1. 13: The Federal Bureaucracy
Administering the Government

2. Origin and Structure of the Federal Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy is a system of organization and control based on three principles:
Hierarchical authority
Job specialization
Formalized rules
Federal bureaucracy was initially small, and it role was confined
Dramatic growth in the latter part of the 1800s came in response to economic growth
Biggest growth spurt occurred during the Great Depression

3. Figure 13-1 Number of Full-Time Federal Employees
Despite the widespread view that the federal bureaucracy grows ever larger, the number of federal employees has been relatively stable since an expansion in the 1960s.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

4. Types of Federal Agencies
Cabinet (executive) departments
Fifteen departments: State, Defense, Justice, etc.
Independent agencies, resembling cabinet departments but with more narrow areas of responsibility—CIA, NASA, etc.
Regulatory agencies—SEC, EPA, etc.
Government corporations, similar to private-sector corporations—for example, USPS, FDIC, Amtrak, etc.
Presidential commissions, which advise the president
Both temporary and permanent

5. Figure 13-2 Cabinet (Executive) Departments
Each executive department is responsible for a general policy area and is headed by a secretary or, in the case of Justice, the attorney general, who serves as a member of the president’s cabinet. Shown is each department’s year of origin. (The Office of the Attorney General was created in 1789 and was reorganized as the Justice Department in 1870.)
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6. Federal Employment
Most of the 2.5 million full-time civilian federal employees are hired through the merit system
Or have specialized training (i.e. lawyers, engineers, etc.)
Merit system replaced the nineteenth-century patronage system that was thought to tie the administration to the people; but was labeled a spoils system due to abuses
Administrative objective of the merit system is neutral competence—employees are competent and nonpartisan
Can form labor unions, but the unions are allowed limited scope

7. Figure 13-3 How Federal Employees Got Their Jobs
In the nineteenth century, most federal workers were patronage appointees. Today, only a small percentage got their job through that route. The great majority are merit appointees, having obtained federal employment either by placing high on a competitive civil service exam or having specialized training, such as a medical or engineering degree.
Source: Estimated by author from Office of Personnel Management data.

8. Educational Backgrounds of Bureaucrats
In staffing its bureaucracy, the U.S. government tends to hire persons with specialized educations to hold specialized jobs. In contrast, Great Britain tends to recruit its top bureaucrats from the arts and humanities; and Germany’s approach focuses on a legal education. These tendencies were documented by political scientist Guy Peters in his comparative study of the college majors of senior civil servants.

9. The Budgetary Process
Budgetary process: the process through which annual federal spending and revenue decisions are made
Federal agencies live and die by their budgets
Process involves a give-and-take between Congress and the president
It lasts a year and a half, from the spring of one year until October of the next

10. The President and Agency Budgets
Budgetary process begins in the executive branch
Spring: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) establishes guidelines, including a budget ceiling for each agency
Summer: agencies create a detailed budget accounting for existing and new programs
September: agency budgets are submitted to the OMB
OMB reviews and finalizes the agency budgets and combines them into the president’s budget proposal
January: the budget is submitted to Congress

11. Congress and the Agency Budgets
Committee work begins in the House and Senate
Budget committees: review proposed budget and makes spending and revenue recommendations
Appropriations committees: modify budget as needed
Full House and Senate vote
Approved by a majority, differences are reconciled in conference committee
House and Senate vote on the reconciled version
Once approved, the president will sign or veto it
New budget takes effect on 1 October

12. Figure 13-4 Federal Budgetary Process
The budget begins with the president’s instructions to the agencies and ends when Congress enacts the budget. The entire process spans about 18 months.
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13. Policy and Power in the Bureaucracy
Administrative agencies’ main task is policy implementation
In some instances policy is limiting and defined
In other instances agencies have wide discretion
Rulemaking: how a law will work in practice
Federal Register
Administrators also develop policy ideas that they may propose to the White House or Congress

14. The Agency Point of View
Agency point of view: perspective of bureaucrats that places more emphasis on the needs of the agency in which they work
Comes naturally to high-ranking civil servants
Cemented by professionalism
Can distort government priorities
Agency must seek support wherever it can find it
President; Congress; political parties
Agencies are forced to play politics

15. Figure 13-5 Bureaucrats’ View of Social Welfare Spending
Bureaucrats in social-welfare agencies are far more likely than bureaucrats in other agencies to think increased spending on social welfare is necessary. An “agency point of view” is prevalent in the federal bureaucracy.
Source: Adapted from Joel D. Aberbach and Bert A. Rockman, “Clashing Beliefs within the Executive Branch,” American Political Science Review 70 (1970): 461.

