POLS 1101 Lecture 13 Outline of Last Lecture I Federal Bureaucracy II Saturday Night Massacre III Private Sector Competition A Prisoner s Dilemma IV Development of the Executive Bureaucracy A Growth in Size B Total Executive Branch Employment C Spoils System D Civil Service E Modern Reforms Outline of Current Lecture I Puzzle II Principals and Agents in the Executive Bureaucracy III Drif IV Bureaucratic Drif and Coalitional Drif V Bureaucratic Capture VI Motivations of Bureaucrats VII Bureaucrats as Lawmakers VIII Political Influences on the Bureaucracy A Oversight B Interest Groups IX Iron Triangle X In Comparison Bureaucratic Traditions XI Revisiting the Puzzle Current Lecture I Puzzle Who holds the bureaucracy accountable Can bureaucrats defy Congress and the president II Principals and Agents in the Executive Bureaucracy Elected officials Congress and the president are principals bureaucrats are agents Two primary principal agent problems in bureaucracy a Agencies tend to drif from their defined missions b Conflicting motivations of bureaucrats and elected officials III Drif Bureaucratic drif occurs when the agents depart from the mandates given to them by the principals Coalitional drif occurs when principals change their policy preferences a Agents adjust but ofen not immediately IV Bureaucratic Drif and Coalitional Drif V Bureaucratic Capture Agencies can also be influenced by organizations corporations Ofen these are the very industries they are trying to regulate Agencies may care more about the industries than the principals they work for VI Motivations of Bureaucrats Bureaucrats want autonomy and resources They want everyone to have the same policy preferences Build coalitions to help bring about policy change Congress just says yeah clean air awesome let s do it Possess information and expertise Bureaucrats decided how to achieve this VII Bureaucrats as Lawmakers Administrative law is made within the executive bureaucracy Chevron v National Resources Defense Council 1984 a Established legal standard for upholding an agency s authority to write law in a specific area VIII Political Influences on the Bureaucracy Presidents appoint the top positions at almost all executive branch agencies a More difficult to get appointments through under divided government Congress appropriates money for the bureaucracy A Oversight Fire alarm oversight a Administrative Procedures Act established guidelines b Freedom of Information Act requires disclosure of information c Sunshine Act requires open meetings Police patrol oversight a Congress routinely inspects agencies B Interest Groups Interest groups lobby agencies a Influence those writing administrative laws b Complain when their interests are threatened The iron triangle a Includes interest groups congressional committees and bureaucratic agencies IX Iron Triangle X In Comparison Bureaucratic Traditions Political power of the bureaucracy varies across countries In parliamentary democracies agencies are only responsible to parliament a Need to replace bureaucrats if the current government falls XI Revisiting the Puzzle Whom should the bureaucracy be accountable to in a modern democracy Trade off between loyalty and competence a Should be loyal to elected officials and voters b Should be competent and experienced