THEME:

The Role of Bureaucracy in the

US Foreign Policy _ Part A

1. US Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: concept and features

2. The President as Initiator of FP
3. The Congress as Initiator of FP
US Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: concept and features
• Foreign policy bureaucracies are defined as executive branch organizations or
agencies with a profound influence on US relations with the world. These
organizations play a role in the day to day operations of any government and
represent the networks of professionals and institutions that make any
organization tick
• Bureaucratic organizations share several major characteristics: a)
They are executive branch government agencies that are institutionalized and
established players in the policy process; b) They are organized in hierarchical
order with a clear chain of command or authority; c) They are typically made
up of hundreds of professionals with assigned duties; d) Their work is carried
out separately from other organizations
• A significant paradox: The president’s ability to govern is heavily dependent on
the foreign policy bureaucracy, yet the bureaucracy is so large and complex
that it is very difficult to control.
• Three major aspects of the bureaucracy complicate the president’s task of its
management and administration: (1) size, (2) complexity, and (3) historical
development.
 Bureaucratic Size
The main elements of the foreign policy bureaucracy
• Department of Defense (DOD), which is the largest of all executive branch
organizations; it employs over 3 million civilian and military personnel
(including reserves) throughout the world and now spends over $700
billion a year
• Department of State, with its professional diplomatic corps
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with its intelligence-gathering and
analysis mission are also devoted to foreign affairs.
• Other agencies have important foreign policy roles as well, including the
Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security
created in 2002
• Also, there are many agencies that are involved in foreign policy: the
Department of Transportation is responsible for the government’s policy on
international aviation and maritime issues through the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, the Federal
Aviation Administration, and the Maritime Administration; The
Department of Justice contains the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
which plays an important role in counterterrorism, and the Drug
Enforcement Agency, the lead agency in fighting the drug war
Bureaucratic Complexity
• Regardless of their size, however, each
organization has its subculture, and sometimes
more than one, as well as and its own set of goals
and missions.
• Many times the tasks of different organizations
overlap.
• These various organizations also have different
levels of autonomy from presidential authority.
Bureaucratic Historical Development
 Most bureaucratic growth has taken place in four successive
waves:
• The first major expansion of the federal bureaucracy resulted from the
New Deal legislation of the 1930s under President Franklin Roosevelt;
• the second took place in national security and foreign affairs during
World War II and the cold war under Presidents Franklin Roosevelt,
Harry Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower
• the third occurred with President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society
programs of the 1960s.
• A fourth wave of expansion has occurred to some extent after
September 11, 2001, with President George W. Bush’s global war on
terrorism and President Obama’s response to the global economic
recession
The key law that was the basis for the permanent expansion of the foreign
policy bureaucracy was the National Security Act of 1947.
The act restructured the national security process in three major areas:

1. The military, by creating the National Military

Establishment (forerunner to the Department of
Defense), consisting of the secretary of defense, the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Departments of Army,
Navy, and Air Force;
2. Intelligence, by creating the Central Intelligence
Agency and the director of central intelligence; and
3. National security advice to the president, by creating
the National Security Council.
The President as Initiator of FP

