Distinctiveness of the United States Bureaucracysize scope and political context The Constitutional system and traditions make the US bureaucracy distinctive political authority over the bureaucracy is shared by the president and congress ID: 626197
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Slide1
THE BUREAUCRACYSlide2
Distinctiveness of the United States Bureaucracy-size, scope, and political context
The Constitutional system and traditions make the US bureaucracy distinctive.
-political authority over the bureaucracy is shared by the president and congress
-federal agencies share functions with related state and local government agencies.
-adversary culture leads to closer scrutiny and make court challenges more likelySlide3
Scope of the Bureaucracy
-Little public ownership of industry in the U. S.
-High degree of regulation of private industries
-Progressives and the New Deal bring about early regulationSlide4
II. The Growth of the Bureaucracy
-
Supreme Court gives the president sole removal power, strengthens executive role
-Congress still funds and investigates the agencies, and shapes the laws they administer
-Creates a check and balance of powerSlide5
The Appointment of Officials
-Officials affect how laws are interpreted, tone and effectiveness of administration, and party strength
-Patronage in the 19
th
and early 20
th
centuries rewarded party supporters, induced congressional support, and built party organizations
-Civil War beginning of bureaucratic growth, it pointed out the administrative weakness of the federal govt. and increased the demands for civil service reform
-Post-Civil War begins industrialization, becomes necessary to regulate interstate trade- controversialSlide6
The Change in Role
1861-1901 new agencies performed mainly a service role due to:
-constraints of limited govt., states’ rights, and limited power
-laissez fare policies
-Supreme Court held that executive agencies could only apply statutes passed by Congress
-Wars led to reduced restrictions on administrators and an enduring increase in executive branch personnel
Depression and WWII lead to
g
overnment activism
-Supreme Court reverses position and upheld laws that granted discretion to administrative agencies
-introduction of income taxes supports a larger bureaucracy
-public believes in need for military preparedness and social programsSlide7
III. The Federal Bureaucracy Today
Direct and indirect growth
:
-modest increase in number of direct government employees
-significant increase in the number of
emplyees
through use of private contractors, state and local government employees
Growth in discretionary authority
Defined as-the ability to choose courses of action and make policies not set out in the statutory law
-Delegation of undefined authority greatly increasedSlide8
Primary areas of deregulation:
-subsidies to groups and organizations
Grant in aid programs, transfer ring money from national to state and local
govts
.
-devising and enforcing regulations, especially for the economy Slide9
Factors explaining the behavior of officials:
Recruitment and rewards system
Personal and political attributes
Nature of work
Constraints imposed on agencies by outside forcesSlide10
Recruitment and Retention
A.The
Competitive service
: bureaucrats compete for jobs through OPM:
Appointment by merit based on written exam
Departments are moving away from OPM due to:
-OPM is cumbersome and not geared towards individual department needs
-agencies have need of professionals who cannot be ranked by an examination- particular skill set
-agencies face pressure to diversify Slide11
B. The excepted service:
- About 3 % of employees are appointed on grounds other than merit- presidential appointments, Schedule C jobs, and non-career executive assignments
-Pendleton Act (1883)- changed the basis of government jobs from patronage to merit
-Merit system protects president from pressure and protects patronage appointees from removal by
new presidents Slide12
The Buddy System
-Name-request job: filled by a person the agency has already identified for middle and upper level jobs
-job description often tailored for the person
-circumvents the usual search process…..but also encourages issue networks based on shared policy views
Firing a Bureaucrat:
-most bureaucrats cannot be easily fired
-the Senior Executive Service (SES) was established to provide the president and cabinet with more control in personnel decisions
-SES still has not fired many individuals
-Slide13
Why make it difficult to fire a bureaucrat?
Positives
-Agencies are dominated by lifetime bureaucrats who have worked for no other agency
-assures continuity and expertise
Negatives:
-gives subordinates power over new bosses
-workers know how to work behind their boss’s back through sabotage and delay methodsSlide14
So who are the bureaucrats?
Critics say that political appointees and upper-level bureaucrats are unrepresentative of the US society and believe that they work in their own occupational self interest
Reality
-bureaucrats are somewhat more liberal or conservative, depending on the appointing president
-they do not take extreme positions
-correlation between the type of agency and the attitude of the employee
Example-activist agency tends to attract more liberal employees-
Policy views reflect the type of work they doSlide15
Do bureaucrats sabotage their bosses?
-most carry out policy regardless of personal beliefs
-most have highly structured jobs
-each agency has its own culture, an informal understanding among employees about how they are supposed to act
-strong agency culture motivates employees, but it makes agencies resistant to changeSlide16
Constraints on the bureaucracy
-constraints much higher than on private business
-hiring, firing, pay, and other procedures established by law, not by the market
General Constraints
:
-Administrative Procedure Act-1946
-Freedom of Information Act- 1966
National Environmental Policy Act -1969
Privacy Act- 1974
Open Meeting Law-1976Slide17
Effects of Constraints
- government moves slowly
-government sometimes acts inconsistently
-easier to block action than to take action
-reluctant decision making by lower ranking employees
-red tape
Why so many constraints?
-constraints come from the demand of the citizens
-agencies try to respond to citizen demands for openness, honesty, and fairnessSlide18
Congressional Oversight
Congress creates agencies and authorizes their programs
Congress appropriates monies to allow agency to spend money on programs
-
Appropriations committee approves most expenditure requests
-House tends to recommend an amount lower than the agency requests
-House can influence an agency’s policies by “marking up” their budgetSlide19
Appropriations committee becoming less influential because:
trust funds operate outside the regular government budget
Annual authorizations allow the legislative committee greater oversight
Budget deficits necessitate cuts
Informal controls over agencies:
-individual members of Congress seek
priveleges
for constituents
-Congressional committees may seek committee clearance, the right to pass on certain agency decisions Slide20
Five major complaints about the bureaucracy:
Red tape
, sometimes complex and conflicting
Conflict
- agencies work at cross purposes
Duplication
-two agencies doing the same thing
Imperialism
-tendency of agencies to grow
Waste
-spending more than necessarySlide21
Bureaucratic reform?
11 reform attempts in the 1900’s
m
ost stressed presidential control on behalf of efficiency, and accountability
Reform is difficult
Most rules and red tape are due to struggles between president and Congress
Periods of divided government worsen matters, especially in
implementing policy