Gov Exam 3

Origins of Federal Bureaucracy

Citizens were automatically suspicious of bureau bc of the British Bureaucracy

Patronage

Granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support

Spoils System

the system of employing and promoting civil servants who are friends and supporters of the group in power

civil service

A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service.

Hatch Act (1939)

Permitted government employees to vote in government elections but forbade them from participating in partisan politics

Federal Bureaucracy Structure

15 cabinet departments

rule making

a quasi-legislative process resulting in regulations that have the characteristics of a legislative act — agencies do this a LOT.

Bureaucracy and the President

• President oversees and influences how bureaucracy implements policy (Appoints department secretaries and agency directors)

• President may threaten to cut an agency's budget or promise to push for budget increases based on performance. Faithful Execution Clause

Congress and the Bureaucracy

Congressional Oversight- If Congress does not like the rules that have been set they retain control of the final say

The Courts can also monitor the rules and overrule them

Congressional Committees have agencies report to them

senatorial courtesy

a custom whereby presidential appointments are confirmed only if there is no objection to them by the senators from the appointee's state

Congressional Committees

a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty

Congress

President

Congressional Control

Can draft specific laws against agencies

Iron Triangle

The three-way alliance among legislators

red tape

complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done

Presidential Control over Bureaucracy

Appointing the right people

Congressional Control over Bureaucracy (list)

Approve/Reject President's appointments

Court Control over Bureaucracy

Lawsuits

Citizen Control over Bureaucracy

"Whistleblowers

Sunshine Law (1976)

Requires federal government meetings to be held in public

Freedom of Information Act (1966)

Provides a system for the public to obtain government records

administrative discretion

power to interpret legislative mandate — bureaucracies have this

the Bureaucracy is...

A neutral executor of laws

Features of a Bureaucracy

Hierarchical structure

Weber argued...

Bureaucratic governance is a hallmark of an advanced

Goals of Bureaucracy

Efficiency

Criticisms of the Spoils System

Employee replacement after elections

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons

Commission

President cannot appoint all at once

thus

lack of majority control

Seila Law LLC v. CFPB

An administrative agency may not be headed by a single director who is not removable by the president.

West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency

The Court ruled that the EPA does not have Congressional authority to limit emissions at existing power plants through generation shifting to cleaner sources (beyond the fence line)

inner cabinet

the heads of the Defense

outer cabinet

The outer Cabinet refers to Cabinet departments that are less important to the day-to-day functioning of the government and were created to look after the needs of various constituencies. It includes the Departments of Agriculture

permanent campaign

Representatives want to hold someone responsible for failures in public policy and its administration

principal-agent problem

a problem caused by an agent pursuing his own interests rather than the interests of the principal who hired him

Bureaucracy and Budgets

Agencies must defend their budget before Congress each fiscal year

oversight

the effort by Congress

committee hearings

sessions where a committee listens to the testimonies of people who are interested in the bill — ensure agencies fulfill congressional mandates

Deregulation

The lifting of government restrictions on business

Bureaucracy concerns

Policy reflects special interest

Privatization

To change from government or public ownership or control to private ownership or control.

Growth of bureaucracy is measured through...

Expenditures

Federalist 49 (Madison)

"The people are the only legitimate fountain of power"

Public Opinion

the distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues

Individualism

giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Values/Beliefs

Basic principles shaping one's opinions

Economic Liberals

Expanded gov role in economy

Economic/Fiscal Conservatives

People who oppose giving the government a bigger role in the area of economic security are

Libertarians

Those who prefer very limited government and therefore tend to be conservative on issues such as welfare policy

Social Liberals/Progressives

Increased government involvement in economic and society

Socialists/Communitarians

Radical version of social liberals

Social Conservatives ("Far Right")

Limited economic role

Political Socialization

The process by which we develop our political attitudes

influences of political socialization

Change in socio-economic status

Partisanship

loyalty to a political cause or party

Demographics

the characteristics of a population with respect to age

Representative Sampling

a process for selecting research participants whose characteristics fairly reflect the characteristics of the population from which they were drawn

random selection

A way of ensuring that a sample of people is representative of a population by giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample

Sample

A relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole.

Sampling error

Sample is too small for accurate polling

Selection Bias

Chance that a sample does not accurately represent population

Likely Voter Models

Assume same groups vote at same rate across elections

Issue Salience

Poll focusing on one issue may mask voter's main concerns

Social Desirability bias

A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself.

push polls

polls taken for the purpose of providing information on an opponent that would lead respondents to vote against that candidate

Sedition Act (1798)

Led to these newspaper publishers being imprisoned for criticizing government

Alexis de Tocqueville

"Independence of the press is the most important

Framing the Debate

Using desirable information to make your point stronger and leaving out the undesirable information.

How does the media affect political issues?

Framing debates

Media Bias

Bias or slant in the selection of which news to report and how the news is reported.

bad news bias

the tendency of the news media to focus on bad news rather than good news "If it bleeds

censorship

Social media companies regulating (i.e restricting) speech

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

prior restraint

Individuals had to submit materials to government before publication

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

The Supreme Court decision holding that the First Amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint. Freedom of Press

New York Times v. United States (1971)

"Pentagon Papers

" government must prove actual harm to national security if it seeks prior restraint to censor the press (Burger Court). Prior restraint only in extreme circumstances (heavy burden)

Libel

A written defamation of a person's character

slander

the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

The Supreme Court concluded that "actual malice" must be proved to support a finding of libel against a public figure.

Misinformation

incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event

Disinformation

Foreign government involvement in domestic issues (propaganda)

John Stuart Mill

"Marketplace of Ideas" "tyranny of the majority"

True opinions

Opinions formed through discussion with other opinions

wisdom

Found through keeping yourself open

Assumption of Infallibility

To decide a question for others without allowing contrary opinions

pursuit of truth

Human beings have prosecuted

Assimiliationism

belief that minority cultures should dissolve into a dominant culture

hive mind

when a group of animals/humans adopt a similar method of thinking in a way that limits creativity

How does the president use the media?

appeal directly to the public through press conferences and public events

Limits to presidents using media

Public doesn't pay attention

Political Parties originated...

During the ratification of the U.S. constitution

Political Parties

Organizations seeking to control government outcomes by (1) winning elections and (2) organizing governmental action

Winning elections

Recruit/Support candidates

Organization

Winning party organizes GOVERNMENT

Party Platform

Articulation of party direction and goals for an electoral cycle

What does a party platform do?

Lists issues and positions on said issues that the party will campaign on

State Parties act as...

Independent organizations that are loosely organized at national level.

Polarization

Parties becoming increasingly ideological