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Bureaucracy Flashcards

1
Q

What is the Federal Bureaucracy?

A

agencies and employees of the executive branch.

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2
Q

Who appoints new judges ? Who approves ?

A

The president; senate

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3
Q

What are bureaucrats ?

A

agents that work in gov but not elected nor a judge

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4
Q

Bureaucrats are agents to ___ principals. Which ?

A

2 principals : Congress and president

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5
Q

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

A
  • cabinet department
  • independent agency (President and Congress oversee independent agencies, but laws limit the president’s power to remove agency heads)
  • gov corporation
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6
Q

Purpose of bureaucrats ? How ?

A

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

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7
Q

What are the 2 problems w/ principals and agents ?

A
  1. agencies tend to drift from defined mission
  2. conflicting motivations b/w the two
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8
Q

What are some Federal-level responsibilities?

A

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

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9
Q

What are the 2 types of drift ?

A
  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)
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10
Q

What is bureaucratic capture ?

A

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

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11
Q

Negatives of having bureaucrats ?

A
  • drift
  • bureaucratic capture
  • corruption and irresponsible spending
  • monitoring challenges (too much)
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12
Q

Positives of having bureaucrats ?

A
  • 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)
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13
Q

Evolution of executive bur ?

A

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

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14
Q

Bureaucracy growth is linked to what ?

A
  • linked to increasing nationalization and presidential power
  • and spikes w/ reform and new programs (war, deals, eras)
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15
Q

What is the Spoils System ? What is patronage ?

A

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

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16
Q

What was the Pendleton Act of 1883 ?

A

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

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17
Q

What did Ronald Reagan’s bur aim to do ?

A

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

18
Q

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

A

abolished or merged

19
Q

How to reduce the bureaucracy?

A

to privatize government functions and rely on market principles.

20
Q

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

A

profits over the public good and lack accountability

20
Q

What are the forms of privatization?

A

contracts, grants, volunteers, sale of assets

21
Q

The executive branch bureaucracy is influenced directly ? through what ?

A

Congress and the president through appointments and budgeting

22
Q

What is incremental budgeting ?

A

base for what they’re given the next year

23
Q

How do appointments work ?

A

President appoint, Senate confirms

24
Q

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

A

under a divided gov

25
Q

What are the 2 types of oversight ?

A
  1. fire-alarm: interest groups and agents inform representatives of unwarranted action
  2. police-patrol: actively monitoring agencies through routine inspection. (minimize agency loss)
26
Q

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

A
  • established guidelines
  • requires disclosure of info
  • requires open meetings
27
Q

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

A
  1. Massachussets v. EPA (allowed regulation of greenhouse gases
  2. Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (bur can interpret unclear laws)
28
Q

Which oversight is better for Congress ?

A

Fire-alarm

29
Q

Interest groups ___ bur. agencies

A

lobby

30
Q

What is the iron triangle ?

A

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

31
Q

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

A

parliament

32
Q

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

A

elected officials to ensure they doing what they supposed to

33
Q

What are the 2 visions for loyalty vs competence ?

A
  1. progressive vision: fair, impartial and competent bur.
  2. democratic vision: bur responsive to the wishes of politicians elected by the people
34
Q

What did McCubins talk about ?

A
  • 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
35
Q

What did Napolin talk about ?

A
  • 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
36
Q

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.

A

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

37
Q

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.

A

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

38
Q

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.

A

A. Relatively low costs for Congress to monitor agencies

39
Q
A

GOV (12 decks)

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