Topic: Statesmanship in the Public Administration Context

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CHAPTER 2

The Political Context of Public Administration

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Understanding the organization and function of the branches of the federal government

2. Understanding the organization and function of the other levels of government

3. Understanding the policy process

4. Exploring the controls exerted by the legislative branch on administrators

5. Exploring the controls exerted by the judicial branch on administrators

 SUMMARY OVERVIEW

This chapter explores the political context in which public administrators operate, including

things administrators need to know in order to operate effectively. Three themes characterize the

chapter, focusing on the structure of the three levels of government and the resulting relationship

with public administration. The authors point out that the complexity of the policy process in this

country derives from the Founders’ fear of concentrating power in too few hands, which they

tried to allay by organizing the federal government into three branches. Thus, the relations

between and among the various branches remain a central issue in the creation and management

of public agencies and programs. The chapter offers insight into the relationship between public

administrators and the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary as they work together to

achieve policy goals.

The first theme concerns the history, powers, organization, and activities of the executive branch

at all levels of government in the United States. The chapter includes a discussion about the

development of the president’s role as chief executive officer as the increasing size and scope of

the government created a need for greater attention to management and organization, along with a

growing understanding of how the work of government might be accomplished more effectively.

The organization and structure of state and local governments are contrasted with those of the

federal government, exploring both the commonalities and distinctive features. The authors

emphasize that understanding the role of executive leadership in administrative organizations will

enable public administrators to act with greater confidence and authority.

The second theme provides an account of the structure of Congress, its operations, policy roles,

and interactions with administrative agencies. Particular attention is devoted in this context to the

stages in the policy process and the differences between various types of policy. The chapter also

includes an examination of sources of bureaucratic power and, in turn, the controls exerted by the

legislative branch over bureaucratic agencies. An understanding of these issues is crucial to

public administrators, whose work centers on the implementation of public policies and who

often are involved in designing and evaluating policy as well.

Finally, Chapter 2 examines the role that the courts play in administrative systems. Like the

executive and legislative branches, the judiciary also serves as a check on the conduct of public

agencies by interpreting legislative mandates and delegation to agencies and reviewing the

16 Chapter 2: The Political Context of Public Administration

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appropriateness of agency actions. Because the involvement of the courts in the work of

administration is both intense and inevitable, public administrators’ understanding of the legal

system and their ability to interact with legal and judicial officials is necessary in order to

improve their effectiveness.

 CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATIONS AND EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

A. Administrative Organizations 1. The Executive Office of the President 2. Cabinet-Level Executive Departments 3. Independent Agencies, Regulatory Commissions, and Public

Corporations

4. Agencies Supporting the Legislature and the Judiciary

B. The State Level

C. The Local Level 1. Cities 2. Counties 3. Native American Tribes 4. Special Purpose Governments 5. Nonprofit Organizations and Associations

II. RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE LEGISLATIVE BODY

A. The Policy Process

 Exploring Concepts: STAGES IN THE POLICY PROCESS

1. Agenda Setting 2. Policy Formulation 3. Policy Legitimation 4. Policy Implementation 5. Policy Evaluation and Change

B. Types of Policy

 Exploring Concepts: TYPES OF PUBLIC POLICY

1. Regulatory Policy 2. Distributive Policy 3. Redistributive Policy 4. Constituent Policy

C. Sources of Bureaucratic Power

D. Legislative Supervision: Structural Controls 1. Legislative Veto 2. Sunset Laws 3. Sunshine Laws 4. Agency Conduct

E. Legislative Supervision: Oversight

F. Legislative Supervision: Casework

Chapter 2: The Political Context of Public Administration 17

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III. RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE JUDICIARY

A. Quasi-legislative Action

B. Quasi-judicial Action

C. Agency Discretion

D. Judicial Review

E. Concerns for Due Process

 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION in History: THE SPOTTED OWL AND

AGENCY INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW

F. The Courts and Agency Administration

IV. SUMMARY AND ACTION IMPLICATIONS

 KEY TERMS

Agenda setting Phase in public policy process when certain problems come to be viewed as

needing attention.

Cohesion Degree to which members of a group are uniformly committed to the group and its

goals.

Constituent policy Policy designed to benefit the public generally or to serve the government.

Distributive policy Policy involving use of general tax funds to provide assistance and benefits

to individuals or groups.

Executive order A presidential mandate directed to and governing, with the effect of law, the

actions of government officials and agencies.

Independent agencies Agencies intentionally created outside the normal cabinet organization.

Iron triangle Term given to a coalition of interest groups, agency personnel, and members of

Congress created to exert influence on a particular policy issue.

Legislative veto Statutory provision that gives Congress the authority to approve or disapprove

certain executive actions.

Nonprofit organizations Organizations prohibited by law from distributing surplus revenues to

individuals.

Ombudsman Permanent office that receives complaints and acts on behalf of citizens to secure

information, request services, or pursue grievances.

Policy Statement of goals and intentions with respect to a particular problem or set of problems.

Policy entrepreneur A person willing to invest personal time, energy, and money in pursuit of

particular policy changes.

Public corporation An essentially commercial agency in which work requires greater latitude

and acquires at least a portion of its funding in the marketplace (e.g., Tennessee Valley

Authority).

Public policy Authoritative statements made by legitimate governmental actors about public

problems.

18 Chapter 2: The Political Context of Public Administration

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Redistributive policy Policy designed to take taxes from certain groups and give them to

another group.

Regulatory commission Group formed to regulate a particular area of the economy; usually

headed by a group of individuals appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Regulatory policy Policy designed to limit actions of persons or groups to protect all or parts of

the general public.

Rule making Administrative establishment of general guidelines for application to a class of

people or a class of actions at some future time.

Sunset law Provision that sets a specific termination date for a program.

Sunshine law Provision that requires agencies to conduct business in public view.

 WEB LINKS

The following are links to websites that can provide information about the executive branch

of the federal government and of state and local governments:

The White House: (www.whitehouse.gov).

The federal executive branch: (www.usa.gov/Agencies//Federal/Executive.shtml).

Executive orders: (http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-

orders).

State, local, and tribal governments: (http://www.usa.gov/Agencies.shtml).

Council of State Governments: (www.csg.org).

National League of Cities: (www.nlc.org/).

National Civic League: (www.ncl.org).

U.S. Conference of Mayors: (www.usmayors.org/).

International City Management Association: (www.icma.org).

The following are links to websites that can provide information about nonprofit

organizations:

Alliance for Nonprofit Management: (www.allianceonline.org/).

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services: (http://www.compasspoint.org/).

Foundations: (www.cof.org and www.foundations.org/).

The following are links to sources about policy making and legislative and judiciary

controls:

The United States Congress: (http://house.gov/).

The United States Senate: (http://www.senate.gov/).

The Library of Congress: (http://www.loc.gov/index.html).

The United States Supreme Court: (http://www.supremecourt.gov/).

The Brookings Institution: (www.brookings.edu).

The American Enterprise Institute: (http://www.aei.org/).

Chapter 2: The Political Context of Public Administration 19

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The Urban Institute: (http://www.urban.org/).

Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest: (http://www.clpi.org/).

The Nonprofit Lobbying Guide: (http://www.independentsector.org/lobby_guide).

Administrative law research: (http://public.findlaw.com/library/pa-administrative-law.html).