Bureaucratic Reactions to Political Pressures

Abstract

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.