The Federal Bureaucracy The Executive Office of the President, Executive departments, and Agencies

Bureaucracy Bureaucracy: a large administrative structure that handles the business of a large organization The Executive departments are an example of our executive bureaucracy An organization that is built on one of these 3 principles is a bureaucracy: Hierarchical Authority Job Specialization Formal Rules * Each person who works for this type of organization is a BUREAUCRAT

Our Federal Bureaucracy Made up of all of the agencies, departments, and people that allow our National Government to get their job accomplished Through the bureaucracy, public policy gets administered The people working within the bureaucracy are non elected positions

The Bureaucracy There are 3 different types of organizations within the bureaucracy that you should be aware of Executive Departments Executive Agencies Regulatory Agencies (or Regulatory Commissions) Government Corporations

Executive Departments: create the cabinet positions The cabinet is the group of people that are the Presidents’ closest advisors; they specialize in a policy area and are in charge of one department i.e. Department of Treasury/ Secretary of Treasury 15 Executive Departments Each Department is headed by a SECRETARY

Cabinet Departments State Defense Treasury Justice Interior Agriculture Commerce Labor Health and Human Services Housing and Urban Development Transportation Energy Education Veteran Affairs Homeland Security

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/07/politics/main4583057.shtml

Independent Agencies Regulatory Agencies THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF AGENCIES! Generally, agencies are the non-cabinet level organizations Examples: NASA, FDA (Food and Drug Admin), EPA (environmental Protection Agency) Regulatory Agencies One TYPE of agency, but they are a little more specific in their responsibility Monitor economic activity There are 12 of these organizations

Independent Agencies Government Corporations: These organizations are controlled by the President, but they are different because they run business-like activities Best examples = the POST OFFICE

Executive Agencies Executive Branch President Executive Departments (Cabinet Members) Executive Agencies Government Corporations Independent Regulatory Agencies (Independent Regulatory Commissions)

In Conclusion… Why do we have a bureaucracy?

Nominating and Choosing Members President-elect draws up candidates for heads of departments May “leak” names to media to test public opinion Senate holds confirmation hearings after the President officially appoints someone to office

What is the Cabinet? The cabinet is an informal advisory brought together by the President to serve his needs. There are now 15 cabinet posts, all created by past and present presidents The most recent is the Department of Homeland Security, created after 9/11/01

The Cabinet’s Role 2 Main Roles: as individuals, they head one of the executive departments, and as a group they are an advisor to the President Different Presidents have different views of how much advice they should take from the cabinet heads How much information do you think Barack Obama has taken from his advisors?

Women and Minorities in the Cabinet Comparatively, there have been more white males appointed to cabinet members instead of women and minorities. However, we are taking steps in the right direction by appointing people such as Colin Powell, Alberto Gonzales, Condi Rice, and Margaret Spellings to heads of cabinets

Women in Cabinet The first woman appointed to a cabinet position was Frances T. Perkins. She was appointed by FDR and served from 1933-1945 as Secretary of Labor

Independent Agencies Independent agencies were created after 1880- since then, the number of agencies has grown (150 agencies today) These agencies administer programs similar to the executive departments So, why do we have them?

Independent Agencies Why do they exist? Some agencies don’t “fit” with any department Separating them from the Executive Departments keeps the agencies’ work away from party politics I.e. the Federal Election Commission is an agency Their functions are odd or sensitive Or- they were made independent agencies on accident

In Conclusion… The three different structures that exist within the Federal Bureaucracy are the Executive Office of the President, Executive Departments, and Executive Agencies The Executive Office of the President is comprised of various offices that support the president’s and country’s needs The Cabinet works to support the president and to head domestic and foreign administrative offices within the White House