Democracy Under Pressure

1. Democracy Under Pressure Chapter 14 The Bureaucracy

2. The Bureaucracy In March 2003, twenty-two agencies moved into the newly-created Department of Homeland Security. The department was created as a direct result of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. The primary mission: to prevent terrorist attacks, reduce the vulnerability to terrorism, minimize the damage and assist in the recovery. In 2005, it became the third-largest federal agency, behind Defense Department and Veteran's Affairs

3. The Bureaucracy Bureaucracies looks quite different from outside Washington that it does to political leaders in Washington. In 2000, Bush claimed that the government is out of touch and often reshuffled. Once in power, he reshuffled federal agencies and moved several into the Department of Homeland Security. Reagan in 1980, Clinton in 1992, and Bush in 2000 all claimed to be outsiders who became insiders when elected.

4. The Bureaucracy The importance of the bureaucrats is emphasized by unexpected events-budget crisis, hurricane, floods, or the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City. The federal government shut down in the fall of 1995 and the winter of 1995-1996 because no budget agreement could be reached between Congress and President Clinton. Visitors to the nation's capital and parks and Americans needing passports were among the first to feel the pinch. Voters were disgusted, but came to see that the bureaucrats in Washington might be necessary after all.

5. The Bureaucracy In presidential races, bureaucracy and bureaucrats are often the targets to blame for society's ills. Bureaucrat simply means administrator, but to some people, it means an inefficient petty official wallowing in red tape. Bureaucracies tend to mushroom under Parkinson's Law, which says that work will expand to fill the time available. Hannah Arendt describes bureaucracy as "rule by Nobody." Checks on bureaucratic power include congressional and news media scrutiny.

6. The Bureaucracy Public administration is the term used by political scientists to describe the bureaucratic process of administering complex programs. The same bureaucrats who are criticized for red tape produce successes like getting a man on the moon. Public administrators (bureaucrats) make key decisions in dealing with the economy, the environment, and numerous other national issues. The "faceless bureaucrats" attacked during campaigns also process social security checks.

7. The Bureaucracy Citizens say that they oppose big government, but still like some government programs. Programs exist because the public wants them. Bureaucracies of all kinds, not just government, are subject to criticism. Students at large universities find administration impersonal. The growth of computer technologies like voice mail and the assignment of numbers for credit cards depersonalize us.

8. The Bureaucracy The federal government is the biggest bureaucracy of all. The New Deal institutionalized government involvement in people's lives and thus many resent government and its bureaucrats. In the 1950s, the GOP carved its niche in these areas. Democratic liberals got disenchanted with bureaucracy in the 1960s and joined with the right in an anti-bureaucratic alliance.

9. The Bureaucracy Distrust of government reached its peak after the 1994 Congressional elections. House Speaker Newt Gingrich tried to slow growth in social programs, cut regulations on business, and reduce government's scope. Business analyst Peter Drucker complained that government is unable to handle its assigned job and it can't control its agencies. He said government agencies are becoming autonomous and self-serving.

10. The Bureaucracy 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.

11. The Bureaucracy In the 19th century, elected officials normally rewarded their supporters with government jobs. Merit selection was a goal of the civil service reformers in the late 19th century. As Dwight Waldo noted, early theorists in the public administration field thought politics shouldn't intrude on administration.

12. The Bureaucracy Today political scientists know that the real question is how to reconcile bureaucracy and democracy. Civil servants are not elected and thus are free of voter control. They may yield to pressure from narrow interests and neglect the public interest. There also is a danger that executive officeholders could try to use the bureaucracies against their opponents.

13. The Bureaucracy The bureaucracy must be effective if government is to solve the social problems it faces. It is not enough just to create jobs for bureaucrats. Bureaucracy must be designed to serve people and to be sensitive to human needs and social inequalities. This chapter examines such questions as: Should bureaucracy be reduced in size? Can it still meet social needs in a democracy? Can government be too big? Should more be shifted from the federal bureaucracy to the state levels? Have industry or interest groups "captured" bureaucracies and made them tools of the regulated? Can the president and/or Congress control bureaucracies?

14. Democracy Under Pressure Bureaucracy and the Policy Process

15. Bureaucracy and the Policy Process In theory, bureaucrats are simply servants administering programs created by elected officials. In practice, as Francis Rourke notes, they propose ideas, weigh alternatives, and resolve conflicts. Our system is fragmented into federal, state, and local governments with bureaucracies at each level. Bureaucracies have great discretionary power, that is, they are free to make choices among policy options. They shape policy by giving options to elected officials. Elected officials must be careful to adopt programs that bureaucracies are capable of handling.

