Many
Americans have a negative view of the federal bureaucracy.
The very metion of the world ãbureaucracyä often conjures up a memory
of an important document lost, or a scolding for some alleged misconduct of
personal business. Bureaucratic power is felt in almost all areas of American
life, and yet bureaucracies are barely mentioned in the Constitution.
Bureaucratic agencies are created and funded by Congress, but most of them
report to the president, who supervises them as he takes "care that the
laws shall be faithfully executed" (Article II, Section 3 of the
Constitution). This dual responsibility to Congress and to the president is an
indication of the complex nature of the organization
and functioning of federal government bureaucracies.
A bureaucracy is a large, complex organization of
appointed, not elected, officials. Bureaucracies exist in many countries in many
areas of life, including corporations, universities, and local and state
governments. The term actually comes from the French word ãbureau,ä a
reference to the small desks that the kingâs representatives set up in towns
as they traveled across the country doing the kingâs business.
So ãbureaucracyä literally means something like ãgovernment with
small desks.ä
Max
Weber was
one of the first people in modern times to think seriously about the importance
of bureaucracy. He wrote in Germany during the early 20th century,
when developing capitalism was spawning more and more large businesses.
The changing economic scene had important implications for government.
He created the classic conception of bureaucracy as a well-organized,
complex machine that is a "rational" way for a modern society to
organize its business. He did not see them as necessary evils, but as the best
organizational response to a changing society.
According
to Weber, a bureaucracy has several basic characteristics:
á
hierarchical authority structure - A chain of command that is hierarchical; the
top bureaucrat has ultimate control, and authority flows from the top down.
á
task specialization - A clear division of labor in which every individual
has a specialized job
á
extensive rules - Clearly written, well-established formal rules that all people in the
organization follow
á
clear goals - A clearly defined set of goals that all people in the organization
strive toward
á
the merit principle - Merit-based hiring and promotion; no granting of jobs
to friends or family unless they are the best qualified
á
impersonality - Job performance that is judged by productivity, or how much work the
individual gets done
Weber
emphasized the importance of the bureaucracy in getting things done and believed
that a well-organized, rational bureaucracy is key to the successful operation
of modern societies.
The
American federal bureaucracy shares common characteristics with other
bureaucracies, but it has its own characteristics that distinguish it from
others.
The Constitution made little mention of a bureaucracy
other than to make the president responsible for appointing
(with the ãadvice and consent of the Senateä) public officials,
including ambassadors, judges, and "all other officers of the United States
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law" (Article II, Section 3). No provisions mentioned
departments or bureaus, but Congress created the first bureaucracy during George
Washingtonâs presidency.
PATRONAGE
The bureaucracy
began in 1789 when Congress created a Department of State to assist the new
Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson. From 1789 to about 1829, the bureaucracy
was drawn from an upper-class, white male elite. In 1829, the new President
Andrew Jackson employed a spoils system to reward party loyalists with
key federal posts. Jackson believed that such rewards would not only provide
greater participation by the middle and lower classes, but would insure
effectiveness and responsiveness from those who owed their jobs to the
president. The spoils system ensured that with each new president came a full
turnover in the federal service.
THE PENDLETON ACT
Late
in the nineteenth century the spoils system was severely criticized because it
allowed people with little knowledge and background to be appointed to important
government positions. Some accused presidents of "selling" the
positions or using them as bribes to muster support for their election
campaigns. After President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881 by a
disappointed office seeker, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which set
up a limited merit system for appointing federal offices. Federal service was
placed under the Civil Service Commission, which supervised a testing
program to evaluate candidates. Federal employees were to be selected and
retained according to merit, not party loyalty, but in the beginning the merit
system only covered about 10 percent of all federal employees.
THE MODERN BUREAUCRACY
By
the 1950s the merit system had grown to cover about 90 percent of all federal
employees, and in 1978, the functions of the Civil Service Commission were split
between two new agencies:
The
federal bureaucracy grew tremendously as a result of Roosevelt's New Deal
programs and World War II, but the number of federal bureaucrats has leveled off
in the years since then. Whereas the number of employees of state and local
governments has grown tremendously in the past fifty years, the number of
federal employees has remained a relatively constant three percent of all
civilian jobs. One reason for the growth on the state and local levels is that
many recently created federal programs are administered at the lower levels of
government, not by federal employees.
