1. The Federal Bureaucracy: Administering the Government
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.
Chapter 13

2. Norman Thomas
[No] industrial society could manage the daily operations of its public affairs without bureaucratic organizations in which officials play a major policymaking role.
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

3. Federal Administration: Form, Personnel, and Activities
Bureaucratic Principles
Hierarchical Authority
Job Specialization
Formalized Rules
The Federal Bureaucracy in Americans’ Daily Lives
roughly 2.5 million employees
The President & Congress get more press but the bureaucracy has more impact on our daily lives:
delivers daily mail
maintains national forests
administers social security
regulates stock markets
build dams and generates hydroelectricity
develops the country’s defense systems
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

4. Federal Administration: Form, Personnel, and Activities
Types of Administrative Organizations
Cabinet Departments
Dept. of justice
FBI
Dept. of Agriculture
U.S. Forest service-“dual-use”- preserves forests for environmental reasons & opens them up for logging
Independent Agencies
NASA, CIA
Narrow area of responsibility compared to cabinet dept.
Divided into a number of smaller operating units
Exist independently of cabinet depts.
Head is appointed by POTUS
Regulatory Agencies
EPA, FCC
Created when Congress perceives a need for ongoing control of an economic activity
Legislative, executive, and judicial functions
Government Corporations
US Postal Service
Presidential Commissions
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

5. Cabinet (Executive) Departments

7. Federal Administration: Form, Personnel, and Activities
Federal Employment
2.5 Million civilian employees
Dept. of Defense has the most
Plus more than 1.4 million active uniformed service members
Patronage system—designed to improve link between administration and the people
Abuses—spoils system
Merit criteria
most fed employees are hired on merit
GS pay scales
GS-1 (lowest) to GS-18 (the highest)
federal employees are underpaid compared to their private sector counterparts
College graduates usually start out at G-5 $22,000
Unions
Federal employees can form labor unions but they have limited authority
Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
prohibits strikes by federal employees
permits the firing of workers who do go on strike
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

8. Federal Administration: Form, Personnel, and Activities
The Federal Bureaucracy’s Policy Responsibilities
Policy Implementation (administration)
executing the policy decisions of the pres., Cong. & the courts
regulation of industries ,such as meat and poultry
delivery of services as provided by laws
Development of Public Policy
Rulemaking- deciding how laws will work in practice
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

9. Development of the Federal Bureaucracy: Politics and Administration
Small Government and the Patronage System
developed during the Jackson administration
designed to make the admin. of gov. more responsive to citizens
It would tie the administration more closely to the people it served
Growth in Government and the Merit System
Civil Service System
Neutral Competence
Bureaucracy should be staffed by people chosen on the basis of ability and to do its work fairly on behalf of all citizens
Neutral administration
Civil servants are not partisan appointees, thus ensuring evenhanded work
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

11. Development of the Federal Bureaucracy: Politics and Administration
Big Government and the Executive Leadership System
During the New Deal era, the fed bureaucracy grew substantially in size
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

12. The Bureaucracy’s Power Imperative
The Agency Point of View
Career bureaucrats tend to follow their agency's point of view
bureaucrats are specialists and elected officials are generalists
Promoting agency’s goals
Bureaucrats relay on specialized knowledge, backing of POTUS and Congress, and the support of clientele groups
Sources of Bureaucratic Power
Legally, the bureaucracy derives its authority from acts of Congress
The Power of Expertise
Career bureaucrats in the Dept. of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission are most likely to understand trade issues in the U.S.
The Power of Clientele Groups
SPECIAL INTERESTS THAT BENEFIT DIRECTLY FROM A bureaucratic AGENCY
The Power of Friends in High Places
Agency goals may conflict with president or Congress, but they still need agency expertise and competency
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

13. Bureaucratic Accountability
Accountability Through the Presidency
Reorganization
encounters opposition from
the bureaucracy itself
clientele groups
members of Congress
the public
Presidential Appointments
The Executive Budget
Office of Management and Budget
the most important part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP)
assigns each agency a budget limit in accordance with the president’s directives
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

14. The Budgetary Process
Year and a half long; begins with OMB assigning each agency a budget limit based on presidential directives
Agencies develop detailed budget; president finalizes with OMB
POTUS sends to Congress
House & Senate budget committees prepare budget resolution; full House and Senate vote
House and Senate appropriations committees prepare appropriations bills; full House and Senate vote
President signs or vetoes
Fiscal year begins Oct. 1
Continuing resolutions???

15. Federal Budgetary Process

16. Bureaucratic Accountability
Accountability Through Congress
Oversight
Sunset laws
Budget
GAO- Government Accountability Office
Has moved from a limited role of keeping track of agency spending to also monitoring whether the agency is implementing policies in the way Congress intended
CBO- Congressional Budget Office
Accountability Through the Courts
Lawsuits
African American farmers sued the Dept. of Agriculture for discrimination in granting federal farm loans
Courts tend to support administrators if their actions are in line with the law they are administering
Agencies can apply reasonable interpretation of statutes
Administrators must have flexibility if they are to operate effectively
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

17. Bureaucratic Accountability
Accountability Within the Bureaucracy Itself
Senior Executive Service (SES)
Administrative law judges
Handles disputes that involve cases in which an individual believes that he or she was improperly disadvantaged by a bureaucrat’s decision
Whistle-Blowing
While employed- it takes “guts”
Post-employment
Richard Clarke accused George W. Bush of downplaying the terrorist threat
Demographic Representativeness
If all employees are taken into account, the federal bureaucracy is close to being representative of the nation’s population
The bureaucracy is not demographically representative at its highest levels
about 60% of managerial and professional positions are held by white males
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

18. Federal Job Rankings (GS) of Various Demographic Groups

19. Reinventing Government
Bureaucracy today was created in response to problems in the past.
Now suggested to focus on outputs.
Others question the focus on “customers” of the agencies.
Limits on what can be cut from the agencies.
“reinventing teams”- formed under the National Performance Review to analyze and make recommendations about bureaucratic effectiveness
Responsiveness, accountability, and efficiency
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.

20. States in the Nation
Presentation by Eric Miller, Blinn College, Bryan, Texas. Copyright © 2005 McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this presentation may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher.