Elements of Bureaucracy

1. Elements of Bureaucracy Mr. Monk APGoPo LACES Magnet

2. Newt Gingrich on the failures of the American Bureaucracy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15D3ElV1Jzw

3. I. The Federal Bureaucracy A. What is the Bureaucracy? • The bureaucracy is any large, complex administrative structure • A hierarchical organization with job specialization and complex rules • By definition, it is not privately owned. • The bureaucracy is based on the principle of hierarchical authority, job specialization, and formal rules • Merit really has nothing to do with it

4. I. The Federal Bureaucracy A. What is the Bureaucracy? • A bureaucracy is a way of organizing people to do work • Bureau = desk; cracy = type of governmental structure (French) • A bureaucrat is a person with defined responsibilities in a bureaucracy • The main purpose of the federal bureaucracy is to carry out the policy decisions of the President and Congress

5. I. The Federal Bureaucracy A. What is the Bureaucracy? • Examples: • General Motors • The Southern Baptist Convention • The Catholic Church • The Department of Justice • LAUSD

6. I. The Federal Bureaucracy B. Major Elements fo the Federal Bureaucracy • Nearly all of the bureaucracy of the Federal Government resides in the executive branch of government  • The Constitution gives almost NO guidance about the structure of the federal bureaucracy • The Framers simply didn't lay out the organization of cabinet departments, much less the independent agencies

7. I. The Federal Bureaucracy B. Major Elements fo the Federal Bureaucracy • The bureaucracy is made up of three major groups of administrative agencies • The Executive Office of the President • The 15 cabinet departments • Independent agencies

8. I. The Federal Bureaucracy B. Major Elements fo the Federal Bureaucracy • The administration consists of the officials and agencies of the executive branch that carry out public policies • These administrators impact public policy in the following ways: • Through delaying the implementation of policy dictated either by the legislative or executive branches • By writing rules and regulations; • By enforcing such rules, regulations and laws • Adjudicating conflicting interests

9. I. The Federal Bureaucracy C. The Name Game • Department • Administration or Agency • Commission • Corporation or Authority

10. I. The Federal Bureaucracy C. The Name Game • Department • The term "department" is reserved for agencies of cabinet rank

11. I. The Federal Bureaucracy C. The Name Game • Administration or Agency • The terms "administration" or "agency" are used to refer to any governmental body or, more particularly, to a major unit headed by a single administrator of near-cabinet rank • The terms agency and administration are used interchangeably

12. I. The Federal Bureaucracy C. The Name Game • Commission • The term "commission" is reserved for agencies charged with the regulation of business activities • Commissions are headed by varying numbers of top-ranking officers, or commissioners

13. I. The Federal Bureaucracy C. The Name Game • Corporation or Authority • The terms "corporation" and "authority" are used for agencies that have a board and a manager and that is designed to conduct business-like activities

14. I. The Federal Bureaucracy C. The Name Game • While the above terms have precise definition, they are not used consistently • There is little uniformity in the use of terms describing units within the executive branch and the lines are now blurred

15. II. History of Bureaucracy Three Distinct Growth Periods • Post Civil War Period • The Great Depression • The Great Society/Cold War

16. II. History of Bureaucracy A. Post Civil War Period Patronage (d) - Getting a job because of who you know or having the right connections It was an accepted practice for nineteenth century presidents staffed their government through the “spoils system”

17. II. History of Bureaucracy B. The Great Depression • Era of FDR saw the development of the alphabet soup agencies and the development of social security

18. II. History of Bureaucracy C. The Great Society/Cold War Era • Saw a massive government attempt to fight poverty, fix the environment, deal with civil rights and fight communism around the world

19. III. Patronage System Patronage (d) - Getting a job because of who you know or having the right connections. It was an accepted practice for nineteenth century presidents staffed their government through the “spoils system”

20. III. Patronage System A. Advantages of Patronage • Ensured loyalty in appointees • Allowed the president to somewhat control what the executive office was doing In other words, every government appointment was essentially political in nature

21. III. Patronage System A. Advantages of Patronage • Andrew Jackson first got the reputation for creating the spoils system • He called it “rotation in office” but Jackson wasn’t doing anything different than his predecessors

22. III. Patronage System B. Reform • Things began to change in 1881 when a frustrated office-seeker who did not get a job under the Garfield Administration • The man (Charles Giteau) shot and killed President James A. Garfield • VP Chester Arthur – the Prince of Patronage himself – shocked everyone by encouraging the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) which created what is now known as the Civil Service

23. III. Patronage System B. Reform 1. Civil Service System • The Civil Service System means that people are given jobs based upon merit-that is reward competence with neutrality (entrance exams, promotions) • The idea being the need to create a non-partisan bureaucracy

24. III. Patronage System B. Reform 2. Hatch Act • Passed in 1938 and amended in 1993, the Hatch Act was passed and stated that bureaucrats couldn’t engage in partisan politics while in duty • Created a non-partisan civil service meant insulating government workers from the risk of being fired when a new party comes to power

25. III. Patronage System B. Reform 2. Hatch Act Under the terms of the Hatch Act, civil servants are permitted to: • Vote in primary elections • Contribute money to a political party • Attend a political rally • Place a bumper sticker on their personal property • PRIOR to the 1993 amendments, civil servants were prohibited from coordinating a campaign for a friend running for political office

26. IV. Appointment Powers • Although the spoils system officially ended with the Pendleton Act of 1883, presidents still have a chance to appoint the top positions in government • Every four years, Congress publishes what is called the “Plum Book,” which includes about 4,000 of the top jobs in the bureaucracy

27. IV. Appointment Powers • The president’s appointment powers are important for 3 reasons: 1. He can affect how laws will be interpreted 2. The president can set the tone for the administration through his appointments (Reagan is a good example) 3. The president can establish party dominance in the top positions

28. V. Civil Servants (GS Workers) • There are approximately 3 million bureaucrats (17 million if state and local public employees are included)  • Until about 100 years ago, a person got a job with the government through the spoils system (a hiring and promotion system based on knowing the right people) • Patronage: the practice of giving government jobs to the President's friends and political supporters

29. V. Civil Servants (GS Workers) • The spoils system was largely defended by President Jackson who believed that the largest number of citizens should have the privilege of serving in government office, that any person of "normal" intelligence was fit to hold any government position, and that all government officials should belong to the party elected by the people • Support for a civil service system increased dramatically as a result of the assassination of President Garfield in 1881

30. V. Civil Servants (GS Workers) • President Jimmy Carter improved the system when he urged Congress to pass the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 •  Reforms included the creation of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which now tests and hired most federal workers (Persons who pass civil service exams are placed on a "register" kept by OPM), and the Merit System Protection Board which enforces the merit system in the federal bureaucracy •  Consequently, today, most federal agencies are covered by some sort of civil service system, based on the merit principle

31. V. Civil Servants (GS Workers) • Salaries are likewise proposed by the Civil Service System, subject to congressional appropriations • In general, at lower and middle levels, the federal pay scale is comparable to that found in the private sector, but at higher levels, it is significantly lower • For example, blue collar workers in the federal civil system are generally paid the same as blue collar workers in the private sector • On the other hand, the Secretary of Transportation is paid significantly lower than the CEO of General Motors

32. VI. Bureaucracy Today • Any major organization by definition is a bureaucracy; corporations, universities, church, army, etc. •  Although not mentioned in the Constitution or any of the 27 Amendments – except briefly in Article II – Bureaucracies constitute one of America’s two unelected policymaking institutions (the other being the judiciary branch)

35. VI. Bureaucracy Today • Everyone likes to bash bureaucracies • It’s popular, especially when running against Washington as an outsider • Reagan = Overregulation • Carter = Wasteful government • George Wallace = “Pointy-head” bureaucrats •  Reagan, Clinton and Carter ran as outsiders, claiming that they would downsize the bureaucracy and reform it

