NOTES FROM NOVEMBER 25, 2008

*sorry these are so late I was out of town :)*
**I apologize for any misspelled words**

Most of the bureaucrats who work for the fed. govt are hired under the requirements of the civil service overseen since 1978 by:

• the office of personnel mng. which administers civil service laws, rules and regulations. The OPM administers written exams for the competitive service which includes about 2/3 of all appointed officials.
• the Merit Systems Protection Board protect the integrity of the federal merit system and the rights of federal employees. The board hears charges of wrongdoing and employee appeals against agency actions and orders disciplinary actions against agency executes or employees.
• The civil service was created to reduce patronage in the awarding of fed jobs. Jobs are filled on the basis of merit in accordance with the Pendleton Act and workers cannot be fired for political reasons.
• Most civil servants work outside of was as service need to be accessible to people across the country.

Presidents can appoint fewer than 1% of all executive branch employees though the ones they appoint fill the top policymaking positions:

• Presidents feel that they have insufficient control over the executive branch.
• On the surface it might seem that increasing the # of political appt would make the bureaucracy more responsive to the president. (Not always the case.)
• Pluralism can pull agencies in different directions.
• Bureaucratic policy does move in the direction set by the White House though the progress may not be attained quickly.
• Presidential appts to bureaucratic leadership positions may also broaden apportunity for advancement of traditionally under-represented groups. Clinton was particularly successful in making his administration resemble the broader population.

Administrative policy making: formal process

1. The latitude that Congress gives agencies to make the policy in the spirit of their legislative mandate is called administrative discretion.
2. Critics of bureaucracy freq. complain that agencies are "out of control" and a "power unto themselves" But these claims are often exaggerated.
3. when agencies do something that congress doesn't like it can rein them in with additional legislation.
4. Congress can also use the power of the purse or control over an agencies budget to express its preference.
5. Informal contacts between legislators and administrators lead to compromise and concensus in agency policy making.

The policymaking discretion that congress gives to agencies is usually exercised through role making. These administrative procedures result in the issurance of regulations. This is a source of agency's power.

Since they are authorized by Congressional statutes, regulations have the force of law.

When agencies issue regulations they are 1st published as proposals so that all interested parties have an opportunity to comment.

Reg. are controversial becuase they force people and businesses to act in certain prescribed ways, often against their own self interest.

Congress oversees the bureaucracy in a # of ways:

1. Duplication
2. Authorization and Appropriation
3. hearings
4. rewriting legislation to make it more detailed

Agencies are also checked by the Pres. through:

1. appointments
2. executive orders
3. budget building
4. reorganization

3rd Period: November 25th, 2008

BUREAUCRACIES

• Most bureaucrats are hired un der requirements of civil service oberseen since 1978 by:
• A.) Office of Personnel Management which administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations. Th OPM administers written exams for computer service which includes 2/3 of all appointed officials. OPM is in charge of hiring for most federal agencies
• B.) The merit systems protection board protect the integrity of the federal merit system and rights of federal employees. The board hears charges of wrong doing and employee appeals against agency action and orders disciplinary actions against agency executives or employees
• The civil service was created to reduce patronage in awarding of federal jobs. Jobs are filled on basis of merit in accordance with the PENDLETON ACT, and workers cannot be fired for political reasons
• Most civil service work outside of DC as services need to be accessible to people across that country
• The president can appoint fewer than 1% of all executive branch employees, though the ones they appoint fill top policy making positions
• Presidents feel that they have in sufficient control over the executive branch and would like to fill larger numbers of positions in government
• On the surface, it seems that increasing the number of political appointments would make bureaucracy more responsive to the president. This is not the case
• Pluralism can pull agencies in different directions.
• Bureaucratic policy does move in the direction of the white house, though progress may not be attained quickly
• Presidential appointments to bureaucratic leadership positions may also broaden opportunities for advancement of traditionally under represented groups. President Clinton showed this by appointing more women, blacks, Hispanics, than did his predecessors

