2. Bureaucracy Complex structure of offices, tasks, rules and principles of organization. Rely on division of labor Hierarchical
3. Preferences in bureaucratic arrangements Congress Prefers decentralized, insulated bureaucracy Preference guided by INSTITUTIONAL constraint of re-election pressure Because social fear of state, Congress goes along with their preferenc. Presidency Prefers centralized, unified, coordinated bureaucracy that they control from the top. Preference guided by the blame they receive. “Presidents are held responsible by the public for virtually every aspect of national performance…”
6. Bureaucracies are able to make regulations because… The president has ceded power to make executive orders. Congress has delegated the power to agencies. No case has yet asked the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review to this unconstitutional activity Article III of the Constitution gives them this power.
7. Bureaucracies are able to make regulations because… Congress has delegated the power to agencies.
8. Sources of Bureaucratic Power (Rourke) Internal Sources Expertise of staff Leadership Organizational Esprit Cohesion External Sources Public opinion of agency Support of clientele Public opinion of clientele
9. The Cabinet Symbolic Importance Representing Clienteles (labor, transportation, farmers) Representing constituencies through appointments “Marrying the natives” or “Locked in the Cabinet”
10. Department of Homeland Security Created in response to 9-11 terrorist attack. Decisions questioned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Assessment of DHS coordination Interview with former FEMA Chief Michael Brown
11. Non-Cabinet Agencies Independent Agencies NASA, EPA, NSA Government Corporations Post Office, Amtrak Independent Regulatory Commissions FCC, Federal Reserve Board
12. Federal Reserve System Responsibilities Facilitates exchanges of cash, checks, and credit Regulates member banks Uses monetary policy to fight inflation and deflation Need for political insulation
13. What we want from Bureaucracy Accountability (for actions) Flexible Fair Expert Effective Efficient Inexpensive WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS LIST?
14. Principle Agent Relationships Principles: Individual with the authority to make a decision. Agent: Someone who makes and implements decisions on behalf of someone else. Agency Loss: The difference between what principles want, and what agents do.
15. Principle Agent Problem Bureaucratic Drift: bureaucratic implementation of a policy more to the liking of the bureaucracy than original legislative intent Shirking and Sabotage Collective Action Problem Coalitional Drift: prospect that enacted policy will change because the composition of the enacting coalition is temporary and provisional.
18. Will bureaucrats shirk or sabotage? Constraints Conflicting organizational goals Civil service laws Influences Individual bureaucrat’s preferences Peers and organizational culture Contact with clientele
19. Trump, continued I discovered that the city’s incompetence had extended to every imaginable detail, large and small. One week after I’d made my deal to take over rebuilding the rink, a city report was released on mistakes made over the past six years. The report provided an astounding chronology of sloppiness, indecision, incompetence, and stupidity, but it came to absolutely no conclusions about who was responsible for the fiasco and what could be done to avoid such failures in the future. If it weren’t so pathetic, it would have been almost comical. The Art of the Deal, 1987
20. Is the bureaucracy doing a good job? Trump’s success and the government’s “failure” Economic goals are not the government’s only goals. Social Goals