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characteristics of a bureaucracy (4)
- hierarchical structure
- worker specialization
- advancement by merit
- explicit rules
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what is a clientele group
group of citizens whose interest are affected by an agency/department & who work to influence its politics
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clientele groups are similar to...
factions - Fed 10
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4 concerns with bureaucracy
- accountability: bureaucrats are responsible/answerable to their supervisors for their performances
- transparency: not a lot of oversight from Congress
- bureaucratic inertia: slow to change over time. An agency;s goal is to exist and may change its original directive. There's a greater incentive to be cost ineffective
- Is it a democratic process?: Bureaucrats are appointed not elected. There is no say in how well they do their jobs.
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2 Benefits of unelected experts
- not persuaded by public opinion
- decisions are made w/ a degree of expertise
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Richard Lowis's Iron Triangle includes 3 points
- clientele group
- congressional committee
- bureaucratic group
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what does a congressional committee do?
- sends bills to clientele group
- distributes pork to bureaucratic group
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Iron Triangle benefits and perks
- benefits those who are only w/in the iron triangle
- each pursues for their own self-interest
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history of bureaucracy includes
- spoils system
- patronage
- civil service
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spoils system
practice of firing government workers from a defeated party and replacing them with workers loyal to the winning party
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patronage
system where a successful candidate rewards friends, contributors, and party loyalists for their support with jobs, contracts, favors.
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Civil Service
refers to nonmilitary employees of the government who are appointed through merit
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President Garfield's contribution to Civil Service reform (2)
- Pendleton act: required merit rather than patronage to be the basis for hiring civil servants
- Hatch Act: limits political activities within bureaucracy, cannot participate in electioneering
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How many Cabinet level departments are there and how is it headed by
15 departments each led by secretary except Department of Justice, lead by Attorney General.
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How are Independent Agency's structured and how much independence does it have?
- structured like Departments (single head appointed by Prez) but are more narrowly focused
- ex) NASA, CIA, NEA
- how independent an agency is depends on its importance and role
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what agency is not stated in the Constitution
- Independent Agency
- created by congress as "Necessary & Proper"
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How are Independent Agency's structured
makes regulations, limitations, laws for businesses, industries, economic sectors
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government corporation
co-created by Congress to provide to the public a good service that the government cannot profitably provide
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what does a Clientele group do?
- lobby
- campaign money
- representation
- education
- participation
- education
- agenda building
- provide program alternatives
- program monitoring
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Resources interest group provides 4 things
- cash
- info
- membership
- leadership
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what is Olson's collective action problem
difficulty of getting people to work together to solve a common problem
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what is the difference between politics and interest groups
- politics groups: gets people into office, electioneering
- interest groups: gets people into office
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