BUREAUCRACY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Politics, Expertise, and Democracy

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1 Dearborn Bureaucracy and Public Administration 1 BUREAUCRACY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Politics, Expertise, and Democracy John Dearborn * Political Science OVERVIEW Bureaucracy is a term often used negatively in U.S. political culture associated with images of delay and government waste but what is bureaucracy and what do bureaucrats actually do? This course aims to address the concept of public administration from a number of perspectives. First, it surveys some of the basic functions of government and bureaucracy. Second, it compares a number of theories of public administration. Third, it considers how bureaucratic organization is envisioned in theory versus how it works in practice. Fourth, it contrasts two perspectives on administration (neutral versus responsive competence) and considers the historical development of the civil service. Fifth, it examines how ideas and bureaucratic culture can influence public administration reform and organizational behavior. Sixth, it looks at how policies are implemented and the discretion agencies may or may not have in rulemaking. Finally, it asks how bureaucracy and public administration are reconciled with democratic control through oversight and representation. More broadly, the lectures, discussions, primary source readings, and scholarly readings will help us achieve a few course goals. First, we will gain an improved ability to make sense of how the public administration works (or doesn t work!) and how bureaucratic institutions have changed over time. Second, we will critically discuss arguments and theories offered by various authors. Third, we will frequently place the ideas from the readings into the context of current political events. Finally, as a more general goal for the course, I hope that we all can take a step forward toward becoming more politically critical, informed, and engaged citizens. Politics can be maddening, but it becomes more interesting and fun when you can make some sense of what is going on. Our activities in class may take a number of formats. While we will often have lectures, depending on the topic there may also be discussions, debates, and/or small group work. Political concepts and topics often may reveal differences of opinion this is particular true around election years! So even as some of us may have strong views and potentially disagree, I ask that we listen to each other s viewpoints while working to ensure that civility and respect for each other are always present in our conversations. ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING * In drafting this syllabus, I have partly drawn upon Ian Turner s Bureaucracy & Democracy syllabus at Yale (Fall 2017) and David Houston s Introduction to Public Administration and Public Policy syllabus at the University of Tennessee (Fall 2012).

2 Dearborn Bureaucracy and Public Administration 2 Students are expected to complete the readings, come to lecture, and participate in class. Once during the semester, students will be expected to complete two short papers critically analyzing one or more weeks of readings, and they will present them to the class. The papers should be 5 pages double-spaced. There will also be a final exam for the course. The grade breakdown is as follows: Participation 15% Short Response Papers 40% Final Assessment o Final Exam 45% COURSE OUTLINE I. WHAT DOES GOVERNMENT AND BUREAUCRACY DO? Week 1: Functions Ch. 2 York: Basic Books, 1989), Ch. 1 Max Weber, Bureaucracy, in Essays in Sociology, ed. H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), II. THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Week 2: What is Public Administration? Ch. 3 Woodrow Wilson, The Study of Administration, Political Science Quarterly 2, no. 2 (June 1887): Frank J. Goodnow, Politics and Administration: A Study in Government (New York: Macmillan, 1900), Ch. 2, 4 Herbert A. Simon, Administrative Behavior (New York: Free Press, 1976), Ch. 1-2 Terry M. Moe, The New Economics of Organization, American Journal of Political Science 28, no. 4 (November 1984): III. ORGANIZATION Week 3: Organization of Bureaucracy: Theory

3 Dearborn Bureaucracy and Public Administration 3 Ch. 4 York: Basic Books, 1989), Ch. 2 Week 4: Organization of Bureaucracy: Practice Ch. 6 Organization Problems Terry M. Moe, The Politics of Bureaucratic Structure, in Can the Government Govern?, ed. John E. Chubb and Paul E. Peterson (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1989), C. F. Larry Heimann, Understanding the Challenger Disaster: Organizational Structure and the Design of Reliable Systems, American Political Science Review 87, no. 2 (June 1993): Amy B. Zegart, Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999), Ch. 1 IV. PATRONAGE, CIVIL SERVICE, AND NEUTRAL VERSUS RESPONSIVE COMPETENCE Week 5: Neutral versus Responsive Competence Ch. 5 York: Basic Books, 1989), Ch. 9 Hugh Heclo, OMB and the Presidency the problem of neutral competence, National Interest 38 (Winter 1975): Terry M. Moe, The Politicized Presidency, in The New Direction in American Politics, ed. John E. Chubb and Paul E. Peterson (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1985), Elena Kagan, Presidential Administration, Harvard Law Review 114 (2001) , pp David E. Lewis, The Politics of Presidential Appointments (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008), Ch. 2 Week 6: What is the Civil Service? Ch. 8

