Chapter 11 The Bureaucracy Chapter 11 The Bureaucracy

Chapter 11 The Bureaucracy

Chapter 11: The Bureaucracy

What Is the Federal Bureaucracy? • The federal bureaucracy is made up of: • Millions of permanent employees (civil servants) • Thousands of short-term workers (political appointees of the president)

Chapter 11: The Bureaucracy

What Is the Federal Bureaucracy? • What do bureaucrats do? • Implement policies established by Congress or the president • Develop programs and policies to achieve goals of laws • When laws are specific, bureaucrats have very little discretion. • More commonly, laws provide general guidelines.

What Is the Federal Bureaucracy? • Regulations • Government rules that give government control over individuals and corporations by restricting behaviors • Developed via the notice and comment procedure • Very political

Influences on Bureaucratic Rule Making

What Is the Federal Bureaucracy? • • Procurement Providing services Research and development Managing and directing

What Is the Federal Bureaucracy? • Bureaucratic expertise and its consequences • Bureaucrats are experts; in general, more so than members of Congress or the president. • Experts help create a state capacity. • Criticism of bureaucracies • Too much red tape (aka standard operating procedures)

What Is the Federal Bureaucracy? • Problem of control • Principal-agent game • Regulatory capture • Neutral competence as an antidote?

History of the American Bureaucracy

History of the American Bureaucracy • Four major moments/eras in the history of the bureaucracy: • The Progressive Era • The New Deal • The Great Society • The Reagan Revolution

The Executive Branch of the Federal Government

The Structure of the Department of Agriculture

The Modern Federal Bureaucracy • Hiring and firing rules regarding bureaucrats affect the amount of oversight to which the bureaucrats are subjected. • Bureaucratic structure is often politically driven.

The Size of the Federal Budget

Employment in Selected Federal Organizations

The Human Face of the Bureaucracy • Civil service regulations • Higher-level jobs are awarded to those who have good qualifications, experience, and education. • Seniority helps determine promotions. • After three years of satisfactory job performance, a civil servant cannot be fired without cause. • Helps remove politics from the bureaucracy

The Human Face of the Bureaucracy • Limits on political activity • The Hatch Act prohibits federal workers from engaging in organized political activities. • Senior White House staffers are exempt from these restrictions. • However, they are prevented from using government resources for political purposes

Rules of the Bureaucracy

The Human Face of the Bureaucracy • Political appointees and the senior executive service • The president appoints about 7, 000 political appointees. • Some potentially less-competent campaign staffers are awarded positions on “turkey farms. ” • The ability to make political appointments helps the president exercise some control over the bureaucracy.

How Americans View the Federal Bureaucracy

Controlling the Bureaucracy • Lawmakers must determine how to get the benefits of bureaucratic expertise without giving bureaucrats complete control over their own behavior. • Limit discretion by giving direct orders • BUT this limits their bureaucratic expertise

Agency Organization

Controlling the Bureaucracy • Monitoring • Oversight from Congress • Advance warning • Requires bureaucrats to disclose their proposed actions before they take effect • Investigations • Police patrol oversight: constant monitoring • Fire alarm oversight: Congress responds to complaints about a bureaucratic agency

Controlling the Bureaucracy • Correcting violations • Legislation and executive orders can correct problems. • Correcting problems is most challenging when Congress and the president disagree. • This is when agencies often have the most discretion.

The Consequences of Control

OVERSEEING THE BUREAUCRACY POLICE PATROLS Congress regularly checks up on each agency. CONGRESS AGENCY AGENCY

OVERSEEING THE BUREAUCRACY FIRE ALARMS Congress waits for concerned groups or citizens to report possible problems. CONCERNED GROUP PAYS ATTENTION TO AGENCY POINTS OUT PROBLEM TO INVESTIGATES CONGRESS

OVERSEEING THE BUREAUCRACY: POP QUIZ! 1. Which method of oversight relies on groups or citizens to alert Congress when a bureaucratic agency gets out of line? a. police patrol b. fire alarm c. investigative d. all of the above e. none of the above

OVERSEEING THE BUREAUCRACY: POP QUIZ! 2. The main reason police patrol oversight is difficult is that a. members of Congress don’t care what the bureaucracy does. b. most bureaucrats are corrupt. c. citizens don’t care what the bureaucracy does. d. Congress can’t hold hearings when a problem is found. e. the bureaucracy is huge and complex.

Public Opinion Poll Do you generally approve or disapprove of the way the federal bureaucracy is handling its job? a) Approve b) Disapprove

Public Opinion Poll Which of the following do you believe is most appropriate to address Americans’ dissatisfaction with the federal bureaucracy? a) Devolution of responsibilities to lower levels of government b) Increased use of private companies to provide government goods and services

Public Opinion Poll If television content increases viewers’ fear and subsequent support for security agencies, is that good or bad for the functioning of American democracy? a) Good b) Bad