Enquiry Question: Is the Federal Bureaucracy out of control?

Aims of this booklet:

• To identify and explain the functions of the federal bureaucracy
• To examine problems commonly identified with the federal bureaucracy
• To examine the checks on the power of the federal bureaucracy

The Federal Bureaucracy

Constitutional Basis for Bureaucratic Authority

Congress has the constitutional authority to create agencies, fund them and charge them with administrative responsibilities.

Find the appropriate quote to illustrate this power in Article 1 Section 8.

The President has the authority to direct agencies and select their leaders (although Congress can impeach and convict these leaders in cases of maladministration).

Find the appropriate quote to illustrate this power in Article 2 Section 1, Article 2 Section 2 and Article 2 Section 4.

The judiciary has the authority to adjudicate claims against agencies.

Find the appropriate quote to illustrate this power in Article 3 Section 2.

Functions of the Federal Bureaucracy

Executing Laws

• The Constitution requires in Article 2, Section 2 that the executive branch must ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’.
• The federal bureaucracy implements laws passed by Congress and signed by the president; the Post Office delivers the mail, the Internal Revenue Service collects taxes, the Transportation Safety Administration inspects baggage at airports.
• Find an additional example to illustrate this role of the federal bureaucracy.

Creating rules

• Because laws are normally vague (by accident or design), the bureaucracy is required also to write specific rules that guide how the laws will be executed.
• Congress is often reluctant to be specific as it lacks the information and expertise to be precise in legislation.
• Find an additional example to illustrate this role of the federal bureaucracy.

Ajudication

• The federal bureaucracy is occupied in addressing many complex and controversial issues.
• Inevitably disputes arise between parties subject to bureaucratic regulations.
• When settling these, agencies are required by law to act as if they were judicial bodies.
• Find an additional example to illustrate this role of the federal bureaucracy.

Components of the Federal Bureaucracy

Departments

In 2002, there existed 14 Cabinet Departments, employing about 60% of the federal workforce and accounting for most federal spending. Each Department is headed by a Secretary, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate (except the Department of Justice, which is directed by the Attorney General). The Secretary is tasked with establishing the Department’s policies and administering its operation, consistent with congressional directives and presidential goals. Departments vary substantially in size and funding. The largest in terms of staff is the Department of Defense, which employs approximately 800,000 civilian Americans (about one half of the entire federal civilian workforce) as well as approximately 1.4 million uniformed military personnel. The Department of Health and Human Services is the largest in terms of funding, accounting for approximately 40% of all federal spending (mainly through the Social Security and Medicare programmes, which respectively provide pensions and medical services to the elderly). At the other end of the spectrum, the Department of Education employs about 5,000 civil servants and has a budget of about $42billion.

Independent Regulatory Commissions

Although only 14 Departments exist, dozens of independent agencies and commissions operate within the bureaucracy created by Congress. Each has responsibility for regulating particular sectors of the economy (the Securities and Exchange Commission and securities markets or the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceuticals) or certain policy arenas (for example, the Federal Reserve Board and monetary policy). The commissions are granted authority by Congress to make, enforce and adjudicate rules. They are usually headed by a board of directors (or ‘commission’) rather than a single director, although the commission’s chairman generally is the pre-eminent member. The Federal Reserve Board has extensive influence on economic policy through its power to set interest rates. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) has developed extensive guidelines to combat sexual and racial discrimination in employment. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates broadcasting policy and determines national standards, while the Federal Election Committee (FEC) monitors and regulates the conduct of American federal elections.

Independent Executive Agencies

Resembling Cabinet Departments, independent executive agencies conventionally have narrower responsibilities. Like Departments, these agencies are led by a single director, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, who serves at the pleasure of the President. The heads of these agencies report directly to the president, rather than to a Departmental Secretary.

Government-sponsored Corporations

Beginning in 1930s, Congress has established corporations to perform functions that might otherwise have been done by private firms (but, in the eyes of Congress, were not being don appropriately or at all). Examples include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (which insures savings deposits in commercial banks) and Amtrak (which operates most of America’s passenger trains). The largest is the US Postal Service.

