346 CHAPTER 11|THE BUREAUCRACY
INVESTIGATIONS: POLICE PATROLS AND FIRE ALARMS
Investigations involve Congress, legislative staff , or presidential appointees scru-
tinizing some government program or offi ce, its expenditures, and its activities.
The two types of oversight, police patrols and fi re alarms, are described in “How
It Works.” Ideally, every agency would be investigated as often as possible, with
agencies that have large budgets or carry out important functions being investi-
gated more frequently. These investigations may involve fact-fi nding trips to local
offi ces, interviews with senior personnel, audits of agency accounts, and calls to
the agency to see how it responds to citizens’ requests. This method of investiga-
tion is called police patrol oversight.^67 Think of a police offi cer walking her
beat, rattling doors to see if they are locked, checking out broken windows, and
looking down alleys for suspicious behavior.
The disadvantage of police patrol oversight is that it is costly in terms of money
and staff time. Moreover, these investigations often fi nd that agencies are doing
what they should. Because of these drawbacks, Congress and the president also
look outside government for information on what bureaucrats are doing. Rather
than initiating investigations, they wait until they receive a complaint about
bureaucratic actions and then focus investigative eff orts on those cases, a practice
labeled fi re alarm oversight.^68
The so-called fi re alarm can take many diff erent forms. Representatives and
their staff meet frequently with constituents, who may let them know of a prob-
lem with the bureaucracy. Similarly, lobbyists, corporate executives, and ordinary
citizens often contact the president and his staff with complaints about bureau-
cratic actions. Newspaper reporters and Internet bloggers, too, provide informa-
tion on what bureaucrats are doing. Some agencies have advisory committees that
not only help make agency decisions but also keep Congress and the president
informed about them.^69 Such fi re alarm communications tell Congress and the
president where to focus their eff orts to monitor the bureaucracy, rather than try-
ing to oversee the entire government at once.Correcting Violations
When members of Congress or the president fi nd a case of bureaucratic drift,
they can choose from many tactics to bring a wayward agency into line. Legisla-
tion or an executive order can send a clear directive to an agency or remove its
discretion, tasks and programs can be moved to an agency more closely aligned
with elected offi cials’ goals, political appointees at an agency can be replaced,
and agencies can be reorganized. In extreme situations, members of Congress
can even fail to renew an agency’s statutory authority, in eff ect putting the
agency out of business.
A signifi cant diffi culty in dealing with bureaucratic drift is disagreement
between members of Congress and the president about whether an agency is doing
the right thing—regardless of whether it is following its original orders. Most of the
tactics listed require joint action by the president and congressional majorities.
Without presidential support, members of Congress need a two-thirds major-
ity to impose corrections. Without congressional support, the president can only
threaten to cut an agency’s proposed budget, change its home within the federal
bureaucracy, or establish a new agency to do what the errant agency refuses to do;
actually carrying out these threats requires congressional approval. As a result,police patrol oversight
A method of oversight in which
members of Congress constantly
monitor the bureaucracy to make
sure that laws are implemented
correctly.
fi re alarm oversight A method
of oversight in which members of
Congress respond to complaints
about the bureaucracy or problems
of implementation only as they arise
rather than exercising constant
vigilance.