16. Bureaucracy and Client Groups Bureaucracies have constituencies: businesses, unions, farmers, among others. Sometimes the government regulator becomes a prisoner of the groups. Rourke says that the relationship between bureaucracies and their client groups is so close that it is hard to determine where one ends and the other begins. The relationship with government agencies such as the Pentagon, has mobilized the support of client groups such as defense contractors.

17. Bureaucracy and Client Groups Client groups don't always dominate because agencies can often be sensitive to pressures from the public. Senior bureaucrats often complain that they are subjected to so many pressures that is hard to do their assigned jobs. In sum, bureaucracies are accountable to the press, client groups, the president, and public opinion.

18. Bureaucracy and Congress Influential congressional committee chairs can be a source of power for the bureaucracies. Congress will sometimes investigate an agency and expose illegal operations. An example would be the Aldrich Ames spy case and the investigation of the CIA. The FBI was criticized after the 2001 arrest of Robert Hanssen, who spied for Moscow. Both intelligence agencies were blamed for failing to uncover and warn of the 9/11 attacks. In 2003, the CIA was faulted for wrongly predicting that weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq.

19. Bureaucracy and Congress Some agencies that do not have cordial relations with members of the legislative branch may find their power diminished. Some agencies like the U.S. Corps of Engineers won independent status because their projects help local communities. To maintain positive relations with Congress, agencies hire liaisons to seek support, track legislation, and field congressional requests made on behalf of their constituents.

20. Bureaucracy and Congress Political Scientist Morris Fiorina saw a symbiotic relationship between Congress and the bureaucracy. Members get credit from constituents for creating a popular program while denouncing bureaucracy. Legislation is written in general terms, permitting bureaus to create rules and regulations that often trample on others' toes. Next, constituents petition their members to get the rules changed. Members of Congress get the rules changed and take credit for saving the day.

21. Bureaucracy and Congress In Britain, it is common for members of Parliament to have served in the bureaucracy. That is uncommon in the United States and creates a gulf between the two groups. Members of Congress are careful to watch for rules and regulations that could negatively impact their district.

22. Bureaucracy, Triangles, and Sub-governments Bureaucracies, interest groups, and congressional committees cooperate in particular issue areas. These are called "triangles," "iron triangles," or "sub-governments." Robert Lineberry calls them "triads of power." The measure of power of an interest group is the number and size of the triangles and agencies it controls. Labor and business would be big interests, while fisheries and tobacco growers are small.

24. Bureaucracy, Triangles, and Sub-governments Within the triangles, participants know one another and play musical chairs with jobs. Francis Rourke says the "highly exclusionary" closed system of iron triangles is gone today, and the groups are much less deferential to the administrators than they once were.

25. Issue Networks: The Policy Activists According to the Hugh Heclo model of issue networks, these are a loose grouping of people and organizations who seek to influence policy formulation. These nets of policy activists both shape the programs that government adopts and influence bureaucratic appointments.

26. Democracy Under Pressure The Politics of Bureaucracy

27. The Politics of Bureaucracy New cabinet secretaries in Washington soon discover that they do not automatically control the bureaucracy that they are assigned to head. Cabinet secretaries come and go, but civil servants live on and on. Experts in a department carve out a niche of expertise. They may resent attempts by the new department head to take control.

28. The Politics of Bureaucracy To Rourke, bureaucracies seek to impact policy by mobilizing public support and applying its expertise. Federal departments and agencies are extremely sensitive to the political winds. Departments are quick to respond to congressional requests because of Congress's appropriations power. The bureaucracy draws support from three areas: the public, Congress, and the executive branch.

29. Bureaucracy and Public Opinion Agencies that enjoy public support have an advantage over those who do not-such prestige brings in more appropriations and greater independence. J. Edgar Hoover's reputation discouraged presidents from firing him, despite constitutional violations by the FBI. Public support for the space program helped NASA get large appropriations when many other areas were being cut.

30. Bureaucracy and Public Opinion Agencies often hire public relations people to improve their "image" and to help get public support for their programs. One CBS study found the executive branch hired 10,858 people in public relations. In one year alone, the Defense Department hired 1,066 public relations officials at a cost of $44.3 million. Actual costs for these activities are probably underestimated.