Before you get to be president you think you can do

anything. You think you’re the most powerful leader since
God. But when you get in that tall chair, as you’re gonna
find out, Mr. President, you can’t count on people. You’ll
find your hands tied and people cussin’ you. The office is
kinda like the little country boy found the hoochie-koochie
show at the carnival, once he’d paid his dime and got inside
the tent: “It ain’t exactly as it was advertised.”
(President Lyndon Johnson’s warning to his successor, Richard Nixon)
Constitutional Roles and Strengths
• paradox of presidential power-The president is the most powerful
political actor in the United States. He occupies many constitutional
roles and has many capabilities that contribute to his power. However,
the president also faces many constraints that limit his power
• Constitutional Roles and Strengths -Article II of the U.S.
Constitution:
• Commander in chief,
• 2. Chief diplomat,
• 3. Chief administrator,
• 4. Chief of state,
• 5. Chief legislator,
• 6. Voice of the people, and
• 7. Chief judicial officer.
Constitutional Roles and Strengths
• COMMANDER IN CHIEF According to the Constitution, the
president is the commander in chief, which means that he has ultimate
authority over the military. By virtue of his position as president, he is to be
treated like a six-star general, and when he gives an order, members of the
military and the Department of Defense comply. This gives the president
considerable power because, as commander in chief, he dictates the use of
American armed forces abroad.
• CHIEF DIPLOMAT - This role originates with the president’s
constitutional duty to nominate the secretary of state and ambassadors to
countries abroad, to receive foreign ambassadors, and to negotiate treaties.
Presidents also have the right to offer, or withdraw, official U.S. diplomatic
relations with foreign governments. Finally, presidents can enter into
executive agreements with foreign governments and, with the advice and
consent of the Senate, can negotiate treaties that are binding on the United
States and have the force of law.
Constitutional Roles and Strengths
• CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR - The president has
authority over the executive branch. One of the major
ways the president exercises this administrative power is
through appointments. The president also establishes
the structure and process by which policy is formulated
and implemented, which reinforces his roles as
commander in chief and chief diplomat
• CHIEF OF STATE - The president represents the
United States of America.
Constitutional Roles and Strengths
• CHIEF LEGISLATOR -the president has ability to both initiate and veto
legislation. In the modern relationship between the legislative and executive
branches, much of the legislation before Congress originates in the executive
branch and is submitted by the president—such as the budget of the U.S.
government, as well as programs for defense spending and foreign assistance.
Therefore, Congress often responds to the president’s agenda. The president
also has the constitutional right to “veto” legislation. Congress may override a
presidential veto with a two-thirds affirmative vote for the legislation in the
House of Representatives and in the Senate, but this happens infrequently.
• VOICE OF THE PEOPLE- The president is the only public official who
is elected by the entire American populace. Only the president can claim a
national electoral mandate to promote and implement those policies that
were promised and discussed during the presidential campaign
• CHIEF JUDICIAL OFFICER - First, the president has the authority to
pardon any individual convicted of a crime. Second, all of the judges who
serve on federal district courts, the federal courts of appeals, and the United
States Supreme Court are nominated by the president.
Limits and Constraints
• 1. Time,
• 2. Information,
• 3. The bureaucracy,
• 4. Congress,
• 5. State and local governments,
• 6. Political parties, and
• 7. Interest groups and social movements.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP
• There are three crucial elements of political leadership and
presidential power:
1. Professional reputation - refers to how other political actors inside and
outside Washington, D.C. judge the president’s ability to get things
accomplished. Presidents with a reputation for being very skillful in exercising
power and for having to be reckoned with when opposed are most persuasive
2. Public prestige-refers to how other political actors—whether in the
bureaucracy, Congress, interest groups, or the media—perceive the level of
public support for the president. Presidents with a positive public image are
more powerful because high credibility and popular support throughout the
country enable a president to use professional reputation and public prestige
to persuade.
3. Presidential choices-A president’s ability to lead and persuade is a function
of the choices he makes for which only he is responsible. The choices a
president makes affect his professional reputation and public prestige.
Ultimately, this requires that the president and his staff need to be skillful
in three areas: (1) managing the executive branch and the decision
making process; (2) building coalitions and politically interacting with other
players in and out of Washington, D.C.; and (3) symbolically communicating
his priorities and preferences to American society and the world.
 Three sets of presidential choices are
vital for FP:

• (1) the president’s foreign policy orientation,

agenda, and level of involvement;
• (2) the appointment of executive branch
personnel;
• (3) the organization of the foreign policymaking
process
 The President’s Orientation, Agenda,
and Level of Involvement

