12 Federal Bureaucracy

Hurricane Katrina, flooding New Orleans and leaving thousands of people homeless, has become a symbol of bureaucratic failure.

Federal Bureaucracy and Public Policy

Agenda Building

• The actions of federal agencies sometimes focus public attention on issues. For example, the federal bureaucracy has done more to call public attention to the health risks of tobacco than either Congress or the president. The Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health was the nation's first official recognition that cigarette smoking causes cancer and other serious illnesses. The initial report and each succeeding report received a good deal of attention, sparking a public debate about the impact of tobacco usage on the public health.
• Agency reports and official statements can highlight policy issues, especially if the media and the general public perceive that agency officials are acting on the basis of their professional expertise rather than political motives. Even though Surgeons General are presidential appointees, they are held in respect because they are physicians who work in an agency dominated by health professionals.

Policy Formulation and Adoption

• Federal agencies participate in policy formulation. Agency officials may assist members of Congress in drafting legislation related to their departments. Agencies participate in the budget process by making budget requests to the president and testifying at congressional budget hearings.
• Executive branch agencies do not directly adopt policy, but they participate in policy adoption by lobbying the president and Congress. When President Clinton attempted to end the policy of excluding gay men and lesbians from military service at the beginning of his first term, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a military advisory body, lobbied Congress to oppose the president's initiative.

Policy Implementation and Evaluation

• The federal bureaucracy implements policy. The IRS, for example, enforces the nation's tax laws. The Department of Homeland Security implements domestic security policies. Congress delegates authority to federal agencies to implement policy. Sometimes Congress writes detailed legislation, giving agency administrators little enforcement discretion. At other times, Congress grants agencies broad regulatory discretion.
• Finally, federal agencies evaluate policy. Agencies gather data, conduct research, prepare reports, and recommend policy changes. The Department of Education, for example, conducts and compiles research on the effectiveness of teacher training programs and other educational programs

Key Terms

Cabinet Departments

major administrative units of the federal government that have responsibility for the conduct of a wide range of government operations

Captured Agencies

agencies that work to benefit the economic interests they regulate rather than serving the public interest

Collective Bargaining

a negotiation between an employer and a union representing employees over the terms and conditions of employment

Constituency Service

the action of members of Congress and their staffs attending to the individual, particular needs of constituents

Cost-Benefit Analysis

an evaluation of a proposed policy or regulation based on a comparison of its expected benefits and anticipated costs

Fire-Alarm Oversight

an indirect system of congressional surveillance of bureaucratic administration characterized by rules, procedures, and informal practices that enable individual citizens and organized interest groups to examine administrative decisions, charge agencies with violating legislative goals, and seek remedies from agencies, courts, and Congress itself

Hatch Act

a measure designed to restrict the political activities of federal employees to voting and the private expression of views

Independent Executive Agencies

executive branch agencies that are not part of any of the 15 cabinet-level departments

Independent Regulatory Commission

an agency outside the major executive departments that is charged with the regulation of important aspects of the economy

Inner Cabinet

the secretary of state, secretary of defense, secretary of the treasury, and the attorney general

Issue Network

a group of political actors that is actively involved with policymaking in a particular issue area

Joint Chiefs of Staff

a military advisory body that is composed of the chiefs of staff of the U.S. Army and Air Force, the Chief of Naval Operations, and sometimes the Commandant of the Marine Corps

Peace Corps

an agency that administers an American foreign aid program under which volunteers travel to developing nations to teach skills and help improve living standards

President’s Cabinet

an advisory group created by the president that includes the department heads and other officials chosen by the president

Quasi-Governmental Company

a private, profit-seeking corporation created by Congress to serve a public purpose

Rule

a legally binding regulation

Rulemaking

the regulatory process used by government agencies to enact legally binding regulations

Spoils System

the method of hiring government employees from among the friends, relatives, and supporters of elected officeholders

Statutory Law

law that is written by the legislature

Subgovernment or Iron Triangle

a cozy, three-sided relationship among government agencies, interest groups, and key members of Congress in which all parties benefit

Surgeon General

an official in the Public Health Service who advises the president on health issues

Discussion Questions

1. How are cabinet departments organized? Who heads them, and how are the heads chosen? What is the cabinet’s policymaking role?

2. Why are federal employment practices controversial? How do the professional perspectives of government employees affect administrative policymaking? 3. What is rulemaking? What role do the OMB and federal courts play in the rulemaking process?

4. What tools does the president have to influence the implementation of federal programs? What tools does Congress have for influencing the implementation of federal programs?

5. What is a captured agency? Are most federal agencies captured agencies? Do think captured agencies are problematic in a democracy?

Interactive Activity

Comparative: Comparing Bureaucracies

For many people, "bureaucracy" is a bad word, conjuring up visions of long lines at the Motor Vehicle Department and confusing tax forms. Bureaucracy’s true meaning is the particular way of organizing large and complex societies, one that stresses competence, division of labor, and clearly defined authority relations. In this comparative activity, you will compare bureaucracies in the United States with bureaucracies in several other nations. How do different countries build their bureaucracies? How do they make hiring decisions? How do they deal with corruption?

View Comparitive Acticity

“Talking About American Government” Podcasts

Author Neal Tannahill discusses the most important concepts in this chapter

• Cap and Trade