President Presidential Leadership and The Bureaucracy.

President

Presidential Leadership and The Bureaucracy

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Presidency in Theory

• Federalist Paper 70- Hamilton’s Views

• James Madison’s View– One voice yes, not single actor– All enumerated powers are joint powers with

Senate or Congress

• Historically job of Executive written around G. Washington.


Institutional Presidency

• White House staff– Personal aides and advisers of the president– Brownlow Committee 1939

• Executive Office of the Presidency– Established 1939– Office of Management and Budget– Council of Economic Advisers– National Security Council


Institutional Presidency (2)

• Vice President– Expanded role since Walter Mondale

• Cabinet– Appointed heads of the fifteen principal

executive agencies– U.S. ambassador to the United Nations


Independent Agencies…

• Independent Agencies and Commissions– Administrative but neither fully Congressional

nor Executive.– Examples: NASA, FED, SEC, TVA, CIA, etc.


Managing the Bureaucracy

• Pyramid– President is on the top– Bureaucrats underneath carry out the

president’s decisions

• Limitations on management– Vast size of the administration– Civil servants do not depend on the president

for their jobs– Congress has considerable influence over

agencies


Congress and the Presidency

• Roadblocks– Members of Congress have own constituency with

concerns regarding how policies are implemented. – Congressional can be fragmented and decentralized

OR have strong leadership– Divided government puts Congress in a strong position

• Success with Congress– Unified government helps president get his policies

through– Legislative liaison staff keeps president informed– President can offer favors to Congress members– Mystique of the presidency– Veto


Policy Making Power

• Policy Making• Bureaucracy is a political institution• Expertise

– Administrators know more about a particular area of responsibility than anyone else.

• Rule-making authority– Administrators exercise direct influence by giving

specificity to vague congressional mandates.

• Administrative adjudication– Administrators rule on federal law cases and handle

far more cases than the judiciary does.


Political Environment

• Political support– The more favorable public opinion is about an

agency, the better the agency is treated by Congress and the presidency.

– The more successful an agency is at gaining political support, the more autonomy it is granted.

• Bureaucratic politics– Agencies seeking to carry out their missions may be

threatened by other agencies promoting their missions.

– Agencies thus look for allies on Capitol Hill and in the White House.


Economic Power

• Presidency has been seen as the institution capable of dealing with the economy

• Employment Act of 1946– Government has duty to foster and promote free

competitive enterprise, avoid economic fluctuations, and maintain employment, production and purchasing power

• Tools available– Fiscal policy– Monetary policy– Incomes policy


National Security

• Presidents enjoy greater leeway in foreign and military policy– Protect the national interest– Promote democracy around the world– Act as peacemakers

• United States v. Curtiss-Wright Corporation (1936)


National Security and Congress

• Post World War II– Korea– Viet Nam

• War Powers Resolution of 1973– Attempt by Congress to reassert

constitutional role in deciding if the nation is at war.

– Fails e.g. Bosnia, Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq


Public Presidency

• Modern presidency claims a close bond with the American people– Public support boosts presidential influence

with other political players

• Going public– Growing percentage of presidential time

spent on the road selling policies– Influence of president on public support

waning


US War in Iraq

Connection to US War in Iraq:

1. Sept. 11, 2001 and Al Qaeda

2. Al Qaeda and Taliban of Afghanistan

3. Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein

4. Mohammed Atta

5. Aluminum tubes

6. Niger’s yellow cake

7. Mobile biological weapons units

8. “Scooter” Libby


The Dark Side

• PBS Broadcast on Bush Administration response to 9/11 that led ultimately to war in Iraq


Overview of Federal Agencies

President Presidential Leadership and The Bureaucracy.

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Transcript of President Presidential Leadership and The Bureaucracy.