Thesis
Forging bureaucratic autonomy: an examination of agency discretion within the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000364
Abstract
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board ("PLCB") was founded in 1933 in response to the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment which repealed Prohibition. With the sale and manufacture of alcohol legal once again, the PLCB was conceived of as a tool to control alcohol consumption in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Governor Gifford Pinchot's design for the PLCB followed the bureaucratic design of many other Progressive Era agencies which led to independence from political actors over agency affairs. This paper examines how the PLCB utilized this independence to cultivate a high-level bureaucratic autonomy via its statutory discretion over the Pennsylvania Liquor Code. Over time, the developed a propensity for using this discretion not to restrict the sale of alcohol, but rather to facilitate the expansion of retail opportunities through its licensing authority. This discussion is compared alongside two more salient features of the Pennsylvania liquor control system, the state-run liquor monopoly managed by the PLCB and liquor enforcement. It also explores how challenges to the PLCB's role - e.g., attempts to privatize the state store system or the relegation of enforcement authority to the Pennsylvania State Police - have done little to diminish the PLCB's autonomy over licensing and regulatory functions.
Metrics
70 File views/ downloads
82 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Forging bureaucratic autonomy
- Creators
- Joseph A. Oleksak
- Contributors
- Richardson Dilworth (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- iv, 98 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts and Sciences; Center for Public Policy; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991014695239804721