Bureaucrats - officials employed with government agencies
The Age of Jackson
Political patronage (spoils system)
Administrative positions given as a reward for political support rather than solely on merit
Out of necessity, the bureaucracy becomes more impartial, neutral, and driven by standard operating procedures and technical expertise
Pendleton Act, 1863
Creates the Civil Service Commission, makes the government more meritocratic
Tasked with drawing up and enforcing rules on hiring, promotion, and tenure of office
Federal civil service
Merit based bureaucracy
Merit system - competitive testing, educational attainment, etc basis for hiring instead of political connections
Excludes the military anxd political appointments
Hatch Act
Fundamental tension between the political operatives in the executive branch and the career bureaucrats
The political appointees to the president to the people who work in the white house are all political appointees
Their skill lies in politics in general, political people with specific interests
Deep state is a criticism of the bureaucracy
Legislation or executive order can be passed but it ends up being up to the bureaucrats for stuff to actually happen
Structure of the Bureaucracy
Executive political appointees
Confirmed by senate
Serve for a short time
Usually do not cross presidential administrations
Senior Executive Service (SES)
Drawn from lower ranks of bureaucracy
Treated like corporate vice presidents
Have more job security
Career Civil Servants
General service - clearly defines job ranks
Governed by merit system
Enjoy considerable job protections from termination, especially for political reasons
Iron Triangle
Coordinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to achieve shared policy goals
Important part of the policy making progress
Interest groups provide electoral support to members of Congress who use their influence in committees to advance legislation favorable to interest groups
and/or less legislative oversight to those groups
Interest groups lobby bureaucratic agencies to secure that agencies’ desired funding levels and policy goals
Agencies create regulations favorable to interest groups
Congress determines funding levels desired by bureaucratic agencies
Issue Networks and Points of Access
Issue network: web of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates
Points of access: ways in which policy can be influenced
Legislative: lobbying congress, participaitng in oversight hearings, and influencing elections
Executive: Citizens can contact federal agencies, and groups can lobby the executive branch and influence administratyive processes. Presidents can also use executive orders as a way to bypass legislative stalls, creating anotjer point of access or influence
Judicial: Litigants can challenge laws in federal courts, and stakeholders can appeal wrongful convictions
Federalism: The division of power between national and state governments creates multiple points of access
State and local: Groups can pursue policy changes at the state or local level if they face obstacles at the federal level, leading to a variety of outcomes across different states
Federal: States can also work with or resists federal initiatives through legal and political channels
For example, AARP, RNA all influence elections because it is groups of retired people, large voter base who actually vote, fe social security
Policymaking
Getting on the policy agenda - what lawmakers focus on
Depends not only on the merits of the issue but also on political and economic contexts
Policies have to be debates and passed, signed into law by president
Congress must fund the agency to carry it out and the means to implement it
Implementation - putting laws into action
Job of the bureaucracy - not easy, high level political appointees may be geenralists or good at politics, must defer to lower level experts
Technical expertise required, could be competing policies
Act as a brake on the president or political appointees desires
Street level bureaucrats - deal directly with the public and may bend the rules to make them work
Bureaucratic Discretion
Bureaucratic discretion - the power to decide how a law is implemented and to decide what Congress meant when it passed a law
Chevron SUA v National Resources Defense Coucnil
Chevron Deference - Agencies can decide how to implement federal law if ambiguities exisy
overturned 2024 by Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo
Courts to decide - significantly reduces bureaucratic discretion
Regulation
The process by which the federal bureaucracy fills in critical details of a law. Regulations have the force of law
Process
Notice and comment - must announce a proposed set of rules and allow interested parties to weigh in
May have to notify the president and congress
Publish in the Federal Register
Bureaucratic Adjudicaiton
Settle disputes between parties affected over the implementation of federal laws or executive orders
Issue fines or other penalties against those that violate federal regulations
Determine which individuals or groups are covered under a regulation
Checks on the Bureaucracy
Regulatory capture - when a government agency tasked with regulating a specific industry becomes controlled by or acts in the interests of the industry it is supposed to regulate, rather than for the public good
The president - priorities, funding, appointments, executive orders
Size and complexity restrict control
Bureaucrats may stall or avoid implementation
Congress
Can create or terminate departments
Can affect funding through appropriations committees
Legislative oversight - congressional hearings
Government Accoutnability Office - Congressional agency monitors bureaucratic departments and agencies
Senate
Approves agency heads
Judiciary
Decisions can limit bureaucratic actions
Revolving door can exist in any agency, going from industry to government to industry