Bureaucracy New(1)

8/12/2019 Bureaucracy New(1)

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TheBureaucracy

Chapter 15

United States Government and Politics

Mr. Torrence


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Bureaucracies andGovernment

Part of every large organizationPublicand private

Supports the executive branch (primarily)

Consensual appointment

Removable by the President

Responsive to the legislative branch

Appropriations

Oversight

Often affected by the courts


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The Modern American

Governmental Bureaucracy Executive Branch

Cabinet Departments Executive Office of the President

Independent executive agencies

Independent (Regulatory) Agencies

Others (Judicial and Legislative)


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Development and Growth of

the Bureaucracy Impact of congressional government

Impact of Civil War, Gilded Age andRailroads

Pendleton Actcreates professionalbureaucracy

Progressive era expands bureaucracy

ICC


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New Deal, World War II, Great Society

Federal bureaucracy in recent decades has

grown (especially under DemocraticAdministrations)a basic misconception

Growth has NOT been in size

Growth has been inpower, scope, anddiscretion

Congress, not presidents, have largest share

of responsibility for this phenomenon

Development and Growth of

the Bureaucracy


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Reasons for Growth ofBureaucratic Power

Increased public demand forgovernment regulation and services

Growth of taxing authority Dramatic increases in military spending

Dramatic increases in domestic spending

Civil rights and civil liberties protections

Biggest reason: Delegation


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Especially in last half century

Major reasons

Increased public regulatory demands

Technical complexity of issues

Delegation to whom? A special case: Independent

agencies

Power Growth by Delegation


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Administrative Process

Administrative rulemaking authority

(Regulation = rule)

Devising and enforcing regulations

APA process

The Federal Register Result is regulations that have force

and effect of law


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Presidential Control OverBureaucracy

Direct at political level

Plum Book

Less so at career level SES (in theory)

Civil Service protections

Presidential direction Depends on circumstances

Constitutional

Statutory


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Congressional ControlOver Bureaucracy

Creation and abolition

Program authorization

Appropriations Committee

Legislative committees (oversight;

committee clearance) Legislative veto (Do not confuse

with line item veto) --

unconstitutional: INS v. Chadha


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Bureaucratic

Pathologies Red Tape and

Standard

OperatingProcedures

S.O.P.-driven

waste Duplication

Fragmentation

Inter-agency andIntra-agencyconflicts

Empire building

Institutional vs.politicalconsiderations


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Special Characteristics of theAmerican Governmental

Bureaucracy

Competing (sometimes conflicting)

sources of political accountability Constitution fragments powers

(Federalism)

Adversary culture/societalheterogeneity increase courtchallenges


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Explaining Bureaucratic Behavior

Recruitment/Retention/Rewards Personal attributes

Poorly defined/conflicting policy goals

Hierarchical organization

Nature of the work

Constraints imposed by outside actors Direct superiors; presidents staff; congressional

committees; interest groups; the media; thecourts; other government agencies


14/16It has a life of its own . . .And it lives on . . .Meanwhile . . . What of the Iron Triangle?

Iron Triangle

And the public interest?and on . . . and on . . .

and on.


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Iron Triangles and IssueNetworks

Iron triangle can impede presidential controlover agencies

Still exists, but often have transmuted intoissue networks

More complex than the triangle

Interest groups, think tanks, grassroots

lobbying, PACs Results: bureaucracy much less susceptible to

executive or legislative control

and on.

B tt Li O i t


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Bottom Line: Our ureaucracies re ectboth our priorities and our demands as

a people.

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