8. The BureaucracyThe Development of the Federal BureaucracyModest Beginnings: The Dilemma of DelegationSlide 4Slide 5An Expanding GovernmentAn Expanding Government: The CabinetSlide 8An Expanding Government: Noncabinet AgenciesSlide 10Bureaucracy in ActionSlide 12Bureaucracy in Action: Bureaucrats as PoliticiansWho Controls the Bureaucracy?Who Controls the Bureaucracy? Methods of Congressional ControlWho Controls the Bureaucracy? Methods of Presidential ControlWho Controls the Bureaucracy? The Courts and the Bureaucracy8. The BureaucracyThe Development of the Federal Bureaucracy•Constitution leaves Congress responsibility to establish executive departments and agencies as well as how they will be staffed–Congress was wary of delegating too much power to the executive but realized the impracticality of delegating too little•Congress created executive branch agencies with authority to implement laws•Presidents delegated their executive chores to senior executive branch officials•Over 2,000 departments, agencies, etc. employing some 2.9 million nonmilitary personnelModest Beginnings: The Dilemma of Delegation•The First Congress reestablished three departments that existed under the Articles of Confederation–Department of Treasury–Department of Foreign Affairs (Department of State)–Department of War–Congress authorized the hiring of an attorney general to give the president and department heads legal advice.•The larger departments were subdivided into more specialized offices, which later called bureausModest Beginnings: The Dilemma of Delegation•Each executive department should be headed by a single official responsible for its operations –But accountable to President or Congress?•Presidents would appoint senior officials with Senate approval.•Congress established executive branch agencies and set their annual budgets•The concern for presidents was whether appointees would faithfully carry out official policies.–Standard principal-agent modelThe Development of the Federal Bureaucracy•Characteristic features of bureaucratic institutions (Max Weber) •a hierarchal structure of offices•a division of labor•a consistent set of abstract rules•impersonality•a career system•specified goals•Model bureaucracy = a purposive machine with interchangeable human parts designed to facilitate collective action while enabling principals to control agents–Impose heavy conformity costs (for bureaucrats and people they interact with)An Expanding Government•Government could only grow if presidents delegated authority to new agencies. •The common reasons to delegate are to: –handle large-scale administrative tasks–exploit expertise–avoid blame for unpopular decisions–make credible commitments to stable policy–deal with crises demanding swift, coordinated actionAn Expanding Government:The Cabinet•Earliest Departments–Until 1849, Treasury, State, Navy, and War stood alone as a cabinet-level department–Department of the Interior joined in 1849–Department of Justice joined in 1870 •Clientele Agencies (serve clientele rather than general social purposes)–Department of Agriculture (1889)–Department of Labor (1903)–Department of Commerce (1903)•The Military Establishment–Department of Defense (1947)An Expanding Government:The Cabinet•Extension of Federal Domain–Department of Health and Human Services (1979) –Department of Housing and Urban Development (1965)–Department of Transportation (1966)–Department of Energy (1977) •Symbolism of Cabinet Status–Department of Education (1979)–Department of Veterans Affairs (1988)•Department of Homeland Security–Established in 2002, it combined 22 agenciesAn Expanding Government:Noncabinet Agencies•Independent Executive Agencies –Headed by presidential appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president–Eg. NASA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)•Independent Regulatory Commissions –Independence from the president; typically run by boards of commissioners (appointed by the president) to serve fixed, staggered terms–Eg. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Reserve System (Fed)•Independent Government Corporations –Deliver services like a private business, headed by a chief executive officer, under the supervision of a board of directors or commissioners (and selected the same way as regulatory board members)–Eg. US Postal ServiceAn Expanding Government:Noncabinet Agencies•Indirect Administration –Many federal policies and programs are administered by state governments, private contractors, and grant recipients.–State and local agencies carry out some of the federal government’s regulatory work.–Private nonprofit organizations and state and local governments receive federal grants to implement programs.–Nonfederal institutions, such as universities and research laboratories, administer more than 80 percent of the federal government’s scientific research funds. –The government contracts with private companies for an array of goods and services.–Indirect administration carries political risks to principals.Bureaucracy in Action•The federal civil service is a close match to the American population.–30% of federal civil servants are minorities.–Women account for 45% of the federal workforce.–Skills in the public and private sectors are similar.–Federal civil servants and workers in the private sector display similar dedication to their jobs.–Federal workers’ views on private and public matters are indistinguishable from those of other citizens.Bureaucracy in Action•Some agencies operate with considerable autonomy, although others are carefully monitored by their multiple principals. •Federal workers with long service in an agency absorb its bureaucratic culture. They tend to value their agency’s programs and services more so than most outsiders.•Distinctive bureaucratic cultures and missions inhibits cooperation among agencies.Bureaucracy in Action:Bureaucrats as Politicians•Bureaucrats operate in a world of competition for scarce resources, many times intense conflicts among interests and values, and multiple bosses.•Goals can be achieved only through politics: mobilizing supporters, gathering allies, negotiating mutually deals with other politicians, staying in contact with those whose cooperation is needed, and adapting to the realities of power. •Agencies with different missions, clienteles,