Chapter Nine:

The Bureaucracy (pg 313-341)

 

 

What is a Bureaucracy:  Weber

            Power from the top to the bottom;  power flows down

            Division of Labor;  Specialized workers

            Clear Lines of Authority

            Goal Orientation

            Impersonal

            Measured Productivity

 

How to manage a Bureaucracy:  Wilson

            Measuring inputs (workers duties)

            Measuring outputs (goal oriented)

            Four types of bureaucracies

 

The Original Government

The defense department (Department of war)

The postal system

Others

            The Spoils System

 

The Growth from the Civil War

Army, pensions

Agriculture

            The Merit System and the Civil Service

            Independent Regulatory Agencies (railroads, Air, etc)

            Department of Commerce and Labor (1903/1913)

           

Twentieth Century Growth

            Sixteenth Amendment (Income Tax)

            Growth of Regulation

 

The Great Depression

            Regulation of Economy

            Make-work programs

            WWII

 

The Increase in Regulations and Regulators

            The GI Bill

            The Department of Veteran’s Affairs

            Mortgages (Freddie Mac; Fannie May)

 

Workers and Politics

            Government Non-Interference in Workers Lives

            Workers May not use Govt. Jobs for Partisan Purposes

 

Who Are the Bureaucrats?

            1.8 million

            Plus postal service (800,000);  Military 1.8 million

            Judiciary 35,000 and Congress 30,000

            15,000 job classifications

Risk vs. Reward

 

Comparing Government to private Sector

            Post Office

            Fedex

            UPS

 

How is it Organized  (pg. 328)

            Cabinet Agencies

            Independent Executive Agencies (NASA)

            Government Corporations (Post Office)

            Independent Regulatory Agencies (SEC)

 

How they Work:  Who is the Boss?

            President

            Congress (subcommittees)

            Voters

            Clients

            Interest Groups

 

            Model One:  the Iron Triangle

            Department of Veteran Affairs

            Model Two:  Issue Networks

            EPA

 

Making Policy

            Action 

Regulations

            “Title IX”

            Wilson:  Matrix of Measured Bureaucracies

                        Measured Inputs;  Measured outputs

 

Accountability

            Accountable to who?  The Public Interest?

            The president

                        Nominal Head of most Bureaucracies

                        Executive Orders

            The Congress

                        Police Control and Fire Alarm Control

                        Appointment Approval;  Power of Purse

            The Courts