The Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy Defined
A large organization in which people with specialized knowledge are organized into a clearly defined hierarchy of bureaus and offices, each of which has a specific mission
Democratic?
Bureaucrats are de facto policymakers Sometimes conduct judicial-style hearings IRS, not a court, determines penalties; you
must prove innocence to the IRS
Bureaucrats yield considerable responsibility, but are not subjected to elections
Organizational Structure of the Federal Bureaucracy
Departments Independent Agencies
Independent Regulatory
Commissions
Government Corporations
Cabinet Departments
Originally 3 State, War, Treasury
Homeland Security Most Recently Headed by Secretaries
Appointed by the President with the “advice and consent of the Senate”
Departments
State (1789) Treasury (1789) Defense (1947; formerly the War
Department, created in 1789, and the Navy Department, created in 1798)
Justice (1870; created in 1789 as Office of the Attorney General – a part-time position, made a cabinet level department in 1870)
Interior (1849) Agriculture (1889) Commerce (1913) Labor (1913)
Health and Human Services (1953 as Health, Education, and Welfare; reorganized with Education as a separate department in 1979)
Housing and Urban Development (1965)
Transportation (1966) Energy (1977) Education (1979) Veterans Affairs (1989) Homeland Security (2002)
Centralized?
Departments are NOT centralized or monolithic Each has many sub-units with responsibilities
Department of Justice FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals, Bureau of Prisons, etc
What is a Czar?
A popular term used in reference to an official who is appointed to oversee a particular policy or issue
DrugCounterterrorismEnergyClimate
Czars
Allows quicker action on important matters
CriticismNo “advice and consent of the Senate”
Number of Positions by President FDR 12 Truman 6 Eisenhower 1 Kennedy 0 Nixon 3 Reagan1 GHW Bush 2 Clinton 7 GW Bush 35 Obama 38
Independent Agencies
These agencies are independent from larger departments, but still under the control of the president.
Independent Agencies
Currently ~ 50 NASA ~20,000 employees
Little oversight responsibility
Independent Executive Agencies
Not included in any departments, but are distinct from corporations and regulatory commissions
Environmental Protection, Central Intelligence, National Science Foundation
Government Corporations
These agencies are run by an independent board in the same way as a private corporation.
Government Corporations
Perform an economically important activity Mostly self-supporting
Postal Service, AMTRAK, Tennessee Valley Authority
Independent Regulatory Commissions
While these agencies are run by “political” figures, they are independent of both the president and larger departments.
Regulatory Commissions
Regulate where the free market does not work properly to protect the public interest
FCC, FEC
The Advantages of Bureaucracy
• Standardization• Expertise and Competence• Coordination
Ideological Problems
Lack of popular sovereignty Little incentive to be efficient Public Opinion not as important to bureaucrats Largely shielded from Congress, the President “Captured” by interest groups, private firms
Political Liberty
Red Scare DOJ’s “Red Squads” IRS used to harass critics
Nixon most famous for this Bill O’Reilly audited four consecutive years under
Clinton
Political Liberty
FBI most notorious, especially under Hoover McCarthy witch hunts Cointelpro MLK
The Development of the Bureaucracy
The Expansion of Federal Civil Employment
Shrinking Government
“Government is not the solution
to our problems; it is the problem”
Patronage vs. Merit System
Patronage System
Government employees are hired and fired based on
support for a political party or individual
candidate.
Merit System
Government employees are hired
based on their qualifications and
cannot be fired arbitrarily for political
reasons
Assassination of President Garfield
Patronage
President Jackson“To the victor goes the spoils”
ProblemsMassive turnover every administration
Pendleton Act curbed patronage
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