1. 13 The Bureaucracy

2. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 2 Figure 13.2: Federal Government: Money, People, and Regulations Source: Expenditures and employment, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 483 and 582; regulations: Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), tables 6-12, 6-14.

3. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 3 Figure 13.2: Federal Government: Money, People, and Regulations (cont’d) Source: Expenditures and employment, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 483 and 582; regulations: Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), tables 6-12, 6-14.

4. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 4 The Size and Power of the Federal Bureaucracy Bureaucracy universal, but American system has several unique features: -Political Authority is shared across several institutions -Most federal agencies share their functions with agencies of state/local gov’ts -America’s adversary culture: bureaucratic actions often fought out in court Constitution silent, except to give appointment power. Control contested Patronage the chief means of bureaucratic officeholding (next slide) -1865-1937: Bureaucracy not regulatory, but service oriented -1937- present: Bureaucracy regulatory, due to WWII, New Deal, Great Society -Supreme Court has interceded to restrict political patronage Constitutionally Total # of Civilian federal employees has not increased since WWII -What has increased: # of indirect federal employees (state/local//private firms) Power of the Bureaucracy due to Discretionary Authority (See two slides/pp. 392-393) -the ability to choose courses of action and to make policies not spelled out in advance by laws -Power increase due to: a. vast increase in expenditures channeled through the bureaucracy b. the vast expansion in the number of regulations issued in the past 30 years

5. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 5 Figure 13.3: Characteristics of Federal Civilian Employees, 1960 and 1999 Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1961, 392-394; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 450, 482, 500, 595, 1118.

6. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 6 Figure 13.4: Department of Homeland Security as Proposed by George W. Bush, June 6, 2002 Source: Ivo H. Daalder, Statement before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, October 12, 2001.

7. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 7 Control of the Bureaucracy Power due to Discretionary Authority. 4 influences on bureaucratic conduct: 1.Recruitment and Reward - Presidential patronage and spoils system in place for two reasons: a. # of employees was small and easy to change b. Jobs required little expertise -This changed with post-war enlargement of bureaucracy, Garfield assassination, and the Pendleton Act, shifting bureaucracy to the merit system. -Once hired, one year for tenure, then hard to fire. So, informal: pp. 383, 388. -In spite of the merit system, hiring remains political, esp. in middle and upper levels. Examples: name-request basis, buddy system, and issue networks. -Most bureaucrats become quite comfortable, and defend their agencies 2.Personal Attributes -Middle and upper-level bureaucrats are unrepresentative of the American public -Highly educated, middle-class white males. -Typically more liberal than population, less liberal than media. Depends on particular office (ex. Commerce vs. EPA) -Attitudes rarely influence in rules-driven agencies. Can affect loose agencies

8. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 8 Control of the Bureaucracy, Continued 1.The nature of the job -Some agencies have clear mission, high morale: FBI, Forest Service, Public Health -hard to change, resistant to public direction. Ex. Drug warnings last week. -Agencies’ mission, however, has to work within laws, rules, and regulations -hiring/firing, freedom of information, accounting for $, affirmative action, environmental -Sometimes, overlapping/conflicting missions interagency. Hard to control by WH 2.External Forces -7 external forces: Exec. Branch superiors, President’s staff, Congressional Committees, interest groups, the media, the courts, and other governmental agencies (handout) -All under president, tech. However, agencies with oversight over discrete parties tend to have strict oversight by Congress and are oriented to it (HUD, Agriculture, Interior) -Bureaucrats desire autonomy, so they build external allies that then can control them - examples: NASA, FBI with public, or private sector support, like Dept. of Labor (min. wage?) -Iron Triangles: Informal and exclusive policy relationships between agency, interest group, and congressional committee. Leads to revolving doors (Cheney, Richards) -Often, though, Iron Triangles must deal with conflicting interest group positions. Then, issue networks emerge determined to affect public policy Congressional Checks on bureaucracy: a. money authorization and appropriation b. Legislative veto: declared unconstitutional in INS v. Chadha (1983). Impact?

9. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.13 - 9 Bureaucratic Pathologies Five Major Problems with Bureaucracies: 1.Red Tape (see “Politically Speaking: Red Tape” box, p. 397 - Existence of complex rules/procedures; any large organization must coordinate 2.Conflict -When some agencies work at cross-purposes with others. -ARS tells farmers how to grow more efficiently; ASCS pays them to grow less. -Congress has 535 members with little strong leadership 3.Duplication -Two government agencies seem to do the same thing: Customs and DEA 4.Imperialism -Tendency of agency to grow regardless of costs or benefits realized. -Agencies tasked with vague goals and have vague mandates, and take broad views of their powers. If they don’t, interest groups or judges may make them 5.Waste -Agencies can spend more than they need to: $300 hammers. See “Spoils,” p. 376 Bureaucratic problems are hard to correct; cure may be worse than disease Similar to Congress, the public hates “bureaucrats,” but like the ones they know