Chapter 5 The Executive Branch Organization Matters

Chapter 5: The Executive Branch

Organization Matters • Organization in executive branch affects outcome of policies • Coordination depends on how internal organization distributes power • Coordination depends on department relationships to others

Executive Branch Components • Most nations, including the U. S. , passed through four stages in their administrative development: – 1 st stage: managing money, including revenues, spending, and borrowing – 2 nd stage: maintaining internal law and order – 3 rd stage: keeping the country safe – 4 th stage: managing foreign affairs

Components of the Executive Branch • • • Cabinet departments Independent agencies Bureaus Field offices White House – Executive Office of the President

Cabinet Department • Cabinet: from 16 th century, when English king began meeting with closest advisers in a cabinet, or small room • Fifteen cabinet departments, including Department of Homeland Security (created 2002) • Accounts for 90 percent of executive branch’s civilian employees and 80 percent of all federal spending – Defense has largest number of employees – Health and Human Services (HHS) spends the most

Independent Agencies • Independent agencies: outside cabinet departments, account for one-tenth of federal government’s employees and one-fifth of its spending – Largest: Social Security Administration became independent agency – Created by Congress to insulate from presidential control

Independent Agencies (continued) • Regulatory commissions: one method of power in which agencies can monitor major features of transportation, communications, power production and distribution, banking, etc. • Service-based independent agencies: special historical condition for particular mission • Government corporations: type of independent agency engaged in lending, insurance, and other business-type operations – e. g. , Corporation for Public Broadcasting, FDIC

Bureaus • Bureaus: principal operating organizations of the government; cover many organizations within larger departments – e. g. , Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Internal Revenue Service • Bureaucracy is government by bureaus – Many at state and local levels

Field Offices • Most government operations, including bulk of federal operations, done in the field • Thousands of field offices in states and overseas • Types of Field Administration Offices

Field Offices (continued) • Organized by function: departments specialized by function and bureaus can choose geographical and authority patterns they deem appropriate for their particular responsibilities – e. g. , United States • Areal, or prefectoral system: country divided into single set of administrative regions, in each of which a single national official represents the whole executive branch and is meant to exercise directive authority over all national field agents in the area, regardless of departmental and bureau affiliations – e. g. , Other nations

Problems Managing Components • Presidents often weak at managing these components of executive branch • Presidents not chosen for managerial ability, unconcerned with administration • Presidents often disappointed when they count on cabinet members to ensure administrative effectiveness • Interdepartmental friction points have multiplied • Burden of top-level coordination falls on aides and staff agencies

The Executive Office and White House • Executive Office in 1939 had 570 employees • Brownlow Committee: 1937, associated with expansion of White House staff under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, proposed six new presidential assistants • The Executive Office in 2010 had about 1, 900 employees • White House staff now large, multi-tiered, and hard to coordinate

Executive Office of the President (EOP) • • White House Office Executive Residence staff Office of Vice President Office of Management and Budget (largest) Office of Policy Development National Security Council Others: Trade, Drug

Office of Management and Budget • Bureau of Budget established in 1921 in Treasury Department; became part of EOP in 1939 • Office of Management and Budget (OMB): renamed by President Nixon in 1970; largest unit of EOP; annually reviews all agencies’ spending proposals • Analyzes proposals, makes recommendations to president, and compiles requests into budget for Congress

National Security Council • National Security Council (NSC): established by statute in 1947 to advise president with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security • Has become the focus of presidential foreign policymaking • NSC head is Assistant to the President; very powerful

Office of Policy Development • Office of Policy Development (OPD): to coordinate policy formation in domestic area, domestic counterpart to the NSC • Weak role; rapid turnover of directors; other players in this role

Rise of E-government • New approach to government organization via computers • IRS encourages taxpayers to file electronically – 2012, more than half of all sending in returns, 100 million, filed online • Positive: potential to improve government services, citizens connect more easily to government • Negative: questions of access and equity, organizational issues (altering existing patterns of bureaucratic behavior, authority, and power), security, and privacy

Conclusion • Coordination and complexity – Potential for overlaps and gaps – Organization tool for solving coordination problem but creates its own challenges • Two other problems (discussed in Chapter 6) – Interconnectedness means problems need to be broken down into manageable parts – Distinction between “line” officials (carry out gov’s work) and “staff” officials (provide advice)