Growth of the Federal Bureaucracy

Overview

The bureaucracy was established in 1789 with the establishment of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the first bureaucratic institution created. Also coming with the advent of George Washington’s presidency was the first “cabinet.”

Throughout the 19th century various new departments were added, along with widespread use of the spoils system, especially during the presidency of Andrew Jackson in 1829. In 1883 the Hatch Act was passed to control the spoils system, and at the turn of the century the cabinet had grown from four to eight positions.

The Great Depression and FDR’s subsequent New Deal ushered in a spike in the bureaucracies growth, establishing numerous new agencies designed to solve the problems of the Great Depression. The Hatch Act was passed in 1939 in order to restrict the influence of bipartisanism on bureaucracy.

During the WWII era and the subsequent Cold War era, a plethora of new military and defense agencies were both founded and strengthened.

A new cabinet department was established with the 9/11 terrorist attack of 2001—the Department of Homeland Security.

A few trends can be seen in terms of catalysts to bureaucratic growth. One major reason for bureaucratic growth is a national crisis (i.e. Great Depression, WWII, 9/11) which usually results in strengthening or expanding bureaucracy in order to respond to these crises. Other reasons for bureaucratic development are government efforts to restructure the bureaucracy, public discontent with current bureaucratic workings, and the addition of more bureaucratic involvement on the state and local levels.

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