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10. Political authority over the bureaucracy shared by president and Congress
20. Functions shared with related state, local agencies
3. Adversary culture leads to close scrutiny and court challenges.
B0. Officials affect how laws are interpreted, tone and effectiveness of administration
E0. 1861–1901: aided by Supreme Court decisions, new agencies primarily performed
service role:
0
10. Supreme Court held that executive agencies had no discretionary authority—
could only apply statutes passed by Congress
2. Wars led to reduced restrictions and increase in executive branch
personnel.
F. Correlation found between the type of agency and the attitudes of the
employees;
c. Effects of constraints:
2
b0) Iron Triangles less common today—politics too complex0
c0) Issue networks: contentious groups that regularly debate policy on certain
issues along partisan, ideological lines
0
II0. Congressional oversight (See box, Congressional Oversight and Homeland Security.)
0
A0. Forms of congressional supervision
0
10. Congress creates agencies and authorizes programs.
20. Congressional appropriations required.
3
A0. What has happened to make bureaucracy a “fourth branch” of government? How
does the bureaucracy fit into the constitutional system of separate institutions
sharing powers?
0
10. Wars, economic development, societal needs, Court decision led to expanded
power for the government and the establishment of administrative agencies.
B0. What is the actual size and scope of the federal bureaucracy, and how does it work?
0
10. Employees of the government may be directly or indirectly employed –when
government contracts awarded to private companies
C0. What efforts have been made to reform the bureaucracy, and what are the
prospects for improving government performance today?
0
10. Numerous reform efforts throughout the past 100 years
20. National Performance Review (NPR), led by Vice President Al Gore, most
recent attempt –reforms received mixed reviews.
Policy-Making Process
4
II0. Making a decision:
0
A0. Nature of issue:
0
10. Affects the kind of groups that become politically active;
20. Affects the intensity of political conflict.
B0. Costs and benefits of a proposed policy provide a way to understand how an issue affects
political power.
0
10. Two aspects of costs and benefits are important:0
a0) Perception of costs and benefits affects politics
b0) People consider whether it is legitimate for a group to benefit.
20. Politics is a process of settling disputes over who benefits/pays and who ought to
benefit/pay—so ideas and values are as important as interests.
30. People prefer programs that provide benefits to them at low cost.
40. Perceived distribution of costs and benefits shapes the kinds of political coalitions that
form, but does not necessarily determine who wins.
50. See the Politically Speaking box, Logrolling.
5
VII0. The case of business regulation:
0
A0. The relationship of wealth and power
0
10. One view: economic power dominates political power; wealth buys political power.0
20. Another view: political power is threat to market economy
30. Neither extreme is correct.
30. Similar pattern found in Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
0
D0. Client politics
0
10. Agency capture likely when benefits focused and costs dispersed—agency created to
serve group’s needs.
6
a0) Prevents price competition and keeps prices high
b0) Public unaware of inflated prices.
40. Struggle to sustain benefits depends on insider politics—deal with key Washington
decision-makers, not the wider public
50. Insider politics is particularly protracted with regulatory agencies, which issue
regulations influencing business practices.
E0. Entrepreneurial politics relies on entrepreneurs to galvanize public opinion and mobilize
congressional support.
0
10. 1906: Pure Food and Drug Act protected consumers
20. 1960s and 1970s: large number of consumer and environmental protection statutes
passed (e.g., Clean Air Act, Toxic Substance Control Act)
30. Policy entrepreneur usually associated with such measures (e.g., Ralph Nader, Estes
Kefauver, Edmund Muskie)
0
a0) Often assisted by crisis or scandal, which focuses public attention on an issue
b0) Debate becomes moralistic and extreme
40. Risk of such programs: agency may be captured by the regulated industry:
0
a0) Newer consumer and environmental protection agencies may be less vulnerable
to capture because…
0
(10) Standards specific, timetables strict so bureaucrats have relatively little
discretion
(20) Usually regulate many different industries; thus, they do not face a unified
opposition
(30) Their existence has strengthened the public interest lobbies that sought their
creation.
(40) Allies in the media may attack agencies for any pro-business bias.
(50) Public interest groups can use courts to bring pressure on regulatory
agencies.