Ch 14 History: Bureaucracy

Bureaucrats

people employed in a government executive branch unit to implement public policy, administrators, and servants

• Provide public services that elected officials authorize

Bureaucracy

The collection of all national executive branch organizations (the bottom line is citizen satisfaction)

• Division of labor

• Specialization of job tasks

• Hiring systems based on worker competency

• Hierarchy with a vertical chain of command

• Standard operating procedures

Red Tape and Bureaucratic structure

rules and procedures viewed as inefficient

the bureaucratic structure is not unique to government

3 Categories of National Government Bureaucrats

1. Political appointees

2. Senior executive service employees

3. Civil servants

Political Appointees

Plum Book - lists the top jobs in the bureaucracy (filled by presidential appointment)

Patronage System: How the president fills the plum jobs (rewarding loyal supporters)

Senior Executives

Senior Executive Service: Composed of the top managerial, supervisory, and policy positions that link the political appointees to the rest of the bureaucracy

• Hybrid of the political appointee and the civil servant

Civil Servants

Bureaucrats hired through a merit-based personnel system and who have job protection

Merit-based Civil Service: individuals are hired based on the basis of the task or competence in a certain skill

Ways a Civil Servant can be Fired

1. Poor quality of work (misfeasance)

2. Nonperformance of their work (nonfeasance)

3. Violating the law or rules that guide their work (malfeasance)

Shadow Bureaucrats

Employees on the payroll of private for-profit businesses and private nonprofit organizations with government contracts

Contracting-out: The government signs work contracts with organizations to assist in the implementation of national policy

• Lack of accountability is a growing concern

Evolution of the National Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy evolved with the growing and expanding of the United States federal government along with its involvement

1. Grew with industrialization (needed agencies to regulate commerce, labor, and infrastructure)

2. Merit-based service system emerged instead of patronage

3. The New Deal expanded federal government and the government became more active

4. With economic boom came the expansion in defense, education, health, and welfare. Bureaucracy became more specialized

Work of Bureaucrats

1. Agenda setting

2. Policy formation

3. Policy approval

4. Appropriation approval

5. Policy implementation

6. Policy evaluation

Agenda setting

Officials decide what issues they want to discuss and possibly address by placing them on their lists of items to work on

Policy Formulation

Defining a problem that has made it to an agenda and developing a plan of action to address it

• Bureaucrats often have specialized knowledge of societal problems

Policy Approval

Congress and the president vote to approve or reject a bill that presents a formulated public policy

Authorization Laws: provide the plan of action to address a given societal concern and identify the executive branch unit that will put the plan into effect

Appropriation Approval

Budget says where to spend money

Appropriation Laws: Give bureaucracies the legal authority to spend money during a specific fiscal year

Bureaucrats role in the Budget Process

• Develop annual budget for their agencies

• Justify their budget to Congress

• Lobby Congress to allocate the funds

• Compete for limited funding

• When funded, put policy into action

Policy Implementation

Main work of bureaucrats

Administrative discretion: Using expertise and judgement to implement the best policy

Administrative rule making: Filling in details of a vague law

Administrative adjudication: Resolve disputes over the implementation of their administrative rules

Policy Evaluation

Involves assessing the intended and unintended effects of the policy implemented

Bureaucratic Accountability

When it comes to public service, everyone is watching

Sunshine Laws: open up government functions and documents to the public, ensuring transparency and the publics right to know

Accountability to the People

Administrative Procedure Act of 1946

Freedom of Information Act of 1966

Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976

Accountability to the Courts

If you believe an action of a bureaucrat or bureaucracy has caused harm that can file suit once all quasi-judicial processes of the bureaucracy are used

Accountability to Congress

Congress approves the legislation that creates. eliminates, regulates, and funds bureaucracies

Sunset Clause: a clause that sets an expiration date for an authorized program or policy unless Congress reauthorizes it

Accountability to the President

The President can use the authorization and appropriation processes to ensure accountability

Non-elected Bureaucrats Concerns

The potential shift away from citizen representation and towards unaccountable authority

• Also have power in areas like rulemaking and enforcement