The Federal Bureaucracy Notes

7/31/2019 The Federal Bureaucracy Notes

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Uniquenesses of the US Federal Bureaucracy

I. Two-Masters Syndrome

In most western democracies, bureaucrats report only to specific ministers US bureaucrats report to both Congress and the Executive Branch Bureaucrats play one branch off the other

II. The Federal System

Some federal bureaucracies deal directly with US citizens (ie. post office, IRS) Many federal agencies work through similar bureaucracies at the state or local level Money is disbursed through grants or revenue sharing

o Medicaid: Poverty aid paid by stateIII. Adversary Culture

Americans like to sue Much of the time spent by federal agencies is defending their actions against civil law suits Very different from Europe where decision go largely unchallenged

IV. Regulations v. Operation

Americans also like capitalism Compared to other western democracies, the US government operates very few companies Federal agencies are tasked more with regulating private owned firms

Who works for the Federal Bureaucracy?

Reforming Employment

Two significant acts attempted to reform the civil service system:o Pendleton Act (1883): government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit, not just

political affiliation, and once assigned, a person cannot be fired on the basis of politicalaffiliation

o Hatch Act (1939): executive branch employees may not engage in partisan politicalactivities

Recruiting and Retaining Today

Many federal positions in the civil service are part of the competitive service The exam used to be a general examination Increasing need for specialists within the competitive service

Non-Competitive Jobs

3% of federal service is an exempted service Presidential Appointmentscabinet secretaries, ambassadors, heads of federal agencies,

judges, US attorneys

Schedule C Appointmentsconfidential or policy-determining positions Non-career Executive Assignmentshigh level positions that work as advisors or policy

makers for a presidential administration; tend to come from former competitive service in the

private sector

Positions tend to be name-request jobs


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Problems with Retention

Once hired or appointed, it is very hard to fire a bureaucrat Easier to force out by reassigning them or reducing their responsibilities Once hired, bureaucrats tend to become very territorial and take on an agencys point of

view

o Unwilling to see their positions or budgets cuto Suspicious of new managemento Can sabotage their superiors

Four Agencies of the Federal BureaucraciesThe Cabinet15 Departments

Advisory group to the President Help execute laws and assist in decision making Last establishedHomeland Security

Independent Executive Agencies200+

Established by Congress with separate status outside the executive branch Have their own budget set by Congress Heads must by appointed by President, confirmed by Senate Given a specific mandate and generally perform a service function, not a regulatory one E.g. NASA, EPA, SSA, CIA

Independent Regulatory Commissions2000+ (Divisions, Bureaus, Departments)

Heads appointed by President, confirmed by Senate Perform a regulatory role over private industry Have discretionary authority to make policies not spelled out in law E.g. FCC, FDA

Government Corporations Industries or services run wholly by the federal government Heads appointed by president, confirmed by Senate Heavily subsidized E.g. Post Office

Functions of the Federal Bureaucracy1. Implementationcarry out laws of Congress, executive orders of the President2. Administrationroutine administrative work; provide services established by congressional act3. Regulationissue rules and regulations that impact the public (ex: EPA air standards)

a. Discretionary authority:i. Laws can be vague and Congress does not have time to vote on every day-to-day

decision

ii. Some power to set policy is devolved onto the bureaucracyiii. Often times, contentious and challenged (adversary culture)


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Congressional Oversight of the Federal Bureaucracy

Pass legislation that alters an agencys functions Investigate agency activities Hold committee hearings Influence or even fail to confirm presidential appointments

The Authorization/Appropriation Process Congress most important check over the federal bureaucracy is the two-part

authorization/appropriation process

o Authorizationlegislation to create or renew an agency begins in Congress and a relatedcommittee approves the maximum amount of money an agency may spend

Starts in House b/c power of the purseo Appropriationsmost money set aside for an agency must be specifically appropriated

through the House Appropriations committee. An appropriations bill must be drafted that

details how the authorized money must be spent

President Supervises the Bureaucracy and can:

Appoint and remove agency heads

Reorganize the bureaucracy Issue executive orders Request a reduction or zeroing out of an agencys budget

Federal Courts checks the bureaucracy and can:

Judicial review Provide due process for individuals affected by bureaucratic action

Interest groups influence he bureaucracy and can:

Help or hurt agencies chances of receiving funding Provide statistics and professional expertise Rally support or opposition to agency policies

The Iron Triangle

Congress

^ electoral support through campaign contribution ^ policy choices & execution

v friendly legislation & oversight v funding and political support

Interest Groups Bureaucracy congressional support, via lobby

low regulation, special favors


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Pathologies and Reform

Growth of size of bureaucracy since 1940 due to WWII (defense department/civilian employees Bureaucratic Pathologies

o Red Tape: complexity and inefficiency in trying to get something doneo Conflict: caused when tow agencies work at cross-purposeso Duplication: when a governmental task is repeated by two or more agencieso Imperialism: growth in the federal government without any perceived benefit in quality

of service

o Waste: tendency for the federal government to pay above market prices for materials andcontracted work

Why do these problems exist?o Need for uniformity across a large countryo Responding to the needs of two branches, one which includes 535 memberso Easier to add than subtract serviceso Little incentive to cut costs

Attempts to Reform the Bureaucracyo Attempts have been made to reform the bureaucracy starting with the selection and hiring

of bureaucrats Pendleton Act (1883) Hatch Act (1939)

o Focus traditionally on three areas Centralizing power in the executive branch Reducing the size of government Improving efficiency

National Performance Review (1993)o Shifted the focus of improving the bureaucracy to a constituent experience-based

approach

o Suggestions from the NPR Decentralize management decisions Reduce red tape and specific regulations Increased emphasis on taxpayer satisfaction

Documents

The Federal Bureaucracy Notes