This is an excellent backgrounder.
But where did the American deep state come from? Has it always been there?In fact, the evolution of the deep state (and this choice of term, “evolution” as opposed to “creation”, will be explained later) is — some might say ironically — found in a nearly 140-year old anti-corruption “reform” measure; one that was explicitly focused upon depoliticizing the civilian component of the United States government....
The architects of the reform also failed to recognize that individuals who are hired are no less likely to have political inclinations than those awarded the same position out of sheer patronage. And where those who held positions in the spoils system were washed out of office in four years, a corps of (essentially) permanent bureaucrats facing the prospect of pensions and positions of greater influence amid zero public accountability are likely to be outwardly demure while no less political than their forebears.
The tremendous edifice that is the US civil bureaucracy — currently numbering somewhere around 2.85 million individuals — is, like any other huge organization, subject to both imposed and emergent orders. There are explicitly assigned executives and managers, labyrinthine organizational charts, job descriptions, pay grades, areas of responsibility, manuals of every sort, and every other standardization that informs (and hinders) the modern workplace.
But as the size of the bureaucracy has swelled it has also acquired a dissociated but consistent “consciousness”: a spontaneously-ordered, unstructured but undoubtedly focused and effective mechanism. Its major functions are to thwart political measures it collectively deems unpalatable, and to vigilantly protect the existence of the greater body within which it thrives.
No orders are issued, and there is no chain of command. It communicates by example: leaks reported in the news beget more leaks, anonymous tips spawn a rash of new tipsters. No lofty conspiracy theories are necessary; a massive army of bureaucrats in an era of free/highly affordable burner phones, file sharing services, and document scanning apps are more than sufficient to gum up the wheels of executive action.
There are no secret codes, no dead drops, and no shadowy agents meeting in parking garages in the dead of night: perhaps more dauntingly, the deep state coalesces from among a seemingly incalculable number of nondescript men and women with families and homes in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. It receives a salary every two weeks, drawn upon the United States Treasury. Its atomic elements — individuals — coach Little League, go to Zumba classes, and generally have mainstream opinions. Many, no doubt, dismiss the very notion of a deep state. Even when they send an anonymous email, shred a document intended for other eyes, or impishly pass a tip to someone with a second- or third-hand relationship in the media, most of them probably see the deep state as something larger, above and beyond themselves.
Yet they are the deep state.
The "deep state" is a combination of the intelligence services and the bureaucracy, which was famous as the siloviki and nomenklatura in the USSR, with roots in Tsarist Russia and which persists under the Putin administration. These people have affiliations, some of which are political (party) and economic (program patronage). And everyone has an ideology that shapes the worldview that they take to be reality.
In present day Russia, following the Yeltsin years and neoliberal shock therapy under the direction of US advisors, the oligarchs emerged from "cowboy capitalism," who Putin has been able only to modest bridle. They have an analog in the US in the 0.01% that provide the bulk of political contributions to federal and state politicians. The result is a group of people that live in a different world from the rest and enjoy a double standard of justice, allowing them great freedom to act.
Conspiracy is not the driving force behind the deep state but rather interest and protecting investment. There is no conscious conspiracy behind the deep state, although individuals may conspire in some instances. Moreover, owing to different interests and affiliation, there are different factions vying for place and power.
In short, the so-called deep state is not some aberration but rather one of the outcomes of political institutionalization in liberal democracies, similar to the palace court in imperial times, along with the upper echelon of the different centers of power — intelligence, military, etc.
This doesn't mean that the deep state is not real ("oh, it's just bureaucracy) or that the deep state is a conspiracy theory, as often charged or spun in the conventional narrative. The existence of the deep state makes a difference and that difference can be detected and described....
A bigger question is whether the deep state is, even as an unintended consequence of the Pendleton Act, a “feature” or a “bug”. Do unelected government employees play a critical role in restoring equilibrium even in a nominal democracy, or do they represent an insidious, potentially worrisome repository of accidental power?...
For a very long time, Americans have had the odd feeling that elections don’t matter nearly as much as the media hoopla surrounding them would imply. It’s true, and one reason why has everything to do with fundamental changes in the way we hire and fire within the federal bureaucracy. The emergence of the deep state is by design a buffer on democracy itself, with the cost of a less adaptable regime and growing public cynicism concerning who really is in charge.
Peter C. Earle, MA in Applied Economics from American University, an MBA (Finance), and a BS in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point
