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67 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Define Bureaucracy?
the agencies, departments, commissions, etc. within the executive branch
What are the four parts to the Bureaucracy?
Executive Office of the President
Cabinet.
Independent agencies
Independent regulatory commissions.
Government corporations.
Define independent agency
Independent agencies
A. Organized much like Cabinet departments, but lack Cabinet status.
B. Examples: NASA, SBA, FEMA ..
Define independent Regulatory commission
A.Created by Congress to regulate important aspects of the nation's economy ..
B. Generally, the decisions of these are beyond presidential control, though commissioners
are appointed by the President with Senate consent:
1.Commissioners serve rather long terms (5-14 years).
2.Only a bare majority of commissioners can belong to the same party.
3. Terms of commissioners are staggered.
4 ..Commissioners can be fired by the President only for causes that Congress has
specified.
What does it mean to have quasi legislative power?Give example of agencies that have this.
C. Commissions have quasi-legislative power. They have the authority to make rules and
regulations (published in the Federal ReQister) which have the force of law.
D. They also have quasi-judicial power: they can settle disputes in their fields.
E. Some important regulatory commissions:

Federal Reserve Board FCC
FEC
NLRB'
SEC
FTC
What is a government corporation?
Government corporations.
A.Created by Congress to carry out various business operations.
B. Examples: Postal Service, FDIC, FSl.IC. TVA.
How has the Civil Service developed?
A. Prior to late 19th century, the spoils system was used for filling federal jobs. Though
fraught with corruption, the system did ensure a certain responsiveness of government as presidential supporters were more likely to carry out the will of the elected president.
B. Assassination of President Garfield by a disappointed office-seeker in 1881 led to passage of the Pendleton Act (1881): this created a civil service in which an exam-based merit system would be used to fill government jobs. A Civil Service Commission was created to administer these exams (this function is now carried out by the Office of Personnel Management).
C.Today, > 90% of federal employees are civil service workers.
D. Well under 10% of top-level federal jobs are still filled by presidential appointment.
People in this category are known as political appointees.
Explain the growth of the Bureaucracy?
A.There are about 3 million civilian federal employees.
B.The number has been fairly constant since 1950. 250,000 jobs cut under Clinton.
1. From one perspective, this suggests that bureaucrats have become increasingly
efficient since fewer of them are called upon to administer more and more regulations and spend more and more money.
2 .. However, a great deal of federal money has been transferred to state and local governments to administer federal programs. Not surprisingly, the number of state and local employees has risen tremendously since 1950. These facts would work against the argument that federal bureaucrats have become increasingly efficient.
Explain why the Power of the bureaucracy: cannot be measured in the number of bureaucrats alone: and what discretionary authority has to do with it
Discretionary authority: agencies have the power to choose various courses of when Congress writes broadly-worded laws that allow for bureaucratic interpretation. Passing rules and regulations.
Helping Congress draft legislation.
Providing advice to the White House.
Settling disputes.
What are the reasons for the growth of the bureaucracy?
A.National growth ---> need for agencies to cope with additional population.)
B.Technology ---> need for agencies to manage new technology (e.g., Ice; FAA..£f..9.
C.International crises ---> increase in power for the Defense Department. .. ~
D. Citizen demands that the federal government assume some responsibility for the welfare •
of the nation.
E. Persistent nature of agencies to survive. Once they are created, they develop
constituencies that make it difficult for Congress to kill them.
How do agencies circumvent the merit system?
1.Writing job qualifications that fit only one person, Le., the person that the manager wants to hire.
2.Making "temporary appointments" of the desired person, and renewing them yearly.
3.Bringing a person into a lower level job, but giving him the duties of the actual job.
-- The above practices lead to charges of a "buddy system" or a "good 01' boys network."
What are the effects of it being extremely difficult to fire a civil service employee?
1.Many bureaucrats have a "loyal" or "agency" point of view.
2. Continuity of agency behavior.
3 .. Expertise in policies and procedures among many bureaucrats.
4 .. Agency managers must cultivate the support of subordinates
Describe the representation of lower, middle and upper level bureaucrats relative to the whole population?