Overview of the Growth of the Federal Bureaucracy

The massive growth in the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy is one of the most important departments in American politics. When the first government was established under the new Constitution in 1789, President George Washington’s Cabinet comprised just 3 departments (State, Treasury and War) and an attorney general. With the post office, these made up the entire federal executive branch. But with the establishment of a wide range of federal welfare, social security, urban and education policies, a massive growth in the federal government’s regulatory role, and the growth of America’s global power, the federal bureaucracy was transformed in size and scope. By 2002, although the number of federal government departments had increased to 14, dozens of independent agencies, commissions and government sponsored corporations co-existed with them, responsible for the implementation of more than 1,400 federal government programmes. Ironically, when Bill Clinton declared in his 1996 State of the Union address that the ‘era of big government is over’, the 14 government departments alone employed almost 1.8million staff.

Department	Number of civilian employees
Agriculture	113,321
Commerce	38,803
Defense	830,738
Education	4,988
Energy	19,589
Health and Human Services	59,788
Housing and Urban Development	11,822
Interior	76,439
Justice	103,262
Labor	16,204
State	24,869
Transportation	63,552
Treasury	155,951
Veterans’ Affairs	263,904
Total	1,781,230

Source: US Bureau of the Census (1996) 1

However, the ‘real’ size of the federal bureaucracy is even larger than this when indirect as well as direct sources are taken into account. Political pressure sand the populist appeal of the anti-government messages since the mid-1960s have encouraged American politicians to claim that they have curbed the increase in government. (Some republicans even suggest that the phrase “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” is a contradiction). But while some activities formerly in the public sector have been delegated to private contractors, in many instances, the ultimate source of payment or employment is the federal government in Washington DC (but with offices, such as the one in Oklahoma City bombed by Timothy McVeigh in 1995, throughout the states). From research institutions receiving federal grants to conduct research on science or health matters to janitors who clean federal buildings, the federal government contracts out numerous activities to a myriad of institutions and individuals. More people work for the federal government in today’s America than for any other single organisation and the bureaucracy affects literally all aspects of American life.

That this should be the case is not surprising. All industrialised democracies employ bureaucracies to perform government’s key functions: implementing laws, collecting taxes and providing for public safety and national security. As the responsibilities of governments in industrialised nations have increased, ore and more programmes have developed that require administration and implementation. For all the populist anti-government rhetoric that exists, America has not been immune from this phenomenon. For political reasons (not least to exploit traditional anti-government sentiment that increased sharply from the late 1960s through to the 1990s), federal lawmakers and the president typically claim that they are restraining the growth of government or even reducing it, but Congress and the president simultaneously require the government to accomplish many important and diverse tasks. Ironically, then, the federal bureaucracy has been simultaneously shrinking in size but expanding in scope.

A more detailed history

The federal bureaucracy has developed incrementally (that is without a grand design) since 1789 as American society’s needs and priorities continually evolved and the global role and responsibilities of the United States increased. In broad terms, however, four important stages of expansion can be identified.

Phase One: 1787-1863

Following the ratification of the US Constitution, Congress created the first federal government departments: the Department of War, the State Department (to deal with diplomacy and foreign policy), and the Treasury (to regulate the nation’s finances). The first Congress also acknowledge that for an effective presidency to occur, the officials appointed to government departments should be appointed by the president, not Congress. Up to the time of the Civil War, virtually all federal government workers were located in the Post Office, delivering mail.

Phase Two: 1863-1932

The size, scope and responsibilities of the federal government were transformed by the Civil War. A substantial growth in the federal bureaucracy occurred simply with the increase in solders that took place to fight the war. To ensure a reliable supply of food (and to assuage disgruntled farmers), Congress created the Department of Agriculture in 1862. In 1863 the National Currency At and in 1864 the National Bank Act were passed, establishing a Comptroller of the Currency with the power to charter and supervise banks. In 1866, the Pension Office was set up to pay benefits to Americans who had served in the Northern armies. In 1870, the Department for Justice was established. In the later 19^th century, the combination of a rapidly growing national economy, the development of large business corporations, and the pressure from popular and progressive reformers encouraged Congress to establish several new departments. In 1887, the interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was established to regulate disorderly competition between railroad companies. In 1903 the Department of Labor and Commerce were founded (split into separate departments in 1913). In 1913 Congress established the Federal Trade Commission to insulate small businesses from unfair competition and the Federal Reserve System to regulate banks, set interest rates and control the money supply.