31. Bureaucracy and the President Presidents often complain that they have no real ability to control bureaucracies. JFK and FDR were both frustrated trying to deal with careerists at the State Department, although FDR said the Navy was worse.

32. Bureaucracy and the President Presidents often try to get tighter control over a bureaucracy by reorganizing it. The famous Hoover Commission made nearly 300 suggestions for streamlining the federal bureaucracy. About half were adopted. Since 1918, Congress has periodically given presidents the right to restructure the executive branch. The Reorganization Act of 1949 allows for further presidential restructuring.

33. Bureaucracy and the President The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was created in 1970 to give the president tighter control over managing the federal workforce. OMB can use the budget process for leverage over the departments. The president establishes budget guidelines. As Aaron Wildavsky has noted, "the budget lies at the heart of the political process." Bureaucrats who can't get their budget requests in Congress soon lose credibility with OMB and the people in their own department.

34. Bureaucracy and Policymaking In theory, the president makes policy and bureaucrats carry it out. In practice: Presidents depend on the expertise of the bureaucracies to formulate policy. Think tanks are often a more reliable source of accurate information. Other factors limit the role of bureaucracies in policy formulation. Divided government has encouraged presidents to try to centralize executive power in their own hands. Divided government has led Congress to try to micromanage the departments.

35. Bureaucracy and Policymaking President Carter learned that relying on bureaucratic expertise in the Iran hostage rescue operation was a mistake. JFK learned the same thing about the Bay of Pigs advice he got from the CIA and others. LBJ, who did not like to be contradicted, received crucial advice on the need to end the conflict in Vietnam and reversed his policy.

36. Democracy Under Pressure Profile of American Bureaucracy

37. Who Are the Administrators? In 1792 there were 780 federal employees. Today there are 2,748,470 civilian employees of the federal government. Only about 12 percent work in Washington, D.C. Several million work indirectly for the federal government as employees for defense contractors, consultants, etc.

38. Who Are the Administrators? In 2003, about one-quarter (24.1 percent) of civilian federal employees worked for the Department of Defense. Along with the Department of Veterans Affairs (225,897) and the Postal Service (797,709), this makes up two-thirds of the entire federal bureaucracy. The civilian bureaucracy seems large compared with private industry. Wal-Mart had more than one million employees in 2003.

39. Who Are the Administrators? Federal civilian employees comprise thirteen percent of total government employment. In 2002, local governments had 11,379,390 employees (39 percent as teachers), and state governments employed about 5,072,130 persons.

41. Who Are the Administrators? The average federal employee was 46.5 years old, worked for the federal government for 16.8 years, and earned $56,400. A majority of federal workers are career civil service. Salaries in the career civil service sector are fixed on a General Schedule, ranging from $15,442 to $112,346. Those in the Senior Executive Service (SES) sector are at the top of the bureaucracy and can earn up to $174,500. The president receives $400,000, the vice president receives $201,600, and cabinet members receive $174,500.

42. Who Are the Administrators? Job descriptions include administrative and clerical workers: engineers, architects, accountants and budget personnel, doctors, public health employees, librarians, archivists, and veterinarians. Women make up 49.1 percent of the federal white-collar workforce.

43. The Structure of Bureaucracy Federal bureaucracy consists of three basic types of agencies: cabinet departments, independent executive agencies, and independent regulatory commissions.

46. The Structure of Bureaucracy According to Richard Neustadt, the executive establishment has a system of separate institutions sharing powers. The president heads one of them, and cabinet officers, agency administrators, and military commanders head the others. Below the department level are virtually independent bureau heads. They don't have the autonomy they once did due to scrutiny by media, citizen groups, and Congress. Presidents use units of the Executive Office of the President (especially OMB and department heads) to handle the bureaucracy.

47. The Structure of Bureaucracy The cabinet departments. There are fifteen at present. Cabinet secretaries are nominally in control but are so dependent on their civil servants that experts in their bureaucracies can operate independent of their secretary and the president. The sheer size of the main departments seems to defy presidential control. For example, in 2003 the Department of Transportation had 58,000 employees. It also had several major agencies loosely grouped under its umbrella, including the Coast Guard, the FAA, and the Federal Highway Administration. Creation of the various cabinet departments parallels the growth of the nation.

