POLS 227 Exam 2-Control of the Bureaucracy

How did Congress try to address prescription drugs being expensive, and cheaper in other countries?

Medicine Equity and Drug Safety (MEDS) Act of 2000, allowed for importing drugs from specified industrialized countries

Issues with implementation of MEDS

Clinton and Bush opposed importing drugs, citing quality/security concerns, various resolutions on this, settled on allowing importing of certain drugs from Canada

Roles of the FDA

Evaluates/approves new drugs and meds, ensures safety of nation’s food, regulates medical devices, monitors compliance with regulations

Principal-Agent theory

A contract in which the principal engages the agent to perform some service on their behalf, which involves delegating some decision-making authority to the agent

Principal

entity delegating authority/assigning tasks

Agent

person/entity delegated authority from the principal to act on their behalf

When do principals delegate power?

The issue is salient or complex

Salience

how important, noticeable, or prominent an issue is

Saliency provides a motivation

to focus on a certain issue

High salience low complexity

Substantive controls

Low salience high or low complexity

Delegation

High salience high complexity

Procedural controls

Agency loss

the costs and inefficiencies that arise from the conflict of interest between the principal and the agent

Two ways disagreements might happen in the principal-agent relationship

Bureaucrats might have allies on the outside who can aid their careers, or an us vs them mentality-WH (inside), other agencies (outside)

Three ways to control agency loss

Institutional design, oversight of agent actions, executive compensation

Institutional design

Imposing internal controls to keep the agent’s self-serving behaviors

Oversight of agent actions

Identifying and redirecting agent behavior inconsistent with the principals’ objectives

Executive compensation schemes

Financial incentive schemes that provide rewards and punishments aimed to help alight principal-agent interests

Goal of politicization

replace career bureaucrats who have misaligned incentives/goals

How does the president control agency loss?

Positive hiring, firing, leaving positions vacant

Ideal bureaucrat selection process

Notifying the public about the open position, screen applications based on minimum standards, apply selection priorities like veterans’ preference, and assess relative competencies based on job-related criteria

Issues with politicization

Can limit range of opinions among bureaucrats, weaken objectivity of policy analysis at the president’s disposal

Politicization does what to agency loss?

Decreases it

Centralization

Presidential strategy of exerting political control over the bureaucracy by transferring administrative and oversight tasks from agencies to the EOP or WHO

Two ways to enhance centralization

Use czars or appoint acting or interim officials

What is a major negative affect of controlling bureaucracy?

Agencies that employ a greater proportion of political employees function much less effectively than others

Effectiveness

Ability of agency to draft rules and implement policies that are consistent with what they learn and know

Challenges with short-term political appointees

Aren’t there long enough to learn the culture of their agencies, decrease trust of their subordinates by making frequent policy changes, may erode agency’s institutional memory

Administrative Procedures Act of 1946

establishes procedures agencies must follow when changing rules

Examples of procedures governed by the APA

Publishing notice of rule in Federal Register, allowing for public comment on rule and including that in changes, allow for delay between publication of rule and effective date

What was FDR’s stance on control of the bureacracy?

Wanted more control (Brownlow committee)

Examples of political appointees intended to reduce role of agency

Watt and Norton, Secretaries of the Interior for Reagan and Bush, Anne Gorsuch EPA-Reagan, Trump Rick Perry DoE

How many appointments do presidents typically make?

3-4k

Excepted service

Roughly half of American civil servants in roles not governed by merit-based guidelines, often by giving managers more flexibility, “making it easier to circumvent rules in hiring and promotion.”

PAS

Presidential appointments with senate confirmation

SES

Senior executive service personnel, upper-level staff that work to implement the president’s agenda, no more than 10% of SES can be political appointees overall or 25% in a single agency

Schedule C

“political appointments to confidential or policy-setting positions,” below SES personnel

Presidential popularity and politicization

The more popular a president is, the less they need to politicize

Trade off in politicization

Responsiveness and competence

Political patronage

rewarding people for their past political support, can be a form of shoring up electoral support for the future of a party

Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

intended to provide presidents with more control over positions most relevant for the implementation of their agendas, established SES

1980 Foreign Service Act

states that contributions to campaigns shouldn’t be a factor in appointment, but presidents use 70/30 approach to ambassadorships

Four main components of the White House Office

Domestic policy council, National economic council, Office of legislative affairs, Office of public engagement

Office of public engagement

fosters relations with NGOs, interest groups, states

How many staffers work in the WHO?

200-400

Matthew Dickinson on presidential staff

concluded that presidents rely upon larger staff when the opposition party holds a greater number of seats within Congress, when the president’s popularity is low, and when the size of the press corps increases

Is there congressional oversight over policy czars?

No

Nixon used a ___ czar to ___

Drug, coordinate Office of National Drug Control Policy, FDA, DEA, CDC

When are presidents more likely to centralize?

when the policy consequences of forgoing expertise are less severe

9/11 Commission

recommended creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to centralize

Bush centralization issues 9/11

had to choose between centralizing (he has direct info and can make quick decisions, but lacks the expertise of other agencies) or not (risk “falling asleep at the switch” in another attack)

Approximately how many new agencies were created between 1950 and 2000?

400

David Lewis-how politicization affects performance

More politicized agencies have a hard time functioning effectively, What presidents gain in ability to control is offset by a loss of expertise

What percent of career executives say they intend to leave their positions within a year according to a study?

25-often get offers from private sector (or retirement)

Harry Reid as senate majority leader

kept Senate in perpetual session to prevent Bush (2007) recess appointments

What did Obama try to use recess appointments for?

National Labor Relations Board and CFPB, ruled unconstitutional

Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998

president can appoint interim officials for 210 days, sometimes longer

What is a common problem with interim officials?

Substitute teacher problem-same powers, less sway

Teapot Dome scandal

Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall had secretly arranged for private oil companies to lease valuable federal oil reserves, including the Teapot Dome reserve, without competitive bidding. In return, Fall accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, which he disguised as loans. Fall was sentenced to a year in jail and Harding’s legacy was tainted.

Patronage system

Prior to the assasination of James Garfield by Charles Guiteau, a time when staff were appointed based on support for the president, not merit

Is agency politicization increasing?

Yes

What can happen when there is too much politicization of an agency?

Loss of expertise/institutional memory, less employee morale, more corruption