POL203Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Spoils System, W. M. Keck Observatory, Reddit
Document Summary
Impersonal: a merit based career system, considerable job security, machine with interchangeable human parts to facilitate collective action, centralized control over large numbers of people. Imposes heavy conformity costs: cabinet secretaries, commerce (ocean services, census, homeland security (coast guard, immigration) Independent executive agencies: executive agencies placed outside departments, cia, nasa, epa, peace corp, selective service system, presidents want close reporting. Postal rate comission (stamp prices), federal reserve board. Indirect administration: many federal programs administered by someone else, states, private contractors, grant receipts. A(cid:374)dre(cid:449) ja(cid:272)kso(cid:374) ad(cid:448)o(cid:272)ated (cid:862)rotatio(cid:374) i(cid:374) offi(cid:272)e(cid:863) (cid:894)(cid:1005)(cid:1012)(cid:1006)(cid:1013)(cid:895: officials serve for short fixed period, parties reward activists, the spoils or patronage system, actually more democratic, civil service reform. Iron triangle: mutually beneficial alliance, congressional committee, interest group, bureaucracy. Interest group donates money to congress: congress funds bureaucracy, bureaucracy regulates in favour of interest group. Captured agencies: regulators (cid:272)a(cid:374) (cid:271)e (cid:862)(cid:272)aptured(cid:863) (cid:271)y i(cid:374)dustry, agency deals primarily with industries, political pressure.
