
• Andrew Jackson was the first pres. To believe the
government's should be administered by the common
people for a better public response
• The federal government's goal is defense and foreign
affairs, currency, Interstate commerce, and delivery of
mail
• Merit (civil service) system- approach to
managing the bureaucracy whereby people
are appointed to government's positions on
the basis of either competitive examinations of
special qualification, such as professional
training.
• Neutral Competence- The administration
objective of merit-based bureaucracy.
“neutral” in the sense that it operates by
objective standards rather than partisanship,
and “competent” in the sense that the
employees are hired and retained on their
• The Industrial revolution caused economic
shifts, and the people began looking at the
government's for help.
• 1889 congress created the Department of
Agriculture
• 1903 Congress created the Department of
Commerce and labor to promote the
mutual interest of the nation’s firm and
worker.
• 1930 federal employment was 600,000
and in 2010 employment reached 2.5
• The Great Depression caused formation for the
economic and social welfare agencies such as the
Securities and Exchange commissions (SEC) and
the Social Security Board, which was to promote
government's action in daily American lives
• 1883 the Pendleton Act established the merit(civil
service) system, which created the civil service
commission to establish job classification, administer
competitive examinations, and oversee merit
employees
• 1978 the Civil Service Commission got replaced by
The Merit Service Protection Board and Office
Personnel Management (OPM).
• A merit based bureaucracy is based on
neutral competence.
• Partisanship in beau racy is based on a
agency’s self-interest rather than political
group.
• Executive Leadership System- An approach to
managing the bureaucracy that is based on
presidential leadership and presidential
management tools, such as the president’s annual
budget proposal
• Pres. Provides the general leadership that
overcomes agency flaw and provide a common
direction
• The (OBM) was created to give the president
authority to coordinate the annual budgetary process
• The pres. Is authorized to develop the Executive
office other Pres., which supervises agencies on the
half of the pres.
• The pres.’s executive leadership weakens
System
Strengths
Weakness
Patronage
Makes the bureaucracy
Gives executive authority to
more responsive to election individuals chosen for their
outcomes by allowing the partisanship loyalty rather
president to appoint some than for their administrative
executive officials
or policy expertise; can
favor interests that
supported the president’s
election
Merit
Provides for Competent
Can result in fragmented,
administration in that
unresponsive
employees are hired on the administration because
basis of ability and allowed career bureaucrats are
to remain on the job and
secure in their jobs and
provides for neutral
tend to place the interest of
administration in that civil their particular agency
servants are not partisan ahead of those other
appointees and are
agencies or the nation’s
expected to work in even interest as a whole
handed way
System
Strength
Weakness
Executive Leadership
Provides for presidential
leadership of the
bureaucracy in order to
make it more responsive
and to coordinate and
direct it
Can upset the balance
between executive and
legislative power and can
make the president’s
priorities, not fairness or
effective management, the
basis for administrative
action.
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Common misperception: President has the sole claim on the bureaucracy’s
loyalty
President and Congress differ in their constituencies thus differing in the
interests to which they are most responsive
Since the president and congress are elected separately, the White House
as well as the two houses may consist of opposing parties
o
Agencies still find a way to operate successfully in this system, therefore they must seek
support where they can find it—if not from the president, then from congress
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-the tendency of bureaucrats to place the interests of
their agency ahead of other interests and ahead of the
priorities sought by the president or Congress
Administrators look out for their agency’s interests
Professionalism also cements agency loyalties.
Positions have been filled with scientists, engineers,
lawyers, and other professionals.
Bureaucrats believe in the importance of their agency’s
work
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Bureaucrats rely on their specialized knowledge, the
support of interests, and the backing of the president
and Congress
The Power of the Expertise:
Expert knowledge is essential to the development of effective
public policy
o Elected officials are generalists; members of congress do
specialize in their committee work; the president’s understanding
is much more general so Congress and president depend heavily
on the bureaucrats for advice and guidance
o
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The Power of Clientele Groups:
Clientele groups are special interest groups that benefit directly
from the activities of a particular bureaucratic agency and
therefore are strong advocates of the agency
o Agencies both assist and are assisted by clientele groups
o Many agencies were created for the purpose of promoting
particular interests
o
• The Power of Friends in High Places
o An agency’s resources—its programs, expertise, and
group support—can assist elected officials in their
efforts to achieve their goals
o Bureaucrats also seek help with the members of
Congress
o Iron triangles-permanent alliances that form among
agencies, clientele groups, and congressional
subcommittees
o Also, temporary issue networks form among
bureaucrats, lobbyists, and members of Congress
•
Americans tend to have an unfavorable impression of
the bureaucracy as a whole
• US bureaucracy compares favorably to government
bureaucracies elsewhere, but the performance of US
agencies is superior to counterparts in other
industrialized democracies. Ex: Postal service
• Bureaucracy is the antithesis of Democracy—they are
unelected and hold office indefinitely and make
decisions based on rules rather than debate
• Bureaucratic Accountability-the degree to which
bureaucrats are held accountable for the power they
exercise
•
Accountability through the Presidency
o
o
President can only broadly influence the bureaucracy
He cannot unilaterally eliminate an agency or its funding and
programs; however, he can apply management tools:
reorganization, presidential appointees, and the executive budget
• Reorganization
Agencies pursue independent and contradictory paths. Ex. Over 100
units responsible for different pieces of education
o Recent presidents tried to streamline the bureaucracy to make it