36. VI. Bureaucracy Today • Liberals and conservatives have different viewpoints on bureaucracies • Conservatives: Bureaucracy is too large and too liberal with too much power that is unaccountable – it must be downsized or eliminated completely (too much meddling in our lives) • Liberals: Bureaucracy is too slow, too willing to keep status quo: not reform minded enough; doesn’t protect us enough

37. VII. MYTHS & REALITY A. Americans Do Not Like Bureaucrats • Actually, Americans claim they dislike bureaucracies, not the bureaucrats themselves • More than 2/3 claim that they’re experience was positive when it came to dealing with individual people • When asked who they trust more, politicians or civil servants, people picked civil servants by 5:1.2 margin

38. VII. MYTHS & REALITY B. Bureaucracies Are Way Too Intrusive • Generally this refers to independent regulatory agencies • Census Bureau is a good example

40. VII. MYTHS & REALITY C. Most Bureaucrats work in Washington D.C. • Actually, only 10% of 3 million Federal workers work in D.C. - the rest work in states or overseas • California has the most Federal civilian bureaucrats: 295,000 • Who are they? Look in the phone book under “US Government” – postal office, social security, FBI, Department of Agriculture, etc

41. VII. MYTHS & REALITY D. Bureaucrats Are Ineffective and Inefficient • Q: What are the rules for the game bureaucracy? • A: There is only one rule – the one to move loses

42. VII. MYTHS & REALITY • In the mid 1990’s, roughly 70% of Americans said that almost anything run by the federal bureaucracy was bound to be inefficient and wasteful

43. RED TAPE

44. VII. MYTHS & REALITY Who is this? • Donald Duck was put on payroll of HUD (Housing and Urban Development) at a salary of $99,999 – twice the normal salary for civil service pay • HUD never figured it out and had to be told by Congressional investigators that they “hired’ Donald Duck.

45. VII. MYTHS & REALITY • No proven substitute for bureaucracy • When they run efficiently, no one praises them • When there is a scandal or mismanagement, everyone believes bureaucracies are bad • Everyone talks about red tape but some red tape is actually all the protections for consumers or minorities that were demanded by these groups in the first place!

46. VIII. BUREAUCRATIC THEORIES A. Weberian Model • Around the turn of the century, Max Weber predicted that one day our lives would be dominated by a bureaucracy • That day is here • Everything major decision you will make in life will have to, in some way, goes through a bureaucracy

47. VIII. BUREAUCRATIC THEORIES A. Weberian Model • Weber thought modern life was so complex and government was getting increasingly involved in people’s lives, bureaucracies were necessary and inevitable • Weber believed bureaucracies drew their power from their expertise • Because political rulers were in no position to argue with the technical knowledge of the bureaucrats, they should allow the bureaucrats to run things.

48. VIII. BUREAUCRATIC THEORIES B. Rational Model • Associated with the Weberian model • This theory states that bureaucracies are needed because of the complex decision that takes place in policymaking

49. VIII. BUREAUCRATIC THEORIES B. Rational Model Rational model states the following must be observed: 1. Hierarchical Authority Structure: • Power flows from top down and responsibility from bottom up  2. Task Specialization With Rules: • Experts implement jobs with detailed rules that are consistent and always in place so training will be easier 3. Merit Principle: • Entrance and promotion are awarded on the basis of demonstrated abilities rather then “spoils system” – in other words, bureaucracy should be non-political

50. VIII. BUREAUCRATIC THEORIES C. Monopolistic Model: (Acquisitive) • Parkinson’s law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion • This theory has less of a benign view of bureaucracies than does Weber’s • Some political scientists dismiss the Weberian model as too neat and easy to explain – others see bureaucracies as essentially “acquisitive” - acting like corporations • Instead of maximizing profits, corporations try and maximize their budgets – that is increase their size and power in terms of the government’s corporations