Congress vs. the bureaucracy : muzzling agency public relations / Mordecai Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lee, Mordecai, 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Legislative oversight--United States--History.

Legislative oversight.

Executive-legislative relations--United States--History.

Executive-legislative relations.

Government publicity--United States--History.

Government publicity.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

xvii, 316 pages ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Congress versus the bureaucracy

Place of Publication:

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2011]

Summary:

One of the US Congress's central efforts to maintain its own power in the face of the rise of the federal bureaucracy has been the attempt to limit the public voice of the bureaucracy, whether said voice is aimed at the media, the public at large, or Congress itself, according to Lee (governmental affairs, U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), who offers a history and analysis of these efforts. Surveying a century's worth of Congressional actions that sought to limit the public relations functions of executive agencies, he finds that the bureaucracy has generally been able to veto the legislative power of congress with relation to the bureaucracy's public relations, but argues that this power of bureaucratic independence is generally healthy and serves to preserve the overall balance and viability of federal governance. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Prologue : beginnings of agency public relations

Beginnings of the congressional reaction

Terminating the Panama Canal Commission's press agent, 1905

Banning Forest Service press activities, 1908

Investigating press offices in two agencies, 1910-1914

Banning employment of publicity experts, 1913-2004

Criminalizing agency lobbying, 1919-2002

Limiting machines-not men, 1920

Limiting public relations one agency at a time : attack of the conservative coalition, 1935-1950

Banning spending on publicity and propaganda, April 1951-2005

Banning spending on indirect lobbying, May 1951-1996

Defining public relations before cutting it, June 1951-1956

Differentiating bad PR from good PR

Balancing Congressional and bureaucratic interests : a sisyphean struggle.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0806142030

9780806142036

OCLC:

700468535

Publisher Number:

99946135749