49. The Structure of Bureaucracy The executive agencies. Report to the president like departments, although they are not under a cabinet department. The president appoints and fires the leaders. Some examples might be the CIA, NASA, and the EPA. "Government corporations" are somewhat different in status. Legislation since 1945 has placed these under presidential control. They include the Postal Service, the FDIC, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

50. The Structure of Bureaucracy The regulatory commissions. Are independent regulatory commissions that are administratively independent of all three branches of government. Are susceptible to pressures from the White House, Congress, and the industries they regulate. Decide who gets licenses to operate TV stations, build natural gas pipelines, and undertake other lucrative endeavors.

51. The Structure of Bureaucracy Washington lawyers often pressure these commissions on behalf of their clients. The 1976 Government-in-the-Sunshine Act prohibited secret contracts and opened up most agency meetings to the public. These agencies were created to provide rule making and regulations in highly complex, technical areas. In awarding licenses, they act as quasi-judicial bodies.

52. The Structure of Bureaucracy They are appointed by the president with Senate consent, but do not report to the president. Some had become servants of industry rather than regulating in the interest of the public, while others have been defenders of the public interest. They include the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Regulatory Commission. Numerous other federal agencies also exercise some regulatory roles.

53. Deregulation The Pattern Changes The process first began under the New Deal, but became a target of criticism by leaders of both parties. President Carter called for deregulation of airlines, banking, trucking, railroads, and telecommunications. In 1978, Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act, and in 1995, the oldest regulatory commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission, went out of business by law.

54. Deregulation The Pattern Changes Flight delays and cancellations are commonplace, with passengers stranded overnight in terminals or trapped in planes sitting on runways. Airline were hit hard after the 9/11 attacks. United Airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2002. United lost 2.8 billion in 2003

55. The Growth of Social Regulation Laws to protect the environment, the safety of workers, and the employment rights of minorities increased in the 1970s and 1980s. The powers of the EPA, EEOC, and OSHA were strengthened. Sensing public discontent, the GOP Congress in 1995 began to try to limit or reduce these regulations. Congress attempted to weaken the Clean Water Act and revise the Endangered Species Act. The EPA's budget was cut.

56. The Growth of Social Regulation Those who oppose government rules argue that agencies place tough requirements on their businesses. All of these issues are at heart the old liberal and conservative debate over the proper role and scope of government.

57. Those at the Top Of the about 4,000 key appointments a president makes, most are exempt from civil service rules. Of the 4,000, about 1,200 are policy-advisory posts. Appointments include 15 cabinet departments, 425 subcabinet officials and agency heads, and 183 ambassadors.

58. Those at the Top Most of the other nearly three million federal workers are civil servants, not "the president's men" or women. A list of the non-civil service jobs the president appoints can be found in the "plum book" published by the Senate's Committee on Governmental Affairs. The 2000 edition had more than 7,000 such jobs.

59. The Civil Service Today most federal jobs come through the competitive civil service. Washington and Jefferson both made appointments based on party loyalties. The spoils system. When Andrew Jackson was elected in 1828, he dismissed more than a third of the presidential appointees from the last administration and between 10 and 20 percent of lesser government officials. The spoils system is also known as political patronage. It is the practice of rewarding loyal followers with jobs.

60. The Civil Service The road to reform. Ironically it was the corruption-ridden Grant Administration that prevailed on Congress to set up the first Civil Service Commission in 1871. In 1880, James Garfield ran on a reform of patronage platform, only to be shot by a disgruntled office-seeker who felt Garfield should have hired him. His successor, Chester A. Arthur, switched sides on patronage and became the champion of civil service reforms. Congress passed the Pendleton Act of 1883, which did away with patronage in favor of merit hiring.

61. The Civil Service In 1978 the Civil Service Commission was replaced with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). In 2003, 1.3 million government jobs were exempt from civil service-many of them in agencies with their own merit system, like the Postal Service, Foreign Service, and the FBI.

62. The Civil Service Recruiting the bureaucrats. The OPM acts as an employment agency for federal agencies. Listings are available at federal job information centers. Candidates apply through the OPM or to the agency. Some internal agency testing may be required and a character check is done. "Veteran preferences" add points to test scores. Potential employees must swear to defend the Constitution and not to strike. Employees can join a federal employee union, but they currently have no right to collective bargaining.

