The Federal Bureaucracy

What is it?

Partner with someone sitting next to you and brainstorm

together to compile a list of as many bureaucratic agencies as

possible.The duo that has the most correct agencies will win

candy!!!

Take the next minute to write everything that comes

to mind when you hear bureaucracy.

Compare your list of words to those of the person next

to you.

Simply Put…

• a large hierarchical organization• designed for a specific function –

specialized jobs• found in public or private sectors• Public bureaucracies are not

organized to make a profit• intended to conserve taxpayer’s

dollars• not necessarily efficient or ready

for change• fairly autonomous

Simply Put…

• American bureaucracy: larger, more powerful

• 15 cabinets• Dozens of agencies, commissions

and gov’t corporations• The FOURTH branch of

government!

The Bureaucrats are Civil Servants

• Patronage – Jobs and promotions awarded by politicians (after winning election) to his supporters. Also known as spoil system (spoil=goods/resources the conquerors take from the loser)

• Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 required that hiring and promotion would be based on merit. Thus ending patronage, spoil system.

• Civil Service – Hiring and promotion based on the merit and nonpartisan government service.

• Merit Principle – Entrance exams and promotion ratings to get people with talent and skill.

According to Max Weber

• hierarchical entities governed by formal procedures where power flows from the top down

• Bureaucrats are specialists who use reason and data analysis to solve problems.

• Individual advancement through merit NOT political connections. Intended to be apolitical.

How can unelected bureaucrats make important rulings that affect people’s lives?

T13-4

Size of the Federal Bureaucracy.

• At present, the U.S. federal bureaucracy has about 2.5 million employees, who have responsibility for administering thousands of programs. The president and Congress get far more attention in the news, but the federal bureaucracy has a more direct impact on Americans’ everyday lives.

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FDR

• The biggest spurt in the bureaucracy’s growth took place in the 1930s. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal included creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and numerous other federal agencies.

LBJ – Great Society

• Three decades later, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiatives, which thrust the federal government into policy areas traditionally dominated by the states, resulted in the creation of additional federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development

What do you think?

FOUR Types of US Bureaucracy

• cabinet department,• independent agency,• regulatory agency,• government corporation

How Bureaucracies Are Organized - Cabinets

•Each department manages specific policy areas, and each has its own budget and its own staff.

•Each department has a mission and is organized differently.

The Department of State, one of the oldest and most prestigious departments, is also one of the smallest, with approximately 25,000 employees

The Dept. of Defense has the largest workforce, with > 600,000 civilian employees (apart from the more than 1.4 million uniformed active service members).

The Dept. of Health & Human Services has the largest budget; its activities account for more than a fourth of all federal spending, much of it in the form of social security and Medicaid payments.

How Bureaucracies Are Organized – Indepedent Regulatory Commissions

• Government agency responsible for making (legislative) and enforcing (executive) rules to protect the public interest in some sector of the economy and for judging (judicial) disputes over these rules.

• They can impose fine for violations of their rules

FED EPA FCC SEC FEC

Independent Regulatory agencies • Usually created when

Congress recognizes the need for ongoing regulation of a particular economic activity.

• They develop law-like regulations (legislative function) and then judge whether individuals or organizations are complying with them. The EPA, for example, can impose fines (judicial function) and other penalties on business firms that violate environmental regulations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversees the stock and bond markets. In addition to their administrative function, regulatory agencies have a legislative function and a judicial function

Bureaucratic Functions

Congress

passes a law

President signs,

then is responsib

le for executing this law

Bureaucracy

implements rules &

regulations pertaining to that law

FAA is authorize

d and responsib

le for aviation safety

President signs, then

responsible for

executing this law

FAA rules: airlines must

inspect aircraft landing

gears after every 500 landings.

What’s “Independent” about Independent Regulatory Commissions (Positive Things)

•Usually 5-10 members appointed by president and confirmed by Senate

•They have fixed term•Cannot be easily fired by president•Their independence makes them less responsive to Congress/President

What’s NOT “Independent” about Independent Regulatory Commissions (Negative Things)

•The Interest Groups are very concerned about IRC

•Often target IRC on behalf of their clients•Revolving doors (staff in IRC going to work for interest groups)

How Bureaucracies Are Organized –Independent Executive Agencies

• The government agencies, not part of the cabinet, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations. They DO NOT regulate anything.

• Example – Social Security Administration, NASA, CIA, National Security Agency

Independent agencies

• Heads of these appointed by and report to the president but are not members of the cabinet.

• They exist apart from cabinet departments.

NASA, for example, could conceivably be located in the Department of Defense, but such positioning would suggest that the space program exists solely for military purposes.

How Bureaucracies Are Organized – Government Corporations

•Government organization provides a service that could be provided by private sector and typically charges for its services.

•Example – U.S. Postal Service, Amtrak, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC)

Iron Triangle

• A unique relationship between the bureaucracy, congressmen and interest groups that results in the mutual benefit of all three of them.

