The Federal Bureaucracy
The Bureaucracy
Types of Bureaucratic Agencies
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cabinet Departments – 15; Secretaries
Government Corporations – Perform
services for a fee; EX: Amtrak, TVA, Post
Office.
Independent Executive Agencies –
National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA
Regulatory Agencies – Headed by a
commission (confirmed by Congress);
oversees a particular part of the economy;
create regulations that protect people; can
enforce regulations; closely involved with
interest groups that want to influence
regulations (clientelism); EX: FCC, SEC,
FTC.
Bureaucracy
To enforce or not the enforce. . .
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/08/
60minutes/main4707770.shtml
Debate Over Regulation
Big Government
Advocates
Free Market Advocates
1.
2.
3.
If the producer is faced
with expensive
regulations, costs will
inevitably be passed
along to the consumer
in the form of higher
prices.
Regulations do not
always work well, and
they simply create
massive regulatory
bureaucracies.
Developing nations have
more relaxed
regulations on pollution,
worker safety, and other
business practices, thus
American exports often
cost more.
1.
2.
3.
The Market Can Not
Regulate Itself: 2008
Financial Meltdown
Consumers Need to be
Protected: Peanut Recall;
Lead in Chinese Toys
Excesses of Capitalism:
Gilded Age Income
Disparity; Middle Class
Regulation
“Fracking”
 Regulation
Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted
Water Hits Rivers - NYTimes.com
 My Water's On Fire Tonight (The
Fracking Song) - YouTube
Tension Within the
Bureaucracy
3,000 Political Appointees – many
of which are the bosses.
VS
Tens of thousands that are
Professional (Career) Bureaucrats
– many of which know more than
their bosses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ_4m2
ocxhI&feature=results_main&playnext=1&li
st=PLF3EBED9E5E081981
Important Laws Concerning
The Federal Bureaucracy



Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) -
merit; created the professional Civil Service
(exams).
Hatch Act (1939) - apolitical.
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 -
recruits and recommends individuals and oversees
promotions through the Office of Personal
Management (OPM) and the Merit System
Protection Board, which reviewed complaints
about unjustified actions taken by political
appointees against well qualified workers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ_4m2ocxhI&feature=results_main&playnex
t=1&list=PLF3EBED9E5E081981
Other Laws that affect the
Bureaucracy

Whistleblower Protection Act (1989) created an Office of Special Counsel to
investigate complaints from bureaucrats
claiming they were punished after reporting
to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in
their agencies.
FAA Whistleblowers: Southwest Probes Stymied : NPR

Freedom of Information Act (1966) gives citizens the right to inspect all
government records except those containing
military, intelligence, or trade secrets or
material revealing private personnel actions.
The President and the
Bureaucracy
 The
Bureaucracy helps the President
enforce the laws- its made up of
career civil servants and political
appointees.
 The Department of Defense has the
largest number of civil employees- its
budget is the 12th largest in the
world.
NPR: What Drives Record Spending on Defense?
The Battle for Control Over the
Bureaucracy

The President: 1. Chief Administrator; 2. fills
3,000 jobs (Senate Approval)- come from Issue
Networks; Prez helps to write the budget;
Federalist #72 Federalist No72.doc; The Cabinet
serves to support the administration’s policies.
NPR: A Historical Look at the Power of the Cabinet
Congress: attempts to control the Bureaucracy1. advice and consent; 2. GAO & Hearings
(legislative oversight); 3. power of the purse;
4. create rules (laws); sunset legislation.
 Judicial Branch: reviews the decisions of the
Bureaucracy (Judicial Review).

The Bureaucracy as the Fourth Branch of
Gov’t
Government Shutdown
To get their agendas
passed Presidents
resort to attaching
key policy initiatives
to spending bills
>>>>>
 Congress disagrees
>>>> SHUTDOWN
 Continuing
Resolutions
(Compromise)

Fragmentation
Social Welfare – 10 Departments and
Agencies administer more than 100 federal
human services programs.
Examples:
 Dept. Health and Human Serviceswelfare grants
 Dept. of Housing and Urban Dev- housing
assistance
 Dept. of Agriculture- Food Stamps
 Dept. of Labor- job training
 Dept. of Education- Head Start.
Back in Black - Product Recalls - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 07/06/10 - Video Clip | Comedy Central
A Long Road to Regulating Derivatives - NYTimes.com
Iron Triangles
Editorial - A Lot More to Cut - NYTimes.com
Iron Triangles
Online NewsHour: Analysis | President Urges Ethanol Cars | March 26, 2007 | PBS