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American Government 4/e Thomas E. Patterson | |||||
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American Government 4/e Thomas E. Patterson | |||||
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
Introduction
The National Performance Review (NPR), (headed by Al Gore)
recommended 384 ways of improving government administration—efficiency, responsiveness, accountability
Reduce red tape
Put customers first
Empower administrators
Cut government back to basic services
Modern government is impossible without a bureaucracy, but a bureaucracy has problems
The chapter’s main points:
Bureaucracy is an inevitable consequence of complexity and scale
The bureaucracy is expected simultaneously to respond to partisan officials and administer programs fairly and competently
Bureaucrats are prone to take the "agency point of view"
Agencies are subject to oversight, but also inherently powerful in their own right
Federal Administration: Form, Personnel, and Activities
Introduction
Bureaucracy: image of waste, rigidity, mindless rules
But also an efficient and effective method of organization
Needed wherever management of many people is involved
All large-scale, task-oriented organizations are bureaucratic in form
Bureaucracy is based on three principles:
Hierarchical authority—chain of command (reduces decisional conflict)
Job specialization—precise division of labor (yields efficiency)
Formalized rules—standardized procedures and regulations (speeds action)
Bureaucracy’s "pathologies":
Administrators perform as parts of an organizational entity
Behavior governed by "position, specialty, and rule"
Bureaucracy can be insensitive to human feelings and needs
The Federal Bureaucracy in Americans’ Daily Lives
U.S. federal bureaucracy has more than 2.5 million employees
Types of Administrative Organizations
Cabinet Departments—Fourteen, varying in size, status, visibility
State—Most prestigious, has only 25,000 employees
Defense—largest, 750,000 civilians, more than 1.5 million military
Health and Human Services—largest budget, a third of all spending
Veterans Affairs—newest, formed in 1988
Each department has smaller operating units (e.g., FBI is part of Justice)
Independent Agencies—narrower areas of responsibility
CIA, NASA; agency heads appointed by president, not in cabinet
NASA—both military and civilian purposes
Regulatory Agencies—SEC, EPA
Have legislative and judicial functions
Some have significant political freedom (no removal by president)
Commissioners serve a fixed term (free from political interference)
Newer agencies: head is a political appointee (can be removed)
Government Corporations—largest is U.S. Postal Service (800,00 employees)
Receive federal funding to help defray expenses
Other examples: FDIC, Amtrak
Presidential Commissions—Commissions on Civil Rights, Fine Arts
Some permanent as above
Others temporary such as commission to study social security reform
Federal Employment
More than 90 percent hired by merit criteria (education, experience, test scores)
Supreme Court in 1990; prohibits patronage in personnel unless proved vital
Salaries competitive (except at top levels);GS (Graded Service) 1–18;
Public service has some drawbacks:
Few rights of collective action, strikes prohibited
Some limits on partisan activities (Hatch Act relaxed, but relevant to top)
The Federal Bureaucracy’s Policy Responsibilities
Primary function is policy implementation (carrying out the law)
Agencies come up with policy ideas, deliver services
"Street-level bureaucracy"—arbitrary application of laws by employees
Regulation—e.g., EPA (but impact can vary—Carter and Reagan)
Development of the Federal Bureaucracy: Politics and Administration
Small Government and the Patronage System
Only three thousand employees in 1800
Jackson wanted government administered by common men of good sense
Jackson’s successors extended patronage (spoils system) to administration
Growth in Government and the Merit System
Industrial Revolution—created economic pressure groups
Farmers—Congress created Department of Agriculture in 1889
Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903 (business and labor)
By 1930, federal employment had reached 600,000; under FDR to 1.2 million
Pendleton Act of 1883—merit or civil service system created
Transition to career civil service gradual (10 percent in 1885 to 70 percent in 1920)
Since 1950, merit employees not below 80 percent
Created a Civil Service Commission
In 1978 Office of Personnel Management created (OPM)
NPR altered OPM’s role—more power to agency level
Also, Merit Service Protection Board created in 1978
Neutral competence is administrative objective of merit system
Big Government and the Executive Leadership System
President—provide leadership to overcome agency fragmentation
Creation of OMB; president could reorganize bureaucracy
President could develop EOP for agency oversight and policy development
Problems of system
Can threaten balance between executive and legislative power
President’s priorities not fairness, can become criterion (Nixon-impound)
Creation of SES—Senior Executive Service
Consists of about eight thousand top-level, highly paid career civil servants
Members can be assigned, dismissed, or transferred by presidential order
