Issues Of The American Government Administrative Roles - Research Paper Example

Issues Of The American Government Administrative Roles The United States government has evolved since the framers of the Constitution first designed the format of the governing branches. According to Cann, “we live in a political system where many significant policy decisions are made by bureaucrats applying expertise rather than by elected representatives who stand accountable to the public for their decisions” (64). While the opinion of experts has credible weight, the definition of an expert is a malleable one. Because of the enormity of the way in which the economic world has developed, which then has impact on the bureaucratic complexity of services under which Americans all must depend (such as roads, education, and housing), the government has had to adjust the way in which it services the citizens. The Executive Branch has evolved into a position of power that can use the executive order to enact law. While the intent is to enforce the legislation so that laws can be effective, Article II Section I of the constitution which charges the President with these responsibilities has been used to create a power through the executive order than can change law and public policy. The Legislative Branch has become a source of oversight for industry because corruption and mishandling of big business has too far reach in its impact on the overall health of society. With the tension between health of the nation, freedom of business, and the power of corruption creating such great changes in the direction of the government, the institution of the administrative state policies have created a government that is vastly different than originally intended by the framers of the Constitution. The power of the executive order has changed over the course of time as challenges have changed the nature of such decrees from the executive branch. A record of Presidential executive orders was not officially kept until 1907 when a system of ordering them was established. The way in which executive orders have been used has varied in importance and impact. The order that is considered the first executive order within the numbering system, was the Emancipation Proclamation that was delivered by President Lincoln that effectively ended slavery (Holzer, Medford, and Wiliams 57). Although proclamations and orders had been used previous to this time, many were never written nor published. The foundation of the concept of the executive order was based on Article II, Section I of the Constitution which charges the President with overseeing that the laws of the nation are effectively executed (Ramsey 105). One of the ways in which executive orders have been used both positively and negatively have been is in the way in which people have been treated in regard to ethnic origin. Traditionally, Native American policies, including the creation of reservations and the movement of tribes onto reservations was accomplished through an executive order (Wilkinson 65). Executive Order 9066, which was issued by President Roosevelt in 1942 resulted in the internment of Japanese Americans into camps in reaction to Pearl Harbor (Ramsey 166). However, both President Kennedy and President Johnson used executive orders to further the cause of African American civil rights (Herman 314). However, the fine line between the power of the President to ensure that laws are being respected and to create law has been crossed through the use of the executive order privilege that has never been clearly established and whose foundation is, at best, controversial. While the power of the executive order has been challenged, as in the case where President Truman seized control of steel mills through executive order in order to support war efforts and it was determined that he did not have this authority (Ramsey 164), After this issue, Presidents have been more cautious in the use of the executive order. One recent issue that was affected by the power of the executive order was within the area of stem cell research. President Bush twice vetoed legislation that would further the cause of this research, but then enacted an executive order that would “encourage” researchers to seek what he believed to be stem cell research that was designed through his point of view on the ethics of the work (Stolberg). However, in March of 2009, President Obama, in an effort to return to government that is not influenced by fear and superstition, gave an executive order that would reverse the restrictions that President Bush put on scientific discover in stem cell research (Stolberg). When President Nixon took office in 1969 he did so with a specific agenda which during the next two years would be stalled because of conflicts with congress. However, after he found frustration within the normal course of enacting change, he began to adopt a belief in an administrative presidency (Cann 36). This type of governing would have bypass Congress in regulating agencies. President Ronald Reagan began to pursue this form of power within his administration, but “Where Nixon sought to infiltrate the major spending departments - Health, Education , and Welfare; Housing and Urban Development; Labor; Transportation; and Interior - the principle targets of Reagan’s administrative presidency were the major regulatory agencies, especially the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)” (Aberbach and Peterson 29). President Reagan took this approach in order to relieve the burdens on business so that the costs of adhering to these policies would not interfere with the operation of business. The Legislative Branch of government is responsible for creating law and enacting change in law as needed. In addition to this role, monetary responsibilities in running budgets and controlling taxation are also within the parameters of the power of this branch of government. However, the Legislative Branch of government has to steadily increase its role as overseer in regulating many industries in order to support the welfare of the American people. The act of oversight can diminish the role of freedom for the operation of business. While it has become necessary for the Legislative Branch of government to participate in oversight of business, this was not originally intended as its purpose or power. The theory of capitalism is based on the premise of free enterprise. This means that business is run by private individuals for the purpose of attaining profit. The concept of the enterprise as free should mean that the business can conduct its business in a way that best suit’s the business without interference from government. However, because corruption and basic moral dilemma can interfere with the welfare of workers who have little power in such a system, and with the additional pressures that the world economy has developed because the life of one business has influence over the life of other business, oversight and control through the Legislative Branch has come into common practice. In creating regulations for the