Chapter 15 – The Bureaucracy

I0. Distinctiveness of the bureaucracy

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A0. Size and complexity of bureaucracy are less important than political context in which
bureaucracy acts.

10. Political authority over the bureaucracy shared by president and Congress
20. Functions shared with related state, local agencies
3. Adversary culture leads to close scrutiny and court challenges.

B0. Scope of bureaucracy

0
10. Little public ownership of industry in the U.S.
20. High degree of regulation of private industries.

II0. Growth of the bureaucracy:

0
A0. Congress creates, funds and investigates agencies and shapes the laws they
administer

B0. Officials affect how laws are interpreted, tone and effectiveness of administration

C. Patronage in 19th century led to administrative reforms

D. Excesses of industrialization motivated government to begin (controversial)

regulation, beginning with Interstate Commerce Act

E0. 1861–1901: aided by Supreme Court decisions, new agencies primarily performed
service role:
0
10. Supreme Court held that executive agencies had no discretionary authority—
could only apply statutes passed by Congress
2. Wars led to reduced restrictions and increase in executive branch
personnel.

F0. A change in role: Depression, Supreme Court decisions, Introduction of heavy

income taxes, and World War II led to increased discretionary authority and
government activism
0
III0. The federal bureaucracy today:
0
A0. Direct and indirect growth (modest growth, but increased use of private contractors,
state and local government employees)
0
B0. More important is growth in discretionary authority—the ability to make policies not
set out in the statutory law
0
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 C0. Many factors explain the behavior of officials:

1. Recruitment and reward systems

2. Personal and political attributes
3. Nature of work
4. Constraints imposed on agencies.

D. Most bureaucrats cannot be easily fired

E. Agencies dominated by lifetime bureaucrats who have worked for no other

agency

1. Gives subordinates power over new bosses

2. Political appointees and upper-level bureaucrats are
unrepresentative of U.S. society: somewhat more liberal or conservative than
average citizens
3. They generally do not take extreme positions

F. Correlation found between the type of agency and the attitudes of the
employees;

G. Do bureaucrats sabotage their political bosses? In a word, NO, though they

can make life miserable for some bosses….0

I0. The federal bureaucracy today (Cont’d)0

10. Culture and careers0
a0) Each agency has own culture.
b0) Strong agency culture motivates employees, but makes agencies resistant
to change.

20. Constraints are much greater on government agencies than on private

bureaucracies.

a. Several agencies often assigned to single policy

b. Constraints established by laws, not market

c. Effects of constraints:

1. Government moves slowly or inconsistently

2. Easier to block action than take it
3. Red tape

d. Constraints result from reasonable demands for fairness, honesty.

0
30. Agency allies
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a0) Agencies seek alliances with congressional committees or interest groups
(Iron triangle)0

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 b0) Iron Triangles less common today—politics too complex0
c0) Issue networks: contentious groups that regularly debate policy on certain
issues along partisan, ideological lines
0
II0. Congressional oversight (See box, Congressional Oversight and Homeland Security.)
0
A0. Forms of congressional supervision
0
10. Congress creates agencies and authorizes programs.
20. Congressional appropriations required.

B0. House Appropriations Committee role:

0
10. Approves agency expenditures
2. Recommends amount lower than requested
3. Has power to influence policies by “marking up” agency budgets
4. Appropriations Committee power waning
0
C0. Legislative veto
0
10. Definition: requirement that executive decision must lie before Congress for
specified period before it takes effect
20. Declared unconstitutional in Chadha (1983)

D0. Congressional investigations

0
10. Power inferred from power to legislate
20. Means for checking agency discretion and also for authorizing agency actions
independent of presidential preferences.

I0. Bureaucratic “pathologies”:

0
A0. Red tape—complex, conflicting rules
B0. Conflict—agencies work at cross-purposes
C0. Duplication
D. Imperialism-- tendency of agencies to grow, irrespective of benefits and costs
(“mission creep”)
E0. Waste

IV0. Reforming the Bureaucracy

0
A0. Numerous attempts to make the bureaucracy work better for less money0
B0. Bureaucratic reform is difficult, due to separation of powers, divided gov’t,
entrenched interests.
0
V0. Answering the Enduring Questions:
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 A0. What has happened to make bureaucracy a “fourth branch” of government? How
does the bureaucracy fit into the constitutional system of separate institutions
sharing powers?
0
10. Wars, economic development, societal needs, Court decision led to expanded
power for the government and the establishment of administrative agencies.

20. Bureaucrats exercise discretion, but are checked by…

0
a0) President, through appointment power of executives in departments and
agencies
b0) Congress, through oversight mechanisms
c0) Courts, through litigation and procedural reviews

B0. What is the actual size and scope of the federal bureaucracy, and how does it work?
0
10. Employees of the government may be directly or indirectly employed –when
government contracts awarded to private companies

C0. What efforts have been made to reform the bureaucracy, and what are the
prospects for improving government performance today?
0
10. Numerous reform efforts throughout the past 100 years
20. National Performance Review (NPR), led by Vice President Al Gore, most
recent attempt –reforms received mixed reviews.

Policy-Making Process

I0. Setting the agenda:

0
A0. Most important decision affecting policy-making is deciding what belongs on the political
agenda.
0
10. Shared beliefs determine what is legitimate for the government to do.
20. Legitimacy is affected by…0
a0) Shared political values
b0) Weight of custom and tradition
c0) Impact of events
d0) Changes in the way that political elites think and talk about politics

B0. The legitimate scope of government action

0
10. Always gets larger, regardless of party in power0
20. May also be enlarged without public demand and even when conditions are
improving0
a0) Groups: a motivating force in adding new issues0
b0) Institutions are a second force adding new issues.0
(10) Major institutions: courts, bureaucracy, Senate, national media
c0) Elite attitudes more volatile and more interdependent with government
actions.