SES bureaucrats cannot be fired by president
Drawback: Some cannot transfer loyalty from agency to president
The Bureaucracy’s Power Imperative
Introduction
Agencies may seek support from president and /or Congress
Agencies must play politics (struggle for money, resources, policy)
The Agency Point of View
Administrators looking out for their agency’s interests
More than 80 percent of all top careerists rise through ranks of same agency
Professionalism also cements agency loyalties
Bureaucrats believe in the importance of their agency’s work (see social welfare example)
Sources of Bureaucratic Power
The Power of Expertise—elected officials are generalists, not specialists
Bureaucrats—more likely to be source of policy ideas, solutions (AIDS)
Some agencies have unanimity of values, others in conflict (FTC-lawyers vs. economists)
The Power of Clientele Groups (special interests helped by agency’s programs)
Gingrich backed down after threat to cancel public broadcasting programs
Many agencies lead and are led by their related clientele groups
The Power of Friends in High Places
Bush increased Justice Department (issue was drug-related crime) funding
Congressional support vital for funding and programs
"Iron triangles" and "issue networks" remain important
Bureaucratic Accountability
Most Americans have unfavorable view of federal bureaucracy—somewhat unfair
Accountability—public’s ability to hold public officials responsible
Accountability Through the Presidency (president cannot unilaterally eliminate an agency)
Reorganization—agencies pursue contradictory, independent paths
More than a hundred units have different pieces of education policy
Nixon’s program was resisted by clientele groups, agencies, Congress
Presidents can often reduce autonomy of agency or number of personnel
Presidential Appointments—president relies on political appointees
Reagan’s appointment of Miller as FTC head reduced cases against firms
Political appointees can change patterns of bureaucratic interaction
(members of Congress, clientele groups, etc.)
High turnover rate—average tenure is less than two years
The Executive Budget—OMB very influential here
OMB handles funding, programs, regulations
Still, an agency’s overall budget changes little each year
Accountability Through Congress
Congress has power to authorize and fund bureaucratic programs; can also void actions through legislation
Correcting Administrative Error: Legislative Oversight
Affected EPA policy and the agency dramatically
Congress still uses legislative veto despite its doubtful constitutionality
Congress has shifted oversight to GAO—Government Accounting Office
Also, a role for CBO—Congressional Budget Office
Restricting the Bureaucracy in Advance
Drafting of restrictive laws that limit bureaucrats’ options
"Sunset law"—date for law’s expiration (get rid of useless programs)
Accountability Through the Courts
Example: lawsuits directed at an agency
Courts have tended to support administrators so long as they act responsibly
Agencies can choose rules that meet guidelines of Congress
Agencies have wide discretion in deciding whether to enforce laws
Agency can apply a reasonable interpretation of a statute
Accountability Within the Bureaucracy Itself
Whistle-Blowing—reporting of agency corruption/mismanagement by a bureaucrat
Has not been highly successful (many employees fear reprisals)
Congress passed Whistle Blower Protection Act and some financial rewards
Demographic Representativeness—not so at top levels
About 75 percent of top positions held by white males
Status of women/minorities has improved
If all levels of federal bureaucracy considered, then representative of nation
But even a fully representative civil service would still need to play politics
Reinventing Government (reduce size, cost, and lines of authority)
Osborne and Gaebler: Need a more flexible, less hierarchical administrative structure
Information age requires this new bureaucratic structure
Bureaucracy should encourage self-reliance, competition (agencies and firms)
A more decentralized form that is oriented toward consumers and results
Would empower lower-level employees to make decisions instead of top officials
Concept was part of NPR, OPM, and agencies, use of private firms, self-monitoring
Agencies can judge themselves according to efficiency, responsiveness, outcomes
Downsizing of federal bureaucracy driven by political forces (deficits, public criticism)
Federal employment had declined by 100,000 when Clinton took office
New era "will be one of smaller government, not small government"
Many of Washington’s programs cannot be reassigned to states/localities
Examples are defense, social security, Medicare
Critics—delegation of control to lower levels weakens elected-administrative official linkage
Lower-level administrators might implement their own "spoils system"
Also issue of how to identify "customers" in market-oriented administration
Government might be "hollowed out"—lack resources to perform missions it retains
Long-standing questions about the bureaucracy remain:
How can it be made more responsive, and yet act fairly?
How can it be made more efficient, and yet accomplish what Americans want?
How can it be made more creative, and yet be held accountable?
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