The Federal BureaucracySedan PreviewOBJECTIVES WHY IT MATTERS POLITICAL

DICTIONAR~1. Define a bureaucracy.2. Identify the major elements of the federal

bureaucracy.3. Explain how groups within the federal

bureaucracy are named.4. Describe the difference between a staff

agency and a line agency.

The Federal Government is thenation's largest employer. Nearly 2.7million men and women work in thefederal bureaucracy, and they donearly all of the day-to-day work ofthe government.

* bureaucracy* bureaucrat* administration* staff agency* line agency

Irjhinkabout this for a moment: It is impossible.~1for you to live. through a single day without

somehow encountering the federal bureaucracy.A bureaucracy is a large, complex administrativestructure that handles the everyday business ofan organization.' The Federal Government isthe largest organization in the country. Federalemployees deliver the mail, regulate businesspractices, collect taxes, manage the nationalforests, conduct American foreign policy,administer Social Security programs-the listgoes on and on.

.• Bureaucrats once used red ribbon, called "red tape" inBritain, to hold their files together. Today, people use thephrase "red tape" to describe the delays and paperwork theyface when working with a bureaucracy.

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What Is a Bureaucracy?To many Americans, the word bureaucracysuggests such things as waste, red tape, anddelay. While that image is not altogetherunfounded, it is quite lopsided. Basically,bureaucracy is an efficient and an effectiveway to organize people to do work.

Bureaucracies are found wherever there arelarge organizations. They are found in boththe public sector and the private sector in thiscountry. Thus, the United States Air Force,McDonald's, the Social Security Administration,MTV, your town or city government, and theRoman Catholic Church are all bureaucracies.Even your school is a bureaucracy.

Three Features of a BureaucracyIn dictionary terms, a bureaucracy is a systemof organization built on these three principles:hierarchical authority, job specialization, andformalized rules.

1. Hierarchical authority. The word hier-archical describes any organization that isbuilt as a pyramid, with a chain of commandrunning from the top of the pyramid to thebottom. The few officials and units at the topof the organization have authority over those

lThe term bureaucracy is a combination of the French wordbureau, which originally referred to a desk of a government officialand later to the place where an official works, and the suffix -crecy,signifying a type of governmental structure.

officials and units at the larger middle level,who in turn direct the activities of the many atthe bottom level.

2. Job specialization. Each bureaucrat, orperson who works for the organization, hascertain defined duties and responsibilities.There is a precise division of labor within theorganization.

3. Formalized rules. The bureaucracy doesits work according to a set of established regu-lations and procedures.

The Benefits of a BureaucracyThese three features-hierarchical authority,job specialization, and formalized rules-make bureaucracy the most effective way forpeople to work together on large and complextasks. The hierarchy can speed action byreducing conflicts over who has the power tomake decisions. The higher a person's rank inthe organization, the greater the decision-making power he or she has.

Job specialization promotes efficiencybecause each person in the organization isrequired to focus on one particular job. Eachworker thus gains a set of specialized skills andknowledge. Formalized rules mean that work-ers can act with some speed and precisionbecause decisions are based on a set of knownstandards, not on someone's likes, dislikes, orinclinations. These rules also enable workto continue even as some workers leave anorganization and new workers are hired toreplace them.

Recognize this very important point aboutpublic bureaucracies: their bureaucrats holdappointive offices. Bureaucrats are unelectedpublic-policy makers. This is not to say thatbureaucracies are undemocratic. However, ina democracy much depends on how effectivelythe bureaucracy is controlled by those whomthe people do elect. Listen to James Madisonon the point:

IIIIIIII II In framing a government1iIIIIiI· which is to be administered bymen over men, the great difficulty lies in this:you must first enable the government tocontrol the governed; and in the next placeoblige it to control itself !I!I

-The FederalistNo. 51

~ The Reagan Building Second only to the Pentagon in size,the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Centerhouses government offices in downtown Washington, D.C.

./

Major Elements of theFederal BureaucracyThe federal bureaucracy is all of the agencies,people, and procedures through which theFederal Government operates. It is the means bywhich the government makes and administerspublic policy-the sum of its decisions andactions. As the chart on page 417 shows, nearlyall of the federal bureaucracy is located in theexecutive branch.

The Constitution makes the President thechief administrator of the Federal Government.Article II, Section 3 declares that "he shall takeCare that the Laws be faithfully executed." Butthe Constitution makes only the barest mentionof the administrative machinery through whichthe President is to exercise that power.

