The President and the Bureaucracy

The President Must Have The power to persuade, not command Highly developed leadership and political

skills The skills to lead, manipulate, and motivate

in order to generate support The skills to assemble the materials and

personnel necessary to achieve his particular goals as well as manage the Bureaucracy

The President Must Have the capacity and desire, or will, to be

powerful. Be an agenda setter when dealing with

Congress. Be receptive and be willing to compromise. Get Congress to see that his way is also in

their best interests. Be able to ride out events, scandals, and

crises.

The President Must * Not delegate the job of chief politician to

others. Always act as an expert, even if he is not. Garner public approval - public

disapproval encourages Congress to resist.

Master the art of the deal - confrontation needs to be avoided if at all possible.

*According to Richard Neustadt

The Cabinet Department of State Department of the Treasury Department of Defense Department of Justice Department of the Interior Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Labor

Dept. of Health, Human Services Dept. Housing, Urban Development Dept. of Transportation Dept. of Energy Dept. of Education Dept. of Veterans Affairs Dept. of Homeland Security

Napolitano likely Obama pick as Homeland Security secretary

Aides: Obama will nominate Clinton as secretary of state

Obama selects Tom Daschle as health chief

The Bureaucracy Neutral Competency: Bureaucrats should

be uninvolved or neutral in policymaking and chosen for their expertise in executing policy.

Responsiveness: bureaucrats need to be responsive to the public’s needs.

The Bureaucracy

First, politics has no place in bureaucracy: Bureaucrats are expected to execute policy expertly and

responsively without giving in to partisan political pressure.

Pendleton Act of 1883: This act created the Civil Service Commission as a means of ending the abuses of the patronage system of the 1860’s and 1870’s.

The commission was designed to fill certain jobs with people who had proven their competence in competitive examinations.

The Bureaucracy It established the merit system to protect people from having

to support or oppose certain candidates. In 1884, it covered 10% of the jobs in the bureaucracy; by

1996, the merit system of the Civil Service Commission covered 90% of all federal jobs – the rest are covered by some other merit system, like the State Department’s Foreign Service exam.

The merit system favors veterans (they are given a 5 or 10 point bonus depending on whether or not they are disabled); it also favors people already in civil service because they know about jobs first.

Hatch Act of 1939: Federal employees can do very little in partisan campaigns.

The Bureaucracy

They can vote, attend rallies, and talk privately to others, but they are not allowed to participate in party-sponsored voter registration drives, endorse party candidates, or work for or against them.

Supporters argue that this act protects the neutral competence of civil servants form partisan influences as civil servants should not be able to sway the elections of those who make the laws they administer and appropriate the funds they spend.

Critics of the act say it makes civil servants second class citizens by denying them First Amendment rights.

The Executive Office

The Executive Office The Executive Office formed in 1939 National Security Council (NSC, 1947)

Coordinates foreign & military policy advisors Pres., V.P., Sec. State and National Security

Asst. Council of Economic Advisors (CEA)

3 member panel Prepare Economic Report of the President

The Executive Office Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Prepares the President’s budget Reviews regulations proposed by agencies Reviews legislative proposals

The White House Staff Work directly for the President Key aides see President daily Relied upon for information, policy options

and analysis Top aides are completely loyal to the

President

http://www.whorunsgov.com/Institutions/White_House/orgChart

The Obamas’ inner circle at the White House

William Daley

Chief of Staff

Robert BauerWhite House Counsel

David Plouffe

Senior Advisor

Valerie Jarrett

Advisor

Rob Nabors Chris Lu

Secretary

Office of Cabinet

Director

Communications

Dan Pfiffer

Director

Congressional Relations

Press Secretary

Bruce Reed

CoS, VP Biden

Tina Tchen

CoS, First Lady

Jay Carney