63. The Carter Reforms They now may take an active part in party politics or campaigns off duty, but may not run for public office as the candidate of a political party (per Hatch Act). There is no mandatory retirement age. On average, they retire after 30 years and receive a pension for up to 80 percent of their salaries. They can be fired for cause, or if they prove to be a security risk. They can lose their jobs through reductions in force in their agencies due to budget cuts. About 26 percent of federal employees either leave or retire annually.

64. The Civil Service Carter proposed major changes in civil service in order to reward merit and penalize incompetence. He signed the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which established three new agencies: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), acts as the president's personnel arm, handling recruitment, examinations, and pay policies, as well as job classifications and retirement. The Merit Systems Protection Board hears appeals and conducts investigations, including whistle-blower complaints about corruption and waste. The Federal Labor Relations Authority oversees labor-management relations and arbitrates disputes between federal agencies and employee unions.

65. The Civil Service The senior executive service (SES). Was also established by the reform act. It includes about 7,700 high-level administrators at the top of government. They have less tenure-type protection, but enjoy other advantages. They can be more easily transferred within an agency or to another agency, and have an opportunity for merit pay. The idea behind SES was to create a group of top personnel, emphasizing mobility, managerial discretion in assignments, and accountability. Congress sought to bring the incentives system of private industry to the public sector.

66. Bureaucracy and Society During his administration, Carter established the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and created a Department of Energy. In addition, agencies dealing with civil rights, international communications, and civil defense were reorganized. Reagan later promised to do away with the education and energy departments, but they survived. Reagan also fired and replaced members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) for going on an illegal strike.

67. Rational Decision Making Bureaucracy is often criticized for being too "incremental" or letting past decisions shape future ones. Policy innovations or sweeping changes strike fear into bureaucratic souls. Peter Drucker contends that government is basically a protective institution: Once it undertakes something, it becomes entrenched and permanent. Bureaucracy overlooks problems that do not fit into established perceptions.

68. Rational Decision Making Bureaucracy can be innovative: Federal hiring programs to help women and minorities get and keep a job. When a new task comes up, the government creates new agencies to handle it. Kennedy kept the Peace Corps independent of the State Department. LBJ started new agencies to deal with poverty.

69. Rational Decision Making Beginning in the 1960s, the federal government applied "rationalist" management techniques, seeking to arrive at decisions on the basis of systematic analysis rather than on the basis of custom and intuition. Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter sought to measure the benefits of alternative policies against their dollar costs. Quantified subjects are more easily analyzed using cost-benefit methods. Weapons can thus be analyzed, comparing what they can do with their costs. Issues that have long-range payoffs-like education, welfare, and foreign policy-are harder to measure.

70. Checks on Bureaucratic Power Government agencies must share power with other elites in the political system. Their clientele groups can be a check on them. Congress checks bureaucracies through oversight: the use of committee hearings and investigations. Staffers can intervene when the bureaucracy is unresponsive.

71. Checks on Bureaucratic Power The courts and legal system also play a role by narrowing or overturning regulations, and punishing bureaucrats who break the law. Ten officials of the Nixon administration were convicted and jailed in the Watergate scandal. Republicans reminded voters in 2000 of Clinton's scandals. Fear of adverse publicity is a powerful factor in decision making.

72. Checks on Bureaucratic Power Whistle-blowers. Pentagon official A. Ernest Fitzgerald exposed a $2 billion cost overrun on the C-5A aircraft. He was then forced out of his job. It was subsequently learned that Nixon personally ordered him fired for going outside normal channels. Other whistle-blowers often pay a high price for their actions. Dr. J. Anthony Morris, a government virologist who questioned the cost and necessity of swine flu vaccinations. The government later stopped the shots because of deaths and 1,600 reported cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Another case involved an Army recruiter who informed the Army that his office had doctored the high school records and criminal records of numerous recruits in order to meet quotas.

73. Checks on Bureaucratic Power Congress passed the Whistleblower Protection Act in 1989, and President Bush signed it into law. In 2004, Richard Foster, the government expert on Medicare costs, estimated the true cost of the prescription drug benefit would be between $500 and $600 billion over the next ten years.

74. Checks on Bureaucratic Power Other checks on bureaucracy. "Inner checks" based on standards of ethics and fair play serve to check excesses through building individual consciences. Another approach could be adapted from Sweden, which has ombudsmen who handle citizen complaints against agencies. Public opinion and political culture also serve as a check on bureaucracies. The public tends to be suspicious of bureaucracy. Yet, as long as government must allocate things of value, there will be bureaucracies. And, bureaucrats remain as political targets.