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY MAKING: FORMAL PROCESS

• The latitude that congress gives agencies to make policy in the spirit of their legislative mandate is called administrative discretion
• Critics of bureaucracy frequently complain that agencies are granted too much discretion
• Some critics say that agencies are "out of control" and a 'power unto themselves" but these are often exaggerated
• When agencies do something that Congress does not like it can reign them in iwht additional legislation
• Congress can also use its "power of the purse" or control over an agency's budget to express its preferences
• Moreover informal contacts between legislation and administration lead to compromise on consensus in agency policy making
• The policy making discretion that congress gives to agencies is usually exercised through rule making. These administrative procedures result in the issue of regulations. This is a source of an agency's power
• Since they are authorized by congressional statutes regulations have force of law
• When agencies issue regulations, they are first published as proposals so that all interested parties have an opportunity to comment on them
• Regulations are controversial because they force people and businesses to act in certain ways often against own self interest
• While Congress often gives agencies administrative discretion in how to implement laws, it also serves as a check on the activities of the bureaucracy. Long oversees bureaucracy in a number of ways
• Duplication- giving responsibilities for a job to no more than one agency
• Authorization and appropriation- no agency may spend money unless it has first been authorized by congress and then appropriated by congress (set aside for particular use)
• Hearings
• Rewriting legislation to make it more detailed
• Agencies are also checked by president through: appointments, executive orders, budget building, and reorganization
  

chapter 13

nov.24.2008
Chapter 13
Bureaucracies are a large complex organizing in which employs have a specific job responsibilities
a. government bureaucracies consists of the departments thier in
b. employees of these units are know as bureaucrats
c. manner in which a bureaucracy therefor centers around finding solutions to the many different kinds of departments.
In recent years witnesses have a movement towards reducing the size of the bureaucracy
A difficult to do b/c different segments of the population work hard to protect the programs that serve them
B recent years national government seems to have reduced the number of bureaucrats employs with our reducing government programs this has been accomplishment by contracting these factions out to private employers who then pay their employees to do the same job.
C efforts at budget cutting reflect the tension
Bureaus and Bureaucrats
15 executive department largest unit of the executive branch
-A presidents policy goals often have conflict w/ the institutional goal of an individual cabinet level agency
-Cabinet members often do not have a dominate influence on precedential decision making
-Regulatory are not a part of the cabinet. The regulatory agencies are governed by small commission 5 to 10 members appointed by the president and confirmed by the senit and can not be removed by president.
-government corporation perform services that theoretically could be handled by the private sectors.
-independent executive agencies resemble cabinet department but are smaller and complex
most bureaueate that work for the federal governement.

11/24/08 Period 4

Chapter 13
Development of a bureaucratic state
1) Bureaucracy- large, complex organizations in which employees have very specific job responsibilities, work within hierarchy of authority, and follow extensive formal rules.
A) Consists of departments, agencies, bureaus, offices and other unites that administer nation's laws an policies.
B) Employees known as bureaucrats.
C) Manner in which organized is how well they are able to accomplish tasks.
D) Purpose of studying bureaucracy centers around finding solutions to many kinds of problems face by large government organizations
2) Government grew a lot during 20th century
A) Science and technology: advances in science and technology lead to new jobs (NASA formed)
B) Business regulation: free market economy leads to more regulation needed, jobs formed
C) Social welfare: government provides income security and social services, jobs formed
D) Ambitions administrators: top agency officials look for new ways to help clients leading to new programs needing more staff
3) Movement toward reducing size of bureaucracy
A) Difficult as people protect programs that serve them (advocates)
B) National government reduces number of bureaucrats employed without reducing government programs
1) Contracting programs out to private employers
C) Efforts at budget cutting reflect the tension between majoritarian and pluralism
1) Broader public wants to reduce the size of government but those who benefit from specific government programs organize into interest groups and mobilize their resources to protect programs and agencies they value
Bureaus and Bureaucrats:
1) By Examining basic types of government organizations we can better understand how executive branch works
A) 15 Executive (Cabinet) Departments
1) Largest units of executive branch
2) Headed by secretaries (defense, health, human services)
- Because President's policy goals conflict with institutional goals of individual cabinet-level agency
- Cabinet members do not have a dominant influence on Presidential decision-making
- Presidents rely on White House staff
B) Independent regulatory services are not part of cabinet department
1) Structured as regulatory commissions (FCC, ICC, SEC) and formed to guard against unfair business practices
2) Governed by small commissions (5-10 members appointed by President and confirmed by Senate, cannot be removed by President)
C) Government corporations perform services that theoretically could be handled by private sector (USPS, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Amtrak) but Congress believes public is better served if corporations have some link to federal government
D) Independent executive agencies resemble cabinet departments but are smaller and less complex
1) Narrower areas of responsibilities
2) Most subject to Presidential control
3) Independent in sense that they are not part of a department

Notes: 11/18/08

Impeachment: The Constitution provides a way to remove a president before his term is over. The House may, by majority vote, impeach the president for “Treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. “Since the House impeached the president, the case goes to the Senate, which tries the president and with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding. By a two-thirds vote, the Senate may convict and remove the president from office.