A. Lower and middle-level bureaucrats are fairly representative of a broad cross-section
of the American people on the basis of race, sex, religion, etc. They are certainly more representative on these bases than members of Congress.
B. Upper-level bureaucrats are unrepresentative: mostly middle-aged white males
with college degrees from an advantaged background
What are the criticisms of the upper level bureaucrat representation
1. The Left believes that upper-level bureaucrats defend class privileges --->
conservative bias.
2. The Right believes that upper-level bureaucrats are trained by liberal faculty at
elite colleges ---> liberal bias.
What are the common attributes of typical bureaucrat?
C.Surveys reveal that bureaucrats tend to be more liberal than the general public.
D. Bureaucrats who work in-"activist" agencies (e.g., EPA, FTC, SEC) tend to be more
liberal than those who work in "traditional" agencies (e.g., Justice, Defense, Treasury).
G.Only about 10% live in Washington D.C. area.
H. - 30% work in a defense agency.
I.Contrary to popular belief, less than 15% work in a welfare agency.
J.Most are white-collar workers.
What are some of the legal constraints of the bureaucracy?
Legal constraints.
A.Freedom of Information Act.•
B.Hatch Act: limits political activities of bureaucrats.
C.Affirmative action hiring guidelines.
D.Environmental impact report requirement of projects.
What are some of the organizational constraints of the bureaucrayc?
A.Sheer size of agencies makes it difficult for bureaucrats to take bold action.
B.Red tape inhibits bureaucrats.
C. Lack of monetary incentives and presence of various disincentives inhibit bureaucrats
from taking bold action
How does the President influence the Bureaucracy?
1.Appointment of top-level bureaucrats.
2.Power to fire top-level bureaucrats.
3.Power to propose the reorganization of the executive branch.
4.Proposes agency budgets.
5.Appointment of Senior Executive Service personnel.
a.7000 senior career officials can be appointed without Senate consent.
b. Greater leeway in firing, transferring, promoting, and rewarding these
people. The idea here is to make agencies more accountable.
What are some of the checks on the president's power over the bureacracy?
1.Appointment of top-level bureaucrats.
2.Power to fire top-level bureaucrats.
3. Power to propose the reorganization of the executive branch.
4. Proposes agency budgets.
5. Appointment of Senior Executive Service personnel.
a.7000 senior career officials can be appointed without Senate consent.
b. Greater leeway in firing, transferring, promoting, and rewarding these
people. The idea here is to make agencies more accountable.
How does Congress influence the bureaucracy?
Appropriationds of agency budgets.
Oversight (e.g., through GAO), investigations, and hearings. Reorganization.
Appointment confirmation.
Sunset laws that give agencies a limited life and require that they justify their existence
What limits Congress' power to influence the bureaucracy?
Congress may not really want to clamp down on the
bureaucracy:
1. Members profit politically from the existence of federal programs within their states
of districts (e.g., military base closure issue, helium reserve).
2. Easier for Congress to simply pass broadly worded laws and have experts within
the bureaucracy fill in the holes.
3. Congress has not been able to exercise the legislative veto since 1983
How do interest groups influence the bureaucracy?
A.Lobbying.
B. "Revolving door:" many agencies are staffed by people who move back and forth
between the public and private sectors. The concern is that these people would not really regulate very carefully the very industries that might be their next employers.
C. Client groups: some agency-interest group relations are so close that the interest group
is said to be a client of the agency (e.g., dairy groups and the Agriculture Dept.).
D. Iron triangles (subgovernments): congressional committee, relevant agency, related
interest groups.
E. Issue networks and policy networks: informal groups of people within both the public and
private sectors who have common interests.
How does the media influence the bureaucracy?
A. Scrutiny of agency behavior, e.g., investigations of whether FBI and CIA heed warning signs
prior to 9-11 terrorist attack.
B. Use of "whistle blowers" within the bureaucracy, e.g., FBI memo concerning ineptitude in
pursuing terrorist threats before 9/11. Federal legislation protects whistle blowers.
How do courts influence the bureaucracy?
use of injunctions and writs of mandamus
What is the public's opinion of the bureaucracy?
