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The Federal Bureaucracy

The Federal Bureaucracy. An easy target….and a necessary evil. An Overview. Any Major Organization is a Bureaucracy One of two unelected policy making bodies Bureaucracy is a neutral word Easy to bash…Conservatives say it too large, liberal, and unaccountable

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The Federal Bureaucracy

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  1. The Federal Bureaucracy An easy target….and a necessary evil

  2. An Overview • Any Major Organization is a Bureaucracy • One of two unelected policy making bodies • Bureaucracy is a neutral word • Easy to bash…Conservatives say it too large, liberal, and unaccountable • Liberals say it too slow, too status quo, doesn’t protect us enough (epa)

  3. Myths and Realities • #1 Americans do not like bureaucrats (myth) • #2 Bureaucracies are too intrusive and getting bigger. • Periods of growth • Post civil War • Great Depression • Great Society/Cold War

  4. More Myths and Realities • #3 Most bureaucrats live in D.C. (myth) • #4 Bureaucrats are ineffective, inefficient and stuck in red tape • True, but they protect and help citizens • Red tape can benefit consumers

  5. Bureaucratic Theories • Weber model-necessary but inevitable/draw power from expertise • Rational Model-necessary due to complex policy-making • Heirarchical power structure • Task specialization • Merit principle

  6. More theories... • Monopolistic • Work expands to fill time • Acquisitive…act like corporations to expand budgets • Monopolistic…there is no alternative • Fire • Police • Schools

  7. One more theory…The Garbage Can • Will grow as they try out ideas • Many ideas are trial and error • Will latch onto any idea, pull it out of the garbage can and see if it works

  8. How Do You Become a Bureaucrat? Can you get fired? • Patronage • Reform • Appointment Powers • Firing a Bureaucrat • Only 200 out of 3 million workers fired for incompetence • Chart explaining how to fire a worker is 12 feet wide

  9. Bureaucratic Organizations • Cabinet-15 Departments • Independent Regulatory Agencies • FDA, FCC, FEC, SEC • Independent Executive Agencies • CIA, NASA, EPA, • Government Corporations • TVA, FDIC, AMTRAK, Postal Service

  10. Diagram of US Government

  11. Diagram of Slater’s Living Room

  12. Diagram of a Sentence

  13. Diagram of QM2

  14. Source: Paul C. Light, The True Size of Government (Washington, D.C.: Brooking Institution, 1999). Data for 1996.

  15. Controlling the Bureaucracy • The President • Congress • Authorization of Funds • Appropriating Funds • Investigations and hearings • Oversight • Budget investigations

  16. The Iron TriangleCool Band Name or Obscure AP Concept? • 3-way alliance among legislators in Congress, bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups • Issue Networks-slowly replacing iron triangles as policymaking becomes more complex • Often temporary and include outside forces like think tanks, the media, congressmen, and interest groups

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