Today

1
Todays Agenda

• President
• Why delegate to the president?
• Costs of delegation
• Who cares about the bureaucracy?
• What is the bureaucracy and what functions does
  it perform?
• How powerful are bureaucrats?
• How do we hold them accountable
• Terry Moe private vs. public firms

2
Exam Preparation 2

• What do Congressional committees and
  subcommittees represent, according to lecture?
• Congress attempt at efficiency
• Division of labor, like in a restaurant
• Congress attempt to overcome the framers
  constraints of majority power
• All of the above
• None of these, dummy

3
The Roots of the Office of President of the
United States

• American colonists distrusted the King so much so
  that the Articles of Confederation largely and
  deliberately neglected the need for an executive.
• With the failure of the Articles, the Framers
  accepted the need for an executive officer that
  would be strong enough to govern, but not so
  strong that he could abuse power.

4
The Philadelphia Convention

• Qualifications for Office
• The Constitution requires that the President must
  be
• A natural born citizen
• 35 years old
• 14 years a U.S. resident
• Why This Weird Number?

5
The Constitutional Powers of the President

• Unlike Article I, Article II is quite short and
  details few powers for the President.
• The president received certain enumerated powers
  in the Constitution.
• The first line of Article II may be the most
  important grant of power to the president. It
  states "the executive power shall be vested in a
  President of the United States of America."

6
Campaigns and the President

• Ideological campaigning is sometimes overrated.
• Non-ideological campaigning.
• But primaries! Ugh!

7
How to Balance Power?

• How do you keep a President strong and weak at
  the same time?
• Commander in Chief
• Fighting a war by committee is useless
• More power in times of crisis

8
How to Balance Power?

• How do you keep a President strong and weak at
  the same time?
• Commander in Chief
• Fighting a war by committee is useless
• More power in times of crisis
• BUT...thats a lot of POWER for 1 person
• Only Congress declares War?
• Controls the purse strings
• Can pass laws limiting the ability to engage in
  conflict

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Legislative Power
Chief-of-State
Pardoning Power
Treaty-making Power
Chief Executive
Chief Diplomat
Veto Power
Commander -in-Chief
Appointment Power
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Congress and the President

• Especially since the 1930s, the President has
  seemed to be more powerful than Congress.
• Presidents often are responsible for leadership
  in setting the policy agenda for Congress.

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Reasons for changes

• Information advantages
• You dont know what I know
• Expertise advantages
• I am an expert, and you are useless
• War or conflict
• Economic downturns
• Party Leader (Im a Winner!)
• Treaties (ex Louisiana Purchase)

12
The Evolution of Presidential Power
Cold War Ends
World War II
World War I
The Civil War
Cold War
T.Roosevelt Trust busing, Natl parks, imperialism
FDR The Great Depression and New Deal
Progressive reform era/ W. Wilson
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A democratic Institution?

• YES
• Only national office elected by all of the people
  directly (more about this later)
• Most of the time, the Presidents actions are
  consistent with public opinion
• Less beholden to special interests than
  individual members of Congress.

14
A democratic Institution?

• NO
• Can lead (and hence manipulate) public opinion
• Secrecy in national security matters is often a
  cause of concern
• Assumes extraordinary power in crisis situations

15
How to make someone look bad

• Get them to veto poor kids health care (even if
  the veto might be reasonable)

http//rackjite.com/archives/709-Jon-Stewart-Does-
Bush-Veto-of-S-SHIP.html
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Reasons for changes

• Information advantages
• You dont know what I know
• Expertise advantages
• I am an expert, and you are dumb
• War or conflict
• Economic downturns
• Party Leader (Im a Winner!)
• Treaties (ex Louisiana Purchase)

17
Why Delegate to the President?

• Think about the difference between the slow and
  broken legislative process versus the rapidity
  of one office
• Quick decisions are necessary at times
• To get passage of sticky legislation
• Employment Discrimination (EEOC)
• To pass the Buck
• Environmental Regulation

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What are the Costs of Delegation?

• Too much discretion too much power?
• Monitoring costs
• Adverse selection
• Uncertainty of future presidents
• Hard to renege
• Veto power of president
• Same party support in Congress

19
A democratic Institution?

• YES
• Only national office elected by all of the people
  directly (more about this later)
• Most of the time, the Presidents actions are
  consistent with public opinion
• Less beholden to special interests than
  individual members of Congress.

20
A democratic Institution?

• NO
• Can lead (and thus manipulate) public opinion
• Secrecy in national security matters is often a
  cause of concern
• Assumes extraordinary power in crisis situations

21
Federal Executive Departments

• Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Department of Commerce (DOC)
• Department of Defense (DOD)
• Department of Education (ED)
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Department of Justice (DOJ)
• Department of Labor (DOL)
• Department of State (DOS)
• Department of the Interior (DOI)
• Department of the Treasury
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

22
Can the Bureaucracy be Controlled?

• Dilemma (isnt there always?)
• Bureaucrats make government more efficient
• They are given discretion to make decisions in
  the interest of the public
• They are under control of elected officials

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Can the Bureaucracy be Controlled?

