Bureaucracy

Size and Scope

The Milk Carton Exercise

Structure of the Executive Branch

Presidency– President– White House Staff– Executive Office of the President

Cabinet Departments Independent Executive Agencies

Cabinet Departments

Agriculture Commerce Defense Education Energy Health and Human

Services Homeland Security

Housing and Urban Development

Interior Justice Labor State Transportation Treasury Veterans’ Affairs

Independent Executive Agencies

Examples– NASA– CIA– Veterans’ Affairs started here . . .

Other Bureaucratic Agencies

Independent Regulatory Commissions– Postal Rate Commission, Federal Reserve Board

Independent Government Corporations– U.S. Postal Service, Tennessee Valley Authority,

Amtrak

More autonomy

President

Cabinet Departments Ind. Executive Agencies

White House Staff Executive Office of the President

Independent Regulatory Commissions

Independent Govt. Corporations

The Politics of Agency Structure

Creating agency = issue’s importance Structure (degree of independence from

executive, cabinet departments) can– Affect policy-making latitude– Allow non-political considerations (like efficiency) to

take center stage

The Politics of Agency Structure:The Unitary Executive

Remember Hamilton: unified, or unitary, executive necessary for “energy”

Structure of agencies affects ability of President to present unified front, ability to control agencies– Unitary executive goal of first Bush pres– Other presidents prefer the “plausible deniability” of

agency independence

The Politics of Agency Structure:The Regulated Interests

Groups and people who deal with the agencies care deeply about agency structure– Agency devoted to your issue means it is important,

gives you visibility– Iron triangles – don’t want to disturb these

relationships!

What Bureaucratic Agencies Do

Short answer: implement laws and policies Rule-making Adjudication Legislation Litigation

Wednesday and Friday

Problems with bureaucracy– Inefficiency– “Capture”– Parochialism

Possible Solutions– Devolution and deregulation– Executive and Congressional oversight– Privatization