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II0. Making a decision:
0
A0. Nature of issue:
0
10. Affects the kind of groups that become politically active;
20. Affects the intensity of political conflict.

B0. Costs and benefits of a proposed policy provide a way to understand how an issue affects
political power.
0
10. Two aspects of costs and benefits are important:0
a0) Perception of costs and benefits affects politics
b0) People consider whether it is legitimate for a group to benefit.
20. Politics is a process of settling disputes over who benefits/pays and who ought to
benefit/pay—so ideas and values are as important as interests.
30. People prefer programs that provide benefits to them at low cost.
40. Perceived distribution of costs and benefits shapes the kinds of political coalitions that
form, but does not necessarily determine who wins.
50. See the Politically Speaking box, Logrolling.

IIIIII0. Majoritarian politics: distributed benefits, distributed costs

0
A0. Gives benefits to large numbers
B0. Distributes costs to large numbers
C0. Involves appeals to large blocs of voters;
D0. Debate conducted in ideological or cost terms, e.g., military budgets.

IV0. Interest group politics: concentrated benefits, concentrated costs

0
A0. Gives benefits to relatively small, identifiable group
B0. Costs imposed on another small and identifiable group.
C0. Debate is carried on by interest groups with minimal involvement by the wider public.

V0. Client politics: concentrated benefits, distributed costs

0
A0. Relatively small group receives benefits; that group has incentive to organize and build
coalitions (logrolling)
B0. Costs distributed widely—so there is little incentive for opposition to mobilize (e.g., pork
barrel projects)
C0. Beneficiaries become “clients” of government, because policies serve their needs
D0. See the Politically Speaking box, Boycott.

VI0. Entrepreneurial politics: distributed benefits, concentrated costs:

0
A0. Gives benefits to large numbers
B0. Costs imposed on a small and identifiable group.
C0. Success often depends on people who work on behalf of unorganized majorities—policy
entrepreneurs.
D0. Or a large number of voters or legislators become disgruntled with another’s benefits or
sees the need for a new policy.
E. Legitimacy of client claims is important (e.g., Superfund).

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VII0. The case of business regulation:
0
A0. The relationship of wealth and power
0
10. One view: economic power dominates political power; wealth buys political power.0
20. Another view: political power is threat to market economy
30. Neither extreme is correct.

B0. Majoritarian politics:

0
10. Antitrust legislation in 1890s: Public indignation strong but unfocused
0
20. Antitrust legislation strengthened in 20th century.0
a0) Presidents took initiative.
b0) Politicians, business leaders were committed.
c0) Federal Trade Commission (created in 1914)
d0) Clayton Act (1914)
e0) Enforcement determined primarily by ideology and personal convictions of current
presidential administration, not by interest group activism.

C0. Interest group politics:

0
10. Labor-management conflict
0
a0) 1935: labor unions seek government protection; business firms in opposition0
b0) 1947: Taft-Hartley Act a victory for management
c0) 1959: Landrum-Griffin Act another victory for management.

20. Politics of the conflict affected the outcomes.

0
a0) Highly publicized struggle
b0) Winners and losers were determined by the partisan composition of Congress.
c0) Economic conditions (Depression in the 1930s) and revelations about
racketeering
d0) After enactment of laws, conflict continues in NLRB and courts.

30. Similar pattern found in Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
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D0. Client politics
0
10. Agency capture likely when benefits focused and costs dispersed—agency created to
serve group’s needs.

20. Licensing of attorneys, barbers, etc.

0
a0) Restricts entry into the occupation or profession0
(10) Allows members to charge higher prices
b0) People not generally opposed0
(10) Believe the regulations protect them
(20) Costs are not obvious, because they are spread over so many customers.

30. Regulation of milk industry, sugar production, merchant shipping

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 a0) Prevents price competition and keeps prices high
b0) Public unaware of inflated prices.

40. Struggle to sustain benefits depends on insider politics—deal with key Washington
decision-makers, not the wider public

50. Insider politics is particularly protracted with regulatory agencies, which issue
regulations influencing business practices.

E0. Entrepreneurial politics relies on entrepreneurs to galvanize public opinion and mobilize
congressional support.
0
10. 1906: Pure Food and Drug Act protected consumers

20. 1960s and 1970s: large number of consumer and environmental protection statutes
passed (e.g., Clean Air Act, Toxic Substance Control Act)

30. Policy entrepreneur usually associated with such measures (e.g., Ralph Nader, Estes
Kefauver, Edmund Muskie)
0
a0) Often assisted by crisis or scandal, which focuses public attention on an issue
b0) Debate becomes moralistic and extreme

40. Risk of such programs: agency may be captured by the regulated industry:
0
a0) Newer consumer and environmental protection agencies may be less vulnerable
to capture because…
0
(10) Standards specific, timetables strict so bureaucrats have relatively little
discretion
(20) Usually regulate many different industries; thus, they do not face a unified
opposition
(30) Their existence has strengthened the public interest lobbies that sought their
creation.
(40) Allies in the media may attack agencies for any pro-business bias.
(50) Public interest groups can use courts to bring pressure on regulatory
agencies.