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The Government At Work. Executive Branch Pt. 2. The Federal Bureaucracy. What is a Bureaucracy?. Bureaucracy is based on the principles of hierarchical authority, job specialization, and formal rules A bureaucracy is a way of organizing people to do work. Major Elements.
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The Government At Work Executive Branch Pt. 2
What is a Bureaucracy? • Bureaucracy is based on the principles of hierarchical authority, job specialization, and formal rules • A bureaucracy is a way of organizing people to do work
Major Elements • Nearly all of the bureaucracy of the federal Government resides in the Executive Branch of government • The Constitution gives little guidance about the structure of the federal bureaucracy
Major Elements • The bureaucracy is made up of three major groups of administrative agencies: the Executive Office of the President; the 15 Cabinet Departments; and the Independent Agencies
The Name Game • The term department is reserved for agencies of cabinet rank • The term agency is used to refer to any governmental body or, more particularly, to a major unit headed by a single administrator of near-cabinet status. The term administration is used in a similar way
The Name Game • The term commission is given to agencies charged with the regulation of business activities. Commissions are headed by varying numbers of top-ranking officers, or commissioners. • The terms corporation and authority are used for agencies that have a board and a manager and that conduct business-like activities. • These terms are not used consistently
Staff and Line • Staff agencies are those agencies that serve in a support capacity by furnishing advice and assistance in the management of an organization • Line agencies are those agencies that actually perform the tasks for which the organization exists
The Cabinet • The head of each department is known as the Secretary, except for the Justice Department which is headed by the Attorney General • Department secretaries are appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate • Together, the department secretaries serve as the cabinet
What are Independent Agencies? • An independent agency operates outside of the 15 executive departments in the cabinet • Four major reasons explain why these agencies exist outside of the cabinet department structure: • Some agencies are independent because their functions did not fit well into any of the existing departments
What are Independent Agencies? • Some are independent to protect their officials from political pressures • Office of Personnel Management • Social Security Administration • Federal Election Commission
What are Independent Agencies? • Some are independent to make them more responsive to interest-group pressures • Some are independent because of their peculiar and sensitive nature of their functions
What are Independent Agencies? • There are three types of independent agencies: independent executive agencies; independent regulatory commissions; and government corporations
Independent Executive Agencies • Most of the independent agencies fall into this category • They are organized under a single administrator and have subunits that operate on a regional basis
Independent Executive Agencies • Today, there about 150 Independent Regulatory Agencies • Most are found on the list of agencies on page 383 in the Magruder textbook
Independent Executive Agencies • Includes most of the Independent Agencies • Some are large, multi-million or even billion dollar budgets • GSA, NASA, EPA • Almost the same as the cabinet departments, just do not have cabinet status
Independent Executive Agencies • Others do important work just not as large • Civil Rights Commission • Peace Corps • Federal Election Commission
Independent Executive Agencies • Others act far from the limelight • American Battle Monuments Commission • Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee
Independent Regulatory Commissions • These commissions are created to regulate important aspects of the nation’s economy • The 10 independent regulatory commissions are largely not under the President’s control • The members of the commissions are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate for long, staggered terms
Independent Regulatory Commissions • These commissions must be made up from both parties, and members cannot be removed for political reasons • They have quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial powers • Used to clarify the laws they must enforce • Act as an arbitrator when questions arise
Independent Regulatory Commissions • These regulatory bodies possess all three powers – executive, legislative, and judicial – and are exceptions to the principle of separation of powers • Congress has delegated some of its responsibilities to these agencies to carry out the role congress should have
Independent Regulatory Commissions • Two major regulatory commissions – the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Interstate Commerce Commission – have disappeared in recent years
Government Corporations • These corporations are within the executive branch, and they are under the control of the President • Their top officers are appointed by the President with Senate confirmation; all of their employees are public officials
Government Corporations • Examples would be • the FDIC – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation • Eximbank -- Export/Import Bank of the United States • The US Postal Service • National Railroad Passenger Corporation
Government Corporations • Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation • Tennessee Valley Authority
Government Corporations • Some controversy exists as to whether government corporations are compatible with the democratic government’s requirement that all public agencies be accountable to the public
Development of the Civil Service • The Beginnings – During the early years of the republic, Presidents tried to fill federal jobs with qualified persons who shared their political views • The Spoils System – Andrew Jackson began the practice of giving government positions to the President’s political supporters
Development of the Civil Service • Jackson defended this policy by saying that any intelligent person can fill any public office • Jackson also maintained that there should be rotation in office so that more people can serve in public office • Long service in office, Jackson believed, would lead to tyranny and inefficiency
Development of the Civil Service • Finally, Jackson claimed that the people are entitled to have the party they elected to power in control of all government offices • The Movement to Reform – Widespread corruption and the assassination of James Garfield led to the Civil Service Act, or Pendleton Act, in 1883
Development of the Civil Service • The Pendleton Act • The Pendleton Act made merit the basis for hiring and promotion in federal jobs • The act also required that the federal work force would consist of men and women from every State, with the number from each State bearing a close relationship to that State’s share of the total population
Development of the Civil Service • The Pendleton Act (con) • Veterans received preferred ranking in federal hiring
Civil Service Today • A second goal of civil service reform has been to ensure that the best available people are included in the federal work force • Reorganization – President Carter succeeded in implementing reforms in the civil service system that were intended to make the system more efficient and responsive to merit
Federal Employees and Party Activists • The political activities of federal employees are subject to several limits • Federal employees may not strike • Classified federal employees may not be party activists, run for a partisan office, become officers in a political organization or delegates to a party convention, or raise funds for a political party or any of its candidates
Federal Employees and Party Activists • Pay and Benefits Issues – Minority groups and women are well represented in most federal agencies, but remain at lower-level jobs