Prior to the Civil War the federal bureaucracy was quite small.
- Officeholders came from a relatively small pool of prominent gentlemen.
- Early bureaucratic appointees were chosen for their competence.
- Under Andrew Jackson, appointments based on partisan political loyalty.
The federal bureaucracy expanded rapidly following the Civil War.
- Political loyalty remained the basis of bureaucratic appointments.
- The Pendleton Act (1883) reduced the number of political appointments the president could make and created a professional civil service.
Today's federal bureaucracy emphasizes professionalism and treating the public as consumers.
- Parties still use the bureaucracy to advance partisan interests.
- The "new patronage" involves advancing specific policies by influencing the priorities and activities of the bureaucracy.
- The reinventing government initiative was aimed at running government like a business with citizens as customers.
THE NATURE OF BUREAUCRACY
A bureaucracy incorporates the principles of hierarchical authority, division of labor, and formal rules.
- Tasks and responsibilities are clear and distinct.
- Production of goods and services is efficient.
- Decision making is quick and unbiased.
The principles that enhance efficiency and equal treatment can also make bureaucracies inflexible and unresponsive.
Bureaucratic pathologies are failures by an organization to serve its intended purpose, including:
- Bureaucratic imperialism
- Failure to adapt
- Neglecting legitimate citizen concerns
- Favoritism
FEDERAL BUREAUCRATS AND THEIR WORK
Federal bureaucrats may be either political appointees or career civil servants.
- Political appointees are chosen by the president and confirmed by Senate.
- Most federal bureaucrats are hired under a civil service system.
- Bureaucrats perform professional, managerial, technical, service, and clerical tasks.
- To ensure a nonpartisan civil service, it is difficult to fire federal bureaucrats for any reason.
The bureaucracy does the work that transforms laws into specific programs.
- The bureaucracy makes rules that specify how to interpret or carry out a policy.
- Rule making is a public process; citizens are invited to comment on proposed rules.
- Many agencies invite interested groups to help write rules, a process called negotiated rule making.
- Agencies can compel compliance with rules through a process called administrative adjudication.
The federal bureaucracy is organized into six major bureaucratic structures.
- Cabinet departments are directly responsible to the president, who appoints their heads with Senate approval.
- Over 200 independent executive agencies that administer major programs enjoy political independence.
- Independent regulatory agencies make and enforce public policy on specific economic issues.
- Government corporations are businesses established by Congress to make certain services affordable for average citizens.
- Proxy administration consists of private parties that perform government tasks through contracts, vouchers, grants-in-aid, and mandates.
- Government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) are federal agencies that operate as though they were privately owned and operated.
SOURCES OF BUREAUCRATIC POWER
Bureaucratic agencies seek external support in order to wield more power.
- Bureaucrats try to shape positive public attitudes toward their agencies.
- They try to build good relations with the president and Congress.
Bureaucrats' expertise in their areas gives them great discretion in implementing public policies.
Civil servants tend to stay in civil service positions much longer than politicians and political appointees stay in office.
Good leaders can translate an agency's resources into political power.
CONTROLLING BUREAUCRATIC POWER
The Constitution empowers Congress to create, abolish, or alter bureaucratic agencies and organizations.
- Congress can write laws that give bureaucrats little room for interpretation.
- Congress can use the power of the purse to control bureaucratic authority.
- Congress can monitor activities of the bureaucracy using its oversight function.
- Congressional review allows Congress to strike down any new agency rule if both houses and the president agree.
Presidents have acquired several tools to control the bureaucracy.
- The Senior Executive Service allows the president to reassign career civil servants to other agencies.
- The president can submit bureaucratic reorganization plans to Congress.
- The president exercises control through his/her power of appointment.
- The president may fire political appointees.
- The president can also use the budget as a tool of administrative control.
The courts can intervene with the bureaucracy only when someone files a lawsuit against an administrative agency.
Through whistle-blowing, bureaucrats can call public attention to inappropriate agency behavior.
