1. Chapter 15: The Bureaucracy

2. Bureaucracies
Bureaucracies are often handy political targets to blame for society’s ills.
Yet, the same bureaucrats who are blamed for red tape have also accomplished some remarkable tasks:
NASA
TVA
A bureaucracy is merely a name given to a large organization structured hierarchically to carry out specific functions. The organization is structured by the specialization of the employees. This applies to government, corporations and universities, too.
Public bureaucracies do not answer to a board of directors, but to Congress. They are organized to serve citizens and carry out the instructions of Congress, not to make a profit.
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3. Bureaucracies (cont.)
Americans tend to be against “Big Government” in the abstract, but they also demand all kinds of government services.
Almost everyone in this country benefits from a program run by “faceless bureaucrats:” retirees who collect Social Security, schoolchildren in the Head Start program, students who pay for college with Pell Grants and many, many more.
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4. 2002 AP/ Wide World Photos
© 2003 AP/Wide World Photos
As a new bureaucracy created in 2002, how effective is the Department of Homeland Security ?
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5. A Failing Grade for Teach for America
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Video Supplied by Motion Gallery
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6. Questions
Educating future teachers for needy schools would appear to be a program that everyone supports. What is the financial reality of Teach for America?
How can this program become more effective? Should it be eliminated?
How would you restructure Teach for America to better serve needy communities?
Other than the Department of Education, should this program have additional oversight?
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7. Bureaucracy and the Policy Process
Client Groups
Congress
Triangles and Subgovernments
Issue Networks
Bureaucrats in administrative agencies help define the problem, identify possible solutions, implement the preferred course and assist in evaluating the policies. The specific details of how the laws passed by Congress are implemented is the purview of bureaucracies.
An issue network may be domestic or international in scope. Consider the differences for an environmental issue network compared to one devoted to the legalization of same-sex marriage.
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8. The Veterans Affairs “Triangle”
Iron Triangles: three-way alliance among legislators, bureaucrats, and interest groups that seeks to make or preserve policies that benefit their respective interests
Issue Networks: legislators, interest groups, bureaucrats, scholars and experts, and members of the media who share a position on a given issue may attempt to exert influence on the executive branch, on Congress, on the courts or on the media to see their policy position enacted.
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9. The Politics of Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy and Public Opinion
Bureaucracy and the President
Bureaucracy and Policymaking
Congress delegates the power to implement legislation to agencies through enabling legislation. It specifies the name, purpose, composition, functions and powers of the agency. The vagueness of many laws, however, allows agencies to have a direct effect on policies they implement. Agencies formulate rules (regulations) which may be commented upon or challenged by interested parties. Sometimes, these parties convince Congress to overturn the regulation.
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10. Models of Bureaucracy Weberian Model Acquisitive Model
Hierarchy
Specialization
Rules and regulations
Neutrality
Acquisitive Model
Monopolistic Model
Bureaucracies Compared
Weber, a German political economist and sociologist, saw bureaucrats as neutral parties who relied strictly on logic and data in decision-making. Weber was aware of the potential pitfalls of bureaucracies, including over-specialization, rigidity of procedures and rules, group-think, and disregard for dissent.
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11. The Size of the Bureaucracy
Today there are about 2.5 million civilian employees of the federal government.
The two biggest employers are the U.S. Postal Service, with almost 700,000 workers, and the Department of Defense, with around 623,000 civilian staff.
In recent years, the greatest growth in government employment has been at the local level. Federal employment has remained relatively stable.
(UPI Photo/Bill Greenblatt/Landov)
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12. A Profile of Bureaucracy: Government Employment—Federal, State, and Local
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13. A coordinated, federal emergency response first took place after a devastating fire in New Hampshire, authorized by the Congressional Act of In 1979, President Carter’s executive order officially established the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It later became part of the Department of Homeland Security.
In 2006, President Bush signed the Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act in response to criticism of the agency’s ineffectiveness after Hurricane Katrina.
© Bob Daemmrich /Stock, Boston /PictureQuest
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14. Federal Agencies and Their Employees
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15. Government Employment at the Federal, State, and Local Levels
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17. The Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy
Cabinet Departments
Independent Executive Agencies
Independent Regulatory Agencies
The Purpose and Nature of Regulatory Agencies
Agency Capture
Deregulation and Reregulation
Government Corporations
Government corporations do not have any stockholders, and their purpose is not to make a profit. They are chartered through an act of Congress, and their mission is to implement laws passed by Congress. The government corporations that most people are familiar with are the U.S. Postal Service and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Others include the Federal Prison Industries, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK), the Rural Telephone Bank and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
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18. Major Regulatory Agencies
The Federal Trade Commission (1914)
The Federal Communications Commission (1934)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (1934)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (1978)
1. The Federal Trade Commission (1914): five members, seven-year terms; regulates industry; responsible for preventing unfair competition, price fixing, deceptive advertising, mislabeling of textile and fur products, false packaging, and similar abuses.
2. The Federal Communications Commission
(1934): five members, five-year terms; licenses and regulates all television and radio stations
in the United States; regulates frequencies used by police, aviation, taxicabs, citizens’ band and
“ham” operators, and others; fixes rates for telephone and telegraph companies in interstate
commerce.