banking industry, the government seeks to administer these institutions in order for the economy to remain equitable and stable. In the 1980’s, the savings and loan institutions had depleted the fund that was intended to support failing institutions which Congress and President Bush (41) in a position to pass a law that would provide for more aggressive oversight in the operations and in making decisions and enforcing liquidation and restructuring as needed (Effros 142). Another way in which Congress creates power in order to enforce pubic policy is in the creation of agencies to provide the oversight that Congress has elected to enact. In creating such an agency, the Congress gives it power to create laws in which to support its efforts. One such way in which a government agency can create a rule - which is tantamount to a law - is by rule promulgation procedure. In this procedure, the agency announces its intention to create the rule, holds a hearing in order to allow the public to speak on this rule, and then announces its decision (Cann 73). This is an example of the power that Congress imbues a group of experts in order to create law that has circumvented elected officials creating law. Agencies are creating law without the use of any of the three branches of government. However, Congress does take the responsibility of oversight of these agencies. In this way, the spirit of checks and balances is maintained, although it is not based in the three branches of the government. The Executive Branch has no power over these agencies, other than raising an issue and providing influence. When these laws are created, there is no opportunity for veto. While lawsuits can be raised, providing for some power from the Judicial Branch, these suits must be supported by a complaining entity. Therefore, in creating an administrative power for an appointed entity, the way in which law was intended to be created has been circumvented and the power of the President to veto these laws has been bypassed. The Judicial Branch of government has become the ultimate source of regulation where public policy is concerned. In having to create the last word on the way in which agencies operate, the courts have established the due process procedure where someone who is facing school expulsion, benefits termination, or public housing eviction. This process has prevented states from creating rules concerning repossession of property, garnishment of wages, or the establishment of residency for reduced tuition at state universities (Cann 397). These hearings allowed those who opposed to speak and influence the decisions, whether they were based on public needs or private needs. Because of due process, the public has a voice before a law effects their life. As the nature of the interconnection of business and public welfare has become stronger and world globalization has created a structure of an economy that depends on the actions of each participating entity in order to continue sufficient support, the government of the United States has had to become more flexible in the way in which it uses the separation of powers. While the creation of agencies that have the power to create ‘rules’, which are in essence laws, seems in violation of the responsibilities of the Congress, it is reasonable to understand that the enormity and complexity of the issues that these agencies consider is better left in the hands of those who are experts. However, the responsibility that is owed to the American citizens becomes disrupted when law is created from non-elected officials. As well, the use of the executive order allows for the possibility of abuse. This can be seen through the internment of American citizens of Japanese decent due to a war with Japan. While the prejudice of society allowed, at the time, for the concept that was acceptable to judge people for their heritage, in retrospect this was a terrible and heinous act that discriminated against citizens based on ethnic origin, not even on national loyalties. While the needs of the world have corrupted the original ideology of the United States, the flexibility of the government has worked to support the real life needs of a globalization of economic and social needs. The concept of the administrative presidency provides for more power within the Executive Branch to enact policy that has been influenced, not by public opinion, but by personal beliefs. This can be seen through the actions of President George W. Bush as he pushed his own agendas, including his own morals, his need to support faith based issues, and the Iraq war, that were not necessarily in the best interest of the American public. While it isn’t a problem when the President supports issues that are based on his personal ideas, there is a problem when a President enacts laws and policy that are solely based on his agenda and without the consent of the elected Congress. This is also the case when a Congressionally appointed agency creates rules. The opportunity for corruption allows for too many problems to slip through the process. However, with the issues carrying such enormous complexity that impact the environment, the safety of workers, and the world economy, experts have the better answers and can act more swiftly when they have the approval of Congress to act. So, the ideology of America comes in conflict with the needs of the people. Thus far, despite the potential for corruption, the administrative form of governing has been the least dangerous way of regulating the many facets of American life. Works Cited Aberbach, Joel D., and Peterson, Mark A. The Executive Branch. Oxford Univ Pr, 2005. Brooks, Roy L. When Sorry Isn't Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice. Critical America. New York: New York University Press, 1999. Cann, Steven J. Administrative Law. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2006. Effros, Robert C. Current Legal Issues Affecting Central Banks. Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, 1992. Herman, Edward. Locating United States Government Information: A Guide to Sources. Buffalo, N.Y.: W.S. Hein, 1997. Holzer, Harold, Edna Greene Medford, and Frank J. Williams. The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views (Social, Political, Iconographic). Conflicting worlds. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006. Jaques, Elliott. Social Power and the CEO: Leadership and Trust in a Sustainable Free Enterprise System. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books, 2002. Ramsey, Michael D. The Constitution's Text in Foreign Affairs. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2007. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay, “Bush Again Vetoes Bill on Stem Cell Research”. The New York Times. 29 June 2007. 23 April 2009 Stolberg, Sheryl Gay, “Obama Lifts Bush’s Strict Limits on Stem Cell Research”. The New York Times. 9 March 2009. 23 April 2009 Wilkinson, Charles F. American Indians, Time, and the Law: Native Societies in a Modern Constitutional Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. Read More