160 likes | 321 Views
QOD 1/2/13. (1) Write down five of your resolutions and explain how you will accomplish these resolutions . (2) Or explain why you may not make resolutions. 5 complete sentences for this reason. Unit IV. Bureaucracy – How the government runs the country. Learning Goal.
E N D
QOD1/2/13 (1) Write down five of your resolutions and explain how you will accomplish these resolutions. (2) Or explain why you may not make resolutions. 5 complete sentences for this reason
Unit IV Bureaucracy – How the government runs the country
Learning Goal • I will explain why Congress creates administrative units, why they were created and how they function. I will also identify some of the checks on the exercise of administrative power
Administrative units in the American National Government • Founders believed that “goodadministration” is a condition of goodgovernment • 1st Congress created the first three administrative units: • Department of State, War, and Treasury • AttorneyGeneral which merged into the JusticeDepartment
Three categories of administrative organizations with distinct responsibilities • EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT • 15primary administrative departments (units) • Congress directs each department to administercertainlaws • President appoints secretaries who serve in the cabinet • Secretaries are in lineofsuccession to the presidency if the VP, Speaker, and President pro tempore of the Senate are unable to serve • Combined Departments: Department of Defense & Justice • Divided Departments: Health & Human Services and Education
(2) Executive Office of the President (EOP) • Created in 1939 by Congress after FDR complained he lacked necessary administrative “machinery” to execute laws • Main function is to help the president with matters such as budget, personnel management, and natural resources planning • It is an umbrella organization with more than a dozen agencies: • Homeland Security staff • Office of Management and Budget (OMB) • Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) • National Security Council (NSC) • Presidents have used the EOP as a technical and managerial advice; others have used it to gain political control over the bureaucracy
(3) Independent Agencies • Agencies that are located outside of the executive departments • 1st independent agency: Interstate Commerce Commission • 1st administrative body with the power to exercise legislative, executive, and judicial functions • Since then, Congress has created more than 50 agencies: • Social Security Administration • Environmental Protection Agency • Peace Corps • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Several agencies do not fit… • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is located within Homeland Security • United States Postal Service (USPS) was created to replace the Post Office Department • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission were created to make and enforce regulations affecting regulated industries
Creation of administrative organizations & their Powers • Laws are written in generalterms; Congress cannot anticipate and does not have the expertise to resolve problems that arise when general laws are applied to specificcircumstances • Quasi-legislative powers – Congress delegates some power to administrative units to adopt rules to implement broad congressional mandates • Quasi-judicial powers – administrative units hold hearings to resolve disputes that involve parties claiming to have been injured by administrative policies or procedures • Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – 16th Amendment give Congress power to collect taxes on income; Congress delegated power to the IRS to be responsible to make and enforce rules about tax collection; the IRS also holds hearings and opportunities to present evidence to a neutralhearingsofficer for taxpayers accused of violating tax rules • Administrative Procedure Act (1946) established guidelines for administrative units to follow when they make rules to implement laws • Requires publicnotice • Permits judicialreview of the decisions
Why do we have so many administrative organizations? • Bureaucracy has grown in response to demands on the nationalgovernment • Departments of Agriculture & Interior – establish control over nation’s naturalresources • Departments of Commerce and Labor, InterstateCommerceCommission, and the FederalTradeCommission were created in response to the Industrial revolution • GreatDepression and the NewDeal created a significant growth • Cold War created the DepartmentofDefense, NationalSecurityCouncil, CentralIntelligenceAgency, and the NationalScienceFoundation • War on Poverty in the 1960s and the Energy crises in the 1970s created the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Energy • In the 1980s, presidents and Congress wanted to reduce the size of the national government: • Civil Aeronautics Board was abolished in 1984 • Interstate Commerce Commission and the Resolution Trust Corporation were abolished in 1995 • Why? Greater responsibility for welfare was returned to the states • In 2001, President George W. Bush agreed with Congress to create the Department of Homeland Security
Working in the agencies • Civil Service program selects the vast majority of administrativecivilianemployees • Created in 1883 after the assassination of PresidentGarfield • Congress exercises broad control over administrativeemployees • Set employee performance standards, wages, benefits, and costoflivingadjustments • Provide protection for “whistleblowers” – those who expose waste or corruption • Intended to create a class of administrative employees who were insulated from politics • Hatch Act of 1939 – passed by Congress which prohibited political parties from pressuring administrative employees to make financial contributions or to work for their candidates as a condition of their job security or promotion • People complained – deprived opportunities to participate in political life • Hatch Act Reform 1993 – Signed by President Clinton; new measures encouraged civil servants to participate in political activity with the regulations prescribed by Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Title 5 • US Code that governs the meritprinciple in the administrative agencies • Individual agencies and departments can be exempted and are allowed to create their own personnel offices outside of the standard line • USPS; Dept. of Defense; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) • Political appointees • Serve at the pleasure of the president – after all he gave them the job! • Appointments include secretaries of departments within the president’s cabinet
What happens with a new president? • Those currently in positions appointed by the former president will be ousted by the new president • There may be a completechange in leadership of some administration agencies • Civil Service employees retain their jobs and remain available
Checks & Balances within the agencies • PRESIDENT • President’s reward political loyalists and advance their policy agendas • Executive orders force agencies to follow the president’s agenda
CONGRESS COURTS Decide the requirements of dueprocess and equalprotection Determine whether Congress has delegated too much power to the agencies Insists that Congress clearlyidentify the standards that agencies must meet • Congress creates, consolidates, and eliminates administrative agencies • Senate confirms high – level presidential appointees • Congress appropriates money required for the agency to work • Congressional committees are responsible for overseeing the agencies • Budgets • Justifying expenditures • Holdinvestigative hearings about agency activities • Require agencies to submit proposed rules
FEDERALISM Citizens, Interest Groups & the Media Directlyaffected by administrative policies Keep closewatch over the agencies of their choice Media investigations can alert the public and electedofficials to problems and miscarriages of justice • If state policy differs from national policy (education, welfare, environment) the national bureaucrats willmeetresistance to comply with the national standards • States can have a significanteffect on national bureaucracy