agency power

Agency PowerBureaucratic Politics

Introduction

• Harold Laswell• Politics is who gets what, when, and how?• Scarcity• Limited resources

• The ability to allocate scarce resources is what creates political power.

• What creates administrative power?• The ability to allocate scarce societal resources.• Main ingredients of administrative power:• Ability to extract resources from its environment • Autonomy

Where does agency power come from?

• Discretion• Congress is faced with demands to fix public ills.• The lack of expertise causes Congress to turn to the bureaucracy for help.• Congress passes “fuzzy” laws as they lack the expertise to be specific about a

problem.• Congressional subcommittee and committee.

• Oversight

• No clear majority, but in order to get something done, they must pass a law.• To satisfy all members the laws are often passed in general terms and delegate

authority to an administrative agency to fill in the gaps. • Filling in gaps means exercising discretion.

• The amount of discretion can vary according to how technically complex the area of policy handled by the agency is.

• General rule: the more vague a statute, the more discretion an agency will possess.

Sources of Agency Power: External

• Political Support• Ranges from diffuse support (general support for the agency’s general

function) all the way to specific support (support for individual programs).• Public Opinion• Support/Oppose• Visibility Variation• Does the public understand what the agency does?

• The value the public places on an agency affects how political elites view the agency, and thus its position of power.

• An agency with diffuse public support should be able to extract what it needs from its environment.

• Agencies totally dependent on diffuse public support are in a precarious position that can quickly be altered.


• Clientele Support• Groups that receive benefits from the agency often fight in favor of the agency to prevent

termination/budget reductions. (reciprocity)• It is important that an agency have more clientele support than opposition.

• Size of the Clientele• Geographic dispersion.

• Geographically dispersed better than centralized.• Information• Cohesion

• More cohesive clientele support is better than a clientele that has internal dissension and disagreement. • Otherwise, the agency has trouble to demonstrate that it represents a particular point of view.

• The clientele should be organized into several groups.• Ideal clientele:

• Large• Provides important and reliable information• Well organized• Geographically dispersed through out the nation, • Divided into several groups • Committed to the organization.


• Political Elites• Legislature (subcommittee/committee)

• If a member’s constituents are served by the bureau, often times they can have a political ally and support as the member fears electoral consequences.• Agency can provide information• Help electorally by providing services.• Looking successful.• This approach does not work for agencies who do not provide constituent services.

• Executive branch• Support again may be diffuse or specific.• Most desirable: presidential support (most diffuse).

• If the agency’s function is of primary importance to the agenda of the presidential administration, then they will enjoy prosperity.

• They help administration achieve promised goals.• Specific support

• Can come from members of the institutionalized presidency.• OMB• Favorable budget requests

• Other agencies.

Sources of Agency Power: Internal

• Knowledge/Expertise• Specialization

• Bureaucrats are able to develop a reputation that is based on scholarly study.

• Makes it hard for generalists (legislators) to refute bureaucrats who can cite countless studies and a variety of information to demonstrate why a certain policy is not feasible.• Allows for more autonomy and discretion.

• Jargon• Specialized language

• Limits the amount of influence and control that a politician has and thus gives administrators power.

• Makes politicians more reliant on agencies.• Other aspects of knowledge

• How does the public view the particular profession in question? With high or low esteem?

• How technically complex is the task of the agency?• Nuclear power• Social security checks• Classification of documents is often a surrogate for

knowledge. • What is the credibility of the agency?


• Cohesion• The commitment of an agency’s members to the organization and

its goals.• Shared values of the members of an organization.• Promotes better employee performance in relation to organizational goals• More effectiveness as a result of a lack of strife in the organization.

• Ways to promote cohesion:• Socialization of members• Recruiting members with the desired organizational values• Establish procedures and rules that promote organizational values.

• Thus when performance is good and the reputation for performance is good, as mentioned above, the agency seems successful as it seeks power.


• Leadership• The quality of the leader and their ability to develop

relationships, please clientele, other political elites, and their ability to extract resources can affect an agencies power.

• Some leaders are good and able to get a lot of things done:• J. Edgar Hoover FBI• William Ruckelshaus EPA

• The leader can improve the agency through their own expertise or development of research units.

• Promote agency cohesion through introduction of a value system.

The Results of Seeking Power

• Definitions of agency power, as defined in the guiding statute passed by Congress, do not reveal the complete scope of power an agency may possess.

• Power may range from total independence to complete control by Congress and/or the President.

• Acquisition and exercise of power may result in a struggle over jurisdiction between agencies for control/power.• Agency point of view – agencies place their own interests ahead

of the interests and priorities of the President and Congress.

agency power

Government & Nonprofit