1. DO NOW…
What is bureaucracy?

2. “Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible”
Welcome!
“Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible”
 Javier Pascual Salcedo

3. BUREAUCRACY
The U.S. government provides a wide range of services that we take for granted
The bureaucracy involves thousands of government agencies and institutions that implement and administer laws and programs established by Congress and the executive branch

4. Conservative viewpoint
Bureaucracies are too liberal
unnecessary meddling in our lives
too much power
too large
too unaccountable

5. Liberal viewpoint too slow
too unimaginative to solve America’s problems
too zealous a guardian of the status quo

6. The Bureaucrats
Americans dislike bureaucracy, but like individual bureaucrats
Bureaucracies grow bigger each year, number of employees expanding (but not federal employees)
Most bureaucrats do not work in D.C.
Bureaucracies are ineffective
Bureaucracies are dehumanizing

7. Patronage Patronage jobs are given in return for political support
Remember political machines?

8. Pendleton Civil Service Act
1883
Created civil service so that hiring and promotion would be based on merit

9. Civil service
System of hiring and promoting based on the merit principle
Desire to create nonpartisan government service

10. Merit principle Hiring based on entrance exams and promotion rating
Based on talent and skill

11. Hatch Act
Federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics [while on duty]

12. Regulation
The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector
Regulations pervade the daily lives of people and institutions

13. Deregulation
The lifting of restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer

14. Four General Types of Agencies
Cabinet Departments
Independent Regulatory Commissions
Independent Executive Agencies
Government Corporations

15. Cabinet Departments
15 departments headed by secretaries (except DOJ is headed by the Attorney General)
major administrative units that have responsibility for conducting a broad area of government operations
cabinet departments account for about 60% of the federal workforce

16. Independent regulatory agencies
agencies created by Congress to exist outside of the major departments to regulate a specific economic activity or interest
all are headed by boards with 5 to 7 members
boards are appointed by the president with Senate approval
terms are staggered for bipartisan panels
they cannot be easily removed by the president
Supreme Court has affirmed their independent status
Federal Reserve Board – regulates supply of money and interest rates
Federal Communications Commission – licenses radio and tv stations, cable and the internet

17. Independent executive agency
government not accounted for by the cabinet departments
perform a service or administrative function (as opposed to a regulatory function)
tied to the President – serve as do the cabinet secretaries
Examples:
NASA
National Science Foundation

18. Government Corporations
Corporations are formed when the government chooses to engage in activities that are
primarily commercial in nature
produce revenue
require greater flexibility
Examples: U.S. Postal Service, Amtrak, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
They charge for their services

19. Iron Triangles
policy-making triangles are “iron” because they are virtually impenetrable to outsiders and are largely autonomous
Example: Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars
Policy decisions made within these iron triangles often foster the interests of a clientele group and have little to do with the advancement of national policy goals

20. Red Tape
complex rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done
any large organization must have some way of ensuring that one part of the organization does not operate out of step with another
so red tape results from a need to satisfy legal and political requirements and to ensure that rules are obeyed and proper forms are filled out

21. Waste spending more than is necessarily to buy some product or service
the biggest criticism people have of bureaucracy
businesses must eliminate waste to maximize profits
in government agencies, only weak incentives for keeping costs down
no reward for saving the agency money
if you do not spend your funds, it goes back to the Treasury

22. Discussion
What is an iron triangle? Why is it politically significant?
What are your thoughts about bureaucracy?