After the president is sworn in, he or she appoints heads to all of the agencies. These appointees must then be confirmed by the Senate. Typically, agency heads share the same political beliefs as the president, though they may lack experience in the political realm. Agency heads often begin their role with an aspiration to create change. However, many also leave their positions mystified because they were unable to be as influential as they thought. What many agency heads fail to realize is that rulemaking as a process does not change. A prescribed set of stages must be followed to create rules. In this way, the power of agency heads is somewhat limited. Nevertheless there are more covert ways in which agency heads might influence the rulemaking process. In this assignment, you consider the degree to which agency heads influence rulemaking and the degree to which they should influence rulemaking.
To prepare for this Discussion:
- Review the stages of rulemaking in the assigned pages of in the course text, Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy.
- Review the assigned pages of the course text, Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy and the article "Political Institutions, Public Management, and Policy Choice." Focus how agency heads might influence rulemaking.
- Review the article, "Ruminations on the Study of American Public Bureaucracies." Consider the extent to which agency heads are controlled in the rulemaking process.
- Review the assigned pages of in the course text, Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy. Think about how agency heads might benefit from rulemaking.
- Review the online article, "Ex-FDA Chief Would Not Aid Plan B Inquiry." Think about how the political beliefs of the commissioner of the FDA may have influenced the rulemaking process.
- Reflect on how agency heads might influence rulemaking.
- Consider your thoughts about the degree to which agency heads should influence rulemaking.