The Bureaucracy

 Appointed civil servants control the government, without consulting the public.  Immense power, and the people only indirectly impact them (they elect people who regulate)  Runs contrary to Democratic Principles. Bureaucratism

 Bureaucracy: a large, complex organization composed of appointed officials.   The federal bureaucracy consists of the roughly 500 departments, agencies, administrations, authorities, and commissions that carry out responsibilities assigned to them through Congressional legislation.  Political authority over the bureaucracy is shared by president and Congress.  Federal agencies share functions with related state and local government agencies   Who runs the federal bureaucracy?   The federal bureaucracy is part of the executive branch, which means that the president exercises ultimate control over it. But managing a bureaucracy this large is too difficult for one person, so there is an agency—the Executive Office of the President—that assists the president in running the federal bureaucracy. The most critical members of the Executive Office work in the West Wing of the White House. More directly, the individual departments and agencies of the federal bureaucracy are managed by officials appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The United States Bureaucracy

 The United States Bureaucracy isn’t located in just one branch, though it falls primarily in the realm of the Executive Branch.   The oldest executive department is the Department of State, created by Congress in   The largest executive department today is the Department of Defense, with about 650,000 civilian employees.   One of the newest is the Department of Homeland Security, created by Congress in 2002 in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 11 September   One that impacts all of us on a daily basis is the Food and Drug Administration, created by Congress in 1906 in order to guarantee the purity of our food and medicine.   An agency that has received a great deal of attention over the past several years is the Environmental Protection Agency. It was formed in 1971 by President Richard Nixon through a reorganization of several executive branch agencies to set and enforce anti-pollution standards.

The United States Bureaucracy   What is the difference between a Department and an Agency?   Departments are the largest organizations within the federal bureaucracy. There are fifteen executive departments (Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs). Department heads are labeled secretaries (except for the Attorney General, who heads the Department of Justice), and these officials all serve in the president's cabinet.   Most of the agencies, commissions, and administrations fall under one of the executive departments. The Food and Drug Administration, for example, is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.   A minority of the agencies are independent; that is, they do not fall under any of the executive departments. The Environmental Protection Agency is an example of an independent agency.

  There is not perfect consistency in the use of the various labels for government agencies, but commissions generally engage in some form of business regulation.   Also, there is a loose distinction drawn between staff agencies and line agencies. Staff agencies provide advice and assistance to the president and other executive branch officials, while line agencies have a set of specific responsibilities that they carry out.   For example, the Office of Management and Budget is a staff agency; it provides the president with assistance in constructing his annual budget proposal.   The Environmental Protection Agency is a line agency. It does more than provide advice; it is charged with setting and enforcing air and water quality standards.

  Some "independent agencies" just don't fit under one of the large executive departments. But others were made independent because Congress wanted to protect them from political manipulation. In particular, Congress wanted to make sure that future presidents could not administer an agency in ways contrary to Congress's intentions in creating the agency.   Congress achieves this in several ways. For example, the founding legislation may require that agency officials represent both parties, or it may stagger the terms of these officials so that no president can appoint more than a few. In addition, Congress may specify the grounds for dismissal of an agency official.   Many of these independent agencies also have their own legislative ad judicial powers. That is, Congress grants to these agencies the authority to make their own rules and regulations, thus shielding them from executive direction. And Congress similarly confers upon them the authority to rule on disputes that arise under these rules and regulations. Why Are Some Agencies Independent?

 Patronage in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries rewarded supporters, induced congressional support, and built party organizations  The Civil War showed the administrative weakness of the federal government and increased demands for civil service reform Growth of the Bureaucracy

 The post-Civil War period saw industrialization and the emergence of a national economy  The power of national government to regulate interstate commerce became necessary and controversial Growth of the Bureaucracy

 The Depression and World War II led to government activism  The Supreme Court upheld laws that granted discretion to administrative agencies  Heavy use of income taxes supported war effort and a large bureaucracy post WW2 and into the Cold War.  How does this tie into the idea of the Imperial Presidency? Expansion of the Bureaucracy

 9/11 attacks could also affect the bureaucracy as profoundly as WWII and the Depression  A new cabinet agency (Department of Homeland Security) was created  Intelligence-gathering activities were consolidated under a National Intelligence Director The Impact of 9/11

 Modest increase in the number of government employees  Significant indirect increase in number of employees through use of private contractors, state and local government employees  Growth in discretionary authority  Today,  Today, there are roughly 2.7 million civilians directly employed by the federal government. This includes more than 600,000 United States Postal workers. In addition, there are currently an additional 1.4 million serving in the armed forces. Growth of the Bureaucracy Today

  Not really. The periods of bureaucratic expansion and increased regulation have been followed by periods of deregulation. During the 1920s, Republican Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover took measures to reduce government regulation. And during the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan established a task force designed to eliminate what he perceived as wasteful regulation. The number of persons employed by the federal government did not actually decline, but it grew very little during these decades. In addition, in terms of persons directly employed by the federal government, the bureaucracy has shrunk as a percentage of America's total workforce since the 1970s. But this can be misleading. More federal dollars have been distributed to state and local governments and private agencies. As a result, the federal government now indirectly employs an additional twelve million persons. Has there been any decline?

 Competitive service: bureaucrats compete for jobs through OPM  Appointment by merit based on written exam or through selection criteria Recruitment and Retention

Minority Employment in the Federal Bureaucracy by Rank, 2000

Characteristics of Federal Civilian Employees, 1960 and 1999

 Most bureaucrats cannot be easily fired  The Senior Executive Service (SES) was established to provide the president and cabinet with more control in personnel decisions  But very few SES members have actually been fired Firing a Bureaucrat

 Most bureaucrats try to carry out policy, even those they disagree with  But bureaucrats do have obstructive powers—Whistleblower Protection Act (1989)  Most civil servants have highly structured jobs that make their personal attitudes irrelevant Carrying Out Policy

 Constraints are much greater on government agencies than on private bureaucracies  Hiring, firing, pay, and other procedures are established by law, not by the market  Perhaps this is why people are always complaining about how inefficient it is?  Constraints come from citizens: agencies try to respond to citizen demands for openness, honesty, and fairness Constraints on the Bureaucracy

 Agencies often seek alliances with congressional committees and interest groups  These alliances are far less common today—politics has become too complicated  Nonetheless, agencies lobby just like interest groups  Issue networks: groups that regularly debate government policy on certain issues Agency Allies

 Congress creates agencies  Congress authorizes funds for programs  Congressional appropriations provide funds for the agency to spend on its programs  Congressional investigations Congressional Oversight

 Red tape: complex, sometimes conflicting rules  Conflict: agencies work at cross-purposes  Duplication: two or more agencies seem to do the same thing  Imperialism: tendency of agencies to grow, irrespective of programs’ benefits and costs  Waste: spending more than is necessary to buy some product or service Bureaucratic Pathologies

 National Performance Review (NPR) in 1993 designed to reinvent government calling for less centralized management, more employee initiatives, fewer detailed rules, and more customer satisfaction  Most rules and red tape are due to struggles between the president and Congress or to agencies’ efforts to avoid alienating influential voters  Periods of divided government worsen matters, especially in implementing policy Reforming the Bureaucracy

Groups of 2-3 Students The following agencies must be researched: -Environmental Protection Agency -Central Intelligence Agency -Federal Bureau of Investigation -Federal Elections Commission -Federal Trade Commission -Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -Federal Communications Commission -Federal Reserve Board -National Science Foundation -Securities and Exchange Commission -National Security Agency -Internal Revenue Service -The Food and Drug Administration -Federal Emergency Management Agency -National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research Project