4 Dearborn Bureaucracy and Public Administration 4 the Executive Branch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), Ch. 4 The Federal Civil Service Week 7: Interests and Bureaucratic State Building: The Civil Service Stephen Skowronek, Building a New American State: The Expansion of National Administrative Capacities, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982), Ch. 3, 6 Week 8: Reputation and Bureaucratic State Building Daniel P. Carpenter, The Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy: Reputations, Networks, and Policy Innovation in Executive Agencies, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001), Ch. 1, 8 the Executive Branch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), Ch. 2-3 IV. IDEAS AND CULTURE Week 9-10: Ideas & Administrative Landmarks: BAA of 1921 and Reorganization Act of 1939 Ch. 11 York: Basic Books, 1989), Ch. 4 Irene S. Rubin, Who Invented Budgeting in the United States?, Public Administration Review 53, no. 5 (September-October 1993): Jonathan Kahn, Budgeting Democracy: State Building and Citizenship in America, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), Ch. 3, 5 the Executive Branch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), Ch. 6 John A. Dearborn, The Proper Organs for Presidential Representation: A Fresh Look at the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, Journal of Policy History, forthcoming John A. Dearborn, The Foundations of the Modern Presidency: Presidential Representation, the Unitary Executive Theory, and the Reorganization Act of 1939, Presidential Studies Quarterly, forthcoming Primary Sources: President s Commission on Economy and Efficiency, The Need for a National Budget (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1912), pp. 7-12,

5 Dearborn Bureaucracy and Public Administration 5 President s Committee on Administrative Management, Report of the President s Committee (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1937), pp. iii-v, 1-7 Week 10: Bureaucratic Culture Herbert Kaufman, The Forest Ranger: A Study in Administrative Behavior (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1960), Ch. 6 York: Basic Books, 1989), Ch. 6 VI. IMPLEMENTATION AND RULEMAKING Week 11: Policy Implementation Ch. 10, 12 Decision Making: Rationality and Risk and Implementation and Performance the Executive Branch (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), Ch. 7 Information, Regulated Interests, and Administrative Policymaking Week 12: Rulemaking: The Administrative Procedures Act of 1946 and OIRA Joanna L. Grisinger, The Unwieldy American State: Administrative Politics since the New Deal (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), Ch. 2 William F. West, The Institutionalization of Regulatory Review: Organizational Stability and Responsive Competence, Presidential Studies Quarterly 35, no. 1 (March 2005): Stuart Shapiro, OIRA Inside and Out, Administrative Law Review 63 (2011): Alexander Bolton, Rachel Augustine Potter, and Sharece Thrower, Organizational Capacity, Regulatory Review, and the Limits of Political Control, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 32, no. 2 (May 2016): VI. OVERSIGHT AND REPRESENTATION Week 13: Issues of Democratic Control Ch. 14 Mathew D. McCubbins and Thomas Schwartz, Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols versus Fire Alarms, American Journal of Political Science 28, no. 1 (February 1984):

6 Dearborn Bureaucracy and Public Administration 6 Elena Kagan, Presidential Administration, Harvard Law Review 114 (2001) , pp Judith R. Saidel and Karyn Loscocco, Agency Leaders, Gendered Institutions, and Representative Bureaucracy, Public Administration Review 65, no. 2 (March-April 2005): Brandice Canes-Wrone, Administrative Politics and the Public Presidency, Presidential Studies Quarterly 39, no. 1 (March 2009): Jason A. Grissom, Jill Nicholson-Crotty, and Sean Nicholson-Crotty, Race, Region, and Representative Bureaucracy, Public Administration Review 69, no. 5 (September-October 2009): FINAL EXAM Identifications Choose 10 of 15 40% Long Essays Choice two of three questions 60%