2.12 - The Bureaucracy
Defining the Bureaucracy
Sometimes called the civil service.
- Function: the day-to-day workers who implement federal policy.
- It carries out policy by writing and enforcing regulations, issuing fines to people or businesses that break them (the FCC can fine broadcasters, and OSHA can fine employers for unsafe workplaces), testifying before Congress, and working inside iron triangles and issue networks (below).
- Most bureaucrats are non-political, though the people at the top of agencies and departments are often political appointees.
The Merit System
Replaced the old patronage system.
- Mechanism: non-political bureaucrats get hired based on qualifications or civil service exam performance.
- Patronage: the old system, where government jobs went to people based on connections or political loyalty.
- Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883): started the merit system after President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881 by a man angry that he hadn't been given a government job.
- Effect: the merit system boosted professionalism, specialization, and neutrality across the bureaucracy.
Categories of Agencies
Category | Description | Example |
Cabinet Departments | Broad areas of responsibility; many smaller agencies report to them | Homeland Security, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Education |
Independent Regulatory Commissions | Narrower focus, make rules regulating specific industries | SEC, regulating securities markets and stopping fraud |
Executive Agencies | Report directly to the president, perform a public service | EPA, working on clean air and water |
Government Corporations | Provide services private companies won't, since they're not profitable | Amtrak |
Iron Triangles and Issue Networks
- Iron Triangles: permanent relationships shaping a specific policy, made up of congressional committees, interest groups, and bureaucratic agencies. It's a symbiotic relationship: members of Congress get electoral support, agencies get funding, and interest groups get favorable legislation. Critics say this fuels elite democracy, prioritizing special interests over the public.
- Example: on veterans' policy, the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and groups like the American Legion work together. The groups lobby for and support members of Congress, Congress funds the agency, and the agency delivers the benefits the groups want.
- Issue Networks: similar to iron triangles but looser and temporary, also including lawyers, academics, and think tanks.
- They form around a specific issue (like climate change or prescription drug prices) and break up or change as the issue changes.
- Agency leaders often testify at congressional hearings on legislation in their area of expertise.
Big picture
The bureaucracy is made up of the everyday workers implementing federal policy, and the merit system keeps it professional and non-political by replacing the old patronage system. Agencies fall into four types, from broad Cabinet departments to narrower regulatory commissions, executive agencies, and government corporations. Powerful, lasting iron triangles connect committees, agencies, and interest groups in a mutually beneficial relationship that raises real questions about special interests versus the public good.