Exam 2 POLISCI 2320

Merit System

process for hiring and promoting government workers based on their job skills and test scores instead of political connection

Patronage (Spoils) System

Government jobs awarded based on political loyalty and party service.

Pendleton Act (1883)

Replaced much of the patronage system with merit-based hiring, required competitive examinations for many federal positions.

Size and composition of the federal civilian workforce

2.5 million; Graded Service (GS) job ranking, from GS-1 to GS-15 (Hired on Merit)

Number and role of presidential political appointees who help implement the president’s agenda

4,000 political appointees; Senior Executive Service (SES), Senate-Confirmed Appointments (PAS), Schedule C / Other Non-Senate Confirmed Appointments, Commissions and Boards

How bureaucrats promote their agency’s goals-

Expert knowledge

Presidential support (relationships w/elected officials)

Congressional support

Clientele groups (interest groups)

 “Agency point of view”

The tendency of bureaucrats to see issues from the perspective of their own agency

Why bureaucrats tend to follow “Agency point of View”

Professional training

Career experience

Organizational culture

Desire to advance agency goal

Clientele groups

Interest groups that directly benefit from an agency's programs, Often lobby Congress to support the agency

Independent agencies

More independent from presidential control, Narrowly focused mission, Heads often serve fixed terms, EX: NASA, CIA, SEC

Cabinet departments

Head reports directly to president, Broad responsibilities, Cabinet secretaries are presidential appointees, EX: State, Defense, Treasury

Agencies with strong geographic or interest-group allies in Congress

Department of Agriculture (farm states)

Department of Defense (states with military bases)

Veterans Affairs (veterans' organizations)

Comparison of the bureaucracy’s day-to-day impact relative to the president and Congress

Citizens interact with bureaucracies more often than with Congress or the president.

Bureaucracies enforce laws, distribute benefits, regulate activities, and provide services every day.

The bureaucracy often has the most direct day-to-day effect on citizens.

Role of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the start of the annual budget cycle

Spring: OMB establishes guidelines, including a budget ceiling for each agency 

Summer: Agencies create detailed budget requests

September: Agencies submit request to the OMB 

Fall/Winter: OMB reviews and finalizes then combines into the president budget proposal 

January: The budget is submitted to Congress

Budgetary Process

The process through which annual federal spending and revenue decisions are made.

What happens after the president’s budget is approved by both the House and Senate?

Congress passes appropriations bills.

Relationship between the executive budget proposal and congressional action

The president creates a proposed budget, but Congress decides what the final budget will be

Policy Implementation

carrying out decisions of Congress, the president, and the courts; turns laws, plans, and decisions into real-world actions

Primary way administrative agencies exercise control over policy

through rule-making (or issuing binding regulations)

Congressional oversight tools

Oversight Hearings- Congress questions agency officials.

Government Accountability Office (GAO)- Investigates government performance and spending.

Sunset Provisions- Programs automatically expire unless renewed by Congress

Regulatory agencies’ combination of __ type functions

administrative (executive)- writing rules, legislative- enforcing rules, and judicial-resolving disputes

Overall relationship between government and the U.S. economy today (regulatory and maintenance role)

The United States has a mixed economy, where the government helps maintain the economy and regulates businesses while still allowing private companies to make most economic decisions.

Economic Efficiency

Producing the greatest output with the fewest inputs

Externalities

Costs or benefits imposed on people not involved in a transaction (EX: Factory pollution affecting nearby residents), They justify regulation b/c they represent "market failure"

Deregulation (primary concern of its advocates)

Reducing government regulations increases competition and efficiency: main concern- too much regulation increases the cost of doing business and reduces economic efficiency.

Regulatory agencies that oversee aspects of business

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Major change introduced by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935

Guaranteed workers the right to form unions, Protected collective bargaining

Country with the highest annual carbon dioxide emissions

China

Approximate increase in average Earth surface temperature from 1850 to the projected 2025 period

1.2°C-1.5°C or 2 degrees F, since the mid-1800s.

Efficiency vs. Equity

• Efficiency means getting the most output with the least input

• Equity means dividing that pie in a way that is fair and just.

Fiscal policy

the governments taxing and spending decisions

Historical turning point that ushered in the modern era of U.S. fiscal policy

Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal

Keynesian theory (demand side)

During a recession Government should:

• Increase spending.

• Cut taxes.

Goal: Increase demand and promote employment.

Fiscal responses to inflation

Government should:

• Reduce spending.

• Raise taxes.

Goal: Reduce aggregate demand.

Fiscal responses to low productivity/high unemployment

• Increase Government Spending

• Cut Taxes

Typical Democratic approach in Washington to high unemployment

Government spending programs.

Public investment.

Economic stimulus.

Supply-side economics

• Increasing production.

• Lowering taxes on businesses and investors.

• Encouraging investment and growth.

Budget deficit

yearly excess of spending over revenues

National debt

total cumulative amount owed

Monetary Policy

based on adjustments to the amount of money in circulation 

Monetary Policy is based on the core assumption that-

too much money= inflation rises and spending increases

too little money= economy slows and unemployment may rise

The Federal Reserve’s primary policy domain

Controls U.S. monetary policy.

Fed tools to control money supply-

• Increasing the interest rate on loans to member banks 

• Raising the reserve rate 

• Selling govt securities (bonds, notes, etc.) 

Not a Fed Tool

• Federal income tax rates.

• Government spending decisions.

(this is fiscal)

Policy Making Cycle

1. Problem Identification / Agenda Setting

2. Policy Formulation

3. Policy Adoption

4. Implementation

5. Evaluation

(IFAIE)

Not Policy Making Cycle

• Campaigning

• Fundraising

• Elections

• Political debates

• Public opinion polls

Nonexclusive good

you cannot practically prevent people from receiving it

Nonexhaustive (nonrival) good

one person’s use does not diminish availability for others

Common pool goods

a resource that is non-excludable (hard to stop people from using) and rivalrous (one person's use leaves less for others) EX: forests and fisheries

Toll goods

nonpayers can be excluded, but use does not reduce benefit to others

Pure Public Goods

is an economic item or service that is both completely non-rivalrous and non-excludable in consumption (EX: air, national defense)

Social Goods

actions, business models, and policies designed to maximize positive societal impact (health, education)

Excludability

Whether consumers can be prevented from using the good if they do not pay for it.

Rivalry/Exauhstivness

Whether one person's use of the good diminishes or prevents another person's ability to use it.

What state governments regulate-

• Education

• Utilities

• Business activity

• Professional licensing

• Health and safety

What state governments do not regulate-

Federal military operations

Consumer taxes

Sales tax and Excise Tax

Why Texas taxes are described as regressive?

• Texas relies heavily on sales taxes.

• Lower-income individuals pay a larger share of their income in these taxes.

Two primary sources of revenue for local governments in Texas-

1. Property taxes

2. Sales taxes

Capacity vs. Effort-

examines the gap between what an economic system or agent can potentially produce or generate (capacity) and what they actually do produce or deploy (effort)

Measures of a state’s fiscal position

tax capacity, tax effort, tax base, and tax exporting

Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984)

• Established Chevron Deference.

• Courts generally deferred to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous laws.

Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024)

• Overturned Chevron Deference.

• Courts now exercise independent judgment when interpreting statutes.

Positive Economics

Objective, describes what is, testable with evidence/possibility to prove truth

Normative Economics

Subjective, describes what ought to be, Inability to prove