bureaucracy – just another dirty word. tell me how you feel? “bureaucracy is the death of all...
TRANSCRIPT
Tell me how you feel?“
Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work”- Einstein
“Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible”- Javier Salcedo
“Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist.”- Richard Nixon
“The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency.”- Gene McCarthy
“Poor Eisenhower, in the military when he gave an order it was carried out. But when he gives an order as President nothing will happen and he won’t understand why – “ Harry Truman
Bureaucracy- A large organization, some appointed, most hired professionals for the management of government programs. (The toilet article again!)
How big?Numbers grow as we expect
more of government and agencies are added
1789- 3 cabinet departments and about 50 employees
1816- about 4,800 employees but 70% in Post office
2009- 2.8 million add in military and get 4.4 million ( Defense is largest)
Devolution!!- Remember that?Even so federal bureaucracy is
smaller than the bureaucracy of the 50 states- all together the number of government bureaucrats is near 21,000,000
PLUS when you add in the hidden workforce, it is even larger- private contractors.
Who is the bureaucracy?Four components:
◦1. Cabinet departments- And it is◦2. Independent agencies- ex EPA- Not part of
cabinet depts. Report directly to President. Allows them to operate independently of Cabinet that might not ant them to exist ex- Sec of Interior and EPA might conflict
◦3. Independent Reg Agencies- Fed Res Board, Nuclear Reg Agency- Regulate business but often captured by pro biz forces
◦4. Government organizations- USPS, TVA
How large could it possibly be?
-Seriously, you've got to be kidding
So what do they do? The big 4Foreign policy- State Dept/Dept
of Defense/ Homeland Security/200 foreign embassies-Defense is largest part of bureaucracy-
Financial policy- Treasury Dept./Federal res Board/ Commerce Dept
Law Enforcement- Justice Dept/ FBI/Homeland Sec
Postal Service
Big 4 was the original bureaucracy
But we now expect more and more and more◦Natural resources- Interior(1849) Energy
(1977) EPA (1970)◦General welfare- Health and Human
Services – originally Health, Education and welfare (1953)
◦Housing- Housing and Urban Develop(1965)
◦Transportation- Dept of Transportation (1966)
◦Education- Dept of Ed (1980)
This is how we see them
How do they get so much power?Iron triangle- bureaucratic
agency +Congressional committee+ interest group
Issue network- new description- take the iron triangle and add in lawyers, consultants, academics, courts etc)
These groups foster their common interests.
Power to legislate?Regulations- quasi- legislative
( quasi = seemingly)Who said they should do this?
Then how does this happen?Bills are vague ( ex. 1972 Title IX 1972. By 1978 100 words in law became 30 pages of regulations!!
This is there most important function, it gives them POWER!
So who checks this power?2 schools of thought- 1. elected
officials need to check power 2. Bureaucracy should be autonomous in order to operate without politics, allowing them to function freely.
So who checks this power?President- Hard to do
◦TJ- Seeks “wise and frugal government
◦JFK- Instruction to State dept is like putting the request in a dead letter box
◦Nixon wanted to combine 50 agencies and 7 dept’s into super dept’s. Too much opposition.
◦Clinton/Gore task force on reinventing government- cut 252000 federal jobs
Reinventing bureaucracy Presidents all try to reinvent the
bureaucracy - Some have real plans!
In fact Bush made it happen
More Presidential controlPresident can sign an executive
order forcing agencies to act- ex Exec order 11375 (1967) LBJ added “gender” to anti-discrimination job regulations
Alter budgetsAppoint department heads. Reorganize, restructure.
Homeland SecurityWhite House aide- “ if we go ahead
with a new border agency, it will mean ripping big organizations out of two or three Cabinet departments and no cabinet secretary I have ever seen wants to give up a part of his department”
So- 1.. What problem did Bush face in the effort? 2. What does this example illustrate with regard to pres power and the bureaucracy?
Homeland SecurityControversial aspects required a
sales job, as agencies wanted to protect their interests. Border issue was very difficult. Treasury, Justice, Transportation did not want to cede power. They argued a reorganization would be highly disruptive
Congress-What can those knuckleheads do?1. Police patrol- investigate actions of bureaucracy
2. Set up and abolish agencies
3. Provide funding
How bout them judges?1. Issue injunctions- “ A U.S. District Judge
has issued a preliminary injunction barring the Food and Drug Administration from requiring the tobacco industry to include new, graphic warnings on their cigarette packages. He that requiring the labels is compelled speech that violates the First Amendment.”
2. Require due process3. Litigation by citizens- Environmentalists
suing because Obama is NOT regulating ozone
Pathologies1. Red tape- Rules and regs required
to get something done2. Conflict- When two agencies want
to accomplish opposite goals3. Duplication- When two agencies do
the same thing4. Imperialism- the desire to grow the
agency5. Waste- Spending more than what
seems necessary to accomplish a goal
Reason for pathologiesRed tape- makes sure one part of
organization does not operate out of step with another, a check and balance. Comes from desire to meet many goals-ex. Hiring on merit vs affirmative action
Conflict and duplication- Congress hopes to achieve numerous goals, often conflicting ( Tenn Valley Auth vs Nuclear Reg Commission)- 535 members with various agendas ( ex econ policy set by Fed Res Board, Treasury, office of mgt and budget)
More pathology reasonsImperialism- Comes from vague
directions, provides opportunity to seize power, grow agency.
Waste- Often 1 of a kind or cost is higher to meet political agenda ( ex. Least expensive vs buying American)