Reforming the Bureaucracy

There have been various efforts to reform the bureaucracy in order to make it more efficient and less costly. These efforts include:
- Sunshine laws
     laws designed to create transparency within the agency
     Freedom if Information Act of 1966; Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976

- Sunset laws
    laws designed to review a program regularly for possible reforms and/or termination
    never adopted nationally but adopted in many states

- Privatization
    replacing government agencies/employees with that of private firms
    contracting out various government duties; offering vouchers instead of services

- Offering incentives for productivity and/or efficiency
    performance-based budgeting practices; requiring justification for programs
    e-government options
    Government Performance and Results Act of 1997

- Protecting whistleblowers
    establishing safe-guards for those who expose agency inefficiency or corruption
    Civil Service Reform Act of 1978; Whistle-Blower Protection Act of 1989
    Garcetti v Ceballos

Discussions on various problems with and solutions to traditional bureaucracies

   

Agencies of the Bureaucracy

These are independent organizations tasked with doing something on behalf of the government.
- Can only be created by an act of Congress
- Usually created for specialized tasks to complex or cumbersome to be legislated
- Congress retains oversight
- Agencies have quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial power

The text identifies 3 types of agencies
   - independent executive agencies
   - independent regulatory commissions
   - government corporations

See Figure 14-3 on p.488 and note all of the Executive Departments & Government Agencies

Okay, technically Education and Commerce are Executive Departments, not agencies. But still, a classic moment.

Independent Executive Agencies
- Similar to executive departments
- Not Cabinet level
- Administered by the executive branch; President appoints head of agency
- Congress retains oversight
- Example: NASA

Independent Regulatory Commission
- Created to help regulate some aspect of the economy
- Governed by board; members of board nominated by President (and ......)
- Board composition must be bipartisan
- Creates rules and enforces rules (judge, jury, and executioner)
- Examples: ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission), SEC (other SEC: Securities & Exchange Commission), FCC (Federal Communications Commission) 

Government Corporations
- Operate under traditional business model
- Differences: owned by government; service v profit
- Purpose: provide service to American people
- Examples: Amtrak, USPS


What is the Civil Service?
  the civilians who carry out the work of the federal government (i.e.-postal carrier)
Originally staffed by people friendly with the President (spoils system)
Reformed by the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 (competitive hiring based on merit)
Even still, many top-level bureaucratic positions are political appointees

Bureaucracy & The Cabinet Departments

If it is associated with the federal government and has:
  - a formal structure
  - a division of labor
  - a set of rules/procedures by which it operates
then it is most likely a part of the bureaucracy.

3 models of bureaucracy
- Weberian model
   bureaucracies are rational, hierarchical organizations in which decisions are made based on logival reasoning
- Acquisitive model
    bureaucracies are led by people who seek to grow their budget and staff to gain greater power
- Monopolistic model
    bureaucracies lack competition, leading them be inefficient and costly operations




All organized under the Executive Branch
Employs about 2.7 million people
Top administrators are political appointees
Most other bureaucrats are knowledgeable/skilled employees



Executive Departments
Major units of administration and policy making
Headed by Secretary
Account for roughly 60% of all government employees (see Figure 14-1 on p.486)
Often smaller departments within each executive department
Only 3 departments to start with (State, Treasury, War)
New departments often created when issues became to big for Congress to legislate solutions
Currently 15 departments
Homeland Security is the most recent addition
Defense Department is largest Executive Department by far
     over 3 million employees and budget of $480 billion in 2008

The Cabinet & the Vice Presidency

3 main roles of the Vice President per the Constitution
- presiding over the Senate
- opening and counting electoral votes after presidential election
- serving as President should the President become incapacitated

Throughout American history, the role of the Vice President has changed. Early on, it merely entailed performing those tasks laid out above and waiting around in case the President may die. After the ratification of the 12th Amendment (requiring electors to cast one vote for President and one vote for Vice President), political parties started to pair the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate together on 'the ticket'. This pairing of candidates led politically minded leaders to start trying to balance their ticket to make the candidacy of 'the ticket' more attractive to more voters. The Vice Presidency itself however, was still not seen as a job opportunity one would desire. The role of the Vice President has grown since the 70s into a position that serves as an extension of the President himself. The Vice President is often consulted regularly on policy decisions and will be tasked with executing certain duties (being point-man / head executive) on behalf of the President.

The Best of Joe Biden

And don't forget former Vice President Dick Cheney

Advisory: Censored word (based on exchange between VP Dick Cheney & Sen Patrick Leahey)

The Cabinet
- consists of the heads (Secretary) of each of the executive departments (State, Defense, Treasury, etc)
- serves as advisory council to the President
- Secretary is nominated by President ( and ......)
- 16 official Cabinet positions, incl Vice President
- advice sought but not relied upon
- "kitchen cabinets"
- Cabinet Secretaries often more loyal to their department than the President

The Executive Office of the President

Who is "the administration" that they are always talking about?
Many of these people work in the Executive Office of the President (EOP).

I don't know what's up with the foreign subtitles.

Executive Office of the President
- The White House Office (The West Wing)
see chart on p.182

There was a television show: The West Wing

- National Security Council (NSC)

- Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)

yawn

- Office of Management & Budget (OMB)

Term Paper notes

Here are a few notes to remember as you are tweaking and polishing your term paper.
- refer to the grading guidelines
- 'A' papers have a good numbers of sources with supporting evidence (5-6 high quality sources)
- if you need more high quality supporting evidence, refer to the policy center links provided
- your target audience is someone involved in government
- your objective is to persuade them to support a change (or perpetuation) of current government policy
- your analysis of the issue and analysis/argument for your policy must be thorough
- proofread!! (spell check will not catch everything)
- double-check to make sure that your paper is correctly formatted

Also remember, the term paper is due on Monday.
- it must be submitted to TurnItIn
- a hard copy must be submitted in class

Good luck!

Unique Presidential Powers

Unique powers of the President of the United States
- emergency powers
- executive orders
- executive privilege

Emergency Powers
Based on the principle of inherent powers and supported by the Court decision US v Curtiss-Wright Export Corp
Usually invoked in cases of foreign affairs or national security

Executive Orders
Executive orders carry the force of law with them and
    - enforce legislative statutes
    - enforce the Constitution or treaties w/ foreign nations
    - establish or modify rules and practices of executive administrative agencies
Only legal requirement is that executive orders be published in the Federal Register
Unlike laws, executive orders can be revoked by subsequent executives (see Hyde Amendment)

Executive Privilege
Perhaps the most controversial because it allows the executive to withhold information from the other branches
Often invoked when claiming disclosure would threaten national security
Principle has been upheld by the Court
Extent of privilege famously upheld in case of US v Nixon

While the President has unique powers, the position is not all powerful. Review process of and reasons for impeachment from Unit III.