16. Sources of Bureaucratic Power
Expertise
For example, space travel, or hunger in America
Clientele groups: major societal interests, such as commerce, labor, or agriculture, that are served by an agency
Can be counted on to lobby on behalf of the agency
Friends in high places
Agency goals may conflict with those of the president or Congress, but the agency’s expertise and competency is still needed

17. Democracy and Bureaucratic Accountability
U.S. federal bureaucracy compares favorably to government bureaucracies elsewhere
Bureaucracy is the antithesis of self-government
Bureaucracy: hierarchy, command, permanence of office, appointment to office, and fixed rules
Self-government: equality, consent, rotation of office, election to office, and open decision making
Bureaucrats’ influence raises the question of bureaucratic accountability: the degree to which they are held accountable for the power they exercise

18. Accountability Through the Presidency
Reorganization
Streamlining attempts
Moving activities to the Executive Office of the Presidency
Presidential appointments
Pro: agency heads can be changed by the president
Con: appointees may have limited agency understanding, leading to a reliance on careerists
OMB: budgets, regulations, and legislative proposals

19. Accountability through Congress
Congressional “power of the purse”
Oversight function, monitoring the bureaucracy’s work
Increased use of the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Ways to constrain the bureaucracy before it acts:
Drafting laws with specific instructions for implementation
Sunset provisions

20. Accountability through the Courts
Injured party can bring suit against an agency
If the court agrees, the agency must change its policy
Supreme Court has held that agencies can apply any reasonable interpretation of statutes
Unless Congress has stipulated something to the contrary
Courts tend to support administrators
Administrators must have flexibility to be effective

21. Accountability within the Bureaucracy Itself
Senior Executive Service (SES)
Less successful in practice than its proponents anticipated
Administrative law judges
Charged with protecting individuals from arbitrary, prejudicial, or incorrect decisions by an agency
Whistleblowing
Demographic representativeness
Progress has been made in improving the employment status of women and, to a lesser extent, minorities

22. Table 13-1 Federal Job Rankings (GS) of Various Demographic Groups
Grade level*
Women 1982
Women 2011
Blacks 1982
Blacks 2011
Hispanics 1982
Hispanics 2011
GS 13–15 (highest ranks) 5%
37%
13% 2% 6%
GS 9–12
20%
46%
10%
17% 4% 8%
GS 5–8
60%
61%
19%
26% 9%
GS 1–4 (lowest ranks)
78%
66%
23%
25%
* In general, the higher-numbered grades are managerial and professional positions, and the lower-numbered grades are clerical and manual labor positions.
Source: Office of Personnel Management, 2012.

23. Critical Thinking
Explain what is mean by agency point of view. Why do bureaucrats tend to have an agency point of view?
Contrast the patronage system and the merit system as methods of hiring government employees.
What are the major sources of bureaucrats’ power? What mechanisms for controlling that power are available to the president and Congress?

24. Long image descriptions
Appendix A

25. Figure 13-2 Cabinet (Executive) Departments Appendix
1789: Department of State, Treasure Department, and Department of Defense
1849: Department of the Interior
1870: Department of Justice
1889: Department of Agriculture
1903: Department of Commerce
1913: Department of Labor
1953: Department of Health and Human Services
1965: Department of Housing and Urban Development
1966: Department of Transportation
1977: Department of Energy
1979: Department of Education
1988: Department of Veterans Affairs
2002: Department of Homeland Security
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26. Figure 13-4 Federal Budgetary Process Appendix
In Spring of the first year of the process, the president consults with the OMB on agency instructions.
Summer, the agencies work on their budgets.
September, the OMB begins a review of the agency proposals.
December, the OMB prepares the final budget for the president.
January, in the second year, the president submits the budget proposal to Congress.
April, Congress adopts a budget resolution.
September, Congress completes work on the appropriations bills.
October 1, the fiscal year begins.
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