Bureaucrats
work in the executive branch in the fourteen cabinet-level departments and in
the more than fifty independent agencies, including about 2,000 bureaus,
offices, services, and other subdivisions of the government. The five biggest
employers are the Departments of Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Department of
Veterans Affairs, and the U.S. Postal Service. A total of about 3.2 million
civilians and 1.8 million military are employed by the executive branch of the
federal government.
Most
people still think of a bureaucrat as being a white, middle-aged man, but the
permanent bureaucracy today is more representative of the American people than
are members of Congress, judges, or presidential appointees in the executive
branch.
Consider
the following statistics for federal civilian employees:
Agencies
of the executive branch may be organized into four basic types:
Each
of the fifteen cabinet departments is headed by a secretary, except for the
Department of Justice, which is headed by the attorney general. All of the heads
are chosen by the President and approved by the Senate, and each manages a
specific policy area. Responsibility is further divided among undersecretaries
and assistant secretaries, who manage various agencies. The fifteen cabinet
departments, in order of creation, are:
Each
department is organized somewhat differently, but the real work of a department
usually is done in the bureaus (sometimes called services, offices, or
administrations). Until the 1970s, the largest department was the Department of
Defense, but today the Department of Health and Human Services spends more
money, although the Department of Defense still has more employees.
THE 20
In late 2004 President George W. Bush signed the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act that called for the most
sweeping overhaul of the nationâs intelligence-gathering apparatus in a
half-century. The legislation
created a position for a Director of National Intelligence, a move recommended
by a special commission that spent 20 months investigating the pre-September 11,
2002 intelligence failures. The
legislation put 15 intelligence agencies under the control of the director,
including the CIA and the FBI, and it created a National Counterterrorism Center
to serve as the primary organization that processes all terrorism-related
intelligence. The reorganization
will impact many of the cabinet departments, as well as the operation of several
independent agencies.
These
agencies regulate important parts of the economy, making rules for large
industries and businesses that affect the interests of the public.
Because regulatory commissions are ãwatchdogsä that by their very
nature need to operate independently, they are not part of a department, and
most are not directly controlled by the President.
Some examples are:
The
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) - Founded in 1887, the ICC is the oldest of
the regulatory agencies. It first regulated railroads, but now oversees trucking
as well.
The
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - The FTC regulates business practices and controls monopolies
The
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) - The NLRB regulates labor-management
relations.
The
Federal Reserve Board (FRB) - The FRB governs banks and regulates the supply of money.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - The SEC polices the stock market.
The
regulatory agencies are governed by small commissions - five to ten members
appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. These commissioners are
somewhat more "independent" than are the cabinet secretaries because
they cannot be removed by the president during their terms of office.
THE GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS
Government
corporations
are a blend of private corporation and government agency. They were created to
allow more freedom and flexibility than exists in regular government agencies.
They have more control over their budgets, and often have the right to decide
how to use their own earnings. Since they still ultimately are controlled by the
government, they do not operate like true private corporations.
Some examples are:
INDEPENDENT EXECUTIVE AGENCIES
Other
agencies that do not fall into the first three categories are called independent
executive agencies. Independent agencies
closely resemble Cabinet departments, but they are smaller and less complex.
Generally, they have narrower areas of responsibility than do cabinet
departments. Most of these agencies are subject to presidential control
and are independent only in the sense that they are not part of a department.
Their main function is not to regulate, but to fulfill a myriad of
other administrative responsibilities.
Some
well known examples are
Most
people think that bureaucrats only follow orders. Of course, anyone who works in the executive branch is there
to implement decisions, but the reality of their work is more complicated.
The power of the bureaucracy depends on how much discretionary
authority they have. Congress
passes laws, but they cannot follow through on all the little decisions that
have to be made as laws are translated into action.
Bureaucrats, then, may make policies and choose actions that are not
spelled out in advance by laws.
Their
main function is to do the nuts and bolts of "executing" policies that
are made by Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court.
IMPLEMENTATION
Most policies do not
implement themselves. After the
President signs a bill into law, the bureaucracy must implement it. Bureaucrats
develop procedures and rules for implementing policy goals, and they manage the
routines of government, such as delivering mail and collecting taxes.
Usually Congress
announces the goals of a policy, sets up a broad administrative apparatus, and
leaves the task of working out details to the bureaucracy. The implementers take
a policy handed down to them from Congress, the president, or the Court, and
actually put it into effect, with real consequences for real people.
Implementation
involves more power in the policymaking process than is readily apparent. During
this stage, many key decisions are made. Congress often passes ambiguous
legislation, or the supporters of a bill that is passed into law get involved
with other bills and lose contact with laws passed on to the executive branch.
