Bureaucracy: To most people and politicians: bureaucracy = negative connotation To scholars and bureaucrats: bureaucracy = neutral meaning Consists of appointed officials who work in a large and complicated organization Authority is divided among many groups of people Opposite of a dictatorship (bureaucracy is rule by many people who work together to make decisions) Ex. corporations, universities, congress Government by proxy: The principal our federal government runs on Consists of money given to private groups and local governments by the federal government in order to fund federal programs Ex. Social Security and medicare Negatives: The money sent to public and private agencies by the federal government is not regulated or monitored Citizens may …show more content…
Discretionary authority = the power of appointed officials to decide the course of action and make new policies Bureaucrats have a lot of discretionary authority because they have the ability to make policies that may not be regulated closely by congress Laws may be created by people with special expertise Ex. bureaucrats How does Congress exert control over the bureaucracy? Regulates the budget - can control how much money each agency in the bureaucracy receives Make investigations into scandals Can have hearings about various topics What happened to make the bureaucracy a “fourth branch” of American national government? The bureaucracy has a lot of power - can pass things easily Often easier than other branches of government The Great Depression and WWII helped increase the power of the bureaucracy Great depression resulted in a more active government Taxes increased after WWII What is the actual size and scope of the federal bureaucracy? Millions of employees, agencies, subcommittee, committee... What should be done to improve bureaucratic performance? Increase efficiency while decreasing