• Often referred to as “sub-governments”.

Example of Iron Triangle

CONGRESS• House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure• Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

BUREAUCRACYFederal Aviation Administration

INTEREST GROUP• Air Transport Assoc. of America• Int’l Air Transport Assoc.• National Air Transport Assoc.

Wants to be re-elected

Wants bigger budget and more power

from Congress

Wants favorable legislation from

Congress, Bureaucracy that would

benefit airlines

Examples??? What do you think?

• Work with your partner to come up with an example of an iron triangle. List the name of each participant/member and explain their relationship.

• You have a choice of 2 interest groups:

• NRA• American Against Gun Violence

Issue Networks

• This is how policy is made within the bureaucracy.• Consist of groups with diverse backgrounds joining

together in support of a common cause. • Individuals, scholars, interest group leaders,

bureaucrats, legislative members, the media, and so on, work together to influence the President, legislators, governmental agencies, or the courts.

The Revolving Door

• The first was a report on NPR about an FCC Commissioner leaving to lobby for Comcast, after she approved the merger of NBC and Comcast. Good revolving door story. (4 minutes – 4 seconds)

• Video: Revolving Door (Defense Dept.), Monsanto Revolving Door

The Bureaucracy of Pizza

• Directions: Speculate what agencies you think might have a role in administering, implementing, and regulating the pizza you ordered for dinner last night.

• Read the following chart and note the list of agencies that make up the “Bureaucracy of Pizza.” Did you speculate accurately? Does this ruin your appetite? Make you feel healthier? Safer?

PIZZA PART FEDERAL AGENCY AND/OR DEPARTMENT; RATIONAL

Cardboard BoxThe EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) regulates the manufacture of pulp and paper and pollutants produced from it.

Tomato Sauce

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) recommends that tomato sauce manufacturers add bottled lemon juice to their product to ensure a safe acidity level.

CrustThe FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulates how a food must be labeled if it contains a major food allergen, like wheat.

CheeseThe FDA regulates the moisture content, fat content, and type of milk used in cheeses.

Mushrooms

The FDA requires that any mushrooms picked from the wild must be individually examined by a mushroom identification expert to ensure they are safe to eat.

AnchoviesThe USDA recommends that anchovies not be shipped in glass containers, as they can break easily.

Pepperoni

The USDA tightly controls the importation of processed beef—used in the production of pepperoni—from countries with known incidences of mad cow disease.

OnionsThe USDA regulates the size and maturity of onions imported into the United States

Delivery VehicleThe EPA regulates and sets pollution emission and fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks.

Diet SodaThe FDA regulates the ingredients in carbonated beverages. Aspartame used in many diet colas was approved by the FDA in 1983.

Department of Homeland Security

• This is a huge department in the federal bureaucracy!

• 108 committees and subcommittees oversee this department!

Bureaucrats make up the “shadow government”. These are the people we don’t elect!

Power of Bureaucracies - Regulation

• Use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector.

• Congress gives bureaucrats broad mandates to regulate activities as diverse as interest rates, the location of nuclear power plants, and food additives.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

Regulation in the Economy and in Everyday Life

•3 elements of regulation:• A grant of power and set of directions from

Congress.• A set of rules and guidelines by the regulatory

agency itself.• Some means of enforcing compliance with

congressional goals and agency regulations.

To Learning Objectives

Example of Regulations & Implementation

FDA’s Warning of Decorative Contact Lenses

Bureaucrats’ Roles in Public Policy

1. Agenda Setting2. Policy Formulation3. Policy Approval4. Resource Allocation5. Policy Implementation6. Policy Evaluation

©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Bureaucratic Accountability

• Accountability to the People

• Accountability to the Courts

• Accountability to Congress

• Accountability to the President

©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Bureaucracy and Democracy

•Popular control of government depends on elections, but we do not elect the 4.2 million federal employees.

•The fact that voters do not elect civil servants does not mean that bureaucracies cannot respond to and represent the public’s interests.

•Congress have OVERSIGHT. President is chief executive of bureaucracy

How Presidents Control Bureaucracy?

1. Appoint competent people to head the agency

2. issue executive orders3. alter an agency’s budget4. reorganize an agency

To Learning Objectives

How Congress Control Bureaucracy

1. influence the appointment of agency heads (Senate confirmation)

2. alter an agency’s budget; 3. Legislative oversight (hold hearings)4. rewrite the legislation or make it more

detailed.

To Learning Objectives

Popular Control of the Bureaucracy

• Monopolistic-• Bureaucracies have no competitors and are not penalized for chronic inefficiency. No

motivation to adopt cost-saving measures or become more productive.• Some argue that these problems can only be cured by privatizing certain bureaucratic

functions.• What do you think is the solution for increasing the efficiency of the federal bureaucracy?

Discuss with a partner.