1. The bureaucracy
Chapter 14

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Learning Objectives
14.1 Explain what the bureaucracy does 14.2 Outline the essential elements of a bureaucracy 14.3 Describe the growth of the bureaucracy over time 14.4 Assess how the bureaucracy is both accountable and responsive, and how it can fail
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3. The American Bureaucracy 1 of 3
What is the Bureaucracy?
Regulations
Cabinet
Cabinet secretaries
Constitutional Foundations
Appointments
Opinions on Federal Policies
Execution of the Laws
L.O. 14.1: Explain what the bureaucracy does.
The federal bureaucracy has a direct impact on your life. Most Americans are familiar with waiting in line at the post office, but not everyone is aware that the quality of the grains in breakfast cereal they eat in the morning, the safety of the highways they drive during the day, and the purity of the water they drink are also regulated by government agencies.
bureaucracy:
Executive branch departments, agencies, boards, and commissions that carry out the responsibilities of the federal government.
regulations:
Guidelines issued by federal agencies for administering federal programs and implementing federal law.
cabinet:
Set of executive departments responsible for carrying out federal policy in specific issue areas.
cabinet secretaries:
Heads of cabinet departments and chief advisers to the president on the issues under their jurisdiction.
Key Questions
What federal employees have you come in contact with in the past? What was the most recent experience like?
What is your impression of the federal bureaucracy? Which branch of government do you think works best? Which works least well?
Why do you think the Constitution provides so little direction for the bureaucracy?
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4. The American Bureaucracy 2 of 3
The federal bureaucracy has a direct impact on your life. Most Americans are familiar with waiting in line at the post office, but not many people think about the fact that the quality of grains in their breakfast cereal, the safety of highways they drive on, and the purity of the water they drink are also regulated by government agencies.
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5. The American Bureaucracy 3 of 3
Structure of the Bureaucracy
Executive Departments
Currently fifteen departments
Federal register
Other Types of Federal Organizations
Office of Management and Budget
Independent agency
Federal regulatory commission
Federal Register:
Official published record of all executive branch rules, regulations, and orders.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB):
Federal agency that oversees the federal budget and all federal regulations.
independent agency:
Federal organization that has independent authority and does not operate within a cabinet department.
federal regulatory commission:
Federal agency typically run by a small number of officials, known as commissioners, who are appointed by the president for fixed terms and oversee economic or political issues.
Key Questions
Why would the government fund for a for-profit railroad?
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6. Copyright © 2018 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Cabinet Departments 2016
Department
Year Established
Website
Employees
(in thousands)
State
1789
34.2
Treasury
99.0
Defense (originally, War)
738.1
Interior
1849
65.6
Agriculture
1862
90.1
Justice
1870
118.3
Commerce
1903
44.1
Labor
1913
16.9
Housing/Urban Development
1965
8.3
Transportation
1966
55.7
Energy
1977
16.0
Education
1979
4.3
Health and Human Services
1980
72.6
Veterans Affairs
1989
349.8
Homeland Security
2003
184.0
Table 14.1
Source: The White House, The White House, Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal Year 2017 Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. Government (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2017), Table 8-2, Federal Civilian Employment in the Executive Branch, p. 80, For the history of each department, see the websites listed in the preceding table.
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7. Organizational Chart of the Department of Health and Human Services
Figure 14.1
Cabinet departments are complex hierarchical organizations with layers of authority and sublevel agencies that have jurisdiction over specific federal programs and policies. This organizational chart of the Department of Health and Human Services shows sublevel agencies with lines of responsibility.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Organizational Chart, accessed April 1, 2016,
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8. Selected Independent Agencies and Commissions 2016
Department
Year Established
Website
Employees
(in thousands)
Environmental Protection Agency
1970
15.5
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
1965
2.3
General Services Administration
1949
11.7
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
1958
17.4
National Labor Relations Board
1935
1.6
National Science Foundation
1950
1.4
Office of Personnel Management
1978
5.6
Securities and Exchange Commission
4.6
Small Business Administration
1953
3.3
Social Security Administration
65.5
Table 14.2
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9. Core Components of the Bureaucracy 1 of 2
Mission
Hierarchical Decision-Making Process
Provides consistency and predictability
Careful consideration of a policy
Expertise
Bureaucratic Culture
Constant drive to self-perpetuate
Gets in the way of good policy implementation
L.O. 14.2: Outline the essential elements of a Bureaucracy
Key Questions
How has the Internet made it easier to interact with, and influence, the bureaucracy?
How important is a hierarchical decision-making process to government responsiveness and citizen equality?
What are the causes of bureaucratic failure?
What are the advantages of a government job? What are the disadvantages?
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10. Core Components of the Bureaucracy 2 of 2
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, leased by BP oil company, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and unleashing millions of gallons of oil into Gulf waters. Controversy still surrounds this massive environmental disaster, with the states asking how such an event could have been allowed to occur. Here, emergency responders clean pelicans at a Louisiana facility.
APImages/BillHaber
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11. Historical Evolution of the Bureaucracy 1 of 6
Expansion of Executive Branch Departments
State, Treasury, and War were first
Post Office
Growth of Regulatory Agencies and Other Organizations
Food and Drug Administration
Oversight
L.O. Describe the growth of the bureaucracy over time.
oversight:
Powers of Congress to monitor how the executive branch implements the laws.
Key Questions
What made the bureaucracy grow? Is it too big?
Why was the Post Office so important in the early days of the United States?
The expansion of executive departments reflects the growth of the nation. What do you think will be the next executive department created?
How did the government go from monitoring railroads to funding them? How does this change illustrate the increased role of government in private industry?
Is protecting people from food poisoning the government’s job? Why?
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12. Historical Evolution of the Bureaucracy 2 of 6
Source: Provided courtesy HarpWeek
Nineteenth-century presidents complained of being besieged by office seekers, men who hoped their connections with members of Congress or the president could help them land lucrative or powerful positions in the executive departments. In this engraving, office seekers wait to see Abraham Lincoln.
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13. Historical Evolution of the Bureaucracy 3 of 6
From Patronage to the Civil Service
Pendleton Act
Civil Service Commission
Merit system
Civil service
Political appointees
Pendleton Act:
1883 act that established a merit- and performance-based system for federal employment.
Civil Service Commission:
Created by the Pendleton Act to administer entrance exams for the federal civil service and set standards for promotion based on merit.
merit system:
System of employment under which employees are chosen and promoted based on merit.
civil service:
The nonpartisan federal workforce employed to carry out government programs and policies.
political appointees:
Federal employees appointed by the president with the explicit task of carrying out his political and partisan agenda.
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14. Historical Evolution of the Bureaucracy 4 of 6
Career Civil Service
Career civil servants
Political Appointees
Schedule C appointees
Senior Executive Service (SES)
career civil servants:
Federal employees who are hired through a merit-based system to implement federal programs and who are expected to be neutral in their political affiliations.
Schedule C appointees:
Federal employees appointed by the president to oversee civil service employees.
Senior Executive Service (SES):
Senior management personnel in the federal government appointed by the president.
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15. Distribution of Federal Government Workