AP Civics Chapter 13 Notes The Federal Bureaucracy: Administering the Government I. Introduction The National Performance Review (NPR) led by Vice President Al Gore recommended 384 ways of improving government administration The NPR suggested improvements in reducing red tape, putting customers first, empowering administrators, and cutting government back to basic services Modern government would be impossible without a bureaucracy, yet the bureaucracy is also a problem II. Federal Administration: Form, Personnel, and Activities For many, bureaucracy is an image of waste, mindless rules, and rigidity Bureaucracy is also an efficient and effective method of organization Bureaucracy is a system of organization and control that is based on three principles Hierarchical Authority Job Specialization Formalized Rules Chain of command, whereby the officials and units have control over those below them The responsibilities of each job position are explicitly defined, and there is a precise division of labor within the organization Standardized procedures and established regulations by which a bureaucracy conducts its operation A. The Federal Bureaucracy in Americans Daily Lives 1. The U.S. federal bureaucracy has more than 2.5 million employees who have responsibility for thousands of program B. Types of Administrative Organizations Cabinet Departments 15 Cabinet (executive) departments, each of which is served by a cabinet secretary who has responsibility for setting general department policy and overseeing operations Vary in visibility, size, and importance State: most prestigious (only 25,000 employees) Defense: largest, 750,000 Independent Agencies Similar to cabinet departments but usually have a narrower area of responsibility Headed by a presidential appointee who is not a cabinet member CIA, NASA Regulatory Agencies Are responsible for regulation of economic activity designated by Congress, particularly public safety, welfare, and competition EPA (environment) SEC (stock market) Some are independent from political control Government Corporations Similar to private corporations Charge clients for services and are governed by a Board of Directors Receive federal funding to defray operating expenses Directors appointed by the president with Senate approval Post Office/ FDIC Presidential Commissions Some are permanent commissions that provide recommendation s to the president in particular areas of responsibilities Commission on Civil Rights Others are temporary disbanded after usefulness 1
civilians, more than 1.5 million military Health and Human Services: largest budget Each department has a number of semiautonomous operating units (Bureau, Agency, Division, Service C. Federal Employment 1. More than 90 percent of federal employees are hired by merit criteria a. educational attainment, employment experience, and performance on competitive tests b. merit hiring protects government workers from being fired for partisan reasons c. Supreme Court Ruling (1990) prohibits patronage in all personnel operations d. Salaries competitive e. Drawbacks (1) few rights of collected action (2) strikes prohibited (3) limits on partisan activity D. The Federal Bureaucracy s Policy Responsibilities 1. The federal bureaucracy s primary function is policy implementation a. carry out the authoritative decisions of Congress, the president, and the courts 2. Many policy ideas originate in the bureaucracy, and the initiation of policy is an important bureaucratic role 3. Bureaucratic agencies also develop public policy, building on the decisions of the other branches of government 4. Delivery of services, such as mail delivery, is another bureaucratic role a. activities govern by rules b. some services allow agency employees enough discretion that laws end up being applied arbitrarily (1) street-level bureaucracy 5. The bureaucracy is charged with regulation of economic activity 6. The bureaucracy does not simply administer policy, it also makes policy III. Development of the Federal Bureaucracy: Politics and Administration Each agency confronts two simultaneous but incompatible demands: that it administer programs fairly and competently and that it respond to partisan claims A. Small Government and the Patronage System 1. Originally small (3,000 employees in 1800), the federal bureaucracy has grown larger a. evolved from Jackson s patronage or spoils system to a merit system (1) people are appointed to important government positions as a reward for political services they have rendered and because of their partisan loyalty b. the merit systems administrative objective has been neutral competence (1) employees are hired for their expertise and are to operate by objective rather than partisan standards 2
B. Growth in Government and the Merit System 1. Bureaucratic growth has been a response to political demands arising from socio-economic change and crisis a. Industrialization (Industrial Revolution) created an increasingly national and interdependent economy b. Created economic pressure groups (1) farmers Department of Agriculture (1889) (2) Business and Labor: Department of Commerce and Labor (1903) 2. Increased need for continuous administration of government enlarged bureaucracy 3. Pendleton Act 1883 a. merit or civil service system created (1) certain federal employees hired through competitive examinations or special qualifications b. transition to career civil service is gradual 4. Merit Protection Service Board 1978 a. handles appeals of personnel actions 5. Office of Personal Management 1978 a. supervises the hiring and classification of federal employees C. Big Government and the Executive Leadership System 1. Executive Leadership System a. provides the president with management tools to facilitate fuller control of the bureaucracy (1) Office of Management and Budget 1939 (a) gives president the authority to coordinate the annual budgetary process (2) president empowered to reorganize the bureaucracy, subject to congressional approval (3) Executive Office of the President (a) agency oversight and policy development 2. Problems a. can threaten balance between executive and legislative power b. make president s priorities, not fairness, the criterion by which provision of service is determined 3. Senior Executive Service (SES) a. 8,000 top level, highly paid career civil servants b. members can be assigned, dismissed, or transferred by presidential order c. SES bureaucrats cannot be fired by the president 4. Drawback of SES (1) some cannot transfer loyalty from agency to president IV. The Bureaucracy s Power Imperative The president as chief-executive does not have sole claim on bureaucracy s loyalty President claims proprietorship as chief executive Congress claims proprietorship as authorization and funding of bureaucracy s programs For the successful implementation of programs, agencies must fight for power. Failure to do so will result in losing out to other agencies in the competition for attention and resources Bureaucrats seek support where they can find it, which requires the ability to play politics A. The Agency Point of View 1. Agency point of view a. the tendency of bureaucrats to place the interest of their agency ahead of other interests and ahead of the priorities sought by the president or Congress 3
(1) they seek to procure funding, attention, and support for their particular agency b. agency professionalism and careerism tend to cement agency loyalties B. Sources of Bureaucratic Power Power of Expertise The Power of Clientele Groups The Power of Friends in High Places Elected officials are generalists, Special interest groups that President and Congress need the not specialists Bureaucrats more likely to be benefit directly from an agencies activities or programs bureaucracy as much as it needs them the source of policy ideas and Become strong advocates of the Program, expertise, and group solutions agency support of agencies can assist Agencies with highly Agencies lead and are led by elected officials in achieving specialized, professional staffs, clientele groups that depend on their goals have a great amount of leverage the programs they administer Congressional support is vital Infighting can break down the Department of Agriculture because agencies funding and cohesiveness of the agency career bureaucrats and strong allies of farm interests programs are established through legislation Iron triangles and issue networks are relevant V. Bureaucratic Accountability Accountability is the capacity of the public to hold government officials responsible for their actions Bureaucracies are held accountable through the President, Congress, and the courts A. Accountability Through the President 1. The president can only broadly influence, not directly control the bureaucracy a. presidents cannot unilaterally eliminate an agency or its funding and programs nor can the president be indifferent to career civil servants without losing their support President s Management Tools Reorganization Presidential Appointments Executive Budget Agencies pursue Presidents rely on political independent, even contradictory paths, resulting in an undetermined appointees in the agencies to ensure that directives are followed amount of waste and Change of leadership can duplication of effort have impact on agency Most recent presidents have Career bureaucrats often tried to streamline the pursue policies they prefer bureaucracy and make it High turnover rate reduces more accountable Presidents can often reduce autonomy or number of presidential accomplishments through appointees employees of particular agencies 4 OMB has influence on funding, programs, and regulations of every agency Greatest influence over agencies is its budgetary role B. Accountability Through Congress 1. All agencies depend on Congress for their existence, authority, programs, and funding a. without authorization or funding, a program simply does not exist, regardless of the priority an agency claims it deserves b. Congress can also void actions through legislation 2. Correcting administration error: legislative oversight
a. involves monitoring the bureaucracy s work to ensure compliance with legislative intent b. EPA policy and the agency itself was dramatically affected when news reports revealed that the agency had privately arranged lenient settlements for firms that had committed serious violations of toxic waste disposal regulations (1) congressional investigation resulted in resignations, dismissals, and convictions c. Legislative veto (1) used to void bureaucratic decisions (2) Congress still uses legislative veto despite its doubtful constitutionality (3) 1983, the Supreme Court, voided the use of a legislative veto as interference with the president s constitutional authority to execute the laws but limited its ruling to the law in question 3. Restricting the bureaucracy in advance a. draft laws that contain very specific provisions that limit bureaucrats options when they implement policy b. sunset law (1) date of laws expiration unless reenacted by Congress C. Accountability Through the Courts 1. Ensure bureaucrats abide by certain legal standards a. protects the public from severe bureaucratic abuses b. courts have tended to support the bureaucracy if its actions seem at all reasonable D. Accountability Within the Bureaucracy Itself 1. The bureaucracy also has internal mechanisms of accountability Whistle Blowing Reporting instances of bureaucratic corruption or mismanagement by one s fellow bureaucrat Not highly successful for fear of reprisals Whistle Blower Protection Act: protection from retaliation often with a financial reward Demographic Representative ness Bureaucracy will be more responsive to the public if its employees at all levels are demographically representative of the population as a whole Not representative at the top levels VI. Reinventing Government A recent trend is to reduce the size, cost, and lines of authority of the bureaucracy This downsizing of the federal bureaucracy, driven by political forces and public criticism, is based on the idea that the bureaucracy would be more effective and responsive if make smaller Argument is that the information age requires a more flexible, less hierarchical administrative structure lower level bureaucrats would make decisions rather than top officials Critics argue that the linkage between elected and administrative officials would be weakened Another question is how to identify customers in a market oriented administration less powerful customers might lose out to more powerful Government may be hollowed out lack of financial and human resources to perform its mission Long standing questions about the bureaucracy remain: How can it be made more responsive, and yet act fairly? How can it be made more efficient, and yet accomplish what Americans want? How can it be made more creative, and yet be held accountable? 5