A. General attitude is negative (too much red tape, waste, inefficiency, bureaucrats are underworked and overpaid). Specific attitude is more favorable: public's personal dealings
with bureaucrats are generally favorable.
B. Another contradiction: some believe that bureaucrats are too lazy and ineffective, yet
they also believe that bureaucrats are too powerful.
C. Bureaucrats are often viewed as scapegoats by politicians when things go wrong.
What are the major criticisms of the bureaucracy?
A.Excessive red tape.
B. Agency conflicts, e.g., Agriculture Dept. administers tobacco subsidies while at the same
time the Surgeon General warns the public not to smoke.
C.Agency duplication, e.g., numerous agencies are responsible for drug enforcement.
D.Excessive waste, e.g., Defense Department procurement scandals.
E. Excessive growth: It's true that the number of federal employees has not risen dramatically in the last 50 years; however:
It's true that the number of federal employees has not risen dramatically in the last 50 years then how is it possible that the bureaucracy has grown a great deal over that time?
1.Federal government has shifted much of its work to state and local governments through grants.
2.In effect, this has led to the creation of about 5 million jobs that, even though they are ostensibly state or local, are in effect federal.
3.When one considers the private sector jobs that are dependent on federal spending, that makes an additional 8-10 million more jobs that are dependent on the federal govt.
What is the rebuttal to the criticisms of the bureaucracy?
A.To correct excessive red tape would require more regulations -- more red tape!
B.Red tape is used to ensure fairness and impartiality.
C. To reduce agency conflicts and duplication would require Congress to set priorities. This is difficult for members of Congress to do because of the constituencies that support programs within the states or districts. "Cut programs in other states, but not mine."
D.To reduce waste would require more regulations -- more red tape!
E. To reduce excessive growth, Congress would have to set priorities. As we have seen,
for political reasons, this is difficult for members of Congress to do.
F.Some agencies have in fact shrunk, e.g., Postal Service, Defense Department.
G.A few agencies have even been eliminated, e.g., ICC.
H. The public is inconsistent: it demands that government do things, but then gripes when
government grows.
I. Compared to other nations, the U.S. bureaucracy is fairly efficient.
Define cost and benefit and give examples of each
Cost: any burden (monetary or non-monetary, real or perceived), that a group must bear, e.g.:


Federal child-care programs (taxes).
Busing to achieve school desegregation (taxes, psychological stress). Tariffs (higher prices for goods).
Benefit: any satisfaction (monetary or non-monetary, real or perceived) that a group
will enjoy from a policy, e.g.,
A.Federal child-care programs (lower child care costs for parents).
B.Busing to achieve school desegregation (improvement in opportunity, greater racial harmony).
C.Tariffs (more jobs for workers, more profits for businesses).
Explain the ways in which costs and benefits can be distributed and give examples of each.
Costs and benefits can be either widely-distributed (to many, most, or all citizens) or narrowly-
concentrated (for a relatively small number of citizens or groups). Examples:
A.Widely-distributed costs: income tax, Social Security tax, farm subsidies.
B.Narrowly-concentrated costs: factory air emission standards, higher capital gains taxes for the wealthy, gun control regulations).
C.Widely-distributed benefits: Social Security benefits, strong national security, clean air, federal highways.
D.Narrowly-concentrated benefits: farm subsidies, tariffs, exemption from antitrust legislation.
Explain how legislators us cost benfit analysis to develop four types of public policies
A. Majoritarian polices .
1. Involve widely distributed costs and widely distributed benefits.
2.Examples: Social Security, national defense.
Interest group policies.
1.Involve narrowly concentrated costs and narrowly concentrated benefits.
2.Examples: tariffs, antitrust exemptions.
Client policies.
1.Involve widely distributed costs and narrowly concentrated benefits.
2.Examples: farm subsidies, airline or trucking regulation, pork barrel bills.
Entrepreneurial policies.
1.Involve narrowly concentrated costs and widely distributed benefits.
2.Examples: consumer product safety legislation, ending farm subsidies, deregulation.
