The Bureaucracy

What is the federal bureaucracy?

• A large organization composed of appointed officials whose authority is divided among several managers.

• Bureaucratic departments make up the executive branch

• Executive Departments execute laws

19th century Cabinet Departments

• 1789: State, Treasury, War• 1798: Navy• 1849: Interior• 1870: Justice• 1872: Post Office• 1889: Agriculture• 1903: Commerce and Labor

– (split in 1913 into Commerce Dept. and Labor Dept.)

New 20th Century Cabinet Depts.

• 1947: Defense (from War)• 1953: Health, Education & Welfare

– (split into HHS and Education in 1973)

• 1965: Housing and Urban Development• 1966: Transportation• 1977: Energy• 1979: Education• 1989: Veterans’ Affairs• 2003: Homeland Security

Some Agencies in the Homeland Security Department

• Agricultural Import and Entry Inspection Activities

• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

• Transportation Security Administration • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services • U.S. Coast Guard • U.S. Customs and Border Protection • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement • U.S. Secret Service

What do bureaucrats do?

• Depends on the agency!

• FBI

• FDA

• Bureau of Labor Statistics

• Department of Education

How do bureaucrats make policy?

• Congress tells them to

• Executive departments need more specific instructions:– For employees– For private entities

• So bureaucrats issue statements of policy and Regulations

How do bureaucrats make policy?Example: Meat inspection:

– For the purpose of preventing the use in commerce of meat and meat food products which are adulterated, the Secretary shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines before they shall be allowed to enter into any slaughtering, packing, meat-canning, rendering, or similar establishment, in which they are to be slaughtered and the meat and meat food products thereof are to be used in commerce; and all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines found on such inspection to show symptoms of disease shall be set apart and slaughtered separately from all other cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, and when so slaughtered the carcasses of said cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines shall be subject to a careful examination and inspection, all as provided by the rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary, as provided for in this subchapter.

– Federal Meat Inspection Act, Title 21 - Food and Drugs, Chapter 12 - Meat Inspection, SUBCHAPTER I - INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS;

ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING

Should elected officials or neutral experts make policy on:

• How to balance forest health against public use?

• Whether to make “the morning after” pill available over the counter?

• Whether global warming is a real phenomenon?

Democratic control?

• What are the mechanisms for democratic control of the bureaucracy?

• Congress: lawmaking• Congress: oversight• Congress: budget• President: budget• President: regulatory review

“Red Tape”

• What do we complain about when we complain about red tape?

• Too many constraints

• Pointless constraints

• Constraints slow us down

Why do we have red tape?

• Protecting people from each other• Alleviating distress• Forestalling systematic disruptions• Representative process• Due process

• Can anything really be done about red tape?