1. POLITICAL ECONOMY
(3): U.S. POLITICAL Separation of
Power
INSTITUTIONS

2. I. THE NATURE OF INSTITUTIONS
 Government typically is thought of as composed of the formal
institutions and processes through which binding decisions
are made for a society.
 An institution of government (which we call a political
institution) is an establishment or organization meeting three
tests:
 A) It pursues a purpose or objective that is legitimate; people
think that it is right for them to follow the commands of the
institution. Most people would follow an executive order, a
law passed by Congress, or a court order —because these
institutions are established by the U.S. Constitution.

3. NATURE (CONT.)
 B. It possesses adequate power to accomplish its purposes.
If, for example, we do not observe laws, we can be thrown in
the slammer for awhile.
 C. It has relative permanence, meaning it is likely to outlast
all of us. Institutions occupy buildings (in Washington, D.C.,
they’re mostly marble) and have addresses.
 We will look at four institutions briefly: Congress, the presidency, the
courts and the federal bureaucracy.
 Then we will look at economic institutions.

4. II. HOW FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS BECAME
PROMINENT IN THE UNITED STATES
 A . For the first 150 years, the U.S. had a “limited” federal
government. There was no debt to speak of. Military
operations were limited, and the U.S. did not have a standing
army. Business regulation was left to the states. State
politicians were more prominent than federal ones. The
national parties followed mostly predictable policies. A chief
issue of the nineteenth century was the tarif f, and the
Federalist party and its successors (later the Republicans)
supported a high tarif f, while the Jef fersonian
republicans/Jacksonian Democrats and their successors
opposed high tarif fs.
 B. Three periods in U.S. politics changed the political
landscape:

5. GROWING PROMINENCE (CONT.)
 1 . The Depression and New Deal of the 1930s brought the
federal government directly into the marketplace. Response
to the Depression, particularly to high rates of unemployment,
made federal government action legitimate.
 2. Crisis and World War II in the 1940s made the federal
government the chief consumer of market products and chief
regulator. We say that “politics stops at the water’s edge,”
meaning that there is little partisan conflict during times of
war, and most people believe that whatever the national
government does to protect security is legitimate.
 3. Ideological and political ferment in the 1960s
refocused attention on federal government. In his inaugural
address to the nation, John F. Kennedy said:

6. MORE PROMINENCE (CONT.)
 “Ask not what the country can do for you; ask what you can do
for America.” One year after his assassination in 1963,
Lyndon Baynes Johnson (LBJ) won the presidency with the
largest margin since the 1930s, promising a War on Poverty
and development of a “Great Society.” Meanwhile, the U.S.
became involved in yet another Asian war, that quickly
drained support for government programs abroad, while cities
burned, raising questions about the ef fectiveness of programs
at home.
 C. Simultaneously, restraints on federal institutions
weakened, through three interrelated processes:

7. FURTHER PROMINENCE (CONT.)
 1 . Elite and later public opinion demanded federal action —
to end the Depression, fight the enemies abroad, put out the
fires at home. These demands led to an authorization for
higher taxes, which remained high after the crises passed.
 2. During the twentieth century, the U.S. Constitution has
been interpreted nationally. Previously, the Constitution had
been applied to relations between citizens and the federal
government only, but not to citizen relations with state/local
governments. Court interpretations and federal government
actions led to a “nationalization” of individual rights.
 3. As federal institutions became more prominent,
interest groups developed and focused at the national level —
where the resources and power were.
 The anti-government mood since the “Reagan Revolution”
is a direct, conservative response to federal gov’t prominence.

8. QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS
 How are of fice holders recruited to the of fice?
 How is power organized in the institution? A hierarchy?
Equally? Some other method?
 To what socio-economic forces and interests does the
institution respond?
 What is the time line of the of fice holders?

9. III. MAJOR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS:
PRESIDENCY
 A . Recruitment through party nomination at conventions;
determined by primaries. National election that presents
mediated images to voters; financed by corporate/union
donors.
 B. Patronage appointment to the White House, executive staf f
 C. Responds to national interests —big business, sometimes,
big labor, environmental groups
 D. Presidential power is greater in foreign than domestic
af fairs
 E. Eight-year agenda of issues; Republican bias to the
presidency since 1968

10. IV. MAJOR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS:
CONGRESS
 A . A bicameral legislature: House of Representatives and the
Senate
 B. Recruitment through state party nomination determined by
primary election or caucuses/conventions; state elections
increasingly relying on media and money; Incumbency effect
(95 percent in the House; 87 percent, Senate)
 C. Elaborate staf f system personally loyal to members of
Congress
 D. Responds to state/local interests —highly decentralized
 E. Internally fragmented. Government through standing
committees and their subcommittees

11. CONGRESS (CONT.)
 1 . Committees collect data on topics, check agency
budgets, mark-up legislation
 2. Bases of committee power: a) they control the flow of
information; b) expertise; c) in some cases, Iron triangles of
committee chairs, interest groups, government agencies, d)
public hearings which usually are focus of attention by media
 F. In the U.S., “all politics are local”
 Members of Congress focus on domestic issues
 They perform “case work” (constituent service) for people whom
they represent
 G. Members of Congress have a generational time line

12. V. THE COURTS
 Recruitment through presidential nomination, congressional
screening (judiciary committee of the US Senate);
undemocratic
 Limited staf f system. Federal judges are generalists, not
specialists.
 Courts respond to particular cases, and their rulings are
based on precedents (stare decisis). To appear in court, one
needs to have standing to sue.
 The American federal courts possess the power of judicial
review. This means, as Chief Justice John Marshall said in the
early 19 th century, the Supreme Court determines what the
Constitution means.

13. COURTS (CONT.)
 Interests represented: controversial issues with a national
impact, for example the Af fordable Care Act (President
Obama’s healthcare reform)
 Generational timeline, as federal judges serve during “good
behavior”

14. VI. BUREAUCRACY
 Recruitment: Patronage at the top; merit selection covers
most other federal jobs (screening of credentials, tests)
 Types of bureaucratic agencies:
1 . Cabinet departments
a. Clientele departments—USDA, DOI, DOC, DOE, VA
b. Service and welfare departments —USDHS, HUD, DOT
c. Agencies of control —Treasury, Justice, Energy
d. Survival agencies—State, Defense, Homeland Security

15. BUREAUCRACY (CONT.)
2. Independent agencies
a. Independent regulatory commissions (Consumer Product
Safety Commission)
b. Government corporations (US Postal Service)
c. Clientele agencies (Farm Credit Administration)
d. Overhead agencies (GSA)
c. Interests served: the “captured agency” thesis argues that
the business firms regulated by the agency capture it, as in
the capture of the old ICC by the railroads, trucking industry
d. President and Congress have may ways to control
bureaucratic action:

16. BUREAUCRACY (CONT.)
 Give good agencies more money; reduce funding to bad
agencies
 Appoint sympathetic chiefs to good agencies; demons to bad
agencies
 Increase or reduce personnel in agencies
 Reorganize, restructure agencies
 Oversight by the Congress
D. Timeline is generational