How can the president influence the bureaucracy

textbook:https://peralta.instructure.com/courses/32446/files/2080103/download?wrap=1

The Bureaucracy

1. All the programs and services are operated through the bureaucracy.

2. The president as chief executive officer is in charge of the bureaucracy but the programs come from congress.

3. A bureaucracy is the government agencies, departments, and commissions that manage our programs of government. They manage social services , environmental, and economic programs. This is how regulated capitalism works. The government regulates the economy and businesses. examples of this are advertising, size of businesses, worker rights and safety on the job, ability of labor to negotiate, product and drug safety. In terms of social services the government manages and regulates welfare programs, health care, medicare, medicaid, food stamps, and housing subsidies. Our environment is also protected through the EPA.

4. Workers in government are civil servants, we have over 2.7 military and civilians employees. They are protected from the administration in power. The politicians in government have some influence over directing the programs of government but the civil servants must follow the law in carrying out their daily responsibilities. The Pendleton act protects workers from politicians. The workers are hired through the merit system, they must have the necessary credentials and training to do their jobs. They also cannot be fired without cause, in other words they have due process rights to protect them from an arbitrary firing,

5. laws of the bureaucracy- Civil servants and leaders of the bureaucracy must follow detailed laws which are called Regulations. Regulations are very specific rules that each department of government must follow. Most laws pertaining to government programs are not that specific. The regulations consist of detailed rules and procedures that the departments must comply with on a daily basis. Let me give an example , congress passed a law regarding the rights of women in educational institutions, these civil rights protections are the law of the land. But the law doesn’t define what discrimination is under many different situations. The Department of Education must pass regulations and hold hearings against violators to manage this law. Is it discrimination against women to not have a basketball team at a given college? It is up to the Department to pass regulations that schools must comply with. The regulation states that under certain circumstance they can or can’t have one. This is what a regulation does, it also sets up hearing procedures so women can submit a complaint under set procedures. Most rules of behavior are in the form of Regulations not laws. Regulations are used to manage programs= this is known as implementation.

6. So when you do your Personal Knowledge report remember that you need to examine regulations from the departments and agencies that encompass your reports.

7. Some agencies can pass a greater range of regulations than others. Congress doesn’t want the consumer to buy dangerous medications. However members of congress are not chemists or doctors. Therefore they delegate the responsibility to the Food and Drug Administration to test and determine what drugs are safe. They are now experimenting with a Corona Virus vaccine under regulations . The regulations set up safety and efficacy standards that must be met to put the vaccine on the market. This could take over a year to verify its safety and efficacy.

This process of allowing the agency greater latitude in making policy decisions is known as administrative discretion.

8. The role of Politicians and the Bureaucracy-Every presidential administration has the power of appointment. The president appoints the Secretaries to the 15 departments of government. These secretaries run the departments of government, Defense, Human Services, Housing, Attorney General, Homeland Security, Foreign Trade, Transportation, Federal communications, Secretary of State and Defense, Intelligence, and th Internal revenue service under the Treasury Secretary. All of these secretaries control the budget and direction of their programs. However they must follow the laws and regulations in effect. If congress doesn’t agree with a policy direction they can pass a law to change the direction of politically directed policies.

9. Structure of the Bureaucracy- it is divided up into three distinct divisions. It has corporations like the Post Office, The Secretaries above, and the regulatory agencies. The regulatory agencies are independent, in other words they regulate social services, the environment, labor, and the economy through their own regulations. They have considerable power to hear complaints and punish violators, they pass new regulations to enforce the law. An example of this is the EEOC, they regulate employment discrimination nationally. If a business discriminates the commission can bring an action against the business on behalf of the victim . They hold a hearing and make a determination. All of these commissions serve as courts.

10. Study the Pendelton Act of 1883 and how it changed the spoils system to a system of hiring based on merit. The was the start of the Civil System to hire employees based on their qualifications to work for the government rather than their political preferences.

11. Also study the Hatch Act which prohibits federal employees from engaging in politics on the job.

12. How much power does the president and congress have over the bureaucracy. We will lecture on these relationships? Also find this information in the textbook.

13. Finally, understand what regulations are in terms of them having the force of law. Regulations are passed by the agencies and have the force of law. They are detailed requirements used to carry out and enforce their respective programs.

14. As we cover in each chapter the question of how does the bureaucracy affect the three values and the two models of government?

answer these questions using your textbook, the internet, and the lecture I provided. need one full page for total credit.

1. How can the president influence the bureaucracy?

2. In general what is the reason for having a bureaucracy? What is the textbook definition of a bureaucracy?

3. In our early history prior to 1883 we had a patronage system used to hire federal employees. How were employees hired under this system?

4. What is our present system used to hire the majority of federal employees? What criteria are now used as a basis for hiring federal employees?

5. What can congress do if an agency passes regulations that are questionably illegal?

6. What exactly is a regulation?

7. Search the internet for some regulations regarding the testing of experimental medicines. These are under the Food and Drug Administration. Now write down 2 regulations pertaining to the testing of medicines?

8. What branch of government creates the agencies and programs of government?

9. What president was shot in office under the patronage system? hint sometime around the 1880’s

10. What does the Office of the Management of the Budget do ? Use your textbook to find the answer.

11. The federal bureaucracy is divided up into 3 sections, identify those sections briefly describing their responsibilities.

12. What is regulatory capitalism? What ideology relies on this form of government to advance their interests?

13. Why does congress give so much power to regulatory agencies?

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Discussion

The Bureaucracy regulates the economy and social programs through independent regulatory agencies. The EPA is the regulatory agency that regulates the environment. Conservatives regard many of these regulations to be in conflict with economic growth and job creation programs. Do you agree with this statement?

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1. Please define what a Bureaucracy is in terms of how it is organized in government structures?

2. What is a regulation and how does it differ from a congressional act?

3. The federal bureaucracy is divided into three distinctive sections, name and describe the sections.

4. What is regulatory capitalism? What economic areas are regulated by the agencies?

5. How does the textbook define administrative discretion?