Bureaucracy

1
Bureaucracy

• Biggest change from Federalist times
• Draws together three powers of government
• Substantial growth
• Current attitudes of reform

2
Features of bureaucracy

• Delegation
• Discretion
• Bring rationality
• Bring expertise
• Take action

3
Organization of federal bureaucracy

• Cabinet Departments
• State, Justice
• Independent Agencies
• NASA, SBA, Vetrans Administration
• Independent Regulatory Commissions
• SEC, NLRB
• Government Corporations
• TVA, FDIC

4
American bureaucracy

• Mixed system independent civil service and to
  the victor go the spoils.
• Ongoing reform
• Administrative Procedures Act
• Historically expanding mandate

5
Organization of Federal Bureaucracy

• Cabinet Departments
• State, Justice
• Independent Agencies
• NASA, SBA, Veterans Administration
• Independent Regulatory Commissions
• SEC, NLRB
• Government Corporations
• TVA, FDIC

6
How many people work for the Federal Government?

• Political Reasons to keep numbers small
• Official Estimate 1.9 million
• Richard C. Lights -gt must consider three
  nonfederal workforces that work for government
• Contractors
• Grantees
• State and local mandate employees

7
Lights Estimate of the true size of
government (in millions)
8
Scope of bureaucracy

• http//www.whitehouse.gov/government/in
  dependent-agencies.html
• http//www.state.tn.us/

9
Attitudes towards the bureaucracy

• http//govinfo.library.unt.e du/npr/library/vision
  .html
• http//govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/papers/
  bkgr d/princip.html
• http//govinfo.library.unt.e du/npr/awards/index.h
  tm

• http//www.house.gov/hoekstra/myth/home.html

10
Two characteristics of bureaucrats

• Experts
• Bring knowledge
• Professional judgment
• Serve public goals

• Take Action
• Conflicting imperatives
• Ambiguous goals
• Encounter complexity
• Dominated by indirect effects
• Changes under-standing of goals

11
Street Level Bureaucrats

• Mediate constitutional relationship of citizens
  to state
• Debate overscope and substance of sevices
• Come into direct contact with citizens
• Affect life chances, exercise discretion,
  distribute benefits, social control

12
SLBs as policy-makers

• Manage complexity, provide judgment
• Organizational interdependence common goals and
  conflicting interests, agendas
• Essential to get something done
• Ability to resist when disagree
• Goals illegitimate, impractical, or intrusion
• Strategies personal and organizational