Transcript Document

The Bureaucracy
The Invisible Government
• A large organization structured hierarchically to carry out
specific functions to make it more efficient
Bureaucracy
The Weberian Model of
Bureaucracy
• The five characteristics of bureaucracy.
• Hierarchy-pyramid
• Formal rules (SOP)
• Division of Labor
• Maintenance of files
• Professionalization
• Maintenance of files and records
Freedom of Information Act (1974)
• Goals-promote the “public good”, but how is that measured?
This causes many people to believe the bureaucracy is
wasteful.
• Monopolistic Model—businesses with little to no competition
and can therefore operate unchecked will little to no incentive
to operate cost-effectively
Weberian model of
bureaucracy
• Standardization:
• Ensures the retiree in
Idaho is getting the
same benefits as the
retiree in New York
• Expertise and
competence:
• Allows people to work
for a period of time
and become experts in
that field allowing
them to carry out laws
and policies more
effectively
• Accountability
• Allows Congress to
follow up on money
being earmarked for
certain purposes, such
as air pollution, and
make sure was being
spent effectively
• Coordination
• Allows agencies with
cross purposes to work
together on policy or
goal, instead of
working independently
of each other
Weberian model
continued
Image of Bureaucracy
• People have a very negative image of government
bureaucracy—Why?
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•
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Faceless
Nameless
“red tape”
(Compare the agent at the DMV to a cell phone customer
service rep)
• (What do we think of when we think of a fireman)
• “…we expect bureaucracies not merely to expend maximum
effort in solving societal problems but to dispose of them
entirely, whether solvable or not.” Charles Goodsell
The Structure of American Bureaucracies
• The Executive Office of the President—includes NSC, OMB, CEA
• Cabinet Departments-15 departments directly responsible to
President, but also responsible to their department
• Workers below the secretaries are employees, and therefore permanent
• Departments are collection of agencies
• Independent Agencies-not part of Cabinet, report to President perform
specialized functions
• Independent Executive Agencies: perform specialized functions such as NASA,
CIA, EPA
• Independent Regulatory Agencies: make and implement rules and regulations to
protect the public (appointed by President, but cannot be fired by him FED, SEC,
FCC
• Government Corporations-work off its profits, not funded by
Congress (Post Office, TVA, FDIC, AMTRAK)
• Other Bureaus
• (When an agency is raised, it is symbolically important to show the
governments commitment such as the Veterans’ administration)
Organization of
the U.S.
Government
No government ever
voluntarily reduces itself
in size. Government
programs, once
launched, never
disappear. Actually, a
government bureau is
the nearest thing to
eternal life we’ll ever see
on this earth! Ronald
Reagan, 1964
Bureaucrats at Work
Department
of Interior
National Intelligence bureaucracy
post 9/11
Organization of
Homeland Security
Agencies after 9/11
• The spoils system
• The Pendleton Act
• Passed after Garfield
assassination
• Merit system and
the civil service
Hatch Act
• Heads of departments are
primarily appointed, and
therefore temporary
The Merit System
Neutral Competence
• The idea of neutral competence
• Despite stereotypes, most government
employees work efficiently and inexpensively.
• Roughly 2.9 million people work for the
government bureaucracy-2nd to Wal-Mart
• The bureaucracy is largely staffed by people
hired for their skills, not their political
leanings.
• Rulemaking
• The process of deciding what exactly the laws passed by
Congress mean.
• Adjudication
• A process designed to establish whether a rule has been
violated.
• Bureaucratic Lobbying
• bureaucrats identify the problems and limitations of existing
laws and programs and recommend changes to the president
and congressional committees.
Roles of the Bureaucracy
Functions of Bureaucracy
• Policy Implementation
• Making Policy-delegated legislative authority because
what Congress passes is to vague to be effective
• Regulation-establish standards and impose restrictions
on violations of those standards
• They must publish their rule-making procedures, hold open
hearings on proposed rules and hear public input
• Collecting Data and Doing Research
• Provide Continuity-elected officials come and go,
bureaucrats never leave which provides for continuity
and professionalization and consistency; but also
means change is slow and expensive
• Original Cabinet: State, Treasury, War, Attorney General
• Post-Civil War: Industrialization created new demands on
government needing new organizations
• Labor, Agriculture, Interior, Justice and regulatory agencies
• The Great Depression: new agencies to handle New Deal
• 1960s and 1970s: agencies needed to protect Environment, fight
poverty, promote civil rights, worker safety
• HUD, Transportation, Energy, Education Departments, along with
EPA, OSHA, EEOC
• Despite its tremendous growth, many believe the bureaucracy is
woefully undermanned in relation to the population and the
demands placed on it
Growth of Bureaucracy
• Interest Groups and Individuals-interest groups want
bureaucracies to adopt rules and enforcement practices they favor
• Iron Triangle- influence committees
• Pressure agency directly
• Indirect influence-some commissioners come
to their regulatory agencies from the industries
they regulate
• Individual citizens- “whistleblowers” can open
their agencies to the public’s view (Civil
Service Reform Act 1978)
Controlling the Bureaucracy
• Congress and the Bureaucracies
• Oversight-often counteracted by iron triangles
• Appropriations, creating or reorganizing
• Legislative vetoes
• The President and the Bureaucracies
• Appointment and dismissal-many employees protected from
president by seniority and merit
• Budget process
• Lobbying and mobilizing public opinion
• The Judiciary and the Bureaucracies
• Judicial review
Controlling the Bureaucracy, cont.
Privatization-Advantages and
Disadvantages
• Advantages
• Less red tape and
bureaucracy
• More competition
• Can obtain special skills
• Improve service quality
• Ideology-less government is
better
• More choices for people
(school vouchers)
• Better at saving money,
innovating, communicating
Disadvantages
• Higher potential for
corruption
• Incentives to reduce quality
• Reduced access to service
for the disadvantaged
• Resulting cost savings
directed away from
taxpayer
• Decreases citizen
participation
• Accountability is difficult