3. The Securities and Exchange Commission (1934):
five members, five-year terms; created to protect the public from investing in securities on the basis of false or misleading claims; requires companies offering securities for sale to file an accurate registration statement and prospectus; registers brokers; regulates stock exchanges.
4. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(1978): five members, five-year terms; although within the Department of Energy, is an independent
regulatory commission; regulates and has jurisdiction over natural gas companies, electric utilities, and interstate oil pipelines.
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19. Deregulation
The government regulation of industry, which increased during the New Deal administration of FDR, had by the 1970s become a target of criticism.
In the 1970s, President Carter called for deregulation of airlines, banking, trucking, railroads, and telecommunications.
Carter’s deregulation agenda was designed to increase competition in certain industries and decrease consumer prices for services.
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20. The Growth of Social Regulation
Although considerable deregulation of transportation, communications, and financial industries took place, social regulation increased during the 1970s and 1980s.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1991 also increased the regulation of many businesses.
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21. Staffing the Bureaucracy
Political Appointees
The aristocracy of the federal government
The difficulty of firing civil servants
See the latest edition of Policy and Supporting Positions (the Plum Book) at Non-appointed government employees are hired by using a formal process.
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22. Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform
Sunshine Laws
The 1966 Freedom of Information Act
Changes after 9/11
Sunset Laws require congressional review of existing programs to determine their effectiveness. If Congress does not explicitly reauthorize a program, it expires.
States also have individual freedom of information acts, in addition to federal ones. The Privacy Act of 1974 was passed in order to cover government documents charting individuals. There are nine exemptions to Freedom of Information Act requests which include personnel and medical files of individuals.
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23. The Civil Service The Spoils System The Road to Reform 1850s
The Civil Service Reform Act (Pendleton Act) was passed in 1883, creating the Civil Service Commission. The commission served as the federal government’s personnel agency. At first, only ten percent of all government employees were covered by the system.
Theodore Roosevelt served as a U.S. Civil Service Commissioner. His reputation for integrity and hard work there led to his national political emergence.
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24. The Carter Reforms The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
Whistle-blowers
The Senior Executive Service
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 led to the creation of the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board in place of the Civil Service Commission.
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25. “I’m sorry, dear, but you knew I was a
bureaucrat when you married me.”
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The New Yorker Collection Robert Weber from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.

26. Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform (cont.)
Privatization
Incentives for Efficiency and Productivity
The Government Performance and Results Act of 1997
Saving Costs through E-Government
Helping Out the Whistle Blowers
Privatization has been used in federal government since its founding. However, it emerged as a greater priority in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during an era critical of “big government.” Critics of privatization feel it can promote iron triangles and other corrupt relationships between government and the private sector, as well as impede unionization of government employees. Critics also feel that it further removes political power from the people, and provides it to entities with different priorities, such as profit.
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27. Click the icon to open the movie Video Supplied by Motion Gallery
Billion Dollar Fraud
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Video Supplied by Motion Gallery
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28. Questions
When fraudulent practices associated with a bureaucracy (in this case, Medicare) come to light, who is usually blamed?
Should hospitals that overbilled Medicare be penalized? How?
Is it ethical for whistleblowers to receive a financial reward?
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29. Bureaucrats as Politicians and Policy-Makers
The Rulemaking Environment
Waiting periods and court challenges
Negotiated Rulemaking
Congress passed the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990 to authorize agencies affected by new rulings to be involved in the process of their creation. Results are published in the Federal Register.
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30. Congressional Control of the Bureaucracy
The ultimate control is in the hands of Congress because Congress controls the purse strings.
Congressional control of the bureaucracy includes the establishment of agencies and departments, the budget process, and oversight conducted through investigations, hearings, and review.
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31. Questions for Critical Thinking
What could be done to eliminate iron triangles?
In modern times, we tend to equate the term “bureaucracy” with “red tape” or inefficiency. How does the goal of neutrality and the need for specialization help reinforce those images?
Is privatization a good idea? What services or agencies should be exempt from private contracts?
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32. Web Links U.S. Office of Personnel Management
The Project on Government Oversight
USA Jobs
Office of Personnel Management
The federal government’s human resources agency;
contains general information for current and prospective
federal employees and statistics about federal government
workers.
Project on Government Oversight
A nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that investigates,
exposes, and tries to remedy abuses of power within
the government. The site includes POGO Alerts, which
are brief reports about the project’s investigations, and
legal resources for those who are considering becoming
a whistle-blower.
USAJobs
The federal government’s official site for jobs and employment
information. Current job openings, online
applications for jobs, and information about working
for the government are available.
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33. Web Links (cont.) GAO—U.S. Government Accountability Office
FAS—Federation of American Scientists
OMB Watch
Openthegovernment.org
This is the site of the Government Accountability Office, the congressional
office that monitors the performance of executive branch
agencies.
This is the site of the Federation of American Scientists.
This is a site set up by interest groups and private individuals to
monitor the performance of executive branch agencies. You can
review agency evaluations, changes in FOIA, and other laws and
rules governing openness in government.
This website is devoted to tracking government policy on issues of
secrecy and public access to government documents. Site managers
advocate for greater openness.
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