326 CHAPTER 11|THE BUREAUCRACY
(FDA) the job of determining which drugs are safe and eff ective, but it allowed FDA
bureaucrats to develop their own procedures for making these determinations.^4
In general, the job of the federal bureaucracy includes a wide range of activities,
from regulating the behavior of individuals and corporations to buying everything
from pencils to jet fi ghters. These activities are inherently political and often con-
fl ictual: ordinary citizens, elected offi cials, and bureaucrats themselves often dis-
agree about aspects of these activities, and they work to infl uence bureaucratic
actions to suit their own goals.REGULATIONS
A regulation is a government rule that aff ects the choices that individuals or
corporations make. It does so by either allowing or prohibiting behavior, setting
out the conditions under which certain behaviors can occur, or assessing costs or
granting benefi ts based on behavior. Consider deepwater off shore drilling, which
became an issue in 2010 after an explosion at a BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico
created a massive oil spill. That crisis focused attention on a government agency
known as the Minerals Management Service, which regulates every aspect of
the drilling process—from how many lifeboats should be on a rig to what kinds
of hardware should be used to drill and maintain the well site on the ocean fl oor.
Bureaucrats gain the authority to write regulations by the statute that establishes
their agency or by a subsequent act of Congress.
Regulations are developed according to the notice and comment proce-
dure.^5 Before a new regulation can take eff ect, it must be published in the Fed-
eral Register, an offi cial publication that includes rules, proposed rules, and other
types of government documents. Individuals and companies that will be aff ected
by the regulation can then respond to the agency that proposed it, either support-
ing or opposing it, and off ering diff erent versions for consideration. Those poten-
tially aff ected can also appeal to members of Congress or to the president’s staff for
help in getting the proposed rule revised. The agency then issues a fi nal regulation,
incorporating changes based on the comments. This fi nal regulation is also pub-
lished in the Federal Register and then put into eff ect.
The process of devising or modifying regulations is often political. Members
of Congress and the president usually have strong opinions about how new reg-notice and comment procedure
A step in the rule-making process in
which proposed rules are published
in the Federal Register and made
available for debate by the general
public.
WHAT DO BUREAUCRATS DO?
The fundamental job of the bureaucracy is to implement executive orders and legislation enacted by
Congress. To this end, bureaucrats take a variety of actions each day, such as
¾ Develop and enforce regulations that shape choices made by individuals and corporations
¾ Purchase goods and services for the federal government, from offi ce space to pencils and
fi ghter aircraft
¾ Deliver services to Americans, such as mail delivery and student loans
¾ Do research and development on health care and other scientifi c questions
¾ Manage contractors who provide services to the government and to individualsNUTS & bolts
11.1
regulation A rule that allows the
government to exercise control over
individuals and corporations by
restricting certain behaviors.