Bureaucracy

• Political scientists refer to it as the “fourth branch of government.”

• Not really mentioned in the constitution.
• Bureaucratic agencies are created and funded by Congress, but most report to the
president who supervises them.
• Bureaucracy is a large, complex organization of appointed, not elected, officials.
• Bureaucracy literally means “government with small desks”
• Max Weber first person to think seriously about the importance of bureaucracy.
○ Wrote in Germany, early 1900s, when developing capitalism was spawning more
and more large businesses.
○ Classic conception of bureaucracy as a well-organized, complex machine that is
a ‘rational’ way for modern society to organize its business.
○ Bureaucracy has several basic characteristics:
 Hierarchical authority – a chain of command that is hierarchical (any system
of persons or things ranked one above another.); the top bureaucrat has
ultimate control and the authority flows from the top down.
 Task specialization – a clear division of labor in which every individual has a
specialized job.
 Extensive rules – clearly written, well-established formal rules that all people
in the organization follow.
 Clear goals – a clearly-defined set of goals that all people in the organization
strive towards.
 The merit principle – merit-based hiring and promotion; no granting of jobs to
friends/family unless they are the best qualified.
 Impersonality – job performance that is judged by productivity or how much
work an individual gets done
• American federal bureaucracy has distinguishable characteristics:
○ Divided supervision – congress has the power to create, organize, and disband all
federal agencies. Under the control of the president. Two masters: President and
Congress. Political authority over the bureaucracy is shared. Both congress and
officials from the executive branch have authority over the bureaucracy. Divided
authority encouraged the bureaucrats to play one branch of government against
each other.
○ Close public scrutiny – government agencies operate under closer public scrutiny
(study/examination) more than other countries. About half of the cases that come
to federal court involve the US government as either defendant or plaintiff.
○ Regulation rather than public ownership – US government agencies regulate
privately owned enterprises, rather than operate publicly owned ones. Unlike
Western Europe where the government owns and operates large parts of the
economy; the US prefers the regulation to ownership.
• The congress created the first bureaucracy during George Washington’s presidency.
• In 1829, President Andrew Jackson employed a spoils system, to reward party
loyalists with key federal posts. It insured that with each new president came a full
turnover in the federal service.
• James Garfield was assassinated by a disappointed office seeker, the congress
passed the Pendleton Act. It set up a limited merit system for appointing offices.
• Federal service was placed under the Civil service commission, which supervised a
testing program to evaluate candidates.
• Modern Bureaucracy: Civil Service Commission were split between two new agencies;
○ The office of Personal Management – administers civil service laws , rules and
regulations. When a position is open the OPM sends three eligible names to the
agency, and the agency must hire one of them. Once hired the person is assigned
as a GS (general schedule) Rating, determines salaries.
○ The Merit Systems Protection Board – protects the integrity of the federal merit
system and the rights of the federal employees. The board hears charges of
wrongdoings and employee appeals against agency actions and orders
disciplinary actions against agency executives or employees.
• The federal bureaucracy grew a lot after FDR’s New Deal and WWII but since then
federal bureaucrats has leveled off. The number of federal employees has stayed
constant. The state and local levels has grown because they are administered at lower
levels.
• Politicians talk about reducing the size of the ‘bloated’ bureaucracy in order to save
money. But which ones?
• Two ways the federal government can reduce bureaucracies:
○ Devolution – does not remove the service but sends it to the states to
execute, resulting in uneven services from state to state. Also accounts for
the growth in state employees to administer these programs.
○ Privatization – just as with devolution, the program is not removed but is
provided by a private contractor usually through a competitive bidding
system. The workers are not considered bureaucrats.
• Any reduction or reform of the bureaucracy must come from congress. Oversight
power and must hold hearings to investigate complaints or suggested reforms.
• Bureaucrats work in the executive branch in the 15 cabinet-level departments and in
the more than fifty independent agencies, including about 2,000 bureaus (offices)
• Most people still think of a bureaucrat as being a white, middle-aged man, but the
bureaucracy today is more representative of the American people.
• The power of bureaucrats depends on how much discretionary authority they have.
Congress passes laws, but they cannot follow through on all the little decisions that
have to be made as laws are translated into action. Bureaucrats then may make
polices and choose actions that not spelled out in advance by laws. Their main
function is to do the nuts and bolts of ‘executing’ policies that are made by Congress,
the president and the Supreme Court.
 The Organization Of The Bureaucracy: Four basic types
• The Cabinet Departments: All 15 are headed by a secretary except the Dpt of Justice
which is headed by the attorney general. All the heads are chosen by the president
and approved by the Senate. The department’s real work is done in the bureaus
(services, offices, or administrations).The Dep. of Health and Human services spend
more money but the Dept. of Defense has more employees.
○ The 2004 Intelligence Bill: George W. Bush signed the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act in late 2004. Basically states that
you must have a US passport to enter or leave the US.
• The Independent Regulatory Agencies: Make rules for large industries and
businesses that affect the interests of the public. Because regulatory commissions are
‘watchdogs’ that by they need to operate independently; not part of a dept. and not
controlled by the president. Examples – The interstate commerce Commission-
est1887; the oldest regulatory agencies; railroads and oversees trucking. The Federal
Reserve Board- governs banks and regulates money supply. Regulatory agencies are
governed by small commissions. Like cabinet secretaries cannot be removed by the
president during their term in office.
• The Government Corporations: Are a blend of Private Corporation and government
agency. They were created to allow more freedom and flexibility than in regular
agencies. More control over their budgets and often have the right to decide how to
use their own earnings. Still controlled by the government. The US postal Service is
an example it is a corporation that competes with private services.
• Independent Executive Agencies: Agencies that don’t fit into the other three
categories. Resemble cabinet departments, but smaller and less complex. Main
function is to fulfill a myriad of other administrative responsibilities. Example- NASA
administers the US space program, financing ventures into space since 1958.

• Bureaucrats develop procedures and rules for implementing policy goals and they
manage the routines of government such as delivering mail and collecting taxes.
Implementation involves more power in the policymaking process than is readily
apparent.
• A gov. bureau cannot hire, fire, build or sell without going through the set procedure
by Congress.
• Congress often acts as the problem solving branch of government, setting the agenda
and letting the agencies decide how to implement them.
• Oversees Bureaucracy:
○ Duplication –

○ Authorization –
 ○ Hearings –

○ Rewriting legislation –

• Presidents use number of methods to impress their policy preferences on the

bureaucracy:
○ Appointments:

○ Executive Orders:

○ Economic powers:

○ Reorganization:

• Interest groups may provide agencies impt. Info they need to execute a policy.
• Iron triangles:

• Issue Network-

• Criticisms of the bureaucracy- Americans criticize their political bureaucracies known

as Pathologies.
○ Red tape – the maze of gov rules, regulations and paperwork, makes gov
so overwhelming to citizens that many people try to avoid any contact.