The Federal Bureaucracy Notes

The Federal Bureaucracy: Bureaucracy: non-elected government officials who are experts in a field and assist in creating and implementing policies What Does The Bureaucracy Do?: ● Implementation 1. Create/assign policy to an agency. 2. Translate policy into rules, regulations, and forms. 3. Coordinate resources to achieve goals. What Branch of Government is the Bureaucracy Part of?: ● Quasi-Legislative: Rule-making (to apply laws passed); testify in Congressional oversight hearings ● Quasi-Judicial: Administrative discretion and adjudication ($) Important Information About the Bureaucracy: The Cabinet Departments: ● ● Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy Appointed by president, confirmed by Senate, heads serve at the < pleasure of the president= own budget, staff, and policy areas. Status as a cabinet department can be controversial. ■ Partisan opposition to Energy, Commerce, and Education (Republicans) and Homeland Security (Democrats) The Independent Regulatory Commissions: ● ● They protect the public interest by enforcing rules and regulations as well as resolving disputes over federal regulations of the conduct of individuals or companies in the private sector. Usually headed by Boards (Commissions) and can only be removed < for cause=. More independent. ○ Part of Exec branch, but independent of departments ○ Non-partisan The Government Corporations: ● ● Government organizations that, like business corporations, provide a service that could be delivered by the private sector and typically charge for its services. Headed by a Board of Governors appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serves at the pleasure of the President. The Independent Executive Agencies: ● ● The government agencies are not accounted for by cabinet departments, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations. They have narrow focus areas. Appointed by The President, confirmed by The Senate, heads serve at the < pleasure of the president.= ○ Less presidential control ○ Staggered terms mean not every president appoints agency heads Bureaucracy Key Attributes: ● hierarchical authority structure ● task specialization ● extensive rules ● merit principle ● behaves with impersonality ● Bureaucracies in ALL large organizations. Evolution of Civil Service: 1. Spoils System ● Andrew Jackson, 1828 ● President would reward friends and political loyalists by giving them government jobs Political Patronage 2. Civil Service Act (1882) ● Civil Service jobs awarded through competitive exams ● Oversight by Civil Service Commission ● Illegal to fire/demote for political reasons Merit System 3. Hatch Act (1939) ● Federal employees/ appointed officials may not directly ○ support/ oppose candidates ○ Fundraise for candidate/ political party ○ Run for office Neutrality 4. Civil Service Reform Act (1978) ● New agencies revamped hiring process ○ Office of Personnel Management Specialization Policy Implementation: ● Implementation: translation of laws, policies, and executive orders into rules and procedures ○ Congress and the president provide a general mandate, and bureaucrats use specialized knowledge to make the mandate happen through specific guidelines Tools of Implementation and Enforcement: Rule-Making Authority: ● Creating regulations to implement federal law Discretionary Authority: ● Enforcing regulations (including adjudication ($) Why doesn’t Congress do rule-making? Delegates some power through enabling legislation Iron Triangles: Iron Triangle: Interest-based relationship between a bureaucratic agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group focused on a given issue Issue Network: Network of interest groups, congressional committees, bureaucratic agencies, universities, local gov’t, and the mass media who regularly debate a given issue The Federal Bureaucracy Key Terms Term appropriations A law of Congress that provides an agency with budget authority. An appropriation allows the agency to incur obligations and to make payments from the U.S. Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriations are definite (a specific sum of money) or indefinite (an amount for "such sums as may be necessary"). Compliance monitoring Activities undertaken by agencies and departments to establish whether a process or procedure is carried out by corporations and/or other government entities Discretionary authority A federal agency’s ability to make decisions and to take (or not take) courses of action. Congress has given executive agencies authority to 1. pay subsidies to groups (Social Security recipients, farmers, etc.); 2. create a system to distribute federal grants to states; 3. Devise and enforce regulations for various industries or issues. Rule-making Authority Federal agencies’ ability to devise and enforce regulations for various industries or issues patronage In early US history, the bureaucracy became a place to reward loyal party leaders with federal jobs, known as patronage. Congress has reformed this practice several times to limit patronage. Spoils system A system of patronage in which presidents appointed officials based on their efforts to help elect the presidents and with an expectation of loyalty after the appointment. President Jackson claimed < to the victor belong the spoils.= Pendleton Civil Service Act Passed by Congress in 1883 to prevent rewarding loyal party members with patronage jobs. The law established the principle of hiring federal employees on the basis of merit rather than political affiliation or loyalty. Hatch Act Statutes passed by Congress in 1939 and 1940, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Carl Hatch of New Mexico that distanced federal employees (or state employees paid with federal funds) from politics by prohibiting federal workers from becoming directly involved in federal political campaigns Red tape The amount of paperwork, procedures, forms, and formal steps citizens must take to accomplish a government-mandated task Freedom of Information Act (1966) Sunshine Act (1976) 1 Definition1 Gives the public the right to request access to records or information Requires most federal agencies to hold their meetings in publicly accessible places Whistleblower Protection Act (1989) Iron Triangle Prohibits a federal agency from retaliating or threatening to retaliate against an employee or applicant for disclosing acts they believe to be illegal or dishonest The relationship among a federal agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group which combine to create policy that is mutually beneficial