Analyze the four types of cost/benefit public policies in terms of interest group participation.
Majoritarian -Usually not dominated by interest groups: virtually everyone benefits from
these, so why should an interest group use scarce resources to lobby for policies that everyone will benefit from? Interest groups will benefit whether or not they devote resources to lobbying ---> lack of incentive to participate ..
Interest Group -these tend to be fought over by interest groups: the affected parties are small enough, and the potential costs and benefits are great enough, to warrant interest group participation.
Client Policies - a. Strong incentive for interest groups to participate. Groups will receive the benefits, but the costs will be spread out to everyone.
b. Since costs are so widely distributed and therefore relatively small to each consumer, cost payers are sometimes unaware that they are even paying the costs (e.g., dairy subsidies)~
c. Since interest groups benefit so much from these, they are said to be a "client" of the related federal agency - client qroups.
Entrepreneurial Policies - a. Strong incentive for potential cost-paying group to participate.
b. Prospective beneficiaries may find widely distributed benefits too small to
work hard for.
c. Because of a and b, policies of this category are often defeated by the
concerted efforts of cost-paying interest groups.
d. Despite this, such policies are from time to time passed through the strong
efforts of people who act on behalf of the unconcerned or unaware ---> these are called policy entrepreneurs (e.g., Ralph Nader).
What are the two ways the Constitution allows for the federal government to raise revenue?
1. Tariffs must be uniform.
2.Direct taxes must be apportioned to the states on the basis of population.
What happened when the Federal government decided to institute an income tax?
Income tax of 2% passed in 1894 was ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court since it was not proportional to state populations ---> passage of 16th Amendment in 1913 struck down the proportionality clause.
List the current sources of revenue for the federal government?
1.Individual income taxes (progressive taxes): 49% of all federal revenue.
2.Social insurance (payroll) taxes (regressive taxes): 33% of all federal revenue.
3. Corporate taxes: 10% of all federal revenue.
4 .. Excise taxes: 3% of all federal revenue.
5. Borrowing: 0% (but this has risen due to resumption of deficit spending)
5. Other: 4%
Give examples of the publics tax revolts since the 1970s
Role of Prop 13 as stimulus to tax revolt ---> spread throughout the states.
2.Reagan's tax cuts in 1981 ..
3. Bush's "no new taxes" promise as a symptom of how politically volatile the tax issue
had become.
4.Two additional (and higher) tax brackets added during Clinton's 1 st term.
5.Tax cut proposals by both parties in 1997.
6.With surpluses of late 90s/early OOs, Republicans preferred tax cuts, whereas Democrats preferred bolstering the• Social Security system.
7.$1.36 trillion tax cut (over 10 yrs.) in Bush's first year, 2001.
Where does the federal government spend the revenue they collect? (budget)
A.Direct benefit payments to individuals (Soc. Secur., Medicare, Medicaid, etc.): 55%.
B.National defense: 16%.
C.Net interest: 10%.
D.Nondefense discretionary (grants to states, federal operations, etc.): 19%
What is the problem of entitlements (uncontrollables)
These are automatically(without annual review) spent.
B .. Examples:, Social SecuritY;:Medicare;federal pensions, interest on national debt. .
C. These account for about 2/3 of the federal budget .;...;..>. difficulties of bringing the budget
into balance ..
Explain the executive branches role in the budget process?
Agencies prepare their estimates of budget needs and present them to OMB ...
Amount requested is typically based upon the amount granted in the previous year (plus inflation and any additional needs).
2.OMB reviews these requests and makes recommendations to the President.
3.President reviews OMB recommendations and then submits a budget to Congress.
Explain Congresses role in the budget process?
CBO provides an independent analysis of the President's budget -- a check on the OMB
Roles of Budget, Ways and Means, and Appropriations Committees. Input and lobbying from agencies.
Majority vote needed in both houses.
General Accounting Office (GAO) is a congressional watchdog agency that ensures money is spent as prescribed by law
What political influences are there on the budget process?
1.Political party differences.
2.Interest group/PAC influence.
3.Iron triangles.
4.Public opinion.