Article II does suggest executive departmentsby giving to the President the power to "require

Government at Work: The Bureaucracy 415tD

.•. A federal agency can be called a commission, bureau, administration, or one of severalother names. Critical Thinking Why is commission an appropriate name for the SEC,which oversees stock markets?

the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officerin each of the executive Departments."?

Article II anticipates two departments inparticular, one for military and one for foreignaffairs. It does so by making the President the"Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy,"and by giving him the power to make treatiesand to appoint "Ambassadors, other publicMinisters, and Consuls."3

Beyond those references, the Constitution issilent on the organization of the executive branch.The Framers certainly intended for administrativeagencies to be created, however. They under-stood that no matter how wise the President andthe Congress, their decisions still had to be actedupon to be effective. Without an administration-the government's many administrators andagencies-even the best policies would amountto just so many words and phrases. ThePresident and Congress need millions of men andwomen to put policies into action in Washington,D.c., and in offices all around the country.

The chief organizational feature of the federalbureaucracy is its division into areas of special-ization. As you can see on page 417, the execu-tive branch is composed of three broad groupsof agencies: (1) the Executive Office of thePresident, (2) the 15 Cabinet departments, and(3) a large number of independent agencies.'

The Name GameThe titles given to the many units that make upthe executive branch vary a great deal. Thename department is reserved for agencies ofCabinet rank. Beyond the title of department,however, there is little standardized use of titles.

416 Chapter 15 Section 1

Common titles used in the executive branchinclude agency, administration, commission,corporation, and authority. ~

The term agency is often used t6refer to anygovernmental body. It is sometimes used toidentify a major unit headed by a single admin-istrator of near-cabinet status, such as theEnvironmental Protection Agency. But so, too,is the title administration; for example, theNational Aeronautics and Space Administrationand the General Services Administration.

The name commission is usually given toagencies charged with the regulation of businessactivities, such as the Federal CommunicationsCommission and the Securities and ExchangeCommission. Top-ranking officers called com-missioners head these units. The same title, how-ever, is given to some investigative, advisory, andreporting bodies, including the Civil RightsCommission and the Federal ElectionCommission.

Either corporation or authority is the titlemost often given to those agencies that conductbusiness-like activities. Corporations andauthorities are headed by a board and a manager.Examples include the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

2Article II,Section 2, Clause 1. There is also a reference to "Headsof Departments" in Clause 2, and to "any Department or Officer" ofthe government in Article I, Section 8, Clause 18.

3Article II, Section 2, Clauses 1 and 2.4Thechart is adapted from the current edition of the United States

Government Manual, published each year by the Office of the FederalRegister in the National Archives and Records Administration. TheManual includes a brief description of every agency in each of thethree branches of the Federal Government. More than 750 of its nownearly 900 pages are devoted to the executive branch.

The Government of the United States

;-••• e'e ••••.•••••••••••••··.·.· ...·e '

The Constitution, creates three branches

of government '

•··.................................................•......•........................ ... ... .

CONGRESS

Houses of CpngressSenate and House of Reprllsentatives

Legislative Offices .and DepartmentsArchitect of the CapiMGeneral Accounting Office'Government Printing Office .'Library of COf.lgress.United States Botanic GargenOffice ofTechnology AssessmentCongressional Budget OfficeCopyright Royalty TribunalUnited States Tax Court.. ,

oE~ecutive Office of .the President

White House OfficeOffice of Managementand Budget

Council of Economic'AdvisersNational Security CouncilOffice of National DrugControl Policy .

Office of.Jhe United statesTrade R.epresentative

Council on Envlronrnental'Quality .

Office of Science andTechnology Policy

Office of AdministrationOffice of the Vice PresidentOffice of Faith-Based and

. Community Initiatives·, tOffice Of.Homeland Security)

e Independent Agencies*• Exe~utive DepartmentS

·'...··

Federal Reserve Systemfederal Trade CommissionGeneral Services AdministrationMerit Systems Protection BoardNational Aeronautics and Space. AdministrationNational Archives and RecordsAdministration

.NationalLabor Relations BoardNational RailrQaa'PasserigerCorporation .. 'National franspertanon Safety BoardNuclear Regulatory CommissioriOffice of Personnel ManagementPeace Corps .Securities ana Exchange CommissionSelective Service System-Srnall Business Administration·Social Security AdministrationTennessee Valley' Autherity .JJ.s.Posta.lser.~i~e: ".,

.'AltOgether, there are some 150 independent agencies in the executive branch.

