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Street-Level Political Controls Over Federal Bureaucracy

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  • Scholz, John T.
  • Twombly, Jim
  • Headrick, Barbara

Abstract

Local partisan activities of legislators and their electoral coalitions systematically influence field office activities of federal bureaucracies in their electoral districts. This alternative to centralized democratic controls over bureaucracy occurs because discretionary policy decisions made at the field office level are influenced by local resources generated through partisan activities. Our study of county-level Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforcement in New York (1976–85) finds that county, state, and federal elected officials influence local enforcement activities, with liberal, Democratic legislators associated with more active enforcement. The county political parties are most influential for activities with the most local discretion, while members of Congress are more influential for local activities more readily controlled by the national office.

Suggested Citation

  • Scholz, John T. & Twombly, Jim & Headrick, Barbara, 1991. "Street-Level Political Controls Over Federal Bureaucracy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(3), pages 829-850, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:85:y:1991:i:03:p:829-850_17
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    Cited by:

    1. Aidan R. Vining, 2016. "What Is Public Agency Strategic Analysis (PASA) and How Does It Differ from Public Policy Analysis and Firm Strategy Analysis?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-31, December.
    2. Andrew B. Whitford, 2002. "Decentralization and Political Control of the Bureaucracy," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 14(2), pages 167-193, April.
    3. Ayoki, Milton, 2005. "Trade, informality and the policy process in Uganda," MPRA Paper 101790, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 18 Dec 2009.
    4. Assadi, Anahita & Lundin, Martin, 2015. "Tenure and street-level bureaucrats: how assessment tools are used at the frontline of the public sector," Working Paper Series 2015:19, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    5. William D. Schreckhise & Daniel E. Chand, 2023. "Local implementation of U.S. federal immigration programs: context, control, and the problems of intergovernmental implementation," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(4), pages 797-823, December.
    6. Matthew Zafonte & Paul Sabatier, 1998. "Shared Beliefs and Imposed Interdependencies as Determinants of Ally Networks in Overlapping Subsystems," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 10(4), pages 473-505, October.
    7. Jodi L. Short, 2021. "The politics of regulatory enforcement and compliance: Theorizing and operationalizing political influences," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 653-685, July.
    8. Laura I. Langbein, 1994. "Estimating the Impact of Regulatory Program Enforcement," Evaluation Review, , vol. 18(5), pages 543-573, October.
    9. Faith Bradley & William D. Schreckhise & Daniel E. Chand, 2017. "Explaining States’ Responses to the REAL ID Act: the Role of Resources, Political Environment, and Implementor Attitudes in Complying with a Federal Mandate," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(3), pages 877-897, September.
    10. John Mendeloff & Wayne B. Gray & Philip Armour & Frank Neuhauser, 2021. "The re‐occurrence of violations in occupational safety and health administration inspections," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1454-1479, October.

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