Chapter 9 The Executive Branch and the Federal Bureaucracy

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Chapter 9The Executive Branch and the Federal
Bureaucracy
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To Accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, and Texas
Editions American Government Roots and Reform,
10th edition Karen OConnor and Larry J. Sabato ?
Pearson Education, 2009
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The Roots of Bureaucracy

• Foreign Affairs, War, Treasury first
  departments, AND Office of Attorney General(legal
  advisor)
• Growth in early 1800s with Post Office due to
  westward expansion Major source of jobs
• Patronage and the spoils system become common
  (What is the key difference?)
• Civil War spawns another expansion due to food
  distribution problems Department of Agriculture
  is created in 1862
• Pension Office 1866

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• Pendleton Act (1883) is beginning of civil
  service system in response to massive turnover
  when a new president was elected.
• Also known as merit system.
• Initiated by Garfield before assassination
• Unfair business practices leads to creation of
  the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
• First independent regulatory commission.
• Railroad companies charging exorbinant rates for
  freight
• Marks shift from service to regulatory
  bureaucracy

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Twentieth-Century Bureaucracy

• Growing number of cabinet departments.
  (regulation of economic sphere)
• Dept. of Commerce and Labor to oversee
  employer/employee relationships (established
  under Theodore Roosevelt)
• Divided into two separate depts by Wilson
• Addressed problems associated with monopolies and
  poor working conditions of employees
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) protect small
  business and public from monopolistic
  corporations.
• 16th Amendment to support new federal agencies
  with funds

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• Need for a larger government to support wars.
• Increase in manufacturing
• Tax increases (have never fallen back to pre-war
  levels)
• Veterans demands for services led to bigger
  government (GI Bill - Educational loans and low
  mortgage rates through the Veterans Housing
  Authority(VHA)
• Led to specifications in new home construction
• Affordable middle-class housing was a new concept
• New Deal and Great Society (LBJ and FDR)
• Focus on Pressing Social Problems
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Housing and Urban Development

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Modern Bureaucracy

• More than 2.7 million employees.
• Most are selected based on merit.
• Also have high-level appointees.
• Wide variety of skills represented.
• Less diverse than America.
• Scattered throughout D.C. and regional offices.
• Growth of outside contractors.

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Formal Organization

• Cabinet departments handle broad, lasting
  issues.
• Headed by secretaries.
• Government corporations act like businesses.
• Independent executive agencies handle services.
• Narrower than Cabinet department, independent.
• Independent regulatory commissions watch
  industry.
• Designed to be free from partisan pressure.

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Government Workers and Politics

• Hatch Act sets first boundaries.
• Federal Employees Political Act is current
  standard.

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Characteristics of Bureaucracy

• Chain of command from top to bottom.
• Division of labor.
• Clear lines of authority.
• Goal orientation.
• Merit system.
• Productivity.

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How the Bureaucracy Works

• Congress creates agencies.
• Main job is implementation of laws.
• Policy made in iron triangles or issue networks.
• Increasing use of interagency councils.

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Iron Triangles
New G.I. Bill
Dept of Veteran Affairs
VFW, DAV, American Legion
House Comm. On Vets Affairs
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Issue Networks, PCCs, and Interagency Councils
Dept of Veteran Affairs
Interagency Councils Other Departments And
Agencies
Issue Networks Lawyers, academics, consultants
VFW, DAV, American Legion
House Comm. On Vets Affairs
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Making Policy

• Administrative discretion allows a lot of
  latitude.
• Rule-making is a quasi-legislative process.
• Formal procedure for making regulations.
• Administrative adjudication is quasi-judicial
  process.
• Used to settle disputes between two parties.

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Agency Accountability

• Unclear who agencies should be accountable to.
• Presidents try to make the right appointments.
• Can also shape policy through executive orders.
• Congress can use oversight powers and funding.
• Police patrol v. fire alarm oversight.
• Judiciary can review regulations.

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What is the Cartoonists point? Which
bureaucracy works best? What are their main
priorities?
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AV- Growth of Government
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Figure 9.1- Civilian Employment
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Figure 9.2- Employee Characteristics
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Figure 9.3- Agency Regions
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Figure 9.4- The Executive Branch
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Figure 9.5- An Iron Triangle
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Figure 9.6- Rulemaking
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Table 9.1- FEPA
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Table 9.2- Agency Accountability
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