More Stuff You Need to Know

Foreign/Domestic PolicyBureaucracy

The Bureaucracy

• A bureaucracy is a large organization that is structured hierarchically to carry out specific functions. The purpose of a bureaucracy is the efficient administration of rules, regulations, and policies.

• Bureaucrats are civil servants. It is very difficult to have them removed or demoted so they essentially have long term, untouchable employment

Bureaucracy Continued

• Classic example is from German Sociologist Max Weber who defines four criteria:

• 1. Hierarchy: A chain of command exists so everyone knows who is above and below them. Essentially, crap rolls down hill. This allows enforcement at all levels.

• 2. Specialization: helps with effectiveness by splitting tasks up into smaller sections to deal with. Increases speed and effectiveness.

• 3. Rules: Rules are set to prevent emotional judgements. This allows for standardization of decision making across the board.

• 4. Merit: People are hired based on their qualifications, not their connections– This prevents the previously used Spoils

System which rewarded loyal voters and friends with government jobs.

Other Systems of the Bureaucracy

• Acquisitive Model: – Believe that the top level members will

always try to expand or avoid any reductions in the size of their budgets

– Agencies are not-for-profit enterprises but require a budget to thrive. The bigger the better

Continued…

• Monopoliatic Model– Lack of competition in agencies– Not penzalized for inefficiency, they can act

as if there is no reason to adapt cost saving measures to the agency.

– Brings up the argument that some agencies should be privatized

Think about this for a minute…and yes, write your answer

• Should some agencies be privatized to minimize wasted resources?

• Would the military be better off if it were private?

• What other agencies/issues could be privately controlled?

The Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy

– Cabinet Departments•Line Organizations

–Directly accountable to the president and are responsible for performing some government task.

–In order to add or abolish an agency, the president needs congress

Continued…

– Independent Executive Agencies• Part of the Bur. But not with in a department. They report

directly back to the president (p. 434)

– Independent Regulatory Agencies• The Purpose and Nature of Regulatory Agencies (p. 435)

– Help congress carry out laws that might be deemed complex– Can have functions of all three branches but belong to none– Appointed by president…do not report to the president

• Deregulation and Re-regulation– Deregulation-removal of regulatory restraints

– Government Corporations

A Few Things to Consider

• Most members of the Bur. Are permanent employees. Some are appointed by the president, others (most) are civil servants

• This makes rules hard to enforce and standards hard to achieve.

Time to write…

• Why might some refer to the Bureaucracy as the “fourth branch of the government”? Is there any claim to this statement?

Bureaucratic Control

• President:– Appointment, Budget proposal,

Reorganization, Persuasion(informal control)

• Congress:– Passing legislation, control of the

purse strings, Iron Triangles

Staffing the Bureaucracy–Political Appointees

• The aristocracy of the federal government. • The difficulty of firing civil servants

–History of the Federal Civil Service• To the victor belong the spoils

– Andrew Jackson spoils system– Caused a cry for a merit system

• The Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 (Pendleton Act)– Created the Civil Service Commission to administer exams– System was strengthened in Elrod v. Burns (1976) and Branti v. Finkel

1980-courts used 1st amendment to forbid discharge of public employees for lack of party alligence

• The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

How do we limit government influence on the Bureaucracy? • Pendleton Act a.k.a the Civil Service Reform

Act of 1883: Required officials to be hired on merit rather than patronage. Also eliminated punishments for lack of political contribution

• Hatch Act: Forbids pressuring federal employees for contributions to political campaigns and prohibits federal employees from taking leadership roles in campaigns.

• *both of these acts keep the government out of the bureaucracy and vice versa.*

Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform

– Sunshine laws require agencies to conduct many sessions in public.

• The 1966 Freedom of Information Act opened up government files to citizen requests for information, in particular about themselves.

• After 9/11, however, the government established a campaign to limit disclosure of any information that could conceivably be used by terrorists.

– Sunset Laws require congressional review of existing programs to determine their effectiveness. If Congress does not explicitly reauthorize a program, it expires.

Iron Triangles and Issue Networks

• Iron Triangles: connection between the Bureaucracy, Congress and Special Interest groups. Together, they try to get things accomplished that benefit the interests of each.

• Issue Networks: Uses the concept of the triangle but expands the influence to the media, scholars, experts, and anyone else that may have influence or opinion on an issue.

Always Remember…

• Congress controls the purse strings…

Domestic Policy

“Taking Care of the People That Matter”

Our Issues

• Crime• Health Care• Poverty and Welfare• Immigration• Environment

• Everything costs money. What do you spend it on? How do you prioritize your spending?

Crime

• Cost to keep crime on the decline are substantial

• Overburden of the prison system• Bog down the courts• Federal Drug Policy

• Money spent on federal drug interdiction programs has not met with much success, as illegal drug consumption in the U.S. has remained steady. State and local governments, however, have been attempting new remedies to curtail the drug problem.

Health Care• Rising Cost• Uninsured• National System• Medicare/Medicaid

– Medicare- for people over 65-funded by the fed

– Medicaid- assistance for people of low income

– new technology - funded equally by fed and state

Poverty and Welfare

– Basic Welfare• Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)

– no longer exists

• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)– block grant by the federal government

– Welfare Controversies– Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

• owe less taxes if you make low wages

– Homelessness

Environmental Policy

– Environmentalism• Conservation was a policy under which

natural resources should be used, but not abused.

• Preservation called for natural preserves that are isolated from the effects of human activity.

– The Endangered Species Act (ESA)– Global Warming

• The Kyoto Protocol• The Global Warming Debate

The Social Security Problem

– Social Security was established in 1935 with the intent of providing a type of insurance for a large segment of the public.

– Social Security is not a pension fund. – Workers Per Retiree

• Initially for every recipient of Social Security there were forty workers paying into the general fund—a one-to-forty ratio. Today, the ratio is more like one-to-three, and it will get worse in future years.

Foreign Policy

They Still Matter

Foreign and Defense Policy

– diplomacy—the total process by which states carry on political relations, economic aid—assistance to other nations in the form of grants, loans, or credits to purchase goods

– technical assistance—sending experts with technical skills in agriculture, engineering, or business to aid other nations

Morality Versus Reality in Foreign Policy

– Moral Idealism• This view of the world sees nations as normally

willing to cooperate and agree on moral standards.

– Political Realism• This principle supports a strong military and a

willingness to make deals with dictators.

– American Foreign Policy—A Mixture of Both• Every president has based his foreign policy on

both of these principles, though some have tended to stress one or the other of the two

Congress Balances the President

• After the War in Vietnam (1964-1975), Congress sought to restrain the president’s ability to unilaterally commit forces to combat with the War Powers Resolution (1973). Presidents since, however, have often not consulted Congress before committing troops, and that can create a situation in which Congress does not dare recall them. Congress can sometimes take the lead, for example by voting sanctions on South Africa to oppose that nation’s former policy of racial discrimination known as apartheid.

The Major Foreign Policy Themes

– The Formative Years: Avoiding Entanglements• The Monroe Doctrine/Roosevelt Corollary

– Ended European influence and colonization over the western hemisphere

• The Spanish-American War and World War I– asserted the US as a world power and naval strength

– The Era of Internationalism• The Cold War• Containment Policy

– Domino Theory

Superpower Relations

– The Cuban Missile Crisis– A Period of Détente

• easing relations between powers

– The Reagan-Bush Years• aggressive military expansion and

improved relations with the soviet union

– The Dissolution of the Soviet Union