POLS 220
N BERCH
FALL 2014
Bureaucracy
I.
Comparison of WVU bureaucracy with that of
Marlboro College
II.
Size of bureaucracy (as % of workforce)
A.
1954—federal = 2.4% total = 7.2%
B.
1984—federal
= 2.9% total = 16.0%
C.
pretty stable since then
III.
Reason for rise of bureaucracy
A.
complexity of society—two ways
B.
complexity of legislation—leads to puff-ball
C.
fiscal federalism
IV.
General
characteristics of bureaucracy
A.
merit-based civil service
1.
didn’t
used to be (Garfield)
2.
states were slower to eliminate patronage—moralistic
states moved most quickly
B.
testing—rule of 3
C.
hierarchy
D.
specialization—Jimmy Carter and the mouse
E.
job security—has advantages and disadvantages
F.
adherence to rules
V.
Problems
with bureaucracy
A.
tough to
abolish useless agencies
B.
overlap between agencies
C.
impersonality
D.
lack of control by elected officials (especially
with part-time government at the local level)
E.
hard to fire people
VI.
Good points
A.
Fairness?
B.
regulation is often needed and good for the
public
C.
any better ideas?
VII.
Checks on bureaucratic power
A.
Budget
control
B.
oversight
C.
gubernatorial appointment—some
D.
sunset laws
1.
theory
behind
2.
drawbacks—morale and recruiting
3.
WV has limited sunset laws
The Judiciary
I.
How are
judges chosen?
A.
Partisan
elections
1.
high on
responsibility
2.
low on independence
3.
costly—involve interest groups
4.
can exclude qualified judges
5.
democratic
6.
couldn’t campaign on judicial issues—now changed
7.
fairly high turnout
B.
Nonpartisan elections
1.
lower
turnout
2.
still costly
3.
are they really non-partisan?
4.
popularity contests
C.
gubernatorial appointment
1.
often
with confirmation
2.
appointed by elected official
3.
sometimes a payoff
4.
sometimes happens in other systems
D.
legislative elections—leads to ex-legislators
E.
merit systems
1.
often a
variation on the Missouri Plan
2.
panel chooses candidates
3.
governor picks
4.
sometimes confirmation
5.
retention election
6.
merit may not work
7.
non-retention is a rarity
II.
Key
issues facing judicial system
A.
Plea-bargaining
B.
backlogs
C.
jail space
Local Government
I.
General
impressions of local government
A.
accessible
B.
less competent (perhaps)
C.
honesty?
D.
spoils system
II.
local government deals with complex, heated
issues
A.
often
NIMBY (sometimes PPIMBY)
B.
resources
C.
waste
D.
education
E.
race and class
III.
Four structures
A.
council-mayor (strong)
1.
responsible executive
2.
often has an administrator
3.
big cities of Northeast and Midwest
4.
too much power?
B.
council-mayor (weak)
1.
small
towns (and others)
2.
power in hands of council
3.
Jerry Springer
C.
commission
1.
expertise
2.
fiefdoms
3.
largely discredited
D.
council-manager
1.
removes
politics from administration
2.
usually in medium-sized cities
3.
manager can control council
4.
council can try to micromanage
IV.
Morgantown
A.
council-manager
B.
seven members chosen by ward—sort of
1.
about
4000 people per ward
2.
elections are city-wide—hurts student
representation
C.
mayor
chosen by council
D.
non-partisan elections, but many party ties
E.
some conflicts with managers before Boroff. After Boroff?? Looks like more conflict?
F.
college towns are different
