Chapter Fourteen Summary - The Bureaucracy

Introduction

Bureaucracy is not just a government term. In fact, bureaucracy is a part of almost all aspects of everyday life. Nowadays, Congress is even somewhat of a bureaucracy, due to its huge staff. Most people complain about the bureaucracy, but most of the blame can be attributed to the actions of the Courts, Congress, and the President.

Bureaucracy - a large, complex organization composed of appointed officials. The departments and agencies of the U.S. government make up the federal bureaucracy

Distinctiveness of the American Bureaucracy

Why is American bureaucracy so unique? First, unlike in the United Kingdom, bureaucrats in the U.S.A. do not report to just one person, but many. Second, due to federalism, most federal agencies share a purpose with a lower-level agency. Finally, due to what some have described as "adversary culture," the expansion of the rights of the people and the defense of these rights through action of politics and of the Court is of greatest importance. As such, most bureaucratic decisions are challenged in the United States, which is not the case in countries such as Sweden.

The Growth of the Bureaucracy

Departments and bureaus were not mentioned in the Constitution. James Madison, in 1789, introduced a bill to create a Department of State to assist the Secretary of State. Other departments followed. At first, on the Treasury Department had any power, and only the Post Office Department provided service.

The Appointment of Officials

Despite this, the struggle over appointments has always been present, and the decision of who to appoint has remained just as difficult. As John Adams said, "Every appointment creates one ingrate and ten enemies." From 1816 to 1861 the number of federal employees increased by 800%, most of which was concentrated in the Post Office Department. American bureaucracy also developed greatly during the Civil War.

Spoils system -another phrase for political patronage--that is, the practice of giving the fruits of a party's victory, such as jobs and contracts, to the loyal members of that party

A Service Role

For a long time, agencies were largely dependent on Congress, and even until 1935 the Supreme Court held that regulatory agencies could not make rules on their own, but rather could only apply standards enacted by Congress.

Laissez-faire - an economic theory that government should not regulate or interfere with commerce

A Change in Role

The current bureaucratic system of America owes much of its structure to the New Deal program of FDR following the Great Depression, as well as to WWII. Bureaucracy has grown since, but most of its features have remained relatively unchanged since the 1940s.

The Federal Bureaucracy Today

Unsurprisingly, presidents tend to avoid admitting that they have contributed to the increasing size of the bureaucracy, usually by saying that the number of civilians who work for the government--not including postal workers--has remained approximately the same for almost 50 years. However, this is misleading, as millions of other civilians work for private firms and state or local agencies that receive federal funds. As such, the bureaucracy has grown almost constantly. Despite this fact, the size of a bureaucracy is dependent not on size, but on the discretionary authority of its members. The power of the bureaucracy has greatly increased, especially in recent years; in 1930, the Supreme Court declared that Congressional delegations of power to agencies were constitutional. The power of bureaucrats is determined by the manner of their recruitment, their personal attributes, the nature of their jobs, and the constraints that outside forces place on their agencies.

Discretionary authority - the extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws

Recruitment and Retention

Many bureaucrats belong to competitive service, meaning they were appointed only after they passed a written examination by the Office of Personnel Management or met certain criteria established by the hiring agency. These criteria must be approved by the OPM. Recently, however, less examinations have been administered as the competitive service system has become more and more decentralized. At higher levels, however, recruitment is more complicated and more political. As such, many upper-level bureaucrats are hired on a "name-request" basis, more similar to the hiring process of a private business than a government. Often name-request jobs are given to people that the bureaucracy knows are capable of handling such a position, thereby eliminating the need for an elaborate search. This process is known as the buddy system. Therefore, most positions are filled by specially requested people who are unlikely to be fired and who possess an "agency" point of view.

Competitive service - the government offices to which people are appointed on the grounds of merit as ascertained by a written examination or by having met certain selection criteria (such as training, educational attainments, or prior experience)

Name-request job - a job to be filled by a person whom a government agency has identified by name

Personal Attributes

Generally speaking, the federal civil service system as a whole tends to represent the general American population very well in terms of sex, race, and social origin. However, minorities tend to be very heavily represented in the lower tiers of the bureaucracy and greatly underrepresented in the more elite tiers. Typically, political appointees and career bureaucrats are not representative of the average American in terms of political beliefs and tend to more closely reflect the beliefs of the president who appointed them. Ideology also varies from department to department. For example, the State Department is usually more liberal than the Defense Department.

Do Bureaucrats Sabotage their Political Bosses?

In a word, yes. Because they are extremely confident in the security of their jobs, career bureaucrats are usually willing to sabotage anything that their supervisors do with which they do not agree. In bureaucracy, loyalty only exists towards those supervisors who are cooperative and constructive. Despite all of this, cooperation is very common. Because of the highly structured nature of bureaucracy, personal attitudes are not as important as they would be in a less structured system.

Culture and Careers

In order to determine an agency's culture it is important to consider what sort of jobs are most career enhancing in the agency? Such jobs are part of an agency's culture, while non-career enhancing (NCE) jobs are not. Strong cultures are generally a good thing--they motivate the employees to work harer in order to gain respect and approval. However, in a strong culture, it is harder to change agencies.

