Gail Johnson - The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators

The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...49

The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators

Bureaucracies, Public Administration,
and Public Policy

Kenneth J. Meier
Series Editor

THE STATE OF PUBLIC BUREAUCRACY
Larry B. Hill, Editor

THE POLITICS OF DISSATISFACTION
Citizens, Services, and Urban Institutions
W. E. Lyons, David Lowery, and Ruth Hoogland DeHoog

THE DYNAMICS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN BUREAUCRATS AND LEGISLATORS

Cathy Marie Johnson

THE POLITICS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION
The States and the Divestiture of AT&T
Jeffrey E. Cohen

WOMEN AND MEN OF THE STATES
Public Administrators at the State Level
Mary E. Guy, Editor

Bureaucracies, Public Administration,
and Public Policy

The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators

Cathy Marie Johnson

First published 1992 by M.E. Sharpe

Published 2015 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1992 Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notices
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use of operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johnson, Cathy Marie.
The dynamics of conflict between bureaucrats and legislators / by Cathy Marie Johnson.
p. cm.(Bureaucracies, public administration, and public policy)
ISBN 1-56324-015-7 (cloth) ISBN 1-56324-510-8 (pbk.)
1. Administrative agenciesUnited StatesCase studies. 2. BureaucracyUnited StatesCase studies. 3. Conflict managementUnited StatesCase studies. 4. United States Congress. 5. Policy sciences.
I. Title.
II. Series.
JK585.J65 1992
353.04'07724dc20
91-28375
CIP

ISBN 13:9781563245107 (pbk)
ISBN 13:9781563240157 (hbk)

To my parents, Patricia and Calvin Johnson

Contents

by Kenneth J. Meier

Chapter

The M.E. Sharpe series on Bureaucracies, Public Policy, and Public Administration is designed as a forum for the best work on bureaucracy and its role in public policy and governance. Although the series is open with regard to approach, methods, and perspectives, especially sought are three related types of research. First, the series hopes to attract theoretically informed, empirical studies of bureaucracy and public administration. Public administration has long been viewed as a theoretical and methodological backwater of political science. This view persists despite a recent accumulation of first-rate research. The series seeks to place public administration at the forefront of empirical analysis within political science. Second, the series is interested in conceptual work that attempts to clarify theoretical issues, set an agenda for research, or provide a focus for professional debates. Third, the series seeks work that challenges the conventional wisdom about how bureaucracies influence public policy or the role of public administration in governance.

The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucracies and Legislators is a challenge to the conventional wisdom about the role of bureaucracy in public policy. We have accepted uncritically the view that public policy in many areas, especially areas of distributive policy, is dominated by policy subsystems. Policy subsystems contain agencies that implement policy, congressional committees that oversee the agencies, and interest groups that benefit from public policy programs. The literature portrays policy subsystems as cooperative; each element of the subsystem can meet its goals by cooperating with other elements in the subsystem. Conflict is avoided because conflict would allow outsiders (other politicians, other interest groups, the president) to intervene in policy affairs and alter the distribution of benefits. Current theories of issue networks and advocacy coalitions attempt to explain what happens when conflict is introduced into a policy subsystem.

Professor Cathy Johnson's study of four agenciesthe Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Social and Rehabilitation Service, and the Food and Drug Administrationuses a historical approach to examine conflict and consensus in four policy subsystems. She finds that subsystems are not consensual; not only does conflict frequently occur within the policy subsystems, but that conflict is also often resolved within the subsystem without outside intervention.

Professor Johnson's work suggests that several truisms about public policy need to be rethought. First, hitherto policy subsystems have been perceived as major forces supporting the status quo since they deal only with issues that can be resolved to the satisfaction of all subsystem members. While policy subsystems are indeed major forces supporting the status quo, the ability to incorporate conflict and resolve conflict implies that subsystems can produce policy changes without the intervention of other political actors. Professor Johnson's analyses of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs reveal major changes in public policy occurring as the result of conflicts in the policy subsystem.

Second, the view that all members of a subsystem benefit from rapid expansion of bureau programs is strongly rejected by the analysis presented. Perhaps no more seductive metaphor in public administration exists than that of a power-hungry bureaucracy bent on program expansion. Such a metaphor, however, is grossly misleading. Conflict occurs over program goals; this study documents several occasions when bureaus resisted program expansion because the expansion required the agency to act contrary to the agency's policy goals. By no means can the agencies examined here be considered imperialist bureaucracies outside the control of other policy-makers. At times the bureaucracy had to be encouraged, prodded, and even threatened to increase its budget and program authority.

Third, the view that conflict is detrimental to public policy is also challenged. Professor Johnson provides evidence that conflict forces policy makers to refine their arguments, gather better information, and seek better policy options. The end result is policy that is more politically feasible, easier to implement, and more likely to have positive benefits.

Professor Johnson's case studies also provide the raw material to address major theoretical questions about bureaucracy and public policy. Two theories guide her work. The self-interest model is based on the premise that all policy actors pursue their own self-interest; bureaus seek larger budgets, interest groups seek more services, legislators seek more votes. Her alternative is the policy model, which holds that these actors have specific policy goals based on their assessments of good public policy. Throughout the analysis, Professor Johnson finds that the self-interest model cannot explain what has occurred but that the policy model does rather well.

Next page

1234567...49

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators»

Look at similar books to The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

Gail Carriger

Changeless

RANDALL. COLLINS

Explosive Conflict: Time-Dynamics of Violence

Gail Louw

Gail Louw: Plays Two

Gail Bowen

Sleuth: Gail Bowen On Writing Mysteries

Jason Porterfield

How Lyndon B. Johnson Fought the Vietnam War

Robert C. Oberst

Legislators and Representation in Sri Lanka: The Decentralization of Development Planning

Dennis W. Johnson

Congress Online: Bridging the Gap Between Citizens and Their Representatives

Robert A. Rubinstein

The Social Dynamics of Peace and Conflict: Culture in International Security

Pamela Gail Johnson

Practical Happiness: Four Principles to Improve Your Life

Cook Alethia

Conflict dynamics: civil wars, armed actors, and their tactics

Johnson

Resolving Inner Conflict: The Most Effective, Permanent Solution To Finally Overcome Inner Conflict For Life (internal conflict, deal with internal conflict, ... conflict resolution, emotional

Fry

The American South and the Vietnam War : belligerence, protest, and agony in Dixie

Discussion, reviews of the book The Dynamics of Conflict Between Bureaucrats and Legislators and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.