This chapter is organized into five main sections. First, we briefly review Max Weber's conceptual treatment of bureaucracy as a hallmark of modern society and government, an improvement on "traditional" ways of organizing public authority based on personal connections or individual charisma. This is a critical initial step in thinking conceptually about the Texas bureaucracy, because our state culture and public institutions are imbued with a fundamental distrust of public authority. Identifying some of the contradictions many citizens share about the proper role of the public bureaucracy prepares us for the subsequent discussions of the bureaucracy's power, accountability, size, and scope.
The following section provides an overview of the so-called "fourth branch" of government, with a specific focus on the policy making process. This includes presentation of a simple model that depicts five distinct steps from proposal to post-implementation assessment. A central point in this model is that even though the legislature is responsible for making all laws, the bureaucracy often has considerable leeway to formulate rules and guidelines for implementing those laws.
The overview of the extra-constitutional fourth branch leads directly into our review of the various forces working to direct the bureaucracy's activities and make it accountable in at least limited ways. Many institutions and political actors - including the legislature, the governor, interest groups and citizens - seek to influence and control the bureaucracy using a wide array of tools. As we will see, some tools are more effective than others for achieving specific ends, making the practice of bureaucratic control rather complex and multilayered.
Next we take a broad look at the current size, scope and organization of the state bureaucracy in Texas. The chapter on the Political Economy of Texas provides data on how much the state government and its various departments and agencies cost. In the present chapter we provide additional detail on the organization of the bureaucracy and the types of activities for which it is responsible. The key here is that that even in a conservative, "small-government" state like Texas, considerable responsibilities are placed on the administrative apparatus of state government.
After reviewing the scope and structure of the state administrative bureaucracy, we review the federal context for policy making and implementation. Because Texas is part of a federal system of government, many of these responsibilities are mandated or encouraged by the national government. These federal mandates and other voluntary programs usually are substantially funded by the national government as well. The policy areas influenced by federal mandates and funding do not represent the full extent of public administration in the state. But they involve some of the biggest outlays of money and require some of the most extensive administrative apparatus and highest number of personnel.
The governmental bureaucracy can at times seem a bit mind-numbing in its complexity, but it is also the place where politics and policy come together in intriguing interactions.
