Key Concepts: Chapter 15 (The Bureaucracy)
“A” bureaucracy – Any large, complex organization. Likely to have —
• division of labor/specialization;
• hierarchy;
• lots of standard operating procedures (SOPs); and
• merit-based personnel decisions (i.e., hiring/firing/promotion).
“The” bureaucracy — Usually this refers to the departments and other agencies in the Executive Branch.
Constitutional basis of the bureaucracy – none, other than a reference to the President’s power to appoint (with
advice and consent of Senate) “all other officers of the United States whose appointments…are not …otherwise
provided for….”
Max Weber – Early thinker about bureaucracies. Suggested that they were a rational way for modern society to
organize its business. Introduced the characteristics of “a” bureaucracy noted above.
Bureaucrat – A government employee, often thought of as a career gov’t employee.
Some tensions in the bureaucracy –
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Fairness v. responsiveness. We want bureaucrats to treat each case fairly but we want a quick response.
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Professional independence v. accountability. We want workers to show initiative but no rogue employees.
Structure of the federal bureaucracy –
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Cabinet departments
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Broad mission and political focus;
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Ex: State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, etc. 15 in all.
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“Inner cabinet” — The 4 oldest cabinet departments (State, Treasury, War (now Defense), and
Justice).
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Have quasi-legislative authority (i.e., writes rules called “regulations”) and quasi-judicial authority
(i.e., interprets and enforces the rules).
Independent regulatory commissions/agencies
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Protect some portion of the economy.
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Ex: Federal Reserve Board, SEC, FTC
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Have quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative authority
Executive agencies
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Most non-Cabinet-level agencies in this group. Smaller, and with a narrower focus than Cabinet
departments. Not as political.
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Ex: NASA, Nat’l Science Foundation, General Services Administration (which handles things
like buying/leasing space for gov’t offices, buys supplies, etc.)
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Don’t regulate; no enforcement authority.
Government corporations
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Entities that have private ownership but that perform a public function.
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Ex: remember the "rail/fail mnemonic” – Amtrak and Fannie Mae. Tennessee Valley Authority
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(TVA) and U.S. Post Office are other examples.
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Neither quasi-legislative nor quasi-judicial.
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Tension between maximizing profit for shareholders and achieving policy objectives of politicians.
Why some bureaucratic programs fail –
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May be flawed design in the program.
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Or unclear/contradictory policy directive
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Or lack of resources (sometimes can’t hire the best employees b/c private sector pays more)
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Or fragmentation of responsibilities (maybe some overlapping turf, maybe some gaps)
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Or employees who are mired in SOPs—standard operating procedures. Doing things this way b/c we’ve
always done them this way.
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Or administrator’s use of discretionary authority in a way that conflicts with a President’s agenda
Why does Congress delegate so much power to the agencies given all these problems?
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Congress lacks expertise. Lots of these problems are very technical.
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Congress lacks the time. There are only 535 MCs and tens of thousands of regulations, applications,
enforcement actions, etc. that the agencies are dealing with.
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Congress wants to avoid the blame. “The statute was perfect; it was those inept bureaucrats who goofed.”
Checks on the bureaucracy
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Congress controls -o
the money. Agencies can have programs underfunded or unfunded. Could even deny funding for
the agency as a whole. Done through Congressional authorization and appropriation process.
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the laws. Can change the scope of an agency’s jx; can also change the statutes that the agency is
administering, which will cause the policy directions to change accordingly. Can even legislate an
agency out of existence in extreme circumstances.
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the oversight. They can conduct oversight hearings whenever they want. Question agency abuses,
lapses, weaknesses, etc. Never underestimate the power of a good oversight hearing.
The President can -o
reorganize agencies,
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issue executive orders,
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heavily influence the budget request submitted by an agency,
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appoint who he wants (within reason) as head of the agencies (and remove some of them,
depending on what type of agency they’re with).
And don’t forget about the public’s checks — comment letters, lawsuits, complaints to MCs
However, a president often has surprisingly little control over the cabinets. Why? B/c —
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Short tenure of appointees (i.e., cabinet secretaries and senior officers); staffs outlast them.
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The real expertise usually is in the lower-level staffers, who have their own thoughts about how to do things
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Other actors competing with the President for influence (like Congress)
• Secretaries often become advocates for department instead of the President (they get to know the
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department better, understand its goals and limitations, and can see issues in different light than before they
were appointed)
Other constraints on bureaucracies –
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Administrative Procedures Act. Must publish a proposed reg and give public an opportunity to comment.
Proposal is published in the Federal Register.
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Freedom of Information Act. With some exceptions, public is entitled to get copies of an agency’s records.
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Open Meeting Law (a/k/a the Sunshine Act). With some exceptions, meetings of agency boards are to be
open to the public.
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Practical constraint: many goals are shared by more than one agency, which creates lots of tensions,
conflicts, etc.
Bureaucrats’ weapons
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Knowledge/expertise.
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Their own political support in Congress and/or interest groups (remember iron triangles and issue networks).
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Longevity; they usually stay in office longer than any president.
Employment-related concepts:
• Senior Executive Service (SES) – Established by Congress in 1978 as a flexible, mobile corps of senior career
executives who work closely with presidential appointees to manage government.
• GS Rating – (GS stands for “Government Service”): a rating given to all non-SES government employees. The GS
scale and related rules are intended to make hiring and promotion fairer by making both more objective.
• Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – Agency that administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations. In
charge of hiring for most agencies.
• Merit Systems Protection Board – Forum for appealing employment decisions.
• Merit system – A system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated
performance rather than political patronage. Brought about by the Pendleton Act.
• Spoils system (a/k/a “patronage”)– A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.
• Pendleton Act – Beginnings of the Civil Service system for federal employees. Enacted in the aftermath of the
assassination of James Garfield in 1881 by a disappointed office-seeker. Requires employees to be hired and
promoted on the basis of merit, not party loyalty or friendship.
• Hatch Act – Federal statute barring Federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and
protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds.
What bureaucrats do:
• Quasi-legislative - They adopt regulations, which implement statutes and which have the force of law.
• Quasi-judicial - They interpret their own rules and resolve disputes (including punishing people where the agency
thinks it’s appropriate).
• Oversight – Review of a particular government program or organization. Can be in response to a crisis of some kind
or part of routine review.
Miscellaneous:
• Iron triangle – A symbiotic relationship involving a Congressional committee, agency, and interest group. Each
gets something it needs from the other (perhaps knowledge, perhaps political cover, etc.). Sometimes called a
subgovernment.
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• Issue network – A more complete view of how Washington works. It builds on the idea of the iron triangle and
expands it to include anyone who is an expert in the given subject. So academicians, journalists, lawyers, etc. are all
included in an issue network in addition to the 3 in an iron triangle. Can be contentious; not all in the network agree.
• Munn v. Ohio – Upheld right of a state to regulate business if doing so is in the best interest of the public (here,
Illinois regulating a warehouse in Chicago).
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“Red tape” – Gov’t rules, regulations, paperwork that makes dealing with the government overwhelming for many
people.
• Street-level bureaucrat — A gov’t worker who has direct contact with the public. Often has to exercise judgment
in the application of ambiguous rules. Can help or frustrate implementation of policy.
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