Bureaucracy and Bureaucrats
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
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Congress has delegated a significant amount of authority to the federal bureaucracy by granting the agencies the power to draft federal regulations (rule making) and to adjudicate conflicts over these regulations.
Presidents use the rule-making power of bureaucracies to shape policy.
Before 1883, bureaucrats were political appointees—the product of the spoils system.
The Civil Service Act of 1883 created the merit system by requiring that appointees to public office be qualified for the job, thereby ending the spoils system.
The Organization of the Executive Branch
I. What are the agencies that make up the Executive Branch?
The federal bureaucracy consists of the Cabinet departments, independent agencies, government corporations, and independent regulatory commissions.
The Cabinet departments are usually headed by a secretary (the Department of Justice is headed by the Attorney General), but it is the bureau level that has the responsibility for interacting with the public.
Independent agencies exist outside the structure of the Cabinet departments and carry out functions that are too costly for the private sector such as NASA.
Government corporations (the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak) are designed to run like a business and, we hope, generate a profit.
Independent regulatory commissions regulate some aspect
The Vice President is also classified as the President of the Senate, where they can have the vote in case of a tie. The Cabinet is made up of the appointed offices that make up the federal executive department. A few of the departments include the departments of agriculture, commerce, defense, education, and energy. There is a total of 15 departments that the Cabinet overseas. These department heads, or Cabinet members responsibilities include creating policies that guide each unit as well as manage programs that each department controls.
Such as the Pendleton Civil Service Act that passed on January 16, 1883. “This act was passed in response to the discovery that Post Office officials and stagecoach operators had come up with a plan to steal millions of dollars from the United States government” This act also helped establish the Civil Service Commission. As a result, the merit system was created. Government jobs were now given based on the person’s ability to do the tasks, instead of given as a reward for political loyalty. (Sheppard Software
s the head of the federal executive, the President is in charge of the vast federal bureaucracy. With the power to appoint department and agency leadership, dismiss Cabinet officials, issue executive orders, and control the budgeting process, the President can exercise considerable control over the federal bureaucracy. At the same time, the sheer size of the bureaucracy itself often undermines the ability of the President to influence and control it. By exercising bureaucratic discretion, agencies may mitigate the problems caused by the size of the bureaucracy.
These services were created in different ways and through many different agencies. These agencies general fall into one of categories which are independent agencies, regulatory agencies,Government Corporations and Presidential commissions. A independent agency is similar to a cabinet department but on a much smaller scale with a narrower window of responsibility a few examples of agencies that fall into this category in the "Central Intelligence Agency, National Aeronautical and Space Administration and the United States Postal service" all fall into the category of independent agencies within the federal government(Patterson,2013,p.335). Regulatory agencies which are responsible for monitoring and regulating activities that affect the nations economy. An example of agencies that fall into this category include the " Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Communications Commission(FCC)"(Patterson,2013,p. 335). Government corporations such as "Amtrak" a train service, which is like a private corporation that charges fees to provide a service but also receives government funds to help deffer expenses. The fourth and final category is the presidential commission which is a group made of commissioner that are appointed by the President of the United States that serve as advisors on specific areas of concern which include the 9/11 Commission and the
For the common American citizen a major concern, as suggested by a recent Gallup poll, centers around the idea that the President, as Chief Executive of the nation, has too much power and influence in the shaping of the United States (Americans' Belief). In particular, there exist a strong belief that the bureaucracy is directly managed by presidential preference (Roff). In contrast, it is a rarely suggested opinion that the President does not have enough power, control, or influence over the bureaucracy. With these two opinions in mind, to what extent does the President have control of the bureaucracy?
At first Congress reestablished three departments that are known as the Department of Treasury, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of War. As read in chapter seven the President of the United States is allowed to appoint Supreme Court Justices, heads of departments, and other senior executive branch officials, as long as the Senate gave their consent. Throughout the history of the United States Congress has been creating executive branch agencies, and these agencies needed leaders that the Presidents would appoint. In the years 1889 and 1903 clientele agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Commerce were created. Over time Bureaucracy had become bigger and stronger, and now no one truly is able to control the
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.
Congress enacts laws that touch every aspect of American lives, from the taxing policies, to what behaviors are against the law, as well as regulating interstate commerce.
Objective of this paper is to discuss where the following agencies lie in the administrative structure of the federal government:
The members of the Cabinet include the Vice President, Attorney General and the Secretaries of the fifteen Executive departments. These departments are the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Interior, Department of Labor, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of Treasury, and Department of Veterans Affairs.
The US Postal Service and Amtrak (which is a part of the rail passenger system), are examples of the government corporations. Government corporations do not belong to any department — they stand on their own (ushistory.org). They charge expenses for rendering service too sweeping or excessively beneficial for private enterprises, making it impossible to handle. In a perfect world, they get enough finances to act naturally maintaining. Government corporations are more self-ruling in politics than most organizations. For example, the Postal Rate Commission decides what rates for postage on the premise of incomes and consumption. Like some other business, government organizations have private rivals —, for example, Federal Express and UPS — and at times state rivalry —, for example, the New Jersey Transit Authority.
There are many pathologies present in the American bureaucracy and bureaucratic agencies. The major pathologies are red tape, conflict, duplication, imperialism, and waste. Each of these pathologies had at least some sort of roots in the case of the 9/11/01 terrorist attack. Had these pathologies not been prominent in the pre-9/11 bureaucratic government, it is very likely that our intelligence communities would not have failed to detect the terrorists.
The Executive Branch is run by the President who is commander and chief of the Military. It "carries out federal laws." (World Book 140). It will create regulations that back up the laws that Congress passes. The branch acts as the enforcer of the Government. The executive branch is separated into fourteen departments, each handling a specific Executive business. The head of each department is appointed by the President and approved by the senate. The collection of these departments makes up the Presidential Cabinet. The purpose of the cabinet and its members is as stated,
The agencies contained in the U.S. Department of Justice are: The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation, which there modern priorities are:
Bureaucracies are technically encompassed under the executive branch of government. The executive branch, however, does not have control over a lot of the things that the agencies do. Congress tries to control agencies by influencing the