Bureaucracies Research Paper

The federal bureaucracy is the group of government organizations that implement policy. The federal bureaucrats belong, for the most part, to the group of government agencies led by the president’s cabinet (the collection of appointed officials tasked with leading various federal government departments such as the State Department, Department of Homeland Security etc.) (Geer et al.). These department heads, known as cabinet secretaries, are appointed by each new president. The federal bureaucracy is responsible for writing regulations that implement the laws. In this, the federal bureaucracy’s importance cannot be understated. Congress passes laws, the president signs them, but it is the responsibility of the bureaucracy to actually implement them in the most effective, unburdening way.

In our first unit of sociology, I felt I could relate with the term social network, " The term social network refers to the people who are linked to one another(Henslin,116.)"Social networks include everyone you know. I can relate to social networking because I 'm on a social salsa team. When I joined my dance team , we all had the same passion, the love of dance. After a few years of performing and hanging with the same clique all the time for they have the same interests as me. After a while we all seemed to cluster together and they are now more than just a clique to me they are my fiends.

This allows for the bureaucracy to make laws through rule-making, which is delegation of authority. The bureaucracy delegates authority to the department or agency that will be responsible for its implementation. The bureaucracy in the United States is partly made up civil service agencies, that regardless of who has been elected to an office, the bureaucracy continues, despite the decisions made in the political process. Because of the framework of bureaucracy, it has been considered politically neutral.

Characteristics of a bureaucracy are, “Stable and officially stated structure of authority, there is a clear “pecking order” or hierarchy, written records, specialized training

The term bureaucracy was coined by a well-known sociologist named Max Weber in 1947. He used this term to describe corporations that held five main characteristics. These characteristics include, hierarchical authority structure, a division of labor, written rules, written communications and records, and impersonality and replaceability. In the modern day world, it is easy to see several bureaucracies in place, however, one bureaucracy that is personally close to all Grand Canyon University students is the institution of Grand Canyon University (GCU). This is a great example of a bureaucracy due to the fact that it embraces all five characteristics of a bureaucracy.

What is a federal bureaucracy? According to American Government: Roots and Reform federal bureaucracy is defined as the thousands of federal government agencies and institutions that implement and administer federal laws and programs. When the bureaucracy was first created it contained only three small departments; State, Treasury, and War. Over time the Executive branch and bureaucracy have grown significantly, now employing over three million people. This began with people getting fed up with the dismal living situations of the early 20th century. They began looking to the government to regulate living and working conditions, as well as child labor and food processing. But the bureaucracy really took off with FDR’s New Deal. With all of the

Federal bureaucrats can slow down or stall a president’s agenda by claiming lack of knowledge or by using interests groups. Bureau chiefs can claim they do not have enough information to make a decision, especially a decision involving other bureaus. By doing this, they are claiming then need more time to investigate, which slows the president’s policies. By using interest groups, bureaucrats can go through Congress. This interest groups plead to their Senators and House reps, which takes longer to have the president’s policies in place by law. They can also sabotage a president’s agenda by leaking unauthorized information. This reduces the president’s credibility and forces people to think about the effect of the new information on the policies. Bureaucrats would do these things, because they support their burea more than the president. These bureaucrats “sincerely believe in their bureau’s purpose and feel they must protect its jurisdiction, programs, and budget at all costs”(Heclo 275). Presidents and administrations chance, but the bureaus stay and bureaucrats try to stand in its best standings.

The American bureaucracy fulfills all the functions of the three branches of American government. It effectively makes law by writing rules that appear in the Code of Federal Regulations; it executes laws by implementing them; and it exercises judicial authority by holding administrative legal proceedings when its rules are violated.

Bureaucracy involves non-elected agents that are often seen as the “worker bees” of government such as those in civil service. They execute the law through an organized structure that maintains specific functions, rules, and procedures. They must not be taken for granted. One example of the use of regulations would be the FDA’s role to ensure American health through appropriate regulation of new medication. Through the effective hierarchal organization, duties are completed faster and more efficiently. Some also argue that bureaucracy decreases room for favoritism and all have equal opportunity. For example, all students applying for loans will have their application reviewed, thus creating an equal opportunity for all. Similarly, bureaucracy allows for the hiring of expert officials who show merit and gives the opportunity to be promoted. While they are not involved the process of policy

The bureaucracy comes from four different areas: Cabinet departments, government corporations, independent executive agencies, and independent regulatory commissions. Most of the bureaucracy is from the Cabinet departments

The federal government is the level of government which governs our nation as a whole. The federal government affects all 50 states, in other words, all Americans. Those in power of the federal government are the branches of the executive (President), legislative (Congress), and judicial systems (Supreme Court). Federal taxes are collected to support federal programs. For example, when congress passed the tax plan a month ago, the decrease in taxes will benefit most Americans. It is important for young people to understand it takes tax dollars for federal programs to operate. For example, Upward Bound Trio is a federal program that provides offerings to high school induvial with low income.

Bureaucracies function is to divide complex task amongst staffs comprised of experts that would be potentially more knowledgeable than the average congressman on a particular subject, enabling the government to function more efficiently. The three main utilities of bureaucracies are the implementation of laws written by congress, in addition to the delegation and enforcement of their own rules, and to settle disputes through administrative adjudication; which is function similar to that of a court. There is some controversy to bureaucracies’ abilities to create enforceable regulations as part of the executive branch, when typically such task would be left to the legislative branch. The process by which bureaucracies create these regulations

It has been identified by earlier scholars such as Robert Merton that there are four imperative traits, which most bureaucrats develop as a result of their work. (Merton; Goodsell 94) One would be a lack of adaptability in the workforce. This happens due to the fact that each agency is filled with workers with a specific skill set that would aid them in that job position and make it hard for their skill to be used in a separate job. The second trait would be that the bureaucrats are sticklers for the rules. The need for following the rules and guidelines can cause them to loose sight of the big picture such as the original goal. The third trait would be that due to the fact that most hold their positions for long periods of time they may become hyper-conscious and attached to it. The Fourth and final trait Merton mentioned in the article would be that the need to follow the rules causes them to overlook the fact that they are serving another person. Sometimes they lose sight of the fact that they are dealing with individuals (Merton; Goodsell

The Biology Department would be classified as a bureaucracy because within the clear levels, the accountability increase going upward and the assignments flow downward. For example, the head of the department creates a curriculum for the Biology Department and he has the most accountability. As he passes down the assignments, such as what the teachers will be teaching, the assignments increase as the levels go down. If everything does not work out properly and the teachers are not capable of fulfilling what the head of the department has created, he will be held accountable because he is at the top.

Americans depend on government bureaucracies to accomplish most of what we expect from government, and we are oftentimes critical of a bureaucracy’s handling of its responsibilities. Bureaucracy is essential for carrying out the tasks of government. As government bureaucracies grew in the twentieth century, new management techniques sought to promote greater efficiency. The reorganization of the government to create the Department of Homeland Security and the Bush administration’s simultaneous push to contract out jobs to private employers raises the question as to whether the government or the private sector can best manage our national security. Ironically, the criticism of the bureaucracy may be a product