Chapter Ten The Bureaucracy. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10-2 Enduring Questions Why did the bureaucracy become the “fourth

Chapter Ten

The Bureaucracy

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10-2

Enduring Questions

• Why did the bureaucracy become the “fourth branch” of American government?

• How many people work for the federal government?

• What can be done to improve bureaucratic performance?


Figure 10.1: What a Bureaucracy Looks Like

Source: U.S. Government Manual, 2003-2004, p. 379.


Distinctiveness of the U.S. Bureaucracy

• Political authority over the bureaucracy shared by president and Congress

• Federal agencies share functions with state/local agencies

• Government agencies face greater public scrutiny

• Heavily regulates private enterprise


The Growth of the Bureaucracy

• The early controversies

• Bureaucracy before the New Deal era

• A change in role


Figure 10.3: The Growth of the Federal Government in Money, People, and Rules, 1940–2000

Source: Outlays: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996, Table 517, and Historical Statistics of the United States, Series F-32 and Y-340. Civilian employment and pages in the Federal Register: Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2001), Tables.


The Federal Bureaucracy Today

• Direct and indirect growth

• Growth in discretionary authority more accurate measure of bureaucracy’s power

• Four factors explain how bureaucrats exercise this discretion


The Federal Bureaucracy Today

• Recruitment and retention

• Personal attributes

• Roles and mission

• External forces


Table 10.1: Minority Employment in the Federal Bureaucracy, by Rank, 2000


Table 10.2: Political Attitudes of High-Level Federal Bureaucrats


Congressional Oversight

• Forms of congressional supervision

• The Appropriations Committee and legislative committees

• The legislative veto

• Congressional investigations


Five Major Bureaucratic “Pathologies”

• “Red tape”: Complex and sometimes conflicting rules among agencies

• Conflict: Agencies work at cross-purposes

• Duplication: Two or more agencies seem to do the same thing


Five Major Bureaucratic “Pathologies” (Cont’d)

• Imperialism: Agencies tend to grow, regardless of their programs’ benefits and costs

• Waste: Spending more than is necessary to buy a product or service

• Bureaucratic problems usually exist due to nature of government


Reinventing Government: The National Performance Review (NPR)

• Previous reforms suggested strengthening presidential powers or reorganizing agencies

• NPR borrowed business standards

• Government is not a business


Reconsidering the Enduring Questions

• Why did the bureaucracy become the “fourth branch” of American government?

• How many people work for the federal government?

• What can be done to improve bureaucratic performance?

Documents

Chapter Ten The Bureaucracy. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 10-2 Enduring Questions Why did the bureaucracy become the “fourth