• Dilemma (isnt there always?)
• Bureaucrats make government more efficient
• They are given discretion to make decisions in
  the interest of the public
• They are under control of elected officials
• BUT!!!!!!!
• How do we hold them accountable?
• Can the bureaucracy represent?
• Is this democratic?

24
Who is in Charge of the Federal Bureaucracy?

• Congress
• President
• Courts
• Interests Groups
• The Public (clients)
• All of these and none of these?

25
Is the bureaucracy accountable, and if so to
whom?

• Congress has the authority to
• pass legislation that alters an agency's
  functions
• abolish existing programs
• investigate bureaucratic activities
• influence presidential appointments
• establish the budget
• write legislation to limit bureaucratic discretion

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Is the bureaucracy accountable, and if so to
whom?

• The President has the authority to
• appoint and remove agency heads
• reorganize the bureaucracy
• make changes in budget proposals
• ignore initiatives from the bureaucracy
• issue executive orders
• reduce an agency's budget

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Is the bureaucracy accountable, and if so to
whom?

• The Judiciary has the power to
• rule on whether the bureaucracy has acted within
  the law
• rule on constitutionality
• force respect for the rights of individuals in
  bureaucratic and administrative hearings

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Accountability to Citizens

• Increased opportunities to petition
• Publicly funded interveners/ombudspersons
• Monitoring programs
• Advisory committees (w/public members)
• Sunshine provisions (announced open meetings)
• Freedom of information laws

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The Power of the Agent

• Informing their masters
• Using information strategically
• Speaking out against their masters
• Going public
• Implementing policy as they see fit
• Using their discretion to adjust policy
• Negotiating with their masters
• Going on Strike

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The Power of the Agent
31
The Power of the Agent

• Informing their masters
• Using information strategically
• Speaking out against their masters
• Going public
• Implementing policy as they see fit
• Using their discretion to adjust policy
• Negotiating with their masters
• Going on Strike
• Selecting their masters (Whaaaaa?!)

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The Power of the Agent
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What to do with the Public Library?

• We all pay for it with our tax money
• But we disagree about
• What books to carry?
• How many staff?
• Hours?
• Programs for kids?

34
Some Problems with Markets

• Monopolies or diseconomies of scale
• Imperfect information
• Negative externalities
• Public (collective) goods not provided

35
Terry Moe Public firms versus Private firms

• 4 Important differences
• Public authority
• Temporary property rights in a democracy

36
Terry Moe Public firms versus Private firms

• 4 Important differences
• Public authority
• Temporary property rights in a democracy
• Political firms
• Everyone is involved in setting the rules

37
Terry Moe Public firms versus Private firms

• 4 Important differences
• Public authority
• Temporary property rights in a democracy
• Political firms
• Everyone is involved in setting the rules
• Political uncertainty
• The future is uncertain (act like it!)

38
Terry Moe Public firms versus Private firms

• 4 Important differences
• Public authority
• Temporary property rights in a democracy
• Political firms
• Everyone is involved in setting the rules
• Political uncertainty
• The future is uncertain (act like it!)
• Political compromise
• Policy created in part by people who want it to
  fail

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Public Firm
Private Firm
Temporary Owners
Owner
Workers
Bureaucrats
40
Public Firm
Private Firm
Fixed Legal Env.
Temporary Owners
Owner
Workers
Bureaucrats
41
Public Firm
Private Firm
Changing Legal Env.
Fixed Legal Env.
Temporary Owners
Owner
Workers
Bureaucrats
42
Terry Moe Public firms versus Private firms

• 4 Important differences
• Public authority
• Temporary property rights in a democracy
• Political firms
• Everyone is involved in setting the rules

43
Public Firm
Private Firm
Changing Legal Env.
Fixed Legal Env.
Owner
Congress
Pres.
Courts
Workers
Bureaucrats
44
Terry Moe Public firms versus Private firms

• 4 Important differences
• Public authority
• Temporary property rights in a democracy
• Political firms
• Everyone is involved in setting the rules
• Political uncertainty
• The future is uncertain (act like it!)

45
Public Firm
Private Firm
Changing Legal Env.
Fixed Legal Env.
Owner
Congress
Pres.
Courts
Workers
Bureaucrats
46
Terry Moe Public firms versus Private firms

• 4 Important differences
• Public authority
• Temporary property rights in a democracy
• Political firms
• Everyone is involved in setting the rules
• Political uncertainty
• The future is uncertain (act like it!)
• Political compromise
• Policy created in part by people who want it to
  fail

47
Public Firm
Private Firm
Changing Legal Env.
Fixed Legal Env.
Owner
Congress
Pres.
Courts
Workers
Bureaucrats
48
Public Firm
Private Firm
Changing Legal Env.
Fixed Legal Env.
Owner
Congress
Pres.
Courts
Workers
Bureaucrats
49
Exam Preparation 3

• Can a Presidential veto be used as a weapon
  against the President?
• No, the veto is only the Presidents weapon
• Yes, if the President is forced to override
  popular legislation
• Yes, sometimes voters can formally veto the
  President
• Yes, the Supreme Court can formally veto a
  Presidents veto

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Clint Eastwood