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CHAPTER SIX: The Executive Branch

Review

1. The text states that "the structure of the executive branch, at all levels of government, tends to rest on a paradox. We count on the executive (President, Governor, or Mayor) to serve as chief executive but the branch atop which they sit is the product of legislative action and reflects legislative interests. At the federal level, for example, creating cabinet departments requires acts of Congress. Managing their missions requires laws that create programs. Spending money requires congressional appropriations. Unlike the private sector, where executives can decide the mission and create the structure for the organization they run, Presidents find themselves overseeing a vast establishment over which they share control and which tends to follow the structure and political interests of the legislative branch".

Discuss this paradox and critically analyze the government that created it. Would you rather a system where there were less legislative checks on executive power so that more could be done quickly, or do you value the safety of checks on executive power through the larger legislative branch even if it costs the system in terms of efficiency? Which is the most democratic? Which is the most functional? In other words, should the executive have absolute control of the executive branch or not?


2. After reading this chapter, return to some of the debate between scholars over the importance of organization. Does it matter? Is it all about people? Or is it all about politics? Or is it somewhere in between? Explain your answer.


3. What are the challenges, the pluses and minuses, of organizational culture? In general, do you think organizational cultures should be nurtured or streamlined (made more uniform throughout government)?


4. Discuss the problems of executive management in the executive branch, such as the lack of managerial ability among top elected officials, the brief tenures of political appointees, the conflicting goals between the White House and the department in the realm of staffing choices, and the existence of interdepartmental friction. Do you think these problems are inherent in a government the size and scope of the United States or do you think they are due to antiquated systems that need reforming? Any ideas how they can be reformed so as to promote better management in the executive branch?


5. By creating the Executive Office of the President through the Reorganization Act of 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt increased the staff of the executive branch dramatically. Do you think, as the text suggests, that this "swelling of the presidency," according to Thomas Cronin, was inevitable given the increased leadership responsibilities of the President, or do you think it is unnecessary and should be reversed? What would such a reversal do to our system?