Chapter 15: The Bureaucracy E3

bureaucracy

an administrative group of nonelected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs

bureaucrats

the civil servants or political appointees who fill nonelected positions in government and make up the bureaucracy

civil servants

the individuals who fill nonelected positions in government and make up the bureaucracy; also known as bureaucrats

government corporation

a corporation that fulfills an important public interest and is therefore overseen by government authorities to a much larger degree than private businesses

merit system

a system of filling civil service positions by using competitive examinations to value experience and competence over political loyalties

negotiated rulemaking

a rulemaking process in which neutral advisors convene a committee of those who have vested interests in the proposed rules and help the committee reach a consensus on them

patronage

the use of government positions to reward individuals for their political support

pay schedule

a chart that shows salary ranges for different levels of positions vertically and for different ranks of seniority horizontally

privatization

measures that incorporate the market forces of the private sector into the function of government to varying degrees

public administration

the implementation of public policy as well as the academic study that prepares civil servants to work in government

red tape

the mechanisms, procedures, and rules that must be followed to get something done

spoils system

a system that rewards political loyalties or party support during elections with bureaucratic appointments after victory

whistleblower

a person who publicizes misdeeds committed within a bureaucracy or other organization

What do americans think about bureaucracy

• Tend to think that the government is often wasteful or inefficient

• Closely divided on size of government

• Views are usually closely partisan  

Democrats believe

government does a better job than people give it credit for

As well as have bigger government providing more services

There are also differences across race/ethnicity, age and income

But the biggest differences is still partisanship

What is the federal bureaucracy

• Is a vast network of agencies that make the executive branch of the government

• Million of permanent employees (civil servants)

• thousands of short term workers (political appointees of the president)

What do burecrats do

• Implement policies by congress and the president

• Develop programs and policies to achieve goals of laws

When laws are specific, bureaucrats have very little discretion, more commonly laws provide general guidelines

What are regulations (ex. EPA)

• Rules that give government control over individuals and corporations by resting cretain behavoirs

• Proposed regulations are subject ot and notice and comment procedure that allows people and oraganizations affect by the, to review the guidelines. They may support oppose or offer changes  

• Influence most aspects of everyday life

• Very political

Public remains divided on impact of government regulation of business

Principals and agents

 the needs balance control with discretion is known as the problem of control principal agent game:

• An agent group works for another the principal

• Agenst have information that the principals dont. Or prefer different policy outcomes

The complexity of control

The problem of control has led to a highly complex bureacurcrtatic structure and set of produces, these in turn have their own consequence

• Red tape

• Standard operating procedures (SOPs)

Regulartory capture

the private interests become the agent’s principal

• How does this happen?: financial. Inditur expertise, industry well organized powerful financially

Deepwater horizon: the BP oil spill

• April 20,2010: The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico

• The commission tasked with determining the cause found

• Ultimately, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) had been captured

What is outsourcing?

Governments contradicting with private firms to provide services once provided by government employees

Example of outsourcing:
A city government hires a private company for trash collection

What is privatization?

The complete sale of a state-owned enterprise to the private sector, with a partial privation government retains some control
Example of privatization: Chicago sells it sparking meters to a private company for 1.1 billion

Federal bureaucracy is….

a vast network of agencies that make up the executive branch of the U.S. government

• Million of permanent employees (civil servants)

• Thousands of short term workers (political appointees of the preseident)

Regulations

• Government rules that give government contour over individuals and corporations by resting behaviors

• Developed via the notice and comment procedure

• Very political

• Influence most aspects of everyday life

Proposed regulations are

subject to the notice and comment procedure that allows people and organizations affect by them to review the guidelines. They may support, oppose or offer changes 

Bureaucrats are experts and have

specialized knowledge that in general in the congress nor the president has

• This allows them to implement policies effectively (state capacity)

• Example: the FDA know better than most how to evaluate new drugs of potentially harmful side effects

However this expertise is only unleashed if elected officials grant bureaucrats the discretion to use it

They could lose control over the policy-making process