POL 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Freedom Of Information In The United States
Document Summary
Bureaucratic culture: the accepted values and procedures of an organization. Policy commitment- believe agency"s issue is most critical facing country. Specialization and expertise: know more about policy than politicians and public. Identify with agency: committed to and protective of agency. Constituency building: build groups of supporters in public and congress. Guarding the turf: guard own programs and don"t let others duplicate traditional responsibilities. Appointment power: presidents appoint heads and next layers of departments. Budget proposal: omb (office of management and budget) can cut a department"s budget, presidential veto of agency funding, power of persuasion. And president can use powers to influence congress. Iron triangles: alliance of congressional committees, interest groups, and agencies working together for mutual benefit, issue networks: more complex relationships. Congress controls bureaucracy through the committees that have influence, and bureaucracy responds: once congress makes laws, the bureaucracy maintains and control the law. Courts may deal with cases against agencies or departments, but rarely.
