The Federal Bureaucracy

AP UNIT 4 CONTINUED

Bureaucracy Defined

bureaucracy - an authority structure with a hierarchy whose specialized jobs are performed without bias In gov’t, it’s running the executive branch like a

business The federal bureaucracy is in charge of

implementing/enforcing laws and policies

Who are Bureaucrats?

Part of the civil service - gov’t system where workers are hired based on their qualifications to do a nonpartisan job Hatch Act - civil servants cannot engage in politics on

the job Used to get jobs by patronage (“spoils system”) - jobs

given as rewards for political support or connections Pendleton Civil Service Act - orders hiring of gov’t

workers to be based on merit/qualifications rather than patronage

Most federal agencies hire through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Highest positions in the bureaucracy (ex: cabinet officials) are appointed by president and approved by Senate

How the Bureaucracy is Organized

There are 4 types of agencies that make up the bureaucracy:I. Executive (Cabinet) Departments

II. Independent Regulatory Commissions

III. Government Corporations

IV. Independent Executive Agencies

I. Executive Departments

Are not specifically created by the Constitution but by Congress

There are 15 depts. total, each led by a secretary who serves in the president’s Cabinet except Dept. of Justice led by Attorney General

Each dept. is specialized to enforce laws/policies in a particular area and is made up of agencies to do so

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

ROLES: food inspection, nutrition,agriculture, farming, natural resources, conservation

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Forest Service (FS) Rural Development

(RD) Food Safety and

Inspection Service (FSIS)

Department of Commerce (DOC)

ROLES: economic and business growth, international trade, technology, patents/copyright, census

AGENCIES INCLUDE: U.S. Census Bureau International Trade

Association

Department of Defense (DOD)

ROLES: defending the country by utilizing armed services and military intelligence

AGENCIES INCLUDE: U.S. Army U.S. Navy (+ Marine

Corps) U.S. Air Force Joint Chiefs of Staff

Department of Education (ED)

ROLES: student loans, ed. grants, federal ed. mandates, ed. Research

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Federal Student Aid National Center for

Education Statistics

Department of Energy (DOE)

ROLES: energy resources and research, nuclear weapons

AGENCIES INCLUDE: National Nuclear

Security Administration Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ROLES: health care

services/research, disease control, food and drug safety

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC)

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ROLES: border control,

immigration, national security threats, anti-terrorism activities, cybersecurity

AGENCIES INCLUDE: U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Secret Service Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA)

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ROLES: housing codes,

low-income housing, community development

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Federal Housing

Administration (FHA)

Department of the Interior (DOI)

ROLES: national parks/lands, wildlife/land conservation, Indian affairs

AGENCIES INCLUDE: National Park Service

(NPS) Fish and Wildlife

Service Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of Justice (DOJ)

ROLES: federal law enforcement, federal prisons, pardons

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI) Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)

Bureau of Prisons

Department of Labor (DOL)

ROLES: labor laws, unemployment programs, minimum wage, worker safety laws

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Job Corps Occupational Safety

and Health Administration (OSHA)

Department of State (DOS)

ROLES: foreign affairs, treaties, international diplomacy, passports/visas, citizenship services

AGENCIES INCLUDE: U.S. Mission to the

United Nations

Department of the Treasury

ROLES: production and regulation of nation’s currency, collecting taxes, enforcing tax code

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Internal Revenue

Service (IRS) Bureau of Engraving

and Printing U.S. Mint

Department of Transportation (DOT) ROLES: federal

transportation projects, transportation safety and regulation

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

ROLES: veterans’ health services, benefits, and burials

AGENCIES INCLUDE: Veterans Benefits

Administration

II. Independent Regulatory Commissions agencies in charge of making, enforcing, and

regulating rules to protect the public interest in certain areas of the economy

Example Agencies: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -

licensure for TV/radio stations, censorship Federal Reserve Board (FRB) - regulate banks,

interest rates, and money supply

III. Government Corporations

Agencies that are organized and run like gov’t businesses and generally charge for their services

Example Agencies: U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) - area flood

control, electricity, water navigation

IV. Independent Executive Agencies Agencies “left over” (not exec. depts.,

regulatory commissions, or corporations) Leaders generally appointed by president

Example Agencies: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA) National Science Foundation (NSF)

Roles of the Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy essentially has two roles:1.) implementing policies

2.) regulating policies

1.) Policy Implementation

agencies within a bureaucracy are in charge of implementing and enforcing Congressional and Presidential policies (ex: executive orders)

Includes: Creating a new agency to take on a policy (or

giving it to an existing one) Translating policy into guidelines/rules that can

be used to enforce it Coordinating personnel and resources to

complete the task

Obstacles to Policy Implementation

Vague instructions --> Congress often leaves the interpretation of policies to the agencies that enforce them

Lack of resources --> agencies are often understaffed for the large responsibilities they are given; lack funding and resources to do their jobs

Lack of authority --> agencies don’t always have the ability to punish or investigate breaches in obedience to policies

Strict routine --> bureaucracies operate by standard operating procedures; can slow progress if routines don’t match tasks

Administrative discretion --> leaders must often make personal decisions on implementing policies

Fragmentation --> several agencies might overlap in their responsibilities to implement a particular policy = confusing, complicated

Privatization

gov’t agencies often rely on outside contractors to produce goods and services for their use

2.) Policy Regulation

regulation - gov’t authority to monitor and control certain aspects of everyday life in the private sector

Agencies and depts. are often given regulation powers over policies (ex: food inspection, medication, safety laws, advertising, labor, pollution, censorship, monetary systems, etc.)

Policies can be regulated by: Command-and-control policy - gov’t gives

instructions to businesses on how to reach goals, monitors their implementation, and punishes rule-breakers.

Incentive system - businesses are given incentives such as rewards to implement policies a certain way

deregulation - lifting gov’t regulations on businesses, industry, and other aspects of the private sector Can cause raised prices, harm competition, and

run the risk of failing

The President: Controlling the BureaucracyPresidents can influence and control bureaucracy

by: Appointing leaders to agencies that support

their policies Changing an agency’s budget Pushing for new agencies/depts. or reorganize

old ones

Congress: Controlling the BureaucracyCongress can influence and control the

bureaucracy by: Senate approval of presidential appointments

of bureaucratic leaders Threatening to cut down an agency’s budget or

withholding funding Conduct congressional oversight hearings to

keep bureaucracy in line Edit laws/policies to have more specific rules

and instructions

Iron Triangles

iron triangle - subgovernments consisting of interest groups that advocate a policy, a congressional committee that writes/handles that policy, and the bureaucratic agency in charge of enforcing that policy Ex: AARP (interest group) + House Ways and

Means Subcommittee on Social Security (congressional committee) + Social Security Administration (bureaucratic agency)