Government and politics of the USA and comparative (7152)
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Government and politics of the USA and comparative (7152)
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US 25 Markers
To what extent do you agree with the view that there is
an unaccountable layer of bureaucracy controlling
government in the UK and US?
Para 1
There is an unaccountable layer of bureaucracy controlling government through government
agencies with civil service in the UK and federal agencies in the US
UK – unaccountable layer of bureaucracy which is able to have considerable influence on
government – Tony Blair said civil service believe it’s their job to actually run the country
o Chilcot inquiry (2016)into nation role in Iraq War – evidences civil service is deep state– 2010-
Carne Ross (expert on Iraq at UN between 1997 and 2002) talked about how Deep state
officials were denying crucial files on t conflict to Chilcot Inquiry- rather than there being a
‘problem with Sir John Chilcot and his panel’, there was a problem with the ‘bureaucracy’
who were covering up mistakes and denying access to critical documents- civil service in
intelligence community argued to have encouraged govt. agenda in Iraq War- Alistair
Campbell accused of ‘sexing up’ intelligence reports to make case for military intervention
o Assessments of how Brexit would affect the economy badly in 2019- MPs argued civil
servants in Treasury deliberately ‘fiddled the figures’, to create public suspicion and doubts
over Brexit- Jacob Rees Mogg implied there was some kind of ‘pattern in that’ through
‘orchestration’. Civil service ‘see themselves as the true guardians of the national interest’, as
there are multiple claims that the civil service act as a ‘deep state’, who are a shaping force
who seek to get their ways anyway they can- accused of working against government wishes
and trying to water down terms of UK departure – could just be Jacob Rees Mogg making
excuse - right-wing Brexiteers, to convince public Brexit wouldn’t affect the economy badly
o Windrush Scandal – civil servants accused of playing role in scandal – responsible for
implementing government hostile policy to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to live
and work in the UK – ended up in Amber Rudd having to resign as Home Secretary – revealed
govt. had wrongfully deported British citizens – scandal exposed failures in immigration policy
and led to criticism of govt. treatment of migrants – civil service heavily involved in
developing and implementing policy to reduce net migration targets
o COVID-19 pandemic- civil servants accused of overstepping bounds and making policy
decisions without the input or approval of elected officials- decision to implement a
nationwide lockdown in March 2020 was reportedly made by Dominic Cummings (SpAd) civil
servants without knowledge or approval of the Prime Minister.
o Civil service union demanding apology from Conservative party because Suella Braverman
called them a left-wing blob – thwarting govt. plans to deport asylum seekers – is a problem
due to ministerial responsibility – meant to take responsibility for civil service issues and
actions – someone is accountable for their actions but it is not the civil service – it is the
Minister
US – unaccountable layer of bureaucracy which can influence govt. policy or go against govt.
o EXOP in the US- executive office of the President – group of offices of bureaucracy used to
help run the branch – employs 3000-4000 staff – appointments solely at discretion of
president NO senate confirmation- presidents can appoint policy czars in the White House –
govt. officials responsible for areas of policy - Paul Volcker – economic czar – chair of
Economic Recovery Advisory Board under Obama 2009-2011 despite Timothy Geithner was
the cabinet officer responsible for the economy in his role as secretary of the treasury –
, Volcker basically did his job- shadow cabinet- given greater access to Obama than Geithner
was – officials not confirmed by senate- subject to less scrutiny than cabinet officers
George W. Bush used czars, Trump used czars – Peter Navarro acted as trade czar –
2016- instrumental in pushing for tariffs against China
Senior advisor to the president – Trump son in law- Jared Kushner – policy czar over
border wall, healthcare, US innovation to improve govt. economy and jobs,
Lebanon, criminal justice reform, diplomacy with China and Mexico – 2017- Kushner
convinced Trump to overrule objections of Rex Tillerson (secretary of state) and
James Mattis (defence secretary) and move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem-
ignoring objections of Palestinians and criticism by European Allies – during Covid –
special post for Kushner at Federal Emergency Management Agency – took charge
of federal response to the pandemics
Many EXOP staff act as primarily political operatives rather than neutral assistants –
Kushner role as policy advisor within White house involved his leadership of
Trump’s failed 2020 leadership re-election campaign
o Federal Reserve- independent agency responsible for regulating monetary policy and
ensuring the stability of US financial system, has clashed with White House over policy
decisions- early 1990s Federal Reserve raised interest rates to combat inflation, which was
seen as hurting economy and damaging chances of President George H.W. Bush's re-election.
o DOJ responsible for enforcing federal laws and prosecuting criminal cases. In 2017, the DOJ
came under fire for its handling of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016
presidential election, with critics accusing the agency of being too close to the Trump
administration and acting in a partisan manner. However, the agency continued with the
investigation and eventually produced a report that detailed Russian efforts to influence the
election and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
Para 2
Unaccountable layer made up of wealthy interest groups controlling government in the UK and
US
UK - Business and businesspeople form ‘deep state’ in the UK
o Civil service actually are the ‘deep state’ in the UK
o Most of economy is privatised- centralised power lies in hands of ‘boards of companies’,
‘quangos, in hedge funds’, and groups of friends and former ministerial advisors- deep state
lies in control of businessmen and businesses that actually run the country, rather than
‘government departments, historic institutions or household names.
Christopher Hyman, chief executive of Serco- primarily delivers services to
government and other public institutions. Serco has delivered services for the
government involving Defence, justice, immigration, healthcare and transport,
maintenance and penitentiary systems along with delivering citizen services to local
and regional governments, with Christopher Hyman benefitting exponentially from
the growth of the company.
