1. Bureaucracy

2. Chapter 15 The Bureaucracy
Line at the DMV

3. Bureaucracy
Large, complex organization of appointed, non elected, officials that help run our government and help executive branch executive the laws
“Bureau” – French for small desks, referring to the king’s traveling business men who set up small desks in town squares
Bureaucracy = “government of small desks”

4. Continued… Bureaucracy: Also called civil service…
Well organized hierarchical
Complex institution with many parts
Millions! of workers
Non elected
Well paid and usually pretty secure employment

5. Merit System – hiring and promotion based on competition, skill level, and or exam, no jobs for favors or connections
Limits corruption
Political Patronage - those in power giving civil service jobs to its supporters, friends, and or relatives as a reward for loyalty and hard work
Increases corruption

6. Who are bureaucrats?
1 out of 100 Americans work for government bureaucracy
Examples
US Postal Service
Amtrak
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Interstate Commerce Commission
Federal Trade Commission
Securities and Exchange Commission
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

9. The Bureaucracy continued…
The power of a bureaucracy must be measured by its authority, not by the number of employees or size of its budget
How bureaucrats use their authority can be explained by their recruitment and job security, their political views and by the nature of the tasks their agencies perform…

10. Powers of Bureaucrats #1
Discretionary Authority – The extend to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and executive policies not spelled out in the original law.
Discretion = freedom / space
Behind the scenes power and influence on our lives

11. Powers of Bureaucrats #2
Rule Making: guidelines issued by government agencies, which provide specific details about how a policy will be implemented

12. Examples of Bureaucratic Agencies
• U.S. Department of Agriculture ae
• U.S. Department of Defense
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• U.S. Department of Transportation
• U.S. Department of State
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• U.S. Department of Education

13. Regular Tasks
Regulation – check private business activity to enforce rule following
Fines: Issue fines for groups or individuals that are not following regulations
Testify before Congress: Legislative branch can hold the Bureaucracy accountable by holding their own investigations
Example of Congressional Oversight

14. Accountability…
Bureaucracy is constrained and controlled by the US government
Congress
appropriates money, authorizes the spending of money, oversees agency activity
President
Job appointments, executive orders, budget control, reorganize agencies

15. Criticism of Bureaucracy
“Red tape” – maze of government rules, regulations, and paperwork that makes government overwhelming to citizens
Conflict – agencies that often work toward opposite goals
Duplication – agencies appear to do the same thing
Unchecked growth – agencies expand unnecessarily at high costs
Waste – spending more than necessary
Lack of accountability – difficult in firing an incompetent bureaucrat

16. Important Question…
How do Congress, Interest Groups, and the Bureaucracy interact to formulate policy positions? What are the consequences of such a relationship?

17. Iron Triangles
CONGRESS
INTEREST GROUPS
BUREAUCRACY
Iron Triangle – long term three-way relationship among legislators, bureaucrats, and interest groups to make or preserve policies that benefit all their respective interests

18. Iron Triangles

19. How it works? Everyone in the triangle has a similar interest
Legislators get funding from interest groups and make laws a reality with the help of the bureaucracy
Interest groups provide valued information to bureaucrats and money to legislators
Bureau chiefs implement legislator policy and interest group goals.

20. List of Interest Groups

21. Why are they “iron”?
Strong – bond can’t be broken by President or Congress
Referred to as “sub governments,” all the real decisions are made among these 3 groups
Might maintain interests that might not be publicly popular… like what?

22. Example – Why is tobacco not illegal?
House and Senate agricultural subcommittees
Tobacco farmer interest groups (tobacco lobby)
Department of Agriculture
House and Senate representatives, sympathetic to tobacco, receive campaign funds and support from tobacco by interest groups, and the representatives make sure that tobacco farmers are defended through legislation. DOA agency executes the legislation while relying on the Congressional budget. The interest groups provide the DOA with valuable information to effectively execute laws.
-COMMON INTEREST – Keep tobacco alive = keep their jobs alive

23. Other Iron Triangle Example

24. Daily Show Example

25. Issue Network More complicated connection exists
Iron triangle too simple – there are IGs from opposite sides of an issue who compete
Issue Network – complex group (includes media) that debates an issue and slows policy-making
Policy-making is not as smooth with competing demands from IGs
President can appoint an agency head who steers policy, but can never smoothly control policy

26. Stop Hating on them! Does work surprisingly well in many instances
Look at the mail service or the fact that we made it to the moon -
But it could be better and more efficient perhaps

27. The Federal Bureaucracy Today
Tribune Media Services, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed by permission.
One barrier to improving presidential control of the federal bureaucracy is that even the White House has become a large bureaucracy. p. 411
Copyright © 2011 Cengage