Transcript Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy – Ch. 13
Key Terms
Bureaucracy
Is an efficient and an effective way
to organize people to do work.
They are found wherever there are
large organizations
Three features
1. Hierarchical authority
2. Job specialization
3. Formalized rules
Facts – Federal Bureaucracy
Federal bureaucrats are career employees
15 Cabinet-level Departments
60 independent agencies
2000 –Bureaus, divisions and offices
2.8 million workers
Diverse group – Rocket scientist to Janitor
Figure 13.2: Federal Government: Money,
People, and Regulations
Source:
Expenditures and employment, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2000, Nos. 483 and 582;
regulations: Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics (Washington, D.C.:
.
Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998), tables 6-12, 6-14
Figure 13.3: Characteristics of Federal Civilian
Employees, 1960 and 1999
Sources:
Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1961, 392-394; Statistical Abstract of the United
States, 2000, Nos. 450, 482, 500, 595, 1118.
Discretionary Authority
The power to choose courses of action and
to make policies that are not spelled out in
advance by laws.
Examples may include: safety regulations,
which drugs should be legal & which
corporate mergers shall be allowed
Name-request job
The hiring of a person whom an agency has
already identified
Called the “buddy system”
This also occurs in the private sector
Iron Triangles
Relationship & pattern of interaction that
occur among an agency, interest group &
congressional committee or subcommittee
Ex. – AARP, the Social Security
Administration, & the House subcommittee
on aging – all would probably agree on the
need for increased SS benefits
Issue networks
Not as concrete as “Iron Triangles”
More common today
Agency officials, members of Congress,
lobbyists, think tanks, media and
professors
Authorization legislation
Part of Congressional oversight
States the amount of money that can be
spent by a program
Usually begins in a legislative committee
Appropriation
Money formally set aside for a specific
purpose
Done by the appropriations committee in the
House
Congressional Oversight
1. agency needs congressional approval
2. Congress must authorize money
3. House Appropriations Committee has
special power over agencies
4. Investigate agencies by holding hearings
Red Tape
The complex rules and procedures that must
be followed to get something done
“bureaucratic delay or confusion”
Policy making
Implementation – the process by which
a law or policy is put into operation by
the bureaucracy
Ex. – law grants money for persons
who are handicapped – bureaucrats will
decide “handicapped”
Problems with the Bureaucracy
Red Tape
Conflict
Duplication
Imperialism
Waste
The text defines bureaucracy as “a large
complex organization composed of
appointed officials.” What does this mean?
Can you envision a large, simple
organization? Could such an organization
accomplish anything consistently?
Executive Branch
Executive Branch of government
includes President, VP, cabinet, &
Agencies
Executive Office the President (EOP)
Umbrella agency- includes
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White House office
OMB
Council of Economic Advisers
National Security Council
National Drug Control Policy
Office of Vice President
WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
Closest advisors
Staffs organized in 3 ways:
– Pyramid structure- Eisenhower,
Nixon, & Reagan
– Circular structure- Carter
– Ad hoc structure-Clinton
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Most
important of the EOP
offices- White House Office
INCLUDES-
CHIEF OF STAFF,
COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT,
PRESS SECRETARY, EXPERT
ADVISORS
The National Security Council
Advises the president on domestic,
foreign, and military matters that
relate to the nation’s security
Members – VP, Sec. Of Defense &
State, director of CIA, & Chairman of
Joint Chiefs of Staff
National Security Council
Office of Management & Budget
OMB
Largest office in EOP
Major task is to prepare the
federal budget – President must
submit to Congress in Jan, or Feb.
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Prepares an annual national drug
control strategy
Coordinates the efforts of more
than 50 federal agencies fighting
the war on drugs
WHO GETS APPOINTED - CABINET
PRESIDENT
KNOWS FEW
PERSONALLY
MOST HAVE HAD FEDERAL
EXPERIENCE
Rivalry often develops between
Cabinet and White House staff
Table 12.1:
The Cabinet
Departments
Journal – Constitutional Democracy
and Bureaucratic Power
What constitutional powers does Congress
have over the bureaucracy?
What is the basis for the claim that the
President is “Chief Administrator?”
Figure 13.4: Department of Homeland Security as
Proposed by George W. Bush, June 6, 2002
Source:
Ivo H. Daalder, Statement before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United
States Senate, October 12, 2001
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