Agency Insulation and the Distribution of Federal Spending

• In Event: The Bureaucratic Dynamics of Government Budgeting

Abstract

Previous scholarship finds little evidence linking an agency’s structure to its responsiveness to a political actor’s policy demands. In this study, I analyze whether an agency structure can influence the geographic distribution of federal dollars within the United States. Specifically, I analyze the amount of federal grant dollars allocated from each agency to each state between 1984 and 2016 using data from the Federal Assistance Awards Data System (FAADS). I find that less independent agencies are more likely to allocate federal grant dollars to states represented by Senators of the president’s party. This finding speaks to several normative theories on institutional design.

Author

• Laine Shay