UK- rapid increase in the amount of industry being privatised- sizeable reduction in
the size of the public sector, with state owned enterprises now contributing less than
2% of GDP and less than 1.5% of total employment, with industries including high
profile banks, building societies transport services and many more becoming
privatised.
US – iron triangles - stable relationships between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups,
congressional committees or subcommittees- relationship between Department of Veterans
Affairs, House Committee on Veterans Affairs, American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign
Wars
, o Can influence congress and members of relevant congressional committees by making
political donations to election campaigns, wealthy private companies or corporate groups can
put pressure on executive as they may be responsible for large proportion of employment in
certain congressional districts
o Defence – military industrial complex- defence contractors, department of defence, members
of congress who are supportive of defence spending – disproportionate influence of US
foreign policy- could lead to defence and foreign policy not in the public interest – could lead
to focus on military solutions to problems and an over-reliance on weapons systems – 1980s
– Reagan increased defence spending - benefited companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon,
Northrop Grumman and Boeing-driven in part by the interests of these companies and their
close relationships with government officials
Defence companies spend millions on professional lobbyists to induce members of
congress to support objectives – Lockheed spends 14m a year – defence industry
dominated by handful of huge companies with operations in different states and
congressional districts- influence over large number of members of congress keen to
ensure they keep receiving govt. contracts to secure continued employment –
Lockheed Martin managed to get contract to build USA’s most expensive weapons
system F35 fighter jet by claiming it would create 125,000 jobs in 46 states
Defence companies in 2018 election cycles donated 30m to influence congress –
members sitting on powerful defence committees receive substantial proportion- Joe
Courtney (Chair of seapower and projection forces subcommittee of the House
Armed services committee overseeing naval/ marine corps contracts – defence
contractors were biggest contributors – donations from Northrop Grumman ,general
dynamics and Raytheon – secured funding for construction of 2 submarines a year
Patrick Shanahan – Trump Deputy defence secretary 2017 and defence secretary
2019 – previously Boeing senior Vice President – oversaw defence spending directly
benefitting Boeing – 20 contracts worth 13.7bn in September 2018 alone – works on
revolving door
o Big Pharma and FDA
FDA, Congress and big pharmaceutical companies – focus attention on committeees
like House Energy Subcommittee on health- chair Anna Eshoo received 100,000s of
dollars in donations – Scott Gottlieb worked for FDA 2005-2007 – worked for several
pharmaceuticals 2007-2017- Trump appointed him as head of FDA and then joined
board of directors of Pfizer after stepping down 2019
2018, the Trump administration proposed a rule that would require pharmaceutical
companies to include drug prices in their television advertisements. However, after
strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, the administration backed down
and withdrew the proposal.
Para 3 – layers of bureaucracy can be held accountable but lack of political neutrality limits this
US
o EXOP subject to scrutiny
Media coverage of Trump administration use of private email accounts for official
business – criticism
2018, media coverage of Scott Pruitt- Administrator of Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), revealed he had engaged in number of questionable activities,
renting condo from lobbyist at below-market rates, using EPA staff for personal
tasks- increased scrutiny of Pruitt -ultimately resignation
, EXOP issues can be investigated by Congress – 2019- House Judiciary Committee
launched investigation into allegations that Trump obstructed justice and abused powers
– focused on EXOP involvement on issues
Inspector Generals can investigate – 2019- investigation of white house security
clearance process – subject of controversy and allegations of political influence –
investigation found white house had granted security clearances to individuals despite
concerns – senior white house officials (EXOP) overruled concerns
o Congress can oversee federal agencies
Can request documents, call agency officials to testify in front of committee –
accountability
2019- House Oversight Committee launched investigation into Trump decision to
add citizenship question to 2020 census- held hearings and requested
documents from Department of Commerce, which oversees the census-
ultimately led to Supreme Court striking down the citizenship question.
House Committee on Benghazi making Clinton responsible – investigating her
non-stop to prevent her presidential campaign
Steve Bannon being held to account for contempt of court – working for Trump
and refused subpoena
Inspector generals can investigate allegations of fraud, waste and abuse – report findings
to congress
2020- inspector general for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
released report finding that agency had failed to adequately prepare for COVID-
19 pandemic= identified number of problems, including shortage of PPE and lack
of testing capacity-helped bring attention to the agency's shortcomings and led
to changes in how HHS prepared for future public health emergencies.
FBI director James Comey put in front of committee – swung election for Trump
2016 by confirming Hillary Clinton emails- gave press conference commenting on
the fact that there were more emails found- then it turned out these emails
didn’t contain anything damaging either- claimed this was reason for her loosing
– Trump shouted ‘lock her up’ and ‘crooked Hillary’ in campaigns - In 2016,
Comey oversaw investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of private email server
while Secretary of State- made public statements about investigation -early
2017, President Donald Trump fired Comey over handling of Clinton email
investigation- testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017,
May 2019, Comey asked to testify again before Congress in front of Senate
Judiciary Committee- Comey asked about decision to publicly announce
reopening of Clinton email investigation just days before election, interactions
with Trump regarding FBI's investigation into former National Security Adviser
Michael Flynn.
Joe McCarthy said he had a list of communists working in government – set up
committee to investigate lots of people in connection to links with communism-
got shut down because it turned out he was a fantasist – huge damage to those
being investigated - McCarthy era refers to intense anti-communist suspicion
and persecution -led committee investigating communism.
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