The 4th Branch? Federal Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy Bureau- Office or Desks Cracy- Rule or Form of Rule Literally means rule from Desks We have a lot of desks in our country 3 million civilian and 2 million military

What the Bureaucracy Does The primary task of the Bureaucracy is…. Implementation The efforts of departments and agencies to translate laws into specific bureaucratic routines

Implementation ****Congress***** Very easy process when the bosses are particular in making the laws ****Congress***** However, when they are not specific, it requires the B-Crats to interpret and then implement What happens when B-Crats must interpret and then implement? LAW MAKING

Law Making In these situations, Congress delegates the appropriate agency a broad authority and then bureaucrats have to make actual laws through Rule Making and Administrative Adjudication

Administrative Adjudication Applying Rules and Precedents to specific cases to settle disputes between regulated parties Judicial Power Consumer Product Safety Commission held hearings on safety of bleachers Issued guidelines about Bleacher construction. Guidelines had the power of law

How you can become a B-Crat!!! The Spoils system “To the Victor Goes the Spoils” Replacing all bureaucratic positions of an old party with the winning party Overturned by Civil Service Act of 1883 (PENDELTON ACT)

Merit System- based on Civil Service act of 1883 Appointees to positions in public bureaucracies must objectively be deemed qualified for that position