By Loren Miller

“The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency.”

Eugene McCarthy

U.S. Senator, 1959-1971

BUREAUCRACY& BUREAUCRATS

A political science professor was once asked: “How many bureaucrats does it take to screw in a light bulb? She replied, “Seventeen: 3 to authorize purchase of the light bulb (at twice the price), 5 to inspect the light bulb, and 8 to turn the chair while I hold the bulb in place.”

“When something is run by the government,it is usually inefficient and wasteful.”

(%)

BUREAUCRACY& BUREAUCRATS

What is a bureaucracy?

-- a form of organization

What is a bureaucrat?

-- an employee of an organization

WHAT DO BUREAUCRATS DO?

• they communicate with each other

• they keep copies of all those communications to maintain a paper trail

WHAT DOBUREAUCRATS DO?

• Implementation– implement the objectives of the

organization as laid down by its board of directors (if a private company) or by law (if a public agency)

WHAT DOBUREAUCRATS DO?

• Interpretation• when Congress is clear in their

instructions to bureaucrats, implementation is a fairly straight-forward process

• when there is disagreement as to what the instructions ought to be, then bureaucrats perform another job, interpretation

WHAT DOBUREAUCRATS DO?

• Lawmaking• when bureaucrats have to interpret a law

before implementing it, they are, in effect, engaged in lawmaking

• Congress often deliberately delegates to an administrative agency the responsibility of lawmaking

The Federal Bureaucracy

“LAWS” OF BUREAUCRATIC BEHAVIOR

Acheson’s Rule: A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer

Boren’s Laws: When in doubt, mumble. When in trouble, delegate. When in charge, ponder

Meskimen’s Law: There’s never time to do it right, but always time to do it over

Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will O’Toole’s Corollary to Murphy’s Law: Murphy was an

optimist Peter Principle: In every hierarchy, each employee

tends to rise to his level of incompetence; thus, every post tends to be filled by an incompetent employee

HOW TO BECOMEA BUREAUCRAT

• Pre 1883

• to the victor go the spoils (partisan)

• people who supported the winning party obtained government jobs

• Post 1883 The Pendleton Act

• a system of competitive exams would be used as the basis for employment

• the merit system or civil service system

HOW TO FIRE A BUREAUCRAT

30 days written notice that must contain a statement of reasons—including specific examples—of unacceptable performance

Employee has the right to an attorney and to reply to the charges

Employee has the right to appeal any adverse action to the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB)

The MSPB must grant the employee a hearing, at which the employee has the right to have an attorney present

The employee has the right to appeal the MSPB decision to a U.S. court of appeals, which can hold new hearings

Civilian Employment

• Total Number of Employees:• 2,800,000• 124,000 in Texas (only California has

more)

• Total Number of Merit System Employees:• 2,797,000

2011

THE GROWING FEDERALBUREAUCRACY?

CAN THE BUREAUCRACY BE REDUCED?

Termination– The only certain way to reduce the size of the bureaucracy is

to eliminate programs.

Devolution– Downsize the size of the bureaucracy by delegating the

implementation of programs to state and local governments.

Privatization– A formerly public activity is picked up under contract by a

private company or companies. They are still government programs as they are paid for by government and supervised by government.

Privatization

# of Contracts for Providing Services

Spending on Federal Contracts(Billions of Dollars)

Contracts Subject to Full and Open Competition

(%)

Privatization

On Lobbying

Spending by Top Twenty Service Contractors

(Millions of Dollars)

BUREAUCRATS AT WORK

Civilian Employees, 2012

GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES AS PERCENTAGE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

2011

PERCENTAGE EMPLOYED BY GOVERNMENT

2010

OVERTAXED??

2010

Tax Burden as % of GDP

OVERTAXED??

2008

Income Tax Rates Imposed on Their Citizens

OVERTAXED??

2010

State Taxation

1. TX 3.51 11.NV 4.88 21. IN 5.66 31.CT 6.05 41. ID 6.79

2. SD 3.57 12.VA 4.94 22.WA 5.70 32.WI 6.20 42.NM 6.92

3. NH 3.76 13.OR 4.89 23.MD 5.71 33.ND 6.25 43.MN 7.04

4. CO 3.90 14. IA 4.98 24.NY 5.72 34.MI 6.28 44.MS 7.30

5. TN 4.63 15.AZ 5.04 25. SC 5.73 35.NJ 6.31 45.ME 7.46

6. MO 4.67 16.NE 5.07 26.PA 5.78 36.CA 6.37 46.AK 7.67

7. DE 4.72 17.LA 5.24 27.NC 5.79 37.WY 6.42 47.AR 7.77

8. GA 4.76 18.OH 5.36 28.MA 5.87 38.KY 6.51 48.WV 8.04

9. IL 4.78 19.AL 5.39 29.KS 5.89 39.OK 6.53 49.HI 8.21

10.FL 4.82 20.UT 5.58 30.RI 5.92 40. MT 6.77 50. VT 10.39

INCOME INEQUALITYShare of National Income Received by Each Fifth of

Families (%)

2010

Year Poorest 5th Second 5th Third 5th Fourth 5th Wealthiest 5th

1980 5.3 11.6 17.6 24.4 41.4

1985 4.8 11.0 16.9 24.3 43.1

1990 4.6 10.8 16.6 23.8 44.3

1995 4.4 10.1 15.6 23.2 46.5

2000 4.3 9.8 15.5 22.8 47.4

2009 3.4 8.6 14.6 23.2 50.3

DEBT??

