Introduction To Political Science: Chapter X: Executives and Bureaucracy

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INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

CHAPTER X: EXECUTIVES AND BUREAUCRACY
Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Karahöyük

O ff i c e : Z - 0 8
Email: mustafakarahoyuk@beykent.edu.tr
Political Science: An Introduction
Chapter 10
Executives and Bureaucracies
(Pool/Corbis)
Copyright @ 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
+Executive
(all the following terms refer to the government)
 Executive
 Cabinet
 Administration
 State
4
Executives and Bureaucracies
There have been executives a lot longer than there have been
legislatures. Tribal chiefs, kings, and emperors appeared with the
dawn of civilization; only recently have they had legislatures to
worry about. Indeed, the word government in most of the world
means the executive branch. In Europe, government equals cabinet .
In the United States (and increasingly in some other countries),

this configuration is called the administration .
+Presidents and Prime Ministers
 In parliamentary systems, the chief executive is chosen from the ranks of the
majority party in parliament; a prime minister.
 If there is no majority parliamentary party, a coalition must be formed, which

weakens the prime minister.
 Presidential systems have a strong executive elected for a fixed term and not
dependent on the legislature
 The independent power of both the president and Congress can end in
legislative deadlock
 This “ deadlock of democracy” parallels parliamentary immobilism
+“Forming a Government” in Britain
 The monarch, or chief of state, formally invites the leader of the largest
party in the House of Commons to become prime minister and “form a
government” – that is, take office with a cabinet
 The prime minister appoints about two dozen ministers from among his
parliamentary members, chosen to represent significant groups within
the party; the prime minister can dismiss ministers.
 Ministers who oppose government policy are expected to resign and

return to parliament
+“Constructive No Confidence” in Germany
 The German chancellor is equivalent to the British prime

minister
 A chancellor can be removed only if the lower house

(Bundestag) votes in a replacement cabinet; occurred only
once.
 Thus, German cabinets have very long tenures.
+“Cohabitation” in France
 De Gaulle designed a semi-presidential system with a working president and

prime minister (premier)
 The president has a specified term of office and names a like-minded

premier (prime minister) the link between the president and parliament
 “Cohabitation” occurs when the elected parliament is dominated by a party

other that that of the president; premier is of a different party than the
president
 Cohabitation works, and the French accept it. France thus handled the
problem of deadlock that is common in the United States
+The “Presidentialization” of Prime
Ministers
 Prime ministers with stable majorities supporting them in parliament start

acting like presidents, powerful chiefs only dimly accountable to legislators
 They know they will not be ousted in a vote of no confidence, so the only
thing they have to worry about is the next election
 Technically, there is no “candidate for prime minister” in parliamentary

elections; citizens vote for a party or a member of parliament, not for a prime
minister
 Personality matters more than policy, party, or ideology
+Executive Terms
 Presidents typically have fixed terms, ranging from four to six years
 Presidents in office a long time may become corrupt and dictatorial
 In parliamentary systems, prime ministers can serve indefinitely so

long as they keep winning elections; prime ministers’tenures depend
on political conditions such as elections, coalition breakups, and
scandals
 Most prime ministers can dissolve parliament when they wish,

namely, when they believe they will do best in elections
+Executive Terms
 A U.S. president can only be removed with great difficulty
 The method is impeachment and removal whereby charges are

brought against the president by the House of Representatives,
passed as a bill of impeachment – an indictment
 The Senate then holds a trial, presided over by the Chief Justice
 If the Senate passes any of the charges by a two-thirds vote, the

president is removed; two presidents have been impeached, none
have been removed
+Executive Leadership
 American presidents have various styles of leadership
 Carter was a hands-on, detail person who tried to supervise too much;
this tends to exhaust and diffuse the president’s energies
 Reagan was very hands-off, letting subordinates handle most of the

administration – this can lead to fiascos, such as Iran-contra, when
subordinates only have vague guidance
 Eisenhower, most of whose career was as a military bureaucrat, tried to

look hands-off, but was involved much more behind the scenes;
“hidden hand” presidency
+Cabinets
 The major executive divisions are called departments (headed by a

secretary) in the U.S., and ministries (headed by a minister) most
everywhere else
 The U.S. expands the number of departments slowly via an act of

