POLSCI 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Federal Republic, Homeland Security, Congressional Review Act
12 Jun 2018
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Department
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Professor
● The Size of Bureaucracy:
○ Ways to look at it:
■ Employees
● Vast differences in the size of agencies
○ Homeland security = large
○ Vs. education = small
● Not oerall icrease of goeret federally → goes up ad do
○ Not a dramatic increase in bureaucracy over time like we think -
pretty steady
● Controls for population? (i.e. a larger country would have more
employees)
● Federal bureaucracy per capita is a steady decrease over time
● President’s effect:
○ Changes in staffing levels under president trump
■ Trump = decrease in sizes of agency
○ Learn about president’s priorities based on increase/decrease of
certain agencies
● State level is where bureaucracy has grown the most
■ Activity:
● Federal republic requires everything bureaucracies are doing to post it for
public comments
● In general, hasn’t been a dramatic increase in bureaucratic spending
■ Cross National
● 15% of US workers are govt.
○ On the low end
● Controls over bureaucracy
○ Democratic theory - start with people, end up with policies
■ Needs to be a link between the two
■ Problem: we elect legislators and a president - they hand off to bureaucracy, then
they make the decision
● Huge chain
● We never know what people are up to
○ Potential Problem: who elected them?!
○ Presidential controls:
■ One person who is the secretary of that agency
● President can fire them if he doesn’t like what they are doing
● Independent agencies (outside executive branch), cannot fire
○ Congress created these to be independent, if the president could
fire it wouldn’t make them independent
● When congress likes the president, they are more likely to create the
agencies inside the executive branch
■ What can presidents do to ensure link between people and policy?
● Presidents can put people they trust in charge of agencies
○ Evidence that this works - shifts what agencies do
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Document Summary
Vast differences in the size of agencies. Not o(cid:448)erall i(cid:374)crease of go(cid:448)er(cid:374)(cid:373)e(cid:374)t federally goes up a(cid:374)d do(cid:449)(cid:374) Not a dramatic increase in bureaucracy over time like we think - pretty steady. Controls for population? (i. e. a larger country would have more employees) Federal bureaucracy per capita is a steady decrease over time. Changes in staffing levels under president trump. Trump = decrease in sizes of agency. Learn about president"s priorities based on increase/decrease of certain agencies. State level is where bureaucracy has grown the most. Federal republic requires everything bureaucracies are doing to post it for public comments. In general, hasn"t been a dramatic increase in bureaucratic spending. Democratic theory - start with people, end up with policies. Needs to be a link between the two. Problem: we elect legislators and a president - they hand off to bureaucracy, then they make the decision. We never know what people are up to.