more accountable which greatly improve things but also produce
marginal gains
o Reorganization cannot fully correct the coordination problems
o
• Presidential Appointments
President does not have time to check the bureaucratic order, he
relies on political appointees in the agencies
o Some cases, presidential appointees have greater power than
some agencies, such as the Social Security Administration (SSA)
o
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Contrastingly, most regulatory agencies have broad discretion over
regulatory policy
• There are limits to what the president can accomplish through
appointments; the number of appointees lies in the hundreds with a
high turnover rate. The average appointee remains for two years not
allowing the president to keep track of them
• The Executive Budget
o
Presidents rely heavily on their personal bureaucracy, the EOP
 Key unit in it is the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
 Every agency consists of funding, programs, and regulations
 No agency can issue major regulation without the OMB’s
verification that benefits outweigh its costs
 OMB’s greatest influence over agency derives from its
budgetary role
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Congress can greatly influence the bureaucracy
Most substantial role: power to authorize and fund programs
Without authorization or funding, the program does not exist
They can exert control through oversight function where
they take decisive corrective action when agency is
interrupted. Here they hold hearings and interrogate
• Due to the oversight’s burdensome, the General Accounting
Office (GAO) holds responsibility to keep track of funds and
monitors what policies are being implemented
• Congress has also devised ways to constrain the
bureaucracy before it acts with the sunset law or drafting
laws that limit the bureaucrats’ options
•
Accountability through the Courts
Judiciary has less of a direct effect but can also ensure the bureaucracy’s
compliance or order and agency to change an application of a law
o Courts tend to support administrators, but the administration is flexible since
they can interpret legislation how they wish unless explicitly stated by Congress
o Judges recognize that constraints on bureaucracy must work mainly through the
president and Congress
o
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Accountability with the Bureaucracy Itself
o
Two measures to ensure accountability:
 Whistle-Blowing: and internal check on the bureaucracy whereby employees report instances of
mismanagement that they observe
 Demographic Representatives: the idea that the bureaucracy will be more responsive to the
public if its employees at all levels are demographically representative of the population as a
whole
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A wave of effort began in 1990s- sought to improve the
administration of government by the reduction of its size, cost,
and lines of authority
Reinventing Government- Osborne and Gaebler: bureaucracy
today was created in the response to earlier problems,
particularly the Industrial Revolution and spoils system
These ideas informed the Clinton administration’s National
Performance Review by creating laws requiring systematic
monitoring of agencies by efficiency, responsiveness, and
outcomes
But, there are limits on how much the federal bureaucracy can
be trimmed
How can the federal government be made more efficient and
accomplish all that American’s expect of it?
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Political socialization is the learning
process by which people acquire their
political opinions, beliefs, and values.
• Socialization process starts with the
family
o
It is a life long process
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Political socialization in the United States has
several major characteristics
o
Most political outlook is influenced by childhood
learning.
 Typically follow views of the parents
o
Cumulative in nature
 Early learning influences later learning
 Change in view is possible
 Normally after a catastrophic event
 Roosevelt and the New Deal
 Age-cohort tendency
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Families
Member of a political party because it is the party of
your parents.
o Having a voice in the family
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Schools
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Support in the nation
 Pledge of Allegiance
 Equality
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Mass Media
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Media affects people’s perception on the world
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Peers
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Political Institutions and Leaders
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Reinforce what people believe
Citizens look to political leaders and
institutions, particularly the president and
political parties as guides to opinion.
Churches
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Many believe that religion has the answer to
many of the world’s problems.
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Frames of reference that guide political thinking
of Americans- Why is this important?
o
The ways in which citizens think politically provide
clues about the way in which public opinion I likely to
affect government.
 Government should work more often reflecting public opinion,
than against it.
o
Shared frame of reference can bring citizens together
in the pursuit of a common goal.
 Exert political power
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Cultural Thinking: Common Ideas
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Americans embrace common ideals
 Liberty, equality, and individualism
Ideological Thinking: The Outlook of Some
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Ideology is a consistent pattern of political attitudes that stems
from a core belief.
 Socialism and Communism
 Four types of American ideologies
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Liberals
Conservatives
Libertarians
Populists
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Most Americans find groups to be more
important than ideologies.
o
o
o
o
o
o
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Religion
Class
Region
Race and Ethnicity
Gender
Age
Crosscutting Cleavages
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Most people identify themselves by
means of partisanship.
• Republicans and Democrats have views
that are at least somewhat different.
• Party identification refers to a person’s
ingrained sense of loyalty to a political
party.
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What impact does public policy have on
government?
o
People’s views ought to prevail on public
issues.
 It is difficult to put into practice.
 Size makes it impossible for the people to directly
formulate public policy.