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Bureaucracy – just another dirty word

Bureaucracy – just another dirty word. Tell me how you feel?. “ Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work ”- Einstein “ Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible ”- Javier Salcedo

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Bureaucracy – just another dirty word

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  1. Bureaucracy – just another dirty word

  2. Tell me how you feel? • “Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work”- Einstein • “Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible”- Javier Salcedo • “Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist.”- Richard Nixon •      “The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency.”- Gene McCarthy

  3. “Poor Eisenhower, in the military when he gave an order it was carried out. But when he gives an order as President nothing will happen and he won’t understand why – “ Harry Truman Bureaucracy- A large organization, some appointed, most hired professionals for the management of government programs. (The toilet article again!)

  4. How big? • Numbers grow as we expect more of government and agencies are added • 1789- 3 cabinet departments and about 50 employees • 1816- about 4,800 employees but 70% in Post office • 2009- 2.8 million add in military and get 4.4 million ( Defense is largest)

  5. Devolution!!- Remember that? • Even so federal bureaucracy is smaller than the bureaucracy of the 50 states- all together the number of government bureaucrats is near 21,000,000 • PLUS when you add in the hidden workforce, it is even larger- private contractors.

  6. Who is the bureaucracy? • Four components: • 1. Cabinet departments- And it is • 2. Independent agencies- ex EPA- Not part of cabinet depts. Report directly to President. Allows them to operate independently of Cabinet that might not ant them to exist ex- Sec of Interior and EPA might conflict • 3. Independent Reg Agencies- Fed Res Board, Nuclear Reg Agency- Regulate business but often captured by pro biz forces • 4. Government organizations- USPS, TVA

  7. How large could it possibly be? -Seriously, you've got to be kidding

  8. So what do they do? The big 4 • Foreign policy- State Dept/Dept of Defense/ Homeland Security/200 foreign embassies-Defense is largest part of bureaucracy- • Financial policy- Treasury Dept./Federal res Board/ Commerce Dept • Law Enforcement- Justice Dept/ FBI/Homeland Sec • Postal Service

  9. Big 4 was the original bureaucracy • But we now expect more and more and more • Natural resources- Interior(1849) Energy (1977) EPA (1970) • General welfare- Health and Human Services – originally Health, Education and welfare (1953) • Housing- Housing and Urban Develop(1965) • Transportation- Dept of Transportation (1966) • Education- Dept of Ed (1980)

  10. This is how we see them

  11. But do we really see them like that?

  12. How do they get so much power? • Iron triangle- bureaucratic agency +Congressional committee+ interest group • Issue network- new description- take the iron triangle and add in lawyers, consultants, academics, courts etc) • These groups foster their common interests.

  13. Make sense now?

  14. Power to legislate? • Regulations- quasi- legislative ( quasi = seemingly) Who said they should do this? Then how does this happen? Bills are vague ( ex. 1972 Title IX 1972. By 1978 100 words in law became 30 pages of regulations!! This is there most important function, it gives them POWER!

  15. So who checks this power? • 2 schools of thought- 1. elected officials need to check power 2. Bureaucracy should be autonomous in order to operate without politics, allowing them to function freely.

  16. So who checks this power? • President- Hard to do • TJ- Seeks “wise and frugal government • JFK- Instruction to State dept is like putting the request in a dead letter box • Nixon wanted to combine 50 agencies and 7 dept’s into super dept’s. Too much opposition. • Clinton/Gore task force on reinventing government- cut 252000 federal jobs

  17. Reinventing bureaucracy • Presidents all try to reinvent the bureaucracy - Some have real plans! • In fact Bush made it happen

  18. More Presidential control • President can sign an executive order forcing agencies to act- ex Exec order 11375 (1967) LBJ added “gender” to anti-discrimination job regulations • Alter budgets • Appoint department heads. • Reorganize, restructure.

  19. Homeland Security • White House aide- “ if we go ahead with a new border agency, it will mean ripping big organizations out of two or three Cabinet departments and no cabinet secretary I have ever seen wants to give up a part of his department” • So- 1.. What problem did Bush face in the effort? 2. What does this example illustrate with regard to pres power and the bureaucracy?

  20. Homeland Security • Controversial aspects required a sales job, as agencies wanted to protect their interests. Border issue was very difficult. Treasury, Justice, Transportation did not want to cede power. They argued a reorganization would be highly disruptive

  21. Congress-What can those knuckleheads do? • 1. Police patrol- investigate actions of bureaucracy • 2. Set up and abolish agencies • 3. Provide funding

  22. How bout them judges? • 1. Issue injunctions- “ A U.S. District Judge has issued a preliminary injunction barring the Food and Drug Administration from requiring the tobacco industry to include new, graphic warnings on their cigarette packages. He that requiring the labels is compelled speech that violates the First Amendment.” • 2. Require due process • 3. Litigation by citizens- Environmentalists suing because Obama is NOT regulating ozone

  23. Pathologies • 1. Red tape- Rules and regs required to get something done • 2. Conflict- When two agencies want to accomplish opposite goals • 3. Duplication- When two agencies do the same thing • 4. Imperialism- the desire to grow the agency • 5. Waste- Spending more than what seems necessary to accomplish a goal

  24. Red tape- it’s constricting

  25. Reason for pathologies • Red tape- makes sure one part of organization does not operate out of step with another, a check and balance. Comes from desire to meet many goals-ex. Hiring on merit vs affirmative action • Conflict and duplication- Congress hopes to achieve numerous goals, often conflicting ( Tenn Valley Auth vs Nuclear Reg Commission)- 535 members with various agendas ( ex econ policy set by Fed Res Board, Treasury, office of mgt and budget)

  26. More pathology reasons • Imperialism- Comes from vague directions, provides opportunity to seize power, grow agency. • Waste- Often 1 of a kind or cost is higher to meet political agenda ( ex. Least expensive vs buying American)

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