Constraints

Not surprisingly, government agencies are burdened by many more constraints than private organizations are. Most of the time, Congress does not give a job to any single agency. As such, government acts slowly and inconsistently, and blocking action is easier than taking action. Low-ranking employees rarely make decisions on their own. However, the blame for these constraints falls not on Congress but on the people in general. Most people insist that government be "fair," and this entails that complex procedures must be followed. As is so often the case in politics--and most other areas of life--citizens want everything at once: a fair yet quick-moving government.

Agency Allies

Government bureaucrats are not powerless, however, by any stretch of the word. Often, as a means of increasing their power, agencies join with a committee and an interest group to form an iron triangle, an example of client politics. As of late, however, iron triangles have diminished in prevalence for three reasons: first, that there are so many interest groups that agencies are pressured by many instead of allied with only one. Second, agencies are now controlled by multiple Congressional committees, often with competing concerns. Finally, the courts have made it easier for individuals to intervene with agency affairs. These circumstances combine to create what is called an issue network--a typical situation faced by agencies today.

Iron triangle - a close relationship between an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group that often becomes a mutually advantageous alliance

Issue network - a network of people in Washington-based interest groups, on congressional staffs, in universities and think tanks, and in the mass media who regularly discuss and advocate public policies--say, health care or auto safety. Such networks are split along political, ideological, and economic lines

Congressional Oversight

With few exceptions, no agency may exist without congressional approval, and no money may be spent without first being authorized by Congress, and then being appropriated by the House Appropriations Committee--usually for less than the amount authorized. Authorization legislation states the maximum amount of money that an agency may spend on a given program.

Authorization legislation - legislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency. An authorization bill may grant permission to spend a certain sum of money, but that money does not ordinarily become available unless it is also appropriated. Authorizations may be annual, multiyear, or permanent

Appropriation - a legislative grant of money to finance a government program

The Appropriations Committee and Legislative Committees

Because of this system, each agency serves several Congressional masters, often times in conflict with one another. In the past, decisions made by the Appropriations Committee were rarely challenged, but recently the Appropriations Committee has lost some of its power. One reason for this is trust funds, over which the Appropriations Committee has no control. A second reason is the switch from permanent or multiyear authorizations to annual authorizations for most programs. Finally, huge budget deficits in recent decades meant that Congress had to focus more time on trying to keep spending down, the result being that less time can be spent on how much ought to be spent on each individual program and instead focusing on meeting a target spending limit. There are also various informal ways by which Congress can control the bureaucracy, one of these being committee clearance.

Trust funds - funds for government programs that are collected and spent outside the regular government budget; the amounts are determined by preexisting law rather than by annual appropriations. The Social Security trust fund is the largest of these

Annual authorizations - every year the legislative committees, as part of the reauthorization process, get to set limits on what agencies can spend, thereby limiting the ability of the appropriations committees to determine the spending limits

Committee clearance - the ability of a congressional committee to review and approve certain agency decisions in advance and without passing a law. Such approval is not legally binding on the agency, but few agency heads will ignore the expressed wishes of committees

The Legislative Veto

The legislative veto was once quite commonly used by Congress. In the 1983 case Immigration and Nationalization Service v. Chadha, however, the Supreme Court ruled that "every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary shall be presented to the President of the United States." In other words, Congress is forbidden from taking any action that has the force of law unless the President concurs in that action, although since the Chadha decision Congress has passed several laws containing legislative vetoes.

Legislative veto - the rejection of a presidential or administrative agency action by a vote of one or both houses of Congress without the consent of the president. In 1983 the Supreme Court declared the legislative veto to be unconstitutional

Congressional Investigations

Congressional investigations of the bureaucracy are perhaps the most visible, dramatic, and regular form of congressional supervision. Although the power to investigate is not expressly stated in the Constitution, it is inferred from the power to legislate.

Bureaucratic "Pathologies"

It is impossible to generalize bureaucracy. Nevertheless, five major problems are associated with bureaucracy as a whole. First of all, red tape prevents fast action in the bureaucracy. Second, conflict results from diametrically opposed agencies working against one another. Duplication, a third problem, describes the situation in which two or more agencies work for apparently the same purpose. Another problem is imperialism, or growth without regards to benefits or costs. A final problem--perhaps the most widely complained about--is waste, or simply spending too much for products or services. All of these exist not because of the incompetence of bureaucrats, but simply because of the very nature of government itself, and are almost impossible to correct.

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

Reforming the Bureaucracy

Numerous attempts have been made to increase the efficiency of the American bureaucracy, most wanting to increase central control. Although the bureaucracy would move more quickly if it responded to only one master instead of to several, such a situation often gives the bureaucracy so much power that, in effect, it has no master at all. As such, though the weak, divided bureaucracy that exists in the U.S. today is inefficient, if it were any more efficient our liberties would be at risk.

Web Resources

• The U.S. Department of State Homepage - provides insight into the department of the highest cabinet position in the United States




• The F.B.I. Homepage - a perfect source for information about one of America's bureaucratic agencies




• The U.S. Department of the Interior Homepage - the internet headquarters of the cabinet department concerned with wildlife conservation, etc...
  
  

Assigned Reading:

• What Ought a Bureaucrat Do? - written by Kevin R. Kosar, an analyst at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress

FRQ:

(Corresponding to the assigned reading)

Can a government apply real-world business tactics to a bureaucracy and expect it to run? In your response:
a) Cite two business tactics that, theoretically, could be applied to the American bureaucracy...

...and...

b) examine the effects that the application of these tactics would have.