The Executive Branch established:
1) One of the most important of the president’s resources in office is his White House staff (White House Office).
A. Each president has some key order, including his Chief of Staff and his National Security Advisor [also Press Secretary, Doctor, and Personal Lawyer]. Although an important player, the Chief of Staff’s appointment does not require Senate approval.
B. The extended White House staff constitutes the Executive Office of the president. This includes the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Counsel of Economic Advisors, and other specialized staff. Some have used “pyramid” model in which most assistants report in a hierarchy to a Chief of Staff. Others have used the “circular” model with many cabinet secretaries and assistants reporting directly to the president.
C. The “right way” for a president to organized his staff. Each president creates the structure that he thinks will work best for him, though sometimes finding the right balanced takes trial and error.

2) The Executive Office of the president consists of agencies that report directly to the president and perform staff services for him. The president appoints the top positions but, unlike the White House staff, Executive Office appointees must be confirmed by the Senate. Examples: National Security Council, OMB, and the National Economic Council.

3) Vice Presidents have traditionally been “standby equipment.” They are usually chosen to give balance and appeal to the national ticket. They are usually used in major advisory capacity. However, Al Gore was given a more public role than usual, and Dick Cheney was major force behind President Bush, particularly in shaping the response to 9/11. The 25th Amendment also establishes that the office of vice president is vacated. The president nominates a new vice president when assumes office which both houses of Congress approves the nomination by a majority vote. A vice president who serves the presidency would then nominate a new vice president to Congress.

4) The Cabinet is composed of the heads of the major departments in the Executive Branch and a number of other key officials, such as the Director of the OMB.
A. The cabinet is not used as a collective decision-making body. Cabinet meeting may not be particularly important to the president, though he may value the advise of individuals members of the Cabinet.
B. Presidents do not always know Cabinet secretaries very well. Cabinet secretaries may also be too concerned with the wishes of their clientele groups.
C. With the growth of the White House staff and the Executive Office of the president, there is a little need to rely on the Cabinet as an addressing body.

The president as a national leader:
1) Presidents carry into office a broad political vision that reflects their ideology and priorities.

11/14/08 pd 4

We watched another video of Democracy in America.
Legislation process- disagreements on the importance of problems
The Democratic process -difficulty in interpreting and enforcing bills
Soft money-Teddy Roosevelt was talked about and his policy on outlawing money on government and the McCain-Feingold act
it was an interesting video.

11-19

The president as a national leader
1) Presidents carry into office a broad political vision that reflects their ideology and priorities
A) Lyndon Johnson for example saw government as a true force for promoting justice equality. Once in office, he tried to give life to that philosophy with great society programs
B) Ronald Reagan came into office seeing government as part of the problem rather than solution. He tried to promote freedom by pursuing policy that would reduce the role of government in American life.
2) The presidents central role in our political system guarantees that he can always command attention for his agenda through congress. However, this doesn't guarantee success in Congress.
3) Thus the president is the “chief lobbyist” as well as an agenda settler. Presidents spend considerable time working to get legislation passed in the form they want it in
A) He might:
I) use the media to draw attention to his legislative program
II) Remind his legislators of his high public approval
III) Make use of a partisan majority if his party controls the congress
IV) The president has a legislative liaison staff to help him with lobbying legislators
B) The white house will also work directly with interest groups to try to get them to activate members and to get their Washington DC representative to lobby congress directly
4) Part of the president’s job is to lead his party
A) Because parties are relatively weak in the US this is an informal duty (not specified in the constitution) with no prescribed tasks
B) the president has become “fundraiser in chief” for his party, largely because it is in his best interest to have more members of his party in congress
The president as a world leader
1) For nearly forty years the president’s priorities as world leader was to contain communism
2) American presidents are now entering a new era in which there is more emphasis n managing economic relations with the rest of the world
A) Trade relations are particularly important yet incredibly complex
B) The case of designing china as normal trading partner reveals the difficulty president face in balancing specific domestic interests the national interest as a whole and, international interests
3) Periodically the president faces a grave situation in which conflict is imminent or a small conflict threatens to explode into a larger war
A) How a president handles such crisis can be critical to the success of the presidency. He must exercise good judgment
B) It is different to go beyond rather general advice in trying to design an ideal procedure for handling crisis. Almost by definition each crisis is a unique event
Presidential character
1) A president’s actions in office reflects something more than his political views. They also reflect the inner forces that give rise to his basic character.
2) Personality characteristics clearly have an important effect on the president success or failure in office. However, character is only one of a hundred of factors that go into making a successful president.