2010

Debt as a percentage of that country’s Gross Domestic Product

NUMBER OF GOVERNMENTS

2012

Federal Government 1

State Governments 50

Local Governments

Counties 3,033

Municipalities & Townships 36,011 Special Districts 37,381

School Districts 13,051

TOTAL 89,527

EMPLOYMENT

Number in Millions2012Employment in Texas

Who Employs the Public Servants?

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

National Defense

Postal Service

Elementary/Secondary Ed

Hospitals

Higher Ed

Police

Fire

Streets/Highways

NationalStateLocal

2006

State Employment

2007Per 10,000 population

Texas Prison Population

2009

FEDERAL CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT

2007Total Employed: 2,738,589

2012

Characteristics of Federal Civilian Employees

2007

Characteristics of Federal Civilian Employees

2007

(%)

% WOMEN & MINORITIES APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT TO EXECUTIVE BRANCH

4

4

6

17

12

20

45

36

0 10 20 30 40 50

Johnson

Nixon

Ford

Carter

Reagan

Bush

Clinton

Bush

THE CORPORATE WORLD

Chief Executive Officer

The President

THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF

THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF

Chief of Staff – supervises other staff members and organizing much of what the president does (the president’s gatekeeper)

National Security Advisor – head of the National Security Council; meets with the president every day to brief him on events that might affect national security

The exact shape of the White House Staff changes greatly from president to president

THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF

Domestic Policy Council

National Economic Council

Office of Cabinet Affairs

Office of Communications

Office of Digital Strategy

Office of the First Lady

Office of Legislative Affairs

Office of Management and Administration

Office of Presidential Personnel

Office of Scheduling and Advance

Office of the Staff Secretary

Office of the White House Council

Oval Office Administration

Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs

2013

THE EOP

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed a committee on administrative management which then recommended a major reorganization of the executive branch.

-- Congress created the Executive Office of the President to provide staff assistance

The EOP

The President

Council ofEconomic Advisors

Council onEnvironmental

Quality

Office ofAdministration

Office of Management And Budget

White HouseOffice

Office of ScienceAnd

Technology Policy

Office of theVice President

Office of NationalDrug Control Policy

2013

Established in 1939

National SecurityStaff

THE EOP

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – advises the president on how much the administration should propose to spend for each government program and where the money will come from

Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) – advises the president on economic policy

National Security Staff – a body of leading officials from the Departments of State and Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the military who advise the president on foreign affairs

THE CABINET

Because neither the Constitution nor law requires the president to consult with the cabinet, its use is purely discretionary.

-- Eisenhower used the team approach solving problems from his experience in World War II, so he frequently turned to his cabinet for advice

-- Lincoln, after a cabinet meeting in which a vote was seven nays (all members of his cabinet) and one aye (Lincoln), he supposedly said “seven nays, and one aye, the ayes have it”.

THE CABINET

The Original Departments (1789) Defense Treasury Justice State

Nineteenth Century Additions Interior (1849) Agriculture (1889)

Progressive Era Additions Commerce (1903) Labor (1913)

THE CABINET

Eisenhower Era Addition

Health and Human Services (1953)

Great Society Additions Housing & Urban Development (1965)

Transportation (1966)

Carter and Bush Era Additions Energy (1977) Education (1979)

Veterans Affairs (1989)

THE CABINET

Public Safety Addition (G.W. Bush)

Homeland Security (2002)

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES

• Created by Congress and given broad authority to regulate a particular area of the nation’s economy

• commissioners are nominated by the president with advice and consent of the Senate

• perform legislative, executive and judicial functions

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES

• Federal Reserve System – determine policy on interest rates, credit availability, and the money supply

• Security and Exchange Commission – regulates the nation’s stock exchanges

• Federal Communications Commission – regulates communication by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – works to eliminate discrimination and examines claims of discrimination

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission – regularly inspects nuclear reactors for safety

CLIENTELE AGENCIES

• They are directed by law to foster and promote the interests of a particular group or segment of American society• Veterans Administration

• The “Iron Triangle” recognizes the role of the bureaucracy in shaping legislation.

THE IRON TRIANGLE

Bureaucracy

Department of Veterans Affairs

Congressional Committees

House Committee on Veterans Affairs

Interest Groups

American Legion, Veterans of Foreign War

Info about veteran’s needs

Legislation affecting veteran’s benefits

Approve higher budget

requests

Informatio

n

Help with

consti

tuent

complaints

Rulings on veteran’s issues

Information about

veterans

Support for agencies

budget request

Campaign Contributions

ISSUE NETWORKS

• With the increase in the number of interest groups, and the decline in the power of individual members of Congress, the “iron triangle” may be outdated.

• The use of the internet and advertising campaigns have brought out into the open what once was decided behind closed doors.

GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS

• Useful when the government is providing a service that can best be run by a corporation that is free from excessive interference by the President and Congress but still subject to general policies established by Congress

• usually formed because corporations cannot make a profit

GOVERNMENT CORPORATIONS

• Tennessee Valley Authority

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

• National Railroad Passenger Corporation

• U.S. Postal Service