The Bureaucracy Study Questions 1. Describe the chief characteristics of the bureaucracy.

. Bureaucracy is characterized by its standard operating procedures, its bipartisan qualities, its predictability, and its stability. Most Americans think of red tape when they think of bureaucracy, causing many citizens to criticize it as unimaginative and overregulated. 2. What is meant by the term, red tape? Red tape is the inevitable but seemingly pointless rules and regulations of bureaucracy. While citizens bemoan the way it draws out simple processes, in reality red tape helps hold public servants accountable and forces them to act impartially. 3. How many departments are there? There are currently fifteen departments, as the Department of Homeland Security was created in response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. 4. How did the bureaucracy evolve? Originally, the country was run almost entirely by wealthy white men. However in 1829 Andrew Jackson introduced the spoils system, in which middle class and lower class citizens could earn higher-ranked jobs through their party loyalty and friends. This system continued up until 1881, when the merit system was created from the Pendleton Act. Employees were now to be selected based on their merit instead of loyalty. Today, the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board maintain this method, separately though so that neither one can become too biased. 5. What is a merit system? A merit system is a system in which possible federal employees are hired based on their experience, talent, and/or work ethic, as opposed to their connections and party loyalty. 6. What is the function of the Office of Personnel Management? The function of the OPM is to manage rules and regulations pertaining to civil service. 7. Who are the bureaucrats? The bureaucrats are the members of any and all government related agency or organization, primarily the approximately 2.7 million Americans of the executive branch. Unsurprisingly, they represent the United States better than Congress and its House of Representatives. 8. What do the bureaucrats do? Bureaucrats perform the general function of implementing policies. After Congress passes new bills, it is up to the bureaucrats to decide how strictly they will enforce these new acts. Iron triangles often play a major part in this process, for they want to ensure that the legislation they fought so hard for will be executed in a certain way. 9. How is the bureaucracy organized? Distinguish between the various types of organizations and groupings and give examples. Distinguish between formal and informal groupings. The bureaucracy is formally organized into different groupings. For example, a bureau is the largest subunit of a government department. A government corporation

allows for more action and flexibility, as it combines the best aspects of business corporations and government agencies. Independent agencies are still connected to the government, yet they are not a part of any of the three branches of government. An independent regulatory board is a type of independent agency with special regulatory power that is protected by Congress. While this formal organization is clearly laid out, there is also the informal organization of bureaucracy, which means the influence of officials can vary based on their experience, personality, sense of fairness, common sense, and/or their connections with other politicians. 10. Why are assistant secretaries a weak link? Assistant secretaries are a weak link of bureaucracy because their job is simply not popular or prestigious enough to offer any real power. Politicians who do fill this role only occupy it for an average of two years, so their employees can wait out their term to stall any major progress. The position of assistant secretary is also seen as a transition job, so whoever occupies it is usually distracted with trying to find their next step or meeting people with a higher ranking. 11. What is the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978? The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 created the Senior Executive Service, which is a pool of about 8,000 officials. The goal of the Service was to make senior career bureaucrats more loyal to the White House; because the spots can be filled without Senatorial confirmation, those employed do not need to feel responsive towards Congress. 12. What is the OMB? The OMB is the Office of Management of Budget. It is an extremely important presidential staff agency, as it approves all budgetary requests or suggested improvements for management. 13. Describe the hiring practices and regulations of the bureaucracy. What is the Office of Personnel Management? The Office of Personnel Management is a government agency, which is in charge of recruiting and appointing government workers, along with overseeing civil service rules and regulations. While they do the majority of bureaucratic hiring, they also assign individual agencies the task of hiring new personnel and reporting possible outside hires to the OPM for review and certification. 14. What is the Hatch Act? The Hatch Act also called the Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities was originally passed in 1939, then revised in 1993. At first, it prevented federal employees from actively participating in partisan politics so that they couldnt get fired on partisan grounds. However, President Clinton tweaked the requirements so that it now bars these employees from running for office in partisan elections, interfering with elections, or soliciting funds. It does allow them to register to vote and vote, assist with voter registration, express and share their political opinions, contribute money to a party or campaign, and join a political party, allowing them much more free reign than they had in 1939. 15. Are government employees unionized? Yes, beginning in 1962, federal civilian employees have been allowed to form unions for improving policies, and about a third of these bureaucratic employees have joined a union. However, government employee unions differ from labor unions in that

federal employees are not allowed to strike or bargain for pay and benefits, which ensures the standard operating procedures and stability that people expect to find in bureaucracy. 16. Why is hiring challenging? Hiring civil servants can be challenging because like assistant secretaries the pay is low and the work is not considered prestigious. When trying to recruit younger citizens, the OPM runs into the problem of a generation unwilling to settle into what they see as boring desk jobs just yet. Along with this, the nonexistent stock opportunities and constant criticism from the media are turnoffs for civil servant positions. 17. Describe reform efforts. Bureaucracy reform efforts have included getting rid of the almost 10,000 page Federal Personnel Manual which imposed countless restrictions on federal employees. There has also been a recent attempt to modernize the situation by updating a website alerting citizens to job opportunities and passing the Family Leave Act in attempts to make bureaucratic jobs more appealing. 18. What is the iron triangle? The iron triangle is a collaboration among interest groups, congressional subcommittees and committees, and government agencies. The interest groups lobby Congress to pass laws that aid their purpose, then lobby the agencies to get the laws implemented a certain way. 19. Describe the dilemma regarding the loyalty of a bureaucrat. Bureaucrats often have an extremely hard time deciding if they should be more loyal to the White House, Congress, or the people. Because the White House and Congress are the ones providing their job, they initially lean towards filling their job description and ignoring the people. However, the United States is a democracy of the people, therefore bureaucrats also must take into account the wishes of the nation for overall wellbeing of our country along with future implications ignoring the people may have. 20. How is the bureaucracy accountable to the President? To Congress? The American people? (Be specific) The bureaucracy is accountable to the President because it is the Presidents job to convert the constituents wishes into policy. As bureaucrats want to support the people, it seems easiest to support the President. However, being the federal executive does not mean the President is the only leader of the United States, which is where bureaucrats begin to change their minds. Yet to influence bureaucrats into being held accountable, Presidents can appoint personnel with similar mindsets, mobilize public opinion, and influence budget decisions. They are also accountable to Congress because Congress has the power if the purse and controls appropriation. This allows them to cut agencies funding if the bureaucrats dont perform their job the way Congress expects them to. Besides that power, Congress can also exercise bureaucrat control through creating, reorganizing, and terminating agencies, along with their Advice and Consent power. Lastly, the bureaucracy is also accountable to the American people because it is the people who elect the President and Congressmen; therefore it is the peoples wishes that everyone is trying to express. They say that elected officials come and go, but bureaucrats continue forever, and the truth in this statement shows how above all, the bureaucracy is accountable to the public.

21. Describe the publics thoughts on the bureaucracy. Overall, the public does not have a good opinion of the bureaucracy yet they appreciate the separate agencies and corporations as individuals, similar to the criticism of Congress. The main reason the American people feel this way is due to red tape, which they find to be annoying and unavoidable, yet is one of the main characteristics of bureaucracies. People also are led to believe that our large and complex government is less efficient than most, yet in reality it is the structure of our democracy that ensures our countrys success. 22. What is privatization? Deregulation? Privatization is a process in which government controlled agencies or offices are turned into private businesses, separate from the government. This helps increase competition in the market while lightening the publics mood towards bureaucracy momentarily. Deregulation is another aspect of bureaucratic reform, where the many federal regulations of economic activity pertaining to certain corporations will be stripped down, allowing for more privatization and therefore more competition and a better economy. 23. Why do Presidents like to reorganize the bureaucracy? Presidents like to reorganize the bureaucracy because it shows that they still have power, no matter what Congress does. It can be used to show their agenda through the tasks assigned to different agencies, for integrating a policy into a workplace, increasing the effectiveness of programs, and saving money by downgrading programs and/or further separating the responsibilities of various agencies. 24. Compare the bureaucracy to the Japanese bureaucracy. The bureaucracy in America is considered low in prestige, whereas in Japan working as a government official is seen as one of the highest raking jobs. Furthermore, in the United States we tend to find the President much more interesting and newsworthy than the bureaucracy, yet in Japan the prime minister takes second place to the various government agencies and corporations in the publics view. Lastly, in Japan it takes an immense amount of intelligence and ambition to earn a spot in the bureaucracy, as opposed to America, where the OPM helps bring in a diverse group of individuals.