By the very nature of the compromise that passed the bill into law in Congress,
it often sets general goals and passes the responsibility for interpretation on
to the bureaucrats. As a result, the bureaucracy is given latitude in
translating general guidelines into specific directives.
REGULATION
The
function of regulation of private sector activities has developed over the
course of the twentieth century. The earlier function of service (the Post
Office, benefits to veterans, agriculture) dominated the bureaucracy until the
early twentieth century Progressive Movement, when the government began to
regulate businesses.
As
early as 1877 the Supreme Court upheld the right of government to regulate
business in Munn v. Ohio, a case that upheld the rights of the
state of Illinois to regulate the charges and services of a Chicago warehouse.
The New Deal legislation of the 1930s created more regulatory agencies, and
World War II allowed government a great deal more regulation than ever before.
Today
all sorts of activities are subject to federal regulation from automobile
production to buying and selling stock to the production and distribution of
meat and poultry. Hundreds of agencies supervise and enforce a vast array of
regulations.
As
regulators, agencies first receive a grant of power from Congress to sketch out
the means of executing broad policy decisions. Next, the agency develops a set
of guidelines to govern an industry, usually in consultation with people who
work in those industries. Next, the agency must apply and enforce its rules and
guidelines, often through its own administrative procedures, but sometimes in
court. Sometimes it reacts to complaints, and other times it sends inspectors
out to the field. Regulation may be executed by requiring applicants to acquire
a permit or license to operate under their guidelines and Congressional policies.
The
biggest difference between a government agency and a private organization is the
number of constraints placed on agencies from other parts of government and by
law. A government bureau cannot hire, fire, build, or sell without going through
procedures set by Congress, often
through law. Presidents also exert considerable power over the bureaucracies.
CONGRESS
Congress often acts
as the problem-solving branch of government, setting the agenda and then letting
the agencies decide how to implement them. On the other hand, Congress serves as
a check on the activities of the bureaucracy. Congress oversees the bureaucracy
in a number of ways.
1)
Duplication - Congress rarely gives any one job to a single agency. For example, drug
trafficking is the task of the Customs Services, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Border Patrol, and the Defense Department. Although this
spreading out of the responsibility often leads to contradictions among agencies
and sometimes inhibits the responsiveness of government, it also keeps any one
agency from becoming all powerful.
2)
Authorization - No agency may spend money unless it has first been authorized by
Congress. Authorization legislation originates in a legislative committee, and
states the maximum amount of money that an agency may spend on a given program.
Furthermore, even if funds have been authorized, Congress must also appropriate
the money. An appropriation is money formally set aside for a specific
use, and it usually is less than the amount authorized. The Appropriations
Committees in both houses of Congress must divide all available money among the
agencies, and almost always they cut agency budgets from the levels authorized.
3)
Hearings - Congressional committees may hold hearings as part of their oversight
responsibilities. Agency abuses may be questioned publicly, although the
committee holding the hearings typically has the oversight responsibility, so a
weak agency may reflect weak oversight.
4)
Rewriting legislation - If they wish to restrict the power of an agency,
Congress may rewrite legislation or make it more detailed. Every statute is
filled with instructions to its administrators, the more detailed the
instructions, the better able Congress is to restrict the agency's power.
Still, an agency usually finds a way to influence the policy, no matter
how detailed the orders of Congress.
THE PRESIDENT
Agencies
are also accountable to the chief administrator of the U.S. government: the
president. Presidents use a number of methods to impress their policy
preferences on the bureaucracy.
Although
interest groups have no formal control over agencies, the informal ties between
them may greatly influence the implementation of policy. Interest groups may
provide agencies with valuable information they need to execute a policy.
Interest groups may pressure agency bureaucrats to interpret policy in ways that
are favorable to the interests they represent. Bureau chiefs may also recruit
interest groups as allies in pursuing common goals. They often share with them a
common view that more money should be spent on federal programs run by the
bureau in question.
IRON TRIANGLES
Alliances among
bureaucrats, interest groups, and congressional subcommittee members and staff
sometimes form to promote their common causes. Such an alliance is sometimes
described as an iron triangle. These triangles are sometimes so strong
that they are referred to as subgovernments - the place where the real decisions
are made. For example, an important issue that government has recently addressed
is the effect of tobacco on health and the government's role in regulating it.
