Chapter 9

The Executive Branch and the Bureaucracy

Development of the Federal Bureaucracy

• Bureaucracy– A set of complex hierarchical departments,

agencies, commissions, and their staffs that exist to help a chief executive officer carry out his or her duties.

Development of the Federal Bureaucracy

• Growth in bureaucracy from 1789 to 1861–Andrew Jackson used political positions to

reward friends and loyalists, known as the spoils system–Post Office, authorized by Congress in

Article I, had to adapt to a growing country

Distribution of Federal Civilian Employment

Growth of Bureaucracy

• 1789- 3 departments– Foreign Affairs (Department of State), War, and

Treasury– Secretaries met with George Washington

regularly, establishing Cabinet meetings

• 2004- 1.8 million employees

How to Fire a Federal Bureaucrat

Civil War and the Growth of Government

• Civil War spawned need for new government agencies.– Department of Agriculture (1862): Abraham Lincoln– Pension Office (1866): Pay benefits to Union

veterans– Patronage• Jobs, grants, or other special favors that are given as

rewards to friends and political allies for their support.

From the Spoils System to the Merit System

• Garfield’s presidency– Irony: assassinated by a frustrated job seeker.– Reaction to Garfield’s death and increasing

criticism of the spoils system was the Civil Service Reform Act in 1883.

– Also called the Pendleton Act• Reform measure that created the Civil Service

Commission to administer a merit system.• Established federal employment on the basis of

open, competitive exams

Creation of Civil Service and Merit Systems

• Civil Service System: The process of hiring government officials based on civil service (merit) instead of patronage

• Merit system: Government jobs classified into levels, appointments are made on the basis of performance

Regulating the Economy and the Growth of Government in the 20th Century

• Growth of big business, price fixing, and other unfair business practices after the Civil War stimulated Congress to create the Interstate Commerce Commission.– First independent regulatory commission

• An agency created by Congress that is generally concerned with a specific aspect of the economy.

• Created by Congress

• Theodore Roosevelt – Department of Commerce and Labor

Regulating the Economy and the Growth of Government in the 20th Century

• Woodrow Wilson– Divided it into two separate departments. (Commerce and

Labor)– Encouraged Congress to create the Federal Trade Commission.

• Franklin Roosevelt– Hundreds of new government agencies due to the Great

Depression

• Lyndon Johnson– War on Poverty created additional growth in the bureaucracy

Lyndon B. Johnson

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: Passed by Congress to outlaw segregation in public facilities and racial discrimination in employment, education, and voting. – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(EEOP) created to enforce antidiscrimination laws• Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) 1965• Department of Transportation 1966

Government Workers and Political Involvement

• Hatch Act (aka Political Activities Act)– Law enacted in 1939 to prohibit civil servants from taking

activist roles in partisan campaigns.– Could not make political contributions, work for a political party

or campaign for a particular candidate.

• Federal Employees Political Activities Act – 1993 liberalization of the Hatch Act.– Allowed federal employees to run for office in nonpartisan

elections and to contribute money to campaigns in partisan elections.

The Liberalized Hatch Act

Formal Organization• Executive Departments– Major administrative units with responsibility for a

broad area of government operations.– Indicates a permanent national interest.

• Government Corporations– Businesses established by Congress that perform

functions that could be provided by private businesses.

– Example: Amtrak, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Formal Organization• Independent Agencies– Governmental units that closely resemble a Cabinet

department but have a narrower area of responsibility and are not part of any Cabinet Department.

– Example: Central Intelligence Agency• Independent Regulatory Commissions– Agencies created by Congress to exist outside the major

departments to regulate a specific economic activity or interest.

– Regulatory policy: any policy passed by a commission setting regulations on their area

– Example: Federal Reserve Board.

Cabinet

• 15 departments• 60% of federal workforce• VP, heads of all departments, head of EPA,

OMB, Office of National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Trade Representative, and president’s chief of staff

The President’s Cabinet

How the Bureaucracy Works• Given independence by Congress to work

– Structure of the bureaucracy• Specialized areas• Based on merit• Independent agencies/regulatory commissions

– Complexity of the bureaucracy• Administrative discretion (a.k.a. bureaucratic discretion, delegated authority)• The ability of bureaucrats to make choices concerning the best way to

implement congressional intentions.• Congress lacks time/expertise/knowledge to deal with it all• Bureaucracy's ability to make policy

• Implementation– The process by which a law or policy is put into operation by the

bureaucracy.– Iron triangles (aka issue networks)

• Relatively stable relationships and patterns of interaction that occur among an agency, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees.

Making Policy

• Rule making– A quasi-legislative administrative process that has the

characteristics of a legislative act.– Regulations

• Rules that govern the operation of a particular government program that have the force of law.

– 1946 Administrative Procedures Act• Statutory purpose and basis of rule to be stated.• Once rule is written, 30 days must elapse before they take effect.

Insert Figure 9.5 hereHow a

Regulation is Made

Making Policy

• Administrative adjudication– A quasi-judicial process in which a bureaucratic

agency settles disputes between two parties in a manner similar to the way courts resolve disputes.

– Administrative law judges– Fines and penalties common– Jail time is rare

Making Agencies Accountable• Executive Control

– Adjust budget (with Congressional approval)– Executive orders

• Rules or regulations issued by the president that have the effect of law.• Congressional Control

– Power of the purse• Can reward/punish agencies with money

– Congressional hearings/investigations– Confirmation/rejection of appointments to bureaucracy

• Impeachment– New legislation – Legislative veto (ruled unconstitutional!)

• Judicial Control– Judicial Review: can rule bureaucratic actions unconstitutional– Court rulings can limit bureaucratic practices

Making Agencies Accountable• Interest groups (Informal)– Use of the First Amendment

• Lobby• Protests• Use of Media• Free Speech

– Litigation• Amicus curiae

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2006

Making Agencies Accountable

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2006

An Iron Triangle