1. BUREAUCRACY SHANG E. HA SOGANG UNIVERSITY POL 3162 Introduction to American Politics

2. Overview APT, Chapter 12 What is the federal bureaucracy? What does federal bureaucracy do? What do the public think about bureaucracy? How does Congress control the bureaucracy?

3. Bureaucracy Bureaucrats at different levels make rules, implement rules, and (re-)interpret rules. (i.e., implement the laws passed in Congress) They are checked by oversight from Congress, the courts, and other bureaucrats (such as special inspectors’ offices and special administrative law courts). Critics believe that bureaucracies are inherently dangerous and have too much power, but the fact is that they are at the heart of our modern, complex system of government.

4. What Is the Federal Bureaucracy?: Functions  What do bureaucrats do?  Implement policies established by Congress or the president  Develop programs and policies to achieve goals of laws When laws are specific, bureaucrats have very little discretion. More commonly, laws provide general guidelines.

5. What Is the Federal Bureaucracy?: Regulations  Regulations  Government rules that give government control over individuals and corporations by restricting behaviors Developed via the “notice and comment “procedure Very political

6. Regulations: An Example Federal regulations affect all parts of everyday life. Think about federal regulations for car safety. Fact: Over 30,000 people a year are killed in car accidents. That’s 10 times the number of people who died in the September 11 attacks every single year. Now think about imposing a new safety regulation. It will make cars more expensive. By definition, this hurts poor people the most. But, on the other hand, a new mandatory safety feature might save lives. Is it worth it?

7. Regulations: An Example (con’t) This is called “cost-benefit analysis.” This basic formula is applied many, many times by bureaucrats and fundamentally affects the safety of the world we live in. When we mandate that we have more fuel-efficient cars, we recognize that one way to achieve those standards is to make cars lighter. But lighter cars are generally less safe than heavier cars. Is the loss of safety worth the increase in fuel economy (less pollution)? These are the types of calculations that bureaucrats make every day.

8. What Is the Federal Bureaucracy? The federal bureaucracy is made up of:  Millions of permanent employees (civil servants)  Thousands of short-term workers (political appointees of the president)

9. What Is the Federal Bureaucracy?: Responsibilities Procurement  Bureaucrats are in charge of government purchases.  Make decisions regarding the criteria of what they will buy Providing services Street-level bureaucrats provide government services to regular Americans. Research and development Government scientists do research covering a wide variety of areas. Managing and directing Supervising: For example, the Department of Defense uses civilian contractors to complete a wide variety of services in Iraq

10. What Is the Federal Bureaucracy?: The Experts Bureaucratic expertise  Bureaucrats are experts; in general, more so than members of Congress or the president. Criticism of bureaucracies  Too much “red tape”  The existence of red tape (also known as unnecessary rules) as part of standard operating procedure is one of the reasons that the words bureaucracy and bureaucrat are commonly used in a pejorative way in everyday speech. Political scientists use it in a more value-neutral, nonjudgmental way.

11. What Is the Federal Bureaucracy?: Internal Control  Problem of control  Principal-agent game When Congress passes a law that mandates that regulators write rules to further a goal, Congress is the principal and the bureaucracy is the agent.  Regulatory capture There is a danger that regulators (bureaucrats) will be “captured” by the industries that they regulate. (One possibility is that they may think they will be able to leave the civil service for a better-paying job in industry.)

14. The Executive Branch of the Federal Government

15. The Structure of the Department of Agriculture

16. The Size of the Federal Budget

17. Employment in Selected Federal Organizations

18. The Human Face of the Bureaucracy Civil service regulations  Higher-level jobs are awarded to those who have good qualifications, experience, and education.  Seniority helps determine promotions.  After three years of satisfactory job performance, a civil servant cannot be fired without cause.  Helps remove politics from the bureaucracy

19. The Human Face of the Bureaucracy: Limitations  Limits on political activity  The Hatch Act (1939) prohibits federal workers from engaging in organized political activities.  Senior White House staffers are exempt from these restrictions.  However, they are prevented from using government resources for political purposes

20. But…. It is not completely clear which activities are allowed or prohibited by these laws. For example, in spring 2007 Karl Rove, deputy White House chief of staff and a close political adviser to President George W. Bush, had given briefings to senior political appointees on Republican losses in the 2006 midterm elections and plans for the 2008 campaign. As a senior member of the White House staff, Rove was exempt from the Hatch Act’s prohibitions, but the more junior White House staff involved in the briefings probably were not.

21. The Human Face of the Bureaucracy: Political Appointments  Political appointees and the senior executive service  The president appoints about 7,000 political appointees.  Some potentially less-competent campaign staffers are awarded positions on “turkey farms.”  The ability to make political appointments helps the president exercise some control over the bureaucracy.

22. How Americans View the Federal Bureaucracy

23. The Bureaucracy: Bureaucrats Make Mistakes

24. Controlling the Bureaucracy  Lawmakers must determine how to get the benefits of bureaucratic expertise without giving bureaucrats complete control over their own behavior.

25. Controlling the Bureaucracy: Monitoring Monitoring  Oversight from Congress  Advance warning  Requires bureaucrats to disclose their proposed actions before they take effect  Investigations  Police patrol oversight: constant monitoring  Fire alarm oversight: Congress responds to complaints about a bureaucratic agency

26. Controlling the Bureaucracy: Violations Correcting violations  Legislation and executive orders can correct problems.  Correcting problems is most challenging when Congress and the president disagree.  This is when agencies often have the most discretion.