What is the final Presidential and Congressional actions that can be taken on the budget
President signs or vetoes entire bill - no line item veto. Congress can override a veto with 2/3 vote in both houses.
Define Budget deficit and National debt.
Budget deficit: incurred when govt. expenditures exceed income during a one year
period.
B.National debt: accumulation of past budget deficits.
Give some examples of the effects on budget deficits and the National debt on our government and economy.
Huge budget deficits during the 1980's (>$200 billion per year) ---> national debt tripled
from $1 trillion to $3 trillion during the 1980's. Tax cuts and increases in defense spending were among the main causes.
D.Government shutdown in mid-90s as a result of budgetary politics
E. Current national debt (2003): -$6.4 trillion. However, as a percentage of GDP (define), the national debt is less than it was in the early 1950s: SEE CHART P. 437.
F.Failure of Congress to pass the Balanced Budget Amendment.
G. Reduction of deficits under Clinton and development of SURPLUSES ---> political
differences over what to do with these surpluses: Republicans favored tax cuts, Democrats wanted to apply the surpluses to the Social Security System to bolster it.
H. Bush $1.36 trillion tax cut in 2001 + recession + terrorist attacks of 9/11 ended budget
surpluses in 2002 ---> resumption of budget deficits
Define Civil service
1.Civil Service – systems are designed to hire and promote members of the bureaucracy on the basis of merit and create non partisan government service
Define Merit principle
2.Merit principle – using entrance exams and promotion ratings to reward qualified indidviduals
Define Hatch Act
3. Hatch Act – prohibits civil service employees from actively participating in partisan politics while on duty.
Define OPM
4.Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – in charge of hiring for most federal agencies
Define Rule of 3
5.Rule of 3 – take test, top 3 candidates sent to agency, must hire one of the 3
Define GS Rating
6.GS Rating (general schedule rating 1 to 18) salaries are keyed to rating and experience
Define Senior Executive Service
7.Senior Executive Service – very top of civil service “cream of the crop”. Pres. Can moved to other agencies as needed.
Define Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
a. fixed budget calendar
b. created budget committee in each house – ways and means in house and Finance in Senate
c. created CBO –Congressional budget Office – advises congress on probable consequences of budget decisions.
d. Was this successful – has not brought spending into line with revenues. – continuing resolutions – they can’t agree so allow agency to spend at last year’s level.
Define the 1985 – Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act –
a. Budget was supposed to be balanced by 1993
b. If congress failed to meet the cuts, automatic cuts called sequestrations would be ordered by the president.
c. 1990 – abandoned Gramm/Rudman/Hollings Act and decided to control increases in spending – any increase must be offset by a decrease somewhere else.
What is the other name for the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act –
Gramm/Rudman/Hollings Act
What are some of the new "checks" on presidential power?
congressional leaders, divided government, senators use of "hlods", the media
Define the term standing in relation to federal courts?
only one who has sustained an"injury: may bring a case to court
Define original jurisdiction.
the authority of a court to hear a case first
What are the duties of the Solicitor general?
represents the U.S. in the Supreme court
appointed by the pres.
decides which cases the federal gov will appeal to the Supreme Court
Decide the federal gov's position in Supreme Court cases
In what areas did the FECA of 1974 try to regulate campaign finance?
disclosure, subsidies, limitations
What are the criticisms of the electoral college/
faithless electors
possibility of a president not elected by the majority of people(minority president)
discourages 3rd parties
What is the greatest influence on the outcome of congressional elections?
incumbency
Define soft money?
money that is obtained by political parties to be used for party building activities (get out the vote - registration)
List the tactics that interest groups use to influence legislators.
campaign contributions
targeting
report cards
endorsement of candidates
What factors influence who gets PAC money?
Political party
incumbents
similar philosophy
What are the dangers of PACs?
are they buying votes
drives up campaign costs
creates more of an advantage for incumbents
What are the effects of the Campaign Finance reform laws of 1973?
restricted the amount of money any interest group could give a candidate
made it legal for corporations and unions to form PACs and give political contributions
Define appellate jurisidiction
the authority for a court to hear a case first heard in a lower court