The Bureaucracy

1. The Bureaucracy • Bureaucracy – a large, complex organization composed of appointed officials, where authority is divided among several departments. • United States has three aspects of constitutional system and political traditions • 1. Political authority over the bureaucracy is shared among several institutions rather than placed into one set of hands. This contrasts with systems such as the British one, where the prime minister rules supreme (in theory).

2. Max Weber • German sociologist Max Weber saw bureaucracies as hierarchical and rigid, drawing their power from their expertise. • He said political leaders are in no position to argue with bureaucrats who have more information. • American bureaucracy today is not totally as Weber describes it, although bureaucracies do prefer secrecy to investigation by the press, courts, and Congress. But they also know that secrecy may cause embarrassing disclosures at a later date, and that the president and Congress have other sources of information.

3. Bureaucracy • 2. Most agencies of the federal government share functions with related agencies in state and local government • 3. American institutions and traditions have given rise to an “adversary culture,” one where personal rights are given central importance. In other words, we argue more with every decision made by the government • Laissez-faire -

4. Growth of the Bureaucracy • The Constitution makes no provisions for such a system. • James Madison introduced a bill to create a Department of State to assist the Secretary of State in carrying out duties. What’s important is that the people appointed to the department were nominated by the President and approved by Senate, but they were “to be removable by the president” alone. A big debate started about whether or not the president should be given the sole power to fire subordinates.

5. Appointment of Officials • The officials selected have to be considered in a bunch of fronts: • political ideology: affects how laws are interpreted. • personal character: affects the tone of the administration. • competence: affects how well public business is discharged. • party affiliation: affects how strong the political party in power is. Appointments were often influenced by congressional preferences and patronage Spoils System – the practice of giving the fruits of a party’s victory, such as jobs and contracts to the loyal members of that party

6. Service Role • The idea that federal officials should perform primarily a service role persisted for a long time. The commitment to laissez-faire (freely competitive economy) was held. Also the Constitution said nothing about giving regulatory powers to bureaucrats. It only gave those powers to Congress. Congress couldn’t really regulate because it would be much too complex. As late as 1935, both Congress and Supreme Court felt that regulatory agencies could not make rules on its own.

7. Service Role • During wartime these restrictions were set aside. President Woodrow Wilson was given many regulatory powers from Congress. • Though most powers ended with the war, some persisted. Federal agencies kept growing through all the wars. The argument was that the agencies, which persisted, had some connection to the war effort, and seldom did anyone desire to vote against the war effort

8. Change in Role • The bureaucracy we have now is a product of the Depression and World War II. Since then, the government has played an active role in dealing with economic and social problems. • 16th Amendment allowed Federal Government to tax income in 1913, which increase Governments spending • For example, World War II marked heavy use of the federal income tax to finance activities. After the war, there was no substantial tax reduction, in the belief that the gov’t should “remain ready.”

9. Federal Bureaucracy Today • The power of the bureaucracy can be determined by the amount of discretionary authority (the ability to act and make policies not spelled out by the law) given to appointed officials. By this measure, the federal bureaucracy has grown enormously. • Congress has delegated authority to administrative agencies in three main areas: • 1. paying subsidies to particular groups (farmers, schools, hospitals, etc.). • 2. transferring money from the federal to the state and local governments (e.g. grant-in-aid programs).

10. Federal Bureaucracy Today • 3. devising and enforcing regulations for various sectors of society and the economy. • These powers must be used carefully. Generally, four factors determine the behavior of the officials in using these powers: • How they are recruited and rewarded. • Personal attributes (socio-economic backgrounds, political party, etc.). • Job nature. • Constraints from outside forces (lobbies, journalists, Mafia, etc.).

11. Recruitment and Retention • Competitive Service – was a service that was set up to test candidates for Federal Bureaus. • Office of Personnel Management(OPM)- would set up the test and the agency would hire according to these test • 1950’s – 86 % of people were hired on competitive service • 1996 – 52% of people were hired on competitive system

12. Recruitment and Retention • Under 3 % of people are appointed by these ways • 1. Presidential appointments authorized by stature (e.g. ambassadors, cabinet and federal judges) • 2. Schedule C jobs – confidential or policy-determining character – ( executive assistants, special aids) • 3. Noncareer Executive Assignments (NEA jobs) given to members deeply involved in promoting presidential programs or participating in policy-making.

13. Pendleton Act • Pendleton Act – Transfer of federal jobs from the patronage to the merit system. • The Pendleton Act was made easier to pass because of examples such as • 1. Public outrage over abuses of the spoils system, further accentuated by the assassination of President James Garfield by a “disappointed office seeker” • 2. The fear that if Democrats came to power on a wave of anti-spoils sentiment, existing Republican officeholders would be fired.

14. The Buddy System • Another way to circumvent the merit system is by the name-request job. Basically, an agency that has already identified a person for a position submits a form describing a job to the OPM. On the same form is the name of the person who they want for the job. They can even make the job description so specific so that only that person qualifies for it.

15. Firing a Bureaucrat • The employee must be given written notice at least thirty days in advance. • The written notice must contain a statement reason • The employee has the right to an attorney and to reply, orally or in writing to the charges • The Employee has the right to appeal any adverse action to the Merit System Protection Board • The MSPB must grant a employee a hearing • The employee has the right to appeal the MSPB decision to the Supreme Court

16. Constraints • One of the biggest constraints is that Congress never gives a single job to a single agency. Thus: • Action is slow. • Action is inconsistent. • Action is blocked rather than taken. • Lower-level employees hesitate to make decisions. • Citizens complain of red tape • Red Tape- complex rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done.

17. Agency Allies • Iron Triangles and Issue Networks • Iron Triangles: a mutually dependent relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees • Exist independently of each other • Some argue they are being replaced by wider issue networks that focus on more than one policy

18. However, iron triangles have declined due to the growing complexity of Congress—the fact that agencies are subject to many interests instead of just one, the fact that subcommittees bring a single committee under the control of many different legislative groups, and the fact that courts make it easy for others to interfere. • So now, instead of iron triangles, we have issue networks, which is a whole bunch of things mashed together. Usually, a president, upon taking office, will recruit those members of the network most sympathetic to his view.

19. Understanding Bureaucracies

20. Congressional Oversight • Congress Tries to Control the Bureaucracy • Influence appointment of agency heads • Senate must approve presidents apt. • Alter an agency’s budget ( 1974 Budget Reform Act) • Hold oversight hearings Rewrite legislation or make it more detailed

21. Congressional Oversight • The Appropriations Committee and Legislative Committees • In the past, the Appropriations Committee was rarely challenged due to the enormous power they wielded: they had the power of “marking up” (revising), amending, and approving the budget. • committee has lost some of its power in three ways: • 1. Trust funds, which pay for many benefits, operate outside Appropriations. • 2. Annual authorizations mean that the legislative committees must re-authorize the budget of several agencies, and decreases the limit-setting power of Appropriations. • 3. Budget deficits during the ‘80s and early ‘90s meant that Congress often set target-spending limits without Appropriations consent.

22. The Legislative Veto • The legislative veto- is a requirement that an executive decision must lie before Congress for a specified period (30-90 days) before it takes effect. • Congress Could then veto the decision if a resolution of disapproval was passed by either house or both house. • Supreme Court can declare that veto unconstitutional

23. Bureaucratic Pathologies • There are five major (or frequently mentioned) problems with bureaucracies: • Red tape: complex rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done. • Conflict: agencies seem to be working against other agencies. • Duplication: two or more agencies seem to be doing the same thing. • Imperialism: when agencies grow without regard to benefit or cost. • Waste: spending more than is necessary.