Central Intelligence AgencyCommission on Civil RightsCommodity FuturesTrading Commission

Consumer Product SafetyCommission .

Corporation for National andGommunity Service

Environmental Protection Agency'.. Equal Employment Opportunity .

CommissionExport-Import Bank of the U.S.

. Farm Credit AdministrationFederal Co.rnf1lunicationsComrntsslon .

Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporatlon ..

Federal Election Commission'Federal HouSing Finance BoardFederal MaritimeCommissiof.1

".Federal Mediation' and OORciliation::Service

Department of StateDepartment of the TreasuryDepartment of DefenseDepartment of JusticeDepartment of the InteriorDepartment of AgricultureDepartment of CommerceDepartment ortaborDepartment of I;lealth andHumanServices ';

Department of Housing andUrban Development

. Department of Transportation i.

Department of EnergyDepartment of Education.Department of VeteransAffairs, ..~

Department of HomelandSecurity

Interpreting Charts Nearly 90 percent of all of the men and women who work for the FederalGovernment work outside the Washington, D.C., area, According to this chart, which branchmakes up the largest share of the federal bureaucracy?

Government at Work: The Bureaucracy 417 r.'I'...TJ

Within each major agency, the same con-fusing lack of uniformity in the use of namesis common. Bureau is the name often given tothe major elements in a department, but service,administration, office, branch, and division areoften used for the same purpose. For example,the major units within the Department of Justiceinclude the Federal Bureau of Investigation, theUnited States Marshals Service, the DrugEnforcement Administration, the Office of thePardon Attorney, and the Criminal Division.

Many federal agencies are often referred to bytheir initials. The EPA, IRS, FBI, CIA, FCC, andTVA are but a few of the dozens of familiarexamples," A few are also known by nicknames.For example, the Government National MortgageAssociation is often called "Ginnie Mae," andthe National Railroad Passenger Corporation isbetter known as Amtrak.

Staff and Line AgenciesThe several units that make up any administrativeorganization can be classified as either staff orline agencies. Staff agencies serve in a supportcapacity. They aid the chief executive and otheradministrators by offering advice and otherassistance in the management of the organiza-tion. Line agencies, on the other hand, actually

5Theuse of acronyms can sometimes cause problems.When theold Bureau of the Budget was reorganized in 1970, it was alsorenamed. It is now the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).However, it was for a time slated to be known as the Bureau ofManagement and Budget (BOMB).

Section AssessmentKey Terms and Main Ideas1. Describe the three defining features of a bureaucracy in

your own words.2. Why does a government need an administration?3. What is the role of a staff agency? A line agency?

Critical Thinking4. Drawing Conclusions How would you describe the system of

naming federal agencies in one word? Explain your answer.5. Drawing Inferences Explain how the three defining character-

istics of a bureaucracy can lead to an effective government.

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perform the tasks for which the organizationexists. Congress and the President give the lineagencies goals to meet, and the staff agencieshelp the line agencies meet these goals as effec-tively as possible through advising, budgeting,purchasing, management, and planning.

Two illustrations of this distinction are theseveral agencies that make up the Executive Officeof the President and, in contrast, the Environ-mental Protection Agency. The agencies thatmake up the Executive Office of the President(the White House Office, the National SecurityCouncil, the Office of Management and Budget,and others, as you will read in the next section)each exist as staff support to the President. Theirprimary mission is to assist the President in theexercise of the executive power and in the overallmanagement of the executive br~h. They arenot operating agencies. That is, they do notactually operate, or administer, public programs.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),on the other hand, has a different mission. It isresponsible for the day-to-day enforcement ofthe many federal antipollution laws. The EPAoperates "on the line," where "the action" is.

This difference between staff agencies andline agencies can help you find your waythrough the complex federal bureaucracy. Thedistinction between the two can be oversimpli-fied, however. For example, most line agenciesdo have staff units to aid them in their line oper-ations. Thus, the EPA's Office of Civil Rights isa staff unit. Its job is to ensure that the agency'spersonnel practices do not violate the FederalGovernment's antidiscrimination policies.

6. Predicting Consequences How might a strong, independentbureaucracy weaken the power of elected representatives?

~ Take It to the Net

7. Read how different parts of the federal bureaucracy dealwith environmental issues. Then choose two agencies andcreate a diagram or graphic organizer comparing the dif-ferent roles that they play in United States environmentalpolicy. Use the links provided in the Social Studies area atthe following Web site for help in completing this activity.www.phschool.com