• Presidents try to set goals and promote policies that

reflect their foreign policy orientation and agenda.
• This is critical because the role of the bureaucracy is
too important to be left to chance; a president must
be attentive to and actively involved in the
bureaucracy’s operations to ensure that U.S. foreign
policy during his administration accords with his
preferences.
• General “policy reviews,” especially at the beginning
of a new administration; involvement in the
policymaking process; and “presidential speeches”
offer unique opportunities for the president to gain
control over the bureaucracy and foreign policy.
Appointment of Staff and Advisers
Of the many appointments a president makes, six key foreign
policy appointments stand out:
1. Special to the president for national security affairs (better
known as the national security adviser or NSC adviser)/Robert
O’Brien, since 2019;
2. Secretary of state/ Mike Pompeo
since 2018;
3. Secretary of defense/ Mark Esper, since 2019;
4. Director of national intelligence/ John Ratcliffe, since 2020;
5. Special assistant to the president for economic affairs (called
the national economic adviser or NEC adviser)/ Larry Kudlow,
since 2018;
6. Secretary of the treasury / Steven Mnuchin, since 2017.
(Trump administration)
 The organization of the foreign policymaking
process
• Important questions about how to organize the
policymaking process that a president must
address include whether the process should be:
1. White House centered, State Department centered, or
mixed/ad hoc?
2. Centralized or decentralized?
3. Open or closed to staff and advisers?
• Three general patterns have prevailed in the
foreign policy process for most presidents since
World War II:
1. Presidents tend to rely on a White House–centered system.
2. The policymaking process tends to become more
centralized with time.
3. The level of participation in the process tends to narrow
and close over time.
US President can initiate FP as follows
• Response to Foreign Events- As spokesman and head of the Foreign
Service, the armed forces, the intelligence services, and the bureaucracy, the
President usually responds to such events and thus initiates U.S. policy.
Congress ordinarily supports the President, but on occasion seeks a change in
policy
• Administration Proposal for Legislation- On occasion, the executive
branch wants to begin a foreign policy program that requires legislation or
appropriations, and accordingly proposes legislation to Congress.
Congressional approval in this situation is essential. Congress may play a
more or less active role in the development of the legislation, modifying the
Administration bill or developing entirely new legislation of its own
• Negotiation of International Agreements-A few international agreements
might be called "sole executive agreements" because the President considers
that he has the authority to conclude them under his own powers and does
not submit them to the Senate as treaties or to Congress for approval
• Policy Statements-The President also establishes U.S.
foreign policy through unilateral statements or joint
statements issued with other governments. Sometimes
unilateral statements are broad descriptions of American
goals and objectives
• Policy Implementation-the Administration continues to
shape policy as it interprets and applies the various
provisions of law
• Independent Action- Occasionally the President
undertakes a dramatic or sudden foreign policy action
before Congress is fully informed about it. Congress then is
faced with the dilemma of supporting the action or being
charged with undercutting the President before the world.
Congress usually supports the President
The Congress as Initiator of USFP
• Congress represents a traditional order of
governance that is rooted in a strict formal
sequence of government process, whereby laws
are first enacted by legislative assent and
subsequently implemented by the executive.
• Congress has often had to resort to a rearguard
strategy of adaptation and repositioning in order
to maintain a meaningful role in the area of
foreign policy.
The Congress Initiate USFP through
• Resolutions and Policy Statements - Every year Members of Congress
introduce large numbers of simple or concurrent resolutions stating the sense
of the House, Senate, or Congress on foreign policy, and many such
resolutions are adopted. Many observers are skeptical about the effectiveness
of these sense of the House, Senate, or Congress resolutions. Like
Presidential policy statements, they express the policy of a single branch of
government, but their effect is often weaker because Congress does not
execute policy.
• Legislative Directives -Congress sometimes initiates a foreign policy by
using legislation to establish a new program, set objectives and guidelines,
authorize and direct the executive branch to undertake specified activities, and
by earmarking appropriations to be used in a specified way. The executive
branch influences this kind of policy initiative because Members regularly
seek Administration views in the process of formulating legislation, the
President must approve legislation unless it is passed over a Presidential veto,
and the executive branch implements the legislation.
• Legislative Pressure- Sometimes Congress pressures the
executive branch into a new direction in foreign policy by
threatening to pass legislation, even though the legislation is not
enacted, or by continuing to exhort a policy through many
means.
• Legislative Restrictions/Funding Denials - Congress has
been most visible in its foreign policy role when it has placed
legislation prohibitions or other limitations on the President's
freedom of action in foreign affairs. Often these measures have
been amendments to legislation authorizing or appropriating
funds that the President was unlikely to veto. The use of funding
restrictions or denials by Congress is a classic illustration of the
"power of the purse" under the Constitution. Unlike other
legislative action by Congress, its use is not subject to serious
challenge by the President as an unconstitutional infringement
on the President's foreign policy powers.
• Informal Advice- Often Members of Congress shape
foreign policy by providing advice to the executive
branch in informal contacts. Such advice can also be
given at meetings between the President and Members
where no formal decision-making is contemplated, but
where general reactions to prospective policy initiatives
may be solicited by the President.
• Oversight of Policy- Congress shapes foreign policy
through regular oversight of executive branch
implementation of foreign policy. This involves such
mechanisms as hearings and investigations. In
particular, hearings on annual authorizations and
appropriations of funds for executive branch agencies
carrying out foreign policy provide an opportunity for
committee members to question and influence activities
and policies.