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The Federal Bureaucracy

Explore the complexities of the federal bureaucracy, debunking myths and understanding its role. Learn about bureaucratic theories, organizations, and mechanisms of control by the President and Congress. Unravel the Iron Triangle concept and Issue Networks shaping policy-making.

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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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