Bureaucracy

Question 1

What is the Federal Bureaucracy?

Answer 1

agencies and employees of the executive branch.

Question 2

Who appoints new judges ? Who approves ?

Answer 2

The president; senate

Question 3

What are bureaucrats ?

Answer 3

agents that work in gov but not elected nor a judge

Question 4

Bureaucrats are agents to ___ principals. Which ?

Answer 4

2 principals : Congress and president

Question 5

What are the 3 types of executive branch agencies ? (from least to most independent)

Answer 5

• cabinet department
• independent agency (President and Congress oversee independent agencies, but laws limit the president’s power to remove agency heads)
• gov corporation

Question 6

Purpose of bureaucrats ? How ?

Answer 6

Solve coordination problems (coordinate on how to respond to emergencies, assess damage, and aid affected areas) and prisoner’s dilemmas (enforce regulatory agencies)

Question 7

What are the 2 problems w/ principals and agents ?

Answer 7

1. agencies tend to drift from defined mission
2. conflicting motivations b/w the two

Question 8

What are some Federal-level responsibilities?

Answer 8

war, border protection, market regulation, Social Security, currency control, interest rates, loans, science, research, national parks, criminal investigation, prisons, education, law enforcement, and more.

Question 9

What are the 2 types of drift ?

Answer 9

1. Bureaucratic drift: agents depart from mandates given to they by principals in order to follow they own ideological preferences
2. Coalitional drift: principals change their policy preferences but agents stay the same (eventually adjust)

Question 10

What is bureaucratic capture ?

Answer 10

when agencies care more about the industries (interest groups) than the principals they work for

Question 11

Negatives of having bureaucrats ?

Answer 11

• drift
• bureaucratic capture
• corruption and irresponsible spending
• monitoring challenges (too much)

Question 12

Positives of having bureaucrats ?

Answer 12

• mobilize constituents to pressure congress indirectly
• policy making
• political actors (act as politicians to bring policy change)
• street-level bureaucrats (directly involved in implementing policy)

Question 13

Evolution of executive bur ?

Answer 13

1780s: policies administered by a few agencies in Continental Congress, led by a secretary
1789: added 3 executive agencies– the State, Treasury, and War Departments

Question 14

Bureaucracy growth is linked to what ?

Answer 14

• linked to increasing nationalization and presidential power
• and spikes w/ reform and new programs (war, deals, eras)

Question 15

What is the Spoils System ? What is patronage ?

Answer 15

Jackson: to the victorious party go the spoils
- awarded supporters w/ jons in bur. –> congress then professionalized the bur.

Question 16

What was the Pendleton Act of 1883 ?

Answer 16

ended the spoils system and initiated the civil servant system and protected jobs from patronage (individuals can’t be fired for political reasons)

Question 17

What did Ronald Reagan’s bur aim to do ?

Answer 17

shrink bur. (OVER TIME, worked to become stable)

Question 18

What happened to more than half of federal agencies created between 1947 and 1998 ?

Answer 18

abolished or merged

Question 19

How to reduce the bureaucracy?

Answer 19

to privatize government functions and rely on market principles.

Question 20

Critics argue that private companies prioritize ____ over the ____ and lack ______ compared to government agencies.

Answer 20

profits over the public good and lack accountability

Question 20

What are the forms of privatization?

Answer 20

contracts, grants, volunteers, sale of assets

Question 21

The executive branch bureaucracy is influenced directly ? through what ?

Answer 21

Congress and the president through appointments and budgeting

Question 22

What is incremental budgeting ?

Answer 22

base for what they’re given the next year

Question 23

How do appointments work ?

Answer 23

President appoint, Senate confirms

Question 24

It's more difficult to get appointments through under what type of gov ?

Answer 24

under a divided gov

Question 25

What are the 2 types of oversight ?

Answer 25

1. fire-alarm: interest groups and agents inform representatives of unwarranted action 2. police-patrol: actively monitoring agencies through routine inspection. (minimize agency loss)

Question 26

What is the Administrative Procedures Act for fire-alarm oversight ? Freedom of Information Act ? Sunshine Act ?

Answer 26

- established guidelines - requires disclosure of info - requires open meetings

Question 27

What court decision mandated whether bur. play a smaller or larger role in public policy (2) ?

Answer 27

1. Massachussets v. EPA (allowed regulation of greenhouse gases 2. Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (bur can interpret unclear laws)

Question 28

Which oversight is better for Congress ?

Answer 28

Fire-alarm

Question 29

Interest groups ___ bur. agencies

Answer 29

lobby

Question 30

What is the iron triangle ?

Answer 30

relationship b/w special interest groups, bur, and congressional committees (look up)

Question 31

In parliamentary democracies, the agency is only responsible for ______.

Answer 31

parliament

Question 32

The bur is accountable (gotta explain and justify actions) to who ?

Answer 32

elected officials to ensure they doing what they supposed to

Question 33

What are the 2 visions for loyalty vs competence ?

Answer 33

1. progressive vision: fair, impartial and competent bur. 2. democratic vision: bur responsive to the wishes of politicians elected by the people

Question 34

What did McCubins talk about ?

Answer 34

- police patrol: reading docs, commissioning, scientific studies etc - fire alarm: system of rules, procedures, and practices that enable citizens to examine administrative decisions to charge executive official w/ violations and seek remedies - Congress prefers fire-alarm oversight

Question 35

What did Napolin talk about ?

Answer 35

- during non-pandemic periods: funding from executive branch bur tends to go more to places they prefer - during pandemic periods: no presidential co-partisan advantage

Question 36

In the last twenty years, national government has been under pressure to privatize, which refers to ______, and marketize, which means ____. A. Hiring private-sector agents to implement programs, applying market principles when implementing politics. B. Relying on government volunteers to fund and conduct government-sanctioned work; hiring private sector agents to implement policies C. Using the free market to access the value of government assets; applying market principles when implementing policies. D. Applying market principles when implementing policies, hiring private-sector agents to implement policies. E. Hiring private-sector agents to implement programs; using the free market to access the value of government assets.

Answer 36

A. Hiring private-sector agents to implement programs, applying market principles when implementing politics.

Question 37

In cases of bureaucratic capture, who is doing the capturing? A. A political party, which gains a political advantage by staffing agencies with bureaucracies who will adhere to their preferences. B. A powerful individual who is able to sway bureaucrats through bribes or other incentives C. State governments, who gain autonomy by convincing agencies to prioritize state over federal policies D. Nongovernmental organizations or industries, who gain favorable regulation when agencies are more beholden to them than to principals. E. Nongovernmental organizations or industries, who gain policy access by taking over the work of bureaucratic agents.

Answer 37

D. Nongovernmental organizations or industries, who gain favorable regulation when agencies are more beholden to them than to principals.

Question 38

What is the principal advantage of fire-alarm oversight over police-patrol oversight? A. Relatively low costs for Congress to monitor agencies B. Increased contact between Congress and agencies C. Minimized reliance on interest groups and citizens D. Greater contact between Congress and the presidency E. Reduced risk of coalition drift.

Answer 38

A. Relatively low costs for Congress to monitor agencies