The Federal Bureaucracy

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Chapter 13

• The Federal Bureaucracy

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United States Department of Interior
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Bureaucracy

• Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and
  political science referring to the way that the
  administrative execution and enforcement of legal
  rules are socially organized. Four structural
  concepts are central to any definition of
  bureaucracy
• a well-defined division of administrative labor
  among persons and offices,
• a personnel system with consistent patterns of
  recruitment and stable linear careers,
• a hierarchy among offices, such that the
  authority and status are differentially
  distributed among actors, and
• formal and informal networks that connect
  organizational actors to one another through
  flows of information and patterns of cooperation.
  
• Examples of everyday bureaucracies include
  governments, armed forces, corporations,
  hospitals, courts, ministries and schools

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Bureaucracy in Political Science

• A system of organization and control that is
  based on three principles
• Hierarchical authority
• Job Specialization
• Formalized rules
• Roughly 2.5 million employees in the U.S. are
  part of the bureaucracy

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History of Bureaucracy

• President Andrew Jackson (1828) opened government
  jobs to the common people. He inaugurated the
  spoils system, under which party loyaltynot
  experience or talentbecame the criterion for a
  federal job .
• This was the beginning of patronage, and it
  continued through the late 19th century

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History of Bureaucracy

• Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883, which
  created a system for hiring federal workers based
  on qualifications rather than political
  allegiance employees were also protected from
  losing their jobs when the administration
  changed.

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History of Bureaucracy

• In 1939, the Hatch Act passed to prohibit federal
  workers from running for office or actively
  campaigning for other candidates.

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History of Bureaucracy

• 1930s the size of the federal bureaucracy grew
  exponentially due to President Franklin
  Roosevelt's New Deal agencies.
• Although many were short-lived, others continue
  to play a role
• Example the Social Security Administration
  (SSA), the Securities and Exchange Commission
  (SEC), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the
  Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal
  Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

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History of Bureaucracy

• 1960s President Lyndon expanded the welfare
  state with such programs as Medicare, Head Start,
  the Job Corps, and the Office of Economic
  Opportunity (OEO).
• 1970s The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  was created by the Nixon administration, the new
  Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  (OSHA) in the Labor Department transformed the
  workplace for most Americans, and new cabinet
  departments were established .
• 2002 Department of Homeland Security established.

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Forms of Bureaucracy

• Cabinet Departments
• 15 currently exist
• major administrative units of the executive
• heads, or secretaries, appointed, approved and
  part of presidential cabinet
• each department has responsibility for a general
  policy area

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Cabinet Departments

• State,
• Treasury,
• Defense,
• Justice,
• Interior,
• Agriculture,
• Commerce,
• Labor,
• Health Human Services,
• Homeland Security,
• Housing Urban Development,
• Transportation,
• Energy,
• Education, and
• Veterans Affairs.

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Forms of Bureaucracy

• Independent Agencies
• similar to cabinets in structure but have
  narrower responsibilities
• Example Central Intelligence Agency

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Forms of Bureaucracy

• Regulatory Agencies
• Quasi-legislative
• Quasi-judicial
• Hold hearings
• Make rules
• Resolve disputes
• Independent
• President cannot unilaterally remove leaders
• Example Environmental Protection Agency

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Forms of Bureaucracy

• Government Corporations
• Similar to private companies because they charge
  clients for services and are governed by a board
  of directors
• Different b/c receive federal funding to help
  defray operating expenses
• Example Amtrak

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Forms of Bureaucracy

• Commissions
• Provide advice to President
• Exist because the need for rulemaking is highly
  complex technical
• Examples FTC, FCC, SEC, FEC, FRB

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Environmental Protection Agency
BuildingWashington, D.C.
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Bureaucracy

• Primary Responsibility is policy implementation
  (Rule Application, Rule Interpretation, and Rule
  Initiation)
• Administrators tend to look out for their
  agencys point of view.
• Often, new regulation has a comment period time
  outlined in the U.S. Federal Register

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Sources of Power

1. Expertise
2. Special interests, or clientele groups
3. Friends in High Places

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Accountability

1. To President (can reorganize or change
   leadership)
2. To Congress
3. To public
4. To Executive Budget
5. Whistleblowers (individuals can report instances
   of mismanagement without repercussions)

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Appointees

• 3500 appointed by White House
• Loyalty
• Number of appointments has increased
• Tenure of those appointed has decreased
• Patronage
• Political Favoritism
• Spoils System
• Merit
• Pendleton Act of 1883

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Career Civil Service

• Office of Personnel Management
• Bipartisan Merit Systems Protection Board
• 18 level General Schedule (GS) salary structure
• Service ratings
• Hatch Act of 1939 limits political activities of
  civil service