After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain why President George W. Bush felt compelled to seek a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security.
Describe why bureaucracies face impossible tasks, why their performance is difficult to measure, and why they are slow and mired in red tape.
Understand the spoils system and its advantages and disadvantages. Know how, why, and the extent to which the civil service system replaced patronage.
Explain the president's cabinet and the importance of the secretaries that comprise it, drawing lessons from the proximity of the departments to the White House.
Compare the advantages of political and professional high-level bureaucrats, drawing comparisons with Europe and Japan.
Understand bureaucratic turnover and its disadvantages.
Summarize the nature of the congressional relationships with the bureaucracy, noting the roles of Senate confirmations, budgetary controls, legislative oversight, iron triangles, and issue networks.
Understand how electoral incentives influence
the bureaucracy.
