This article addresses the question of how federal grant administrators handle political pressures. The data originated in a study of two federal project grant programs—the US. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration and the US. Department of Housing and Urban Development's water and sewer program. The central finding is that the key to handling project pressures in grant programs lies in the careful handling of project turndowns through preapplication procedures and quick decisions. Policy tradeoffs involved in the use of preapplication procedures are explored.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ABERBACH, J. D. (1977) "The development of oversight in the U.S. Congress: concepts and analysis," in Techniques and Procedures for Analysis and Evaluation. Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on the Operation of the Senate.
2.
ANAGNOSON, J. T. (1980) "Politics in the distribution of federal grants: the case of the Economic Development Administration," pp. 61-92 in B. Rundquist (ed.) Political Benefits. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
3.
BANFIELD, E. C. (1961) Political Influence. New York: Free Press.
4.
BEARD, E. and S. HORN (1975) Congressional Ethics, The View from the House. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
5.
BRADEMAS, J. (1965) "Technology and social change: a congressman's view," in A. W. Warneret al. (eds.) The Impact of Science on Technology. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.
6.
BUTLER, W. H. (1966) "Administering Congress: the role of the staff."Public Administration Rev.26 (March/April): 3-13.
7.
DAHL, R. A. (1961) Who Governs?New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
8.
FENNO, R. F., Jr. (1973) Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown.
9.
FEREJOHN, J. A. (1974) Pork Barrel Politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.
10.
GELLHORN, W. (1966) When Americans Complain: Governmental Grievance Procedures. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
11.
GREEN, M. J. , J. M. FALLOWS, and D. R. ZWICK (1972) Who Runs Congress?New York: Grossman.
12.
HOLZMAN, A. (1970) Legislative Liaison: Executive Leadership in Congress. Chicago: Rand McNally.
13.
KRAVITZ, W. (1972) Casework by Members of Congress: A Survey of the Literature. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
14.
MANN, D. E. (1965) The Assistant Secretaries, Problems and Processes of Appointment. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
15.
MAYHEW, D. R. (1974) Congress, the Electoral Connection. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
16.
MURPHY, J. T. (1974) "Political parties and the pork barrel: party conflict and cooperation in House Public Works Committee decision-making."Amer. Pol. Rev.68 (March-April): 169-186.
17.
National Academy of Public Administration (1969) Achieving More Effective Delivery of HUD Local Assistance Programs. Washington, DC: Author.
18.
OGUL, M. S. (1976) Congress Oversees the Bureaucracy. Pittsburgh: Univ. of Pittsburgh Press.
19.
PRESSMAN, J. and A. WILDAVSKY (1979) Implementation. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
20.
PUTNAM, R. D. (1973) "The political attitudes of senior civil servants in western Europe: a preliminary report."British J. of Pol. Sci.3 (July): 257-290.
21.
SELF, P. (1973) Administrative Theories and Politics: An Inquiry into the Structure and Processes of Modern Government. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press.
22.
SIMON, H. , D. W. SMITHBURG, and V. A. THOMPSON (1961) Public Administration. New York: Knopf.
23.
SUNDQUIST, J. (1976) "Congress and the President: enemies or partners?" in H. Owen and C. L. Schultze (eds.) Setting National Priorities: The Next Ten Years. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
24.
TACHERON, D. G. and M. K. UDALL (1970) The Job of a Congressman. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
25.
TACHERON, D. G. and M. K. UDALL (1970) The Job of a Congressman. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
26.
U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Government Operations (1974) New Federalism. 93rd Cong., 2nd Sess.
27.
U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Government Operations (1972) Agriculture-Environmental and Consumer Protection Appropriations for 1973. 92nd Cong., 2nd Sess.
28.
U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Government Operations (1973) A New Federalism. 93rd Cong., 1st Sess.
29.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1972) The Federal Grant Process—An Analysis of the Use of Supplemental and Categorical Funds in the Model Cities Program. Community Development Evaluation Series, 10 (August). Washington, DC: Author.
30.
U.S. Economic Development Administration (1975) Management Summary Report, As of December 31, 1974.
31.
U.S. Economic Development Administration (1970) Federal Activities Affecting Location of Economic Development, vol. 2. Washington, DC: Author.
32.
U.S. Economic Development Administration (1967) An Operational Plan for Public Works and Economic Development. Internal Working Paper. Washington, DC: Author.
33.
Washington Post (1975) "GSA chief on firing line." April 6: A1, A17.
34.
WESTEN, T. E. (1973) "The constituent needs help: casework in the House of Representatives," in S. Groennings and J. P. Hawley (eds.) To Be a Congressman. Washington, DC: Acropolis.
35.
YACKER, M. D. (1977) Casework and the Role of a Caseworker in a Congressional Office. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
