Bureaucracy and Bureaucrats Essay

While the structure of the federal government was and still is the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch, those branches have each taken on many more responsibilities as needed to keep up with the progression of America. Put in place by the founding fathers, Federalism was intended to balance the power of the national and state governments so that the national government could not acquire too much power. The executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch still exist today as when first created, on a much larger scale. Extensive modification in the executive branch since the late eighteenth century has been the growth of the number of departments, agencies, and other offices. In 1789, President George Washington's administration had three main departments: State, Treasury, and War. He had other offices that included the office of the Attorney General, the lead lawyer of the federal government. Washington's administration had a few hundred people at the

The Executive Branch is the second portion of the power sharing system and is headed by the president. It consists of his Executive Office, the vice president, and his Cabinet. The duties of the Executive Branch are covered in the second article of the constitution and establish the president as the leader of the armed forces, outlines his ability to make treaties, and develop a State of the Union address. The ability for the Executive Branch to enforce the regulations and laws imposed by Congress lies with the many departments that are delegated the authority to enforce them, for example the Department of Agriculture handles the many different areas of farming and the processing of the food Americans eat. There are many different organizations and the head of each one joins together to form the president's Cabinet in order to inform him on the important issues that may need government attention.

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,

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.

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

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.

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

Congress oversees the bureaucracy through sunset laws, the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Budget Office, committee hearings.

“The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.” This quote by Woodrow Wilson fits perfectly with the topics that will be discussed. The major theme of this paper is bureaucracy. Bureaucracy refers to an administrative system in which agencies staffed largely by non elected officials perform specific tasks in accordance with standard procedures. The work of the bureaucracy involves implementing laws and procedures. Does this sound familiar? That is because most bureaucrats work for the executive branch of the government. The executive branch is the one that enforces the laws. Some of these law enforcing jobs include mail clerk, police officer, fireman, and first responder. These jobs are essential to our lives as Americans and are greatly appreciated. This paper will expound on the history, usage, and the Cabinet

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.

"Federal regulatory agencies have been created over the life of the United States to deal with specific issues that affect citizens of all states or industries that engage in business across state boundaries. Federal regulatory agencies generate and enforce rules" (eHow Money). The law dictates their work. Regulatory agencies enforce federal laws and generate rules. These rules are necessary for effective enforcement.

The text describes a bureaucracy as a large, complex organization composed of appointed officials. The departments and agencies of the US government make up the federal bureaucracy. The federal bureaucracy has 15 federal cabinet departments with about 2 million full-time employees. (Wilson et al, 290)

An example of a bureaucracy would be the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI has special agents of different origin like cyber crime, bank fraud, homicide, human and drug trafficking, in addition to forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and biologists. The agents with the most time in the bureau have higher positions, with director of FBI being the highest of this government agency. The director of the FBI has a massive amount of responsibility because he receives orders from the President of the U.S. and is chosen to address the press.

The agencies contained in the U.S. Department of Justice are: The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation, which there modern priorities are:

The American people have come to expect that the government should take care of them. They expect the government to provide social security, regulation of food and medicines, protect consumers, and a whole bunch of other concerns and interests. The government can not provide these things without bureaucracies. People tend to consider bureaucracies as huge overgrown parts of the government, but this is rarely the case with most bureaucracies short on necessary training, funding, supplies and equipment – to carry out the huge task of serving the American people. The government is providing the most it can for Americans with the least amount of spending. The people govern in a democratic government, and if the