The Bureaucracy Chapter Eight
Important Questions Who controls the bureaucracy? The president? Congress? The courts? No one? How can the government grow while the bureaucracy shrinks? Why do efforts to make government agencies more accountable lead to the proliferation of red tape? Why has it been so hard to coordinate intelligence activities aimed at preventing terrorist attacks?
The Bureaucracy Lessons from September 11, 2001 tragic failure of government to deliver the most basic public good protection from foreign attack. intelligence gathering agencies had information, but lacked coordination coordination and communication among the diverse agencies doing the intelligence gathering was so poor that no agency or person could see the entire picture. response to attack again severe coordination problems why?
The Development of the Federal Bureaucracy Questions of administration received little attention at the Constitutional Convention. Constitution said little about how the executive would be organized Congress was wary of delegating too much power to the executive but realized the impracticality of delegating too little. Congress established three departments Treasury Foreign Affairs (renamed State) War also authorized the hiring of an attorney general to give the president and department heads legal advice These three departments were divided into bureaus
The Development of the Federal Bureaucracy appointed individuals to head them up gave president shared power to appoint but sole power to remove Congress: dilemma of delegation solution: power of the purse president: dilemma of delegation standard principal-agent problem solution: selection criteria; punishments for agency loss, and rewards for jobs well done
Democratization of the Civil Service: The Spoils System President Andrew Jackson advocated rotation in office spoils system Led to its bureaucratization solution to huge problems of coordination and delegation Max Weber s characteristics of bureaucratic institutions model bureaucracy red tape Civil Service reform Whiskey Ring President Garfield s assassination 1881 Pendleton Act of 1883
Bureaucratic Problems of a Different Sort Career civil service led to its own agency problems: non-responsive to citizens and elected officials yet it was difficult to punish such behavior problem of hidden action problem of hidden information
An Expanding Government After Civil War the scope of federal government expanded Dramatic increases during the New Deal period But federal government can only grow if Congress and the president are willing to delegate authority to new agencies most common reasons: to handle large-scale administrative tasks to exploit expertise to avoid blame for unpopular decisions to make credible commitments to stable policy to deal with crises demanding swift, coordinated action
The Cabinet Until 1849, Treasury, State, Navy, and War stood alone as cabinet-level departments. joined that year by the Department of the Interior. this was a major victory for members of Congress from western states -- more attention would be paid to the issues facing their constituents The Department of Justice achieved cabinet status in 1879 after Congress, in response to the Civil War, Reconstruction, and industrial growth, expanded the government s role in law enforcement Clientele agencies Departments of Agriculture (1889), Labor (1903), and Commerce (1903)
The Cabinet The military establishment Department of Defense (DOD) established in 1947 was a legacy of World War II and the emergence of the United States as an international superpower Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established in 1979 umbrella department containing numerous social welfare agencies and programs that have their roots in the New Deal
The Cabinet The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) embodied the commitments of Kennedy and Johnson to revitalizing the inner cities Department of Transportation (DOT) became home to all the agencies established piecemeal over the years to promote the different forms of transportation Department of Energy embodied another effort to coordinate policy, this time for sources of energy
The Cabinet Departments of Education (1979) and Veterans Affairs (1988) creations were almost entirely symbolic Department of Homeland Security its creation inspired by the terrorist attacks combined twenty-two agencies
Non-Cabinet Agencies These are generally categorized as: independent executive agencies regulatory agencies government corporations Independent executive agencies are placed outside departments for political reasons Peace Corps, NASA, EPA, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and Selective Service System all report directly to president. keep important defense-related activities under predominantly civilian control
Non-Cabinet Agencies Independent Regulatory Commissions designed to maintain their independence from the president and the executive departments example: Federal Reserve their independence insulates the president and Congress from the fallout of unpopular decisions
Non-Cabinet Agencies Independent government corporations U.S. Postal Service, the most important government corporations are the Tennessee Valley Authority and Amtrak Indirect administration state governments hired contractors role of contracts and grants
Bureaucracy in Action bureaucrats nothing like the stereotypes that exist mirrors American population more so than Congress does bureaucratic culture and autonomy long-serving civil servants absorb the bureaucratic culture of their agency bureaucrats as politicians by necessity most important political relationship is with Congress must convince them that they are faithful agents need appreciative constituency as ell bureaucratic infighting
Who Controls the Bureaucracy? Methods of congressional control of agencies creates and empowers agencies with ordinary legislation and can eliminate them the same way provides the funding that allows them to carry out their work through yearly budgeting. Thus, Congress maintains significant indirect control the agencies, as agents, know that their existence depends on Congress the principal and they generally respond accordingly
Methods of Congressional Control At the same time, Congress has a variety means to influence administrative agencies: hearings and investigations where agencies testify mandatory reports on programs provided to Congress legislative vetoes on agency policy proposals committee and conference reports that provide instruction to agencies inspectors general who audit the books and investigate the activities of agencies for Congress the General Accounting Office, which audits programs and agencies and reports their performance to Congress can also put a time limit on delegations of authority. Patriot Act
Methods of Congressional Control Procedural devices Administrative Procedure Act, 1946 rule making Federal Register
Methods of Congressional Control Congress normally regulates by delegating broad grants of authority to regulatory agencies and letting them fill in the details by making rules. these rules have the force of law When an agency wants to make a rule, it must give public notice in the Federal Register fire alarm outline the proposed rule disclose the data and analysis on which it is based invite written comments from the public public hearings may be held as well
The President and the Bureaucracy President at the top of hierarchy but difficult to control the bureaucracy use of appointments Congress can intercede senatorial approval role of clientele groups appointments marry the natives Mechanisms for presidential supervision Office of Management and Budget (OMB) special authority over agencies involved in diplomacy and national defense
The Courts and the Bureaucracy The judiciary also shares authority over the bureaucracy United States inherited the common law principle that the government, no less than its citizens, is bound by law judicial review of administrative decisions Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (APA)
Iron Triangles, Captured Agencies, and Issue Networks Iron triangles narrowly focused subgovernments controlling policy in their domains out of sight or oversight of the full Congress, the president, and the public at large classic examples: areas of agriculture, water, and public works Issue networks amorphous, ever-changing sets of politicians, lobbyists, academic and think-tank experts, and public interest entrepreneurs (ex. Ralph Nader) rather than the rigid iron triangle
Bureaucratic Reform: A Hardy Perennial Every modern administration attempts to reform the federal bureaucracy. None have achieved their goals to the extent that they wished because the federal bureaucracy is hard to reform. Red tape is logical and serves a purpose. proliferates because it helps principals control and monitor their agents and because it helps agents demonstrate that they are doing their jobs correctly efficiency and entrepreneurship may be good, but they run counter to other goals like control and evaluation.
The Bureaucratic Reward System Changing government to reflect the creative, entrepreneurial model envisioned by the Clinton/Gore National Performance review may be difficult. Entrepreneurs take risks relative to rewards. Civil servants seldom profit personally from attempting to make an agency more productive or customer-friendly. easier to stick to the routine if something goes wrong, it is due to the routine and not the bureaucrat
The Bureaucratic Reward System Government pursues overlapping, conflicting, or disconnected goals in response to the diverse demands Americans place on it. it is not impossible to reform the bureaucracy, but it is impossible to do so without changing power relationships among interests and institutions it does change, however, generally when the larger social and political environment changes ex: Department of Homeland Security power politics