Bureaucracy AP Government

What is Bureaucracy Sociologist Max Weber was the first person to define what is a bureaucracy: Hierarchical authority structure Task specialization Merit principle Impersonality -There are many different myths about bureaucrats that aren’t true. Who are bureaucrats? They are the non elected individuals who work for the government. They are more representative of society than elected officials are.

Civil Service Patronage – this was the system that existed over 100 years ago. As President Jackson put it, “to the victors go the spoils.” The Pendleton Civil Service Act 1883, eliminated this. The reason why this act was created was that President Garfield was assassinated by Charles Guiteau after he wasn’t able to get one of these jobs. This act created the civil service system. This system is based on merit and nonpartisan government serivce.

Plum Book Every four years, just after the Presidential election, the United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, commonly known as the Plum Book, is published, alternately, by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Government Reform. The Plum Book is used to identify presidentially appointed positions within the Federal Government . There are about 400 top policy jobs and 2,500 lower level jobs in this book. This is known as the plum book because these are the best jobs available.

Civil Service The people at the higher end of the civil service system generally see a lot of turnover. The average assistant secretary or undersecretary lasts 22 months. This is partially because these people are usually not promoted from within the system, they are political outsiders. Their lack of familiarity with the system means they rely on senior civil service employees. People placed in the Plum Book positions also leave for economic reasons. By the time people become familiar with the system the generally leave for jobs in the private sector.

Organization Cabinet Departments – All cabinet departments are headed by secretaries with the exception of the Justice Department (Attorney General). Each department has a unique mission and is organized differently. Undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, and deputy secretaries all report to the head of the department. Most of the real work gets done in the bureaus. This is a subgroup within the cabinet department.

Bureaucratic Organization Cabinet Departments Independent Regulatory Agencies – economic interests of the public. Government Corporations – job can be done by a private company. They charge for their services. Independent Executive Agencies – every one else in the federal bureaucracy. General Services Administration, National Science Foundation, and NASA.

Implementation of Policy The job of the bureaucracy is primarily to implement policy. When legislation or an executive order is made, it is up to the bureaucracy to figure out how it gets implemented. This can include: Creation of a new agency or assignment of a duty to an old agency. Translation of policy goals into operational rules and development of guidelines for the program. Coordination of resources and personnel to achieve the intended goals.

Policy Failure Not all policies work. There are several reasons why this can happen. Program design – Some things just cant be done. When a policy is too ambitious, it may not work regardless of how well it is implemented. Lack of clarity – Congress likes to pass legislation that is very broad in its wordings. This way if it works they can take credit, if it doesn’t they can blame implementation. Title IX is a good example.

Policy Failure Lack of resources – As big as some bureaucracies might seem, they might not have the specific elements needed for successful policy implementation. Agencies might also lack the authority to meet their responsibilities. The FDA can’t subpoena testing records from companies it suspects are hiding information. Administrative routine – Most bureaucracies follow standard operating procedure. These are guidelines that are in place to save time an make things run efficiently. Unfortunately this means that things don’t get done if SOP doesn’t exist for them. For example, the FAA had inspection SOP, but no SOP for checking to see if violations were fixed. This eventually led to some accidents.

Policy Failure Administrators’ Disposition – The administrators have some authority when it comes to how things are implemented. Street level bureaucrats are people like police ultimately have to make the decision on what to do. Fragmentation – sometimes responsibility can be spread among too many agencies. For example, when it comes to welfare, there are 10 different departments to administer more than 100 different programs.

Congressional Control Occasionally, congress tries to exert control over different parts of the bureaucracy. This is done through four different areas. Influence the appointment of agency head. Tinker with an agency’s budget. Hold hearings. Rewrite the legislation or make it more detailed.