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Set of presidential resourcesExpertise, advice, and information.How important is the cabinet in present day presidencies?They’re sources of expertise and advice but they tend to be down graded as a collective body by presidents.Too many people, lack of secrecy.President doesn’t know/trust everyoneFirst loyalty may be to clientele and/or Dept. (Not the Pres.) – “go native” – their interest groups…Reluctant to disagree with pres. (job security)Inner cabinet – Sec. of State (Clinton), defense (Panetta), Treasury (Geithner), and Attorney General (HolderHomeland Security (Napolitano)?Newest dept. not sure if part of inner cabinet although important actor in recent years.The “Presidential Bureaucracy”Reorganization Act of 1939  Executive Office of the President (EOP) containing WHO – White House Office – and Bureau of the Budget (BOB).Nixon – concentrated power in WHO (and EOP more broadly):~600 in WHO, ~5000 in EOPWhite House Office (WHO) in EOPDon’t need to go through senate confirmation, appointed directly by the president.WHO’s president’s personal bureaucracy (~400 folks)Works directly for, fired by pres.Chief of Staff – usually most important position (was Emanuel – then Daley – now Jack Lew) – gatekeeper, info broker, pres’s surrogate (representative and protector)How to organize WHO?1. Spokes of the Wheel model – (FDR) many have access to pres, little hierarchy (pres as own chief of staff).Not being handled, but easy to be overwhelmed. (not too great for modern day presidents.)A) competitive variant (FDR) – overlapping responsibilities to people who disagreeBenefits-Lots of info to presNo delay in receipt of infoNo 1 group/adviser has too much powerDrawbacks-Too much info for pres, overload, taxes pres to manage and “know all”In-fightingDifficult to assign blame or credit.B) Collegial variant (JFK, Ford, Clinton) – pres brings together advisers and discuss as a group.Benefits-Variety of perspectivesFocus on big questionsFlexibleDrawbacks-“groupthink” – will not bring up points contrary to those of pres.Reactive2. Centralized Management (formalistic hierarchical) (Ike, Nixon, Reagan, both Bushes) – specialization, few on top, chief of staff as “gate-keeper”Benefits-Saves pres’s time and energyLess in-fightingClearer responsibilitiesDangers-Real world has inter-related issue problemsCommunication bias problems – original ideas become distorted working up through chain of command, takes time, what if “line” breaks and chief of staff bottles up info.Pres becomes too isolatedWell known parts of the EOP (in addition to WHO)OMB (1970 -;BOB 1921-70) – Peter Orszag resigned as Director in late 2010, replaced by Jack Lew (who held same job from 1998-1001)(current interim is Jeffrey Zients)1. Develops President’s annual budget2. Legislative clearance3. Regulatory clearanceCouncil of Economic Advisers (CEA)(1946 Full Employment Act) – current chair is Dr. Alan Kruger (on leave from Princeton U.)National Security council (1947)Statutory members are President, VP, Secs of State and Defense.National Security Advisers (president’s assistant – Gen. James Jones was replaced by Tom Donilon) and NS Staff.Vice President – a throw away job?Dead end job?Used to be seen as a small almost meaningless job – not worth the bad media and talk just for a “picture.”Eisenhower began to upgrade job with Nixon.Walter Mondale as Carter’s VPAl Gore during Clinton’s administrationCheney – unprecedented influence/power during Bush’s administration.President and the BureaucracyWhy frustrating/difficult relationship(s) for presidents?Federal BureaucracyMyth that federal bureaucracy has been GROWING rapidly (in terms of # of employees) over recent decades# of federal bureaucrats reached its peak over 20 years ago (per capita in decline for many decades – with recent uptick).Growth taking place at the state and local levelsBetter for bureaucrats to look to work at these levelsLimitations of the President with the Bureaucracy:Appointed power quite limited:Only appoints about 4,000 or so of 2.8 million employees (~.001%)(most are civil service merit positions)Job Security: Merit positions are pretty safe, since you apply and earn it by merit it is hard to actually get fired.For the president this means they can’t exert as much power as they would like. However, they try to obey president at least a bit.Selection criteria may restrictFolks who are tapped by president to work refuse the jobdon’t want to go through senate confirmation processStress considerationIdeologypay cutsEven appointees “go native”Associate and empathize more with people they are serving and their clientele rather than the person who appointed them – the president.Confronts:SOPs/red tape and fragmentationCommunication failures (both up and down)The “institutional imperative”Want to keep agency intact (survival of agency and sustaining job, also staying in budget.)“iron triangles” – composed of interest group, bureaucracy and congress.Congress friendly legislation oversight  Int groupInt group  information and electoral support  congressCongress  funding and legislative support  bureaucracyBureaucracy  favorable action on constituency services  congressBureaucracy  favorable policy execution  Int groupInt group  lobbies congress for agency support  BureaucracyReorganization power, but:Congress must approveLikely opposed by affected agency/dept, congressional oversight committee, and clientele (and “iron triangle” involved if there is one)More generally confronts a “competing principal” in Congress that competes for control of bureaucratic “agents”.Congress:Creates and abolishes departments and agencies, and can transfer their functions.Writes and passes the laws that bureaucrats administer“Power of the purse” – controls budgets and fundingEngages in oversight – e.g., hearing and investigationsSenate must confirm many presidential appointeesPresident has some influence over bureaucracy – has Central Clearance via OMB:Budgetary, legislative, and regulatory clearance(PRESIDENCY AND CONGRESS)(some other notes on president and congress…)Veto PowerPresidential use of veto greater when the congress in power is of other party.Simplified Veto Game (assuming Congress cannot muster 2/3 override majority.)1) Scenario 1 – President and Congress have sharply different policy


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FSU POS 4413 - Lecture notes

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