Congress
 In parliamentary systems, chief executives can add, delete, combine, and

rename ministries at will
 The U.S. tends to create new departments when there is some major issue
pushing national policy
+Who Serves in a Cabinet?
 In parliamentary systems, ministers are drawn from the parliament
and also keep their seats – they are both legislators and executives
 Their ministerial jobs often reflect the parliamentary committees they

served on
 In presidential systems, cabinet officers may not necessarily be

working politicians, but can come from other professions
 European cabinet members are often knowledgeable on politics and

the subject area
+ The Danger of Expecting Too Much
 In both presidential and parliamentary systems, attention

focuses on the chief executive
 Presidents or prime ministers are expected to deliver economic

growth with low unemployment and low inflation
 Worldwide, power has been flowing to the executive, and

legislatures have been in decline
+Bureaucracies
 Bureaucracy – The career civil service that staffs government

executive agencies, implementing laws and policies
 A bureaucracy operates under rules with a hierarchy of
authority, that allows government to operate rationality,
uniformity, predictability, and supervision
 Bureaucracy – the civil service – is also the permanent
government, staying when elected officials come and go
 Bureaucrats know much more about their specialized area than
their political bosses do
+ Weber’s Definition of Bureaucracies
 Max Weber was the first scholar to analyze bureaucracy

 Criteria:
 Administrative offices are organized hierarchically
 Each office has its own area of competence
 Civil servants are appointed, not elected, on the basis of technical
qualifications as determined by diplomas or examinations
 Civil servants receive fixed salaries according to rank
 The job is a career and the sole employment of the civil servant
 The official does not own his or her office
 The official is subject to control and discipline
 Promotion is based on superiors’ judgment
+Bureaucracies in Comparison
 United States
 Less than 15% of civil servants are federal; most serve in states and
localities providing education, police, and fire protection
 The U.S. tends to have a relatively small bureaucracy compared with
Europe and Latin America, which have strong statist traditions
 Communist Countries
 The USSR was one of the most bureaucratic nations
 The Soviet government wanted to control all aspects of society, a large
managing bureaucracy was required.
 France
 Napoleon restored a highly bureaucratized and centralized state after the French
Revolution
 Top French civil servants are graduates of elite schools such as the Ecole
Nationale d’Administration
 The instability of French governments going back to 1871, the French
bureaucracy acquired power because there was little legislative or executive
guidance
 Germany
 Frederick the Great of Prussia pressed for effective administration, establishing
universities to train administrators
 When Germany unified under Prussian leadership, the Prussian system of
government was imposed on Germany
 Most German bureaucrats are trained in law and like law neatly organized into
codes, like Roman law
 Britain
 Britain has strong traditions of local self-government and dispersion of
authority, flowing out emphasis on representative government
 As the bureaucracy was rife with corruption, Britain in the mid-19 th
century began to create a merit civil service based on competitive exams
 Every ministry has a “permanent secretary” who reports to the minister
and has the real bureaucratic power, supported by lower level civil
servants
 British bureaucrats pride themselves on being apolitical and faithfully
carrying out the political government’s policies
+The Trouble with Bureaucracy
 The world does not love bureaucracy; bureaucracy tends to be a pejorative

term
 Efficiency, profitability, and productivity are hard to apply in government

programs; cutting government programs like Social Security or Medicare is
impossible
 Bureaucracy and corruption often intertwined: officials can use position to

benefit friends by throwing contracts their way; nepotism is rife in many
developing countries

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INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Karahöyük

Executives and Bureaucracies

(all the following terms refer to the government)

In the United States (and increasingly in some other countries),

 If there is no majority parliamentary party, a coalition must be formed, which

 Ministers who oppose government policy are expected to resign and

 The German chancellor is equivalent to the British prime

 A chancellor can be removed only if the lower house

 Thus, German cabinets have very long tenures.

 De Gaulle designed a semi-presidential system with a working president and

 The president has a specified term of office and names a like-minded

 “Cohabitation” occurs when the elected parliament is dominated by a party

 Prime ministers with stable majorities supporting them in parliament start

 Technically, there is no “candidate for prime minister” in parliamentary

 Personality matters more than policy, party, or ideology

 Presidents in office a long time may become corrupt and dictatorial

 In parliamentary systems, prime ministers can serve indefinitely so

 Most prime ministers can dissolve parliament when they wish,

 A U.S. president can only be removed with great difficulty

 The method is impeachment and removal whereby charges are

 If the Senate passes any of the charges by a two-thirds vote, the

 Reagan was very hands-off, letting subordinates handle most of the

 Eisenhower, most of whose career was as a military bureaucrat, tried to

 The major executive divisions are called departments (headed by a

 The U.S. expands the number of departments slowly via an act of

 In parliamentary systems, chief executives can add, delete, combine, and

 Their ministerial jobs often reflect the parliamentary committees they

 In presidential systems, cabinet officers may not necessarily be

 European cabinet members are often knowledgeable on politics and

 In both presidential and parliamentary systems, attention

 Presidents or prime ministers are expected to deliver economic

 Worldwide, power has been flowing to the executive, and

 Bureaucracy – The career civil service that staffs government

 Max Weber was the first scholar to analyze bureaucracy

 The world does not love bureaucracy; bureaucracy tends to be a pejorative

 Efficiency, profitability, and productivity are hard to apply in government

 Bureaucracy and corruption often intertwined: officials can use position to

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