PPT 8 UNIT 5: THE PRESIDENCY, THE BUREAUCRACY AND THE JUDICIARY

UNDERSTANDING BUREAUCRACIES Bureaucracy and Democracy In democratic theory, popular control of government depends on elections. There is no way to elect the 4.1 million federal civilian and military employees. The fact that voters DO NOT elect civil servants does not mean that bureaucracies cannot respond to and represent the public’s interests.

CONTINUED… Much depends on whether bureaucracies are effectively controlled by the policymakers that citizens do elect – the president and Congress.

PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCES Presidents try to impose their policy preferences on agencies using the following methods: Appoint the right people to head the agency (their people) Issue orders: Presidents can issue executive orders to agencies. Tinker with an agencies budget: OMB is president’s final authority on any agency’s budget. Reorganize an agency: hard to abolish and agency, but can be reorganized and absorbed into another agency

CONGRESS’ RELATIONSHIP On one hand, members of Congress may find a big bureaucracy congenial (big government provides services to constituents) On the other hand, Congress has found it hard to control the government it helped to create.

OVERSEEING BUREAUCRACIES Congress can influence the appointment of agency heads: even when senatorial approval of a presidential appointment is not required, members of Congress can be influential. Tinker with the agency’s budget: Congressional power of the “purse” Hold hearings: committees and subcommittees can hold periodic hearings as part of oversight Rewrite legislation: Congress can write new or more detailed legislation to limit discretion and clarify.

IRON TRIANGLES When agencies, groups and committees all depend on one another and are in close frequent contact, they form “iron triangles” or subgovernments. Characterized by mutual dependency: each element provides key services, information, or policy for the others

BUREAUCRACY AND THE SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT The federal bureaucracy has not grown over the past two generations: in fact, the bureaucracy has shrunk in size relative to the population it serves. Originally, the federal bureaucracy has a modest role; but as the economy and the society of the United States changed, additional demands were made on the government. The bureaucracy is actually too small for many of the tasks currently assigned to it (such as the control of illicit drugs or the protection of the environment)