Phase Three: 1932-1952

The Depression of the 1930s and the heavy demands of the Second World War (1939-45) caused the federal government to expand substantially in size, scope and complexity. FDR’s ‘New Deal’ set up large numbers of agencies to provide jobs and economic support (such as the Tennessee Valley Authority), many of which remain in existence today (such as the Securities and Exchange Commission that regulates the stock market)). Most of the vast increase in federal employment took place during this stage. Bowles (1998: 258) notes that whereas in 1933 there was one civil servant for every 280 Americans by 1953 there was one for every 80.

Phase Four: 1952-2003

As post-war America evolved, a far-reaching set of bureaucratic reforms were ushered in because of growing public pressures on federal lawmakers to deal with problems ranging from city decay to industrial pollution. In 1953, the Department for Health, Education and Welfare was created, taking on board policy areas that had previously been left to state and local governments. This was later split into the Department for Health and Human Services and Department of Education in 1979. As part of Lyndon B Johnson’s ‘Great Society’ programme, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (1965) and Department of Transportation (1966) were created. The expansion continued under President Nixon with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (1970), the Environmental Protection Agency (1970), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (1972), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1974). The Department of Energy was created in 1977, as was the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Problems with the Federal Bureaucracy

Clientelism – Agencies tend to serve the interests of those who they are supposed to oversee, protecting them at the expense of the broader public interest.

Imperialism – Agencies invariably seek to expand their powers and responsibilities at the expense of other agencies and programmes, notwithstanding the issue of how public needs are best met.

Parochialism – Bureaucracies tend to focus narrowly on their own goals rather than the ‘big picture’ of government or the national interest as a whole.

Incrementalism – Most bureaucratic agencies are not renowned for creative or imaginative operations, instead acting slowly and cautiously and generally resisting major changes.

Arbitrariness – In applying abstract rules to concrete cases, agencies often ignore the particular concerns or specific merits of those affected by the rules.

Waste – Given their size and routinized procedures, bureaucracies tend to use resources less efficiently than private sector organization.

BUT…

• Beyond these, American politicians from across the spectrum often charge the bureaucracy not simply with inefficiency or subversion of policy, but also with explicit political bias.
• But whether the federal bureaucracy has a clear partisan bias is highly contentious.
• There exist at least 3 reasons to doubt whether bureaucratic obstructionism, when it occurs, derives from overt partisan or ideological motivations.

Representativeness

Most political scientists concur that bureaucrats’ political views tend, on the whole, to mirror those of the American public more broadly. Americans currently, are fairly evenly divided in their partisan loyalties and views between Republicans and Democrats.

Respect for domestic values

Federal bureaucrats tend to vest both their own neutrality and domestic values more broadly with great significance. If their elected leaders are Republicans, they will pursue the goals that the Republicans establish; if their elected superiors are Democrats, they act accordingly. (This is complicated, of course, in conditions of divided party control of the federal government, when one party controls the White House and the other party maintains a majority in one or both Houses of Congress.)

Professionalism

Many federal bureaucrats are well-educated specialists in technical and managerial positions, ‘white collar’ professionals who take their responsibilities seriously, as engineers, lawyers, economists, technicians or analysts, rather than partisans. Whether the incumbent in the White House is Democratic or Republican, most bureaucrats received – readily – advice and guidance from elected officials and act in ways consistent with their professional training.

How does Congress check the federal bureaucracy?

[Reading and note taking The Role of Congress p246-247]

[Type your notes here…]

Political Analysis

1. How large and geographically dispersed is the federal bureaucracy?
   [Type your answer here…]
2. How many executive departments are there? List those that have been created since 1950.
   [Type your answer here…]
3. What are the main reasons for the growth of the federal bureaucracy?
   [Type your answer here…]
4. What are the 3 main functions of the federal bureaucracy?
   [Type your answer here…]
5. Explain how federal civil servants are recruited.
   [Type your answer here…]
6. What are the main problems associated with the federal bureaucracy?
   [Type your answer here…]
7. How can Congress check the federal bureaucracy?
   [Type your answer here…]
8. How successful have recent presidents been in controlling and reforming the federal bureaucracy?
   [Type your answer here…]