The Bureaucracy- Policy: Code of ethics, path you should follow. Policy is what is implemented when we are trying to deal with an issue. We are achieving the goal of following the policy laid out by the government. It’s how we get to the end. Bureaucracy will be the one implementing the policy.- Bureaucracy: the system of nonelected officials administering government policies and programs. In texas there are over 220 entities, which creates the texas bureaucracy. To achieve their goals, these bureaucracies may be in competition with each other. There is no one person who is in charge of the texasbureaucracy. - Policy makers: they are the idea people. They come up with the laws/goals. The bureaucracies are the ones that actually implement policy/idea. o Policy makers can be elected. We have numerous in the executive branch. o Attorney general: position held by Grey Gabbot. He is the lawyer for all officials, courts and agencies in state government. He is elected! o This office employs more than 4,150 people and duties of the AG’s office include: child support enforcement, filing antitrust actions, performing Medicaid fraud investigation, running the crime victim’s compensation fund, investigating consumer complaints, etc.o The AG is important for 2 reasons: he can issue AG’s opinions. Firstly, this is important because the AG’s opinion is the constitutional interpretation of statues and/or of laws. Before we start writing a law, we ask the AG if it will be constitutional. Secondly, he represents the state and his government in both civil and criminal litigations and trials. The AG would represent us at federal level.o Comptroller of public accounts: position held by Susan Combs and is not running for reelection. She is in charge of money aid for the state. She holds a very important position in texas politics because her main job as achief tax collector and the chief pre-auditing officer of the state. She is important because she tells the texas legislature how much money to spend and how much they will take in tax revenue.o Commissioner of the General land Office: the principal duties of his office are managing and collecting rentals and leasing’s or state owned lands, awarding leases for exploration and production on state lands and leasingmineral rights on state riverbeds and tidelands. As Texans, we like this bureaucracy because this is the only bureaucracy that generates money. This position is the oldest, continuously elected position in texas history.o Commissioner of Agriculture: this department is responsible for the administration of all laws, as well as research, educational and regulatory activities relating to agriculture. Some of the item this department will oversee would be aquaculture, egg quality, pesticides, seed quality, fuel quality, weights and measure (inspect gas pumps). o Lt. governor: he is a policy maker because he is the ex officio chair of the legislative budget board, the legislative council and the legislative audit board. He is the ex officio chair just because he holds the position of the lt.governor. o Policy makers can also be appointed. All those policy makers are going to be nominated the governor and approved by the senate! The ones below are the ones that are appointed.o Secretary of State: serve as the chief election officer of the state of texas, administering election laws, maintaining voter registration records and receiving election results. The elected also keeps official, business, and commercial records that are on file with the state. Our current secretary of state is Nandita Berry. o Adjutant general: the highest-ranking official on the texas military. This person also has administrative jurisdiction over the texas national guard and the texas state guard. The current adjutant general is major general John F Nickels. o Health and Human Services Commissioner: this person is in charge of a super agency. We have 5 different agencies that create the health and human services department. They deal with chip, childcare etc. o Insurance commissioner: he oversees the department that has the job of regulating the texas insurance industry. Ensure that we get our car registered and insured. Texas has to get permission/ go through theinsurance commissioner and justify the requested rate increase. (sec of state to now were appointed individuals)o Boards and commissions: Texas Railroad commission! They regulate gas utilities, oil and gas pipelines, oil and gas drilling and pumping, and intrastate railroad transportation. This was established in 1891 and is thestate’s oldest regulatory agency. Their original job was to create oil and gas prices.o Texas Education Agency: regulates the texas public school system, they will administer national and state education law; they will also implementprogram and ideas created by the state board of education. The TEA has many divisions within the agency. o Ex Officio boards: these are boards that have members who already have this position due to the elected positions they hold. For ex: the texas bond review board. The purpose of this board is to approve all bonds and other long-term debts from state universities and agencies. The texas review board consists of the governor, lt. governor, speaker and the comptroller. - Recognizing a Bureaucracyo Size: size matters. Most are large in nature, they have to be. There are many things that they have to deal with. There is no minimum or maximum, however, most bureaucracies are extremely large.o Neutrality: have 2 definitions. First, is the law or regulation being administered fairly to everybody? Second, how does the organization decide whom it’s going to employ? Do you have to know someone to get hired? We saw this in 1820s under president Andrew Jackson. o In an attempt to get out of the spoilt system, we see bureaucracies move to civil system (merit) system. In this system, a potential employee is tested. This was the first measure to begin the hiring process. If they did well, they move to next level. The best thing about it is that you hire people who actually have knowledge about the position.o Hierarchy: ranking system/chain of command. Who’s in charge of what? There is a layout of formal authority. o Expertise: having an understanding of your job, in knowledge of how your decision will affect others.o Privatization yay or nay: numerous complaints about the bureaucracies that they are big and inefficient. Should we get rid of governmental