The tobacco farmers and industry have numerous interest groups, a "tobacco
lobby" that provide information to the tobacco division of the Department
of Agriculture and to subcommittees of the House and Senate agricultural
committees. They support the agency's budget requests and make contributions to
the election campaigns of the subcommittee members. The subcommittees pass
legislation affecting tobacco farmers and other members of the industry and
approval higher budget requests from the agency. The agency gives the
subcommittees information, help with constituents' complaints, and develop rules
on tobacco production and prices. They all have a common interest - the
promotion of tobacco farming and industry, and they can help one another achieve
their goals. As a result, the president and Congress beyond the subcommittee
have little decision-making power.
ISSUE NETWORKS
The
iron triangle may be criticized because interest groups today are so prolific
that they are bound to create cross-demands on subcommittees and the
bureaucracy. In the tobacco issue discussed above, interest groups have formed
demanding that tobacco products be banned or heavily restricted by the federal
government. With these counter-demands, the policymaking process would not run
so smoothly and would broaden the number of people involved in the system. The
issue is discussed on many levels, both inside and outside government. An
agency, then, can be described as being embedded, not in an iron triangle, but
in an issue network. These issue networks consist of people in interest
groups, on congressional staffs, in universities, and in the mass media who
regularly debate an issue. The networks are contentious, with arguments and
disagreements occurring along partisan, ideological, and economic lines. When a
president appoints a new agency head, he will often choose someone from the
issue network who agrees with his views.
Throughout American history, presidents and Congress have
attempted to reform the bureaucracy to make it work better and cost less. The
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is a recent example.
Many other reforms have been suggested for the future.
THE
MERIT SYSTEM AND THE HATCH ACT
The merit system tries to ensure that the best-qualified
people get government jobs and that party politics (patronage) has nothing to do
with the hiring process. In
1939 Congress passed the Hatch Act, which required employees, once they
were hired, to have as little to do with political parties as possible.
The Hatch Act forbids employees from engaging in many party activities.
For example, they could not run for public office or raise funds for a
party or candidate, nor could they become officers in a political organization
or a delegate to a party convention.
In the early 1970s some bureaucrats complained that their
1st amendment rights were being violated. The issue made its way to the Supreme Court, where the
justices ruled that the Hatch Act did not put unreasonable restrictions on
employeesâ rights. However, in
1993 Congress softened the Hatch Act by making many forms of participation in
politics permissible. Federal
bureaucrats still cannot run as candidates in elections, but they may be active
in party politics.
CRITICISMS OF THE BUREAUCRACY
Americans criticize their political bureaucracies in many
ways, but some frequently mentioned ones are:
á ãred tapeä ö the maze of government rules, regulations, and paperwork ö makes government so overwhelming to citizens that many people try to avoid any contact.
á conflict ö agencies that often work at cross purposes with one another
á duplication ö a situation in which two agencies appear to be doing the same thing
á unchecked growth ö the tendency of agencies to grow unnecessarily and for costs to escalate proportionately.
á waste ö spending more on products and/or services than is necessary.
á
lack of accountability ö the difficulty in firing or
demoting an incompetent bureaucrat
SUGGESTIONS FOR REFORM
Some suggestions for reforming the bureaucracy are:
á
Limiting appointments to
6-12 years. After the
appointment expires, the bureaucrat would then have to go through reexamination
and their performance would be reviewed for possible rehire.
á
Making it easier to fire a
bureaucrat. Civil service rules
that are meant to protect workers from partisan politics have made it difficult
to fire anyone for poor performance. Reformers
want to remove those rules.
á
Rotating professionals
between agencies and from outside. Reformers believe that this practice would bring new
blood to agencies and encourage workers to get a broader view of government
service.
á
Rewarding employee initiatives and fewer rules.
The bureaucracy is criticized for having rigid rules that restrict new
ideas and individual initiatives. Reformers
suggests that rules be streamlined and modernized, and that suggestions from
employees should be encouraged and rewarded.
á
Emphasizing customer
satisfaction. Government
bureaucrats are often criticized for not caring about their customers.
Unlike private businesses, government agencies do not have to compete for
customers, so their clients are not given the attention they deserve.
Finding the practical solutions that everyone can agree
on is a difficult process in our government, largely because our system of
checks and balances is not particularly efficient.
But that doesnât stop presidents and many others from suggesting and
implementing reform of the bureaucracy.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS
accountability
appropriations
authorizations
Bureaucracy
Discretionary authority
Duplication
Government corporations
GS Rating
Hatch Act
Independent executive agencies
Independent regulatory agencies
Iron triangle
Issue network
Max Weber
Merit principle
Munn v. Ohio
patronage
Pendleton Act
ãred tapeä
spoils system