Pols Chapter 8: Bureaucracy In A Democracy

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What is Bureaucracy?

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Bureaucracy can be defined as the complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that are employed by all large-scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel
The core of bureaucracy is hierarchical organization that employs a division of labor and specialization

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The Case for Bureaucracy

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Bureaucratic organization enhances efficiency through division of labor and specialization
Bureaucracies allow governments to operate by allowing large-scale coordination of individuals working on a task

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Implementation

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The efforts of departments and agencies to translate laws into specific bureaucratic routines

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Rulemaking

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A quasi-legislative administrative process that produces regulations

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Administrative Adjudication

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The application of rules and precedents to specific cases to settle disputes

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Why Bureaucracy?

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We’ve already provided two answers:
Efficiency
Speedy and equitable implementation
A third reason for bureaucracy is politics
Legislators find it useful to delegate some decisions
Legislators sometimes lack expertise or prefer for decisions to be made by “objective” bureaucrats rather than interested politicians

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How is the Executive Branch Organized?

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Cabinet Departments (like DHS)
Independent Agencies (like NASA)
Government Corporations – government agencies that operate more like a business (like Amtrak)
Independent Regulatory Commissions – rulemaking bodies at least somewhat insulated from politics (like the FEC)

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Four Missions of Agencies:Clientele Agencies

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A department or bureau of government whose mission is to promote, serve, or represent a particular interest
Examples:
Department of Agriculture
Department of Labor
Clientele agencies typically have field offices local to their clientele

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Four Missions of Agencies:Maintenance of the Union

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Agencies related to the core functions of keeping government running and the nation secure
Examples:
Revenue agencies (IRS)
Internal security (DOJ)
External security (DOD)

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Four Missions of Agencies:Regulatory Agencies

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A department, bureau, or independent agency whose primary mission is to eliminate or restrict certain behaviors defined as negative in themselves or negative in their consequences
Examples:
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

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Four Missions of Agencies:Redistributive Agencies

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Agencies that influence the money supply, the role of the government in the economy, and the redistribution of wealth
Examples:
Fiscal policy (spending and taxing) is largely influenced by the Department of Treasury
Monetary policy (regulating money supply) is largely influenced by the Federal Reserve
Welfare policy (transfers of wealth)

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The Problem of Bureaucratic Control: Motivation

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Bureaucrats can be conceived of as rational actors who are budgetary maximizers
Greater prestige and responsibility comes from running a larger enterprise
Bureaucrats generally believe in the mission of the agency and want resources to do more
Congress and the president may have difficulty determining need from “want”

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The Problem of Bureaucratic Control: Principal-Agent

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Bureaucrats can be understood as agents of elected officials (the principal)
Two potential problems:
Bureaucratic drift – a problem where implementation is more to the liking of the bureaucracy than faithful to the original intention of the legislation
Coalitional drift – enacted policy changes because the enacting coalition is temporary

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Presidential Control of Bureaucracy

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Before-the-Fact Controls:
Appointment of sympathetic agency heads
Regulatory review prior to final rule enactment
After-the-Fact Controls:
Executive orders
Changes in budget authority
Bureaucratic reorganization plans

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Congressional Control of Bureaucracy

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Before-the-Fact Controls:
Authorization of agency
Legislative language restricting discretion
After-the-Fact Controls:
Budgetary control
Oversight – hearings and investigations

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Downsizing Government: Termination and Devolution

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One certain way to reduce the size of the bureaucracy would be to eliminate programs and agencies. This is difficult to do, particularly with clientele agencies
Devolution – the policy of removing a program from one level of government and passing it down to a lower level – is another way to downsize the federal government

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Privatization

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Privatization – the act of moving all or part of a program from the public sector to the private sector – can also reduce the size of government
Some public responsibilities (like trash collection) can be privatized more easily than others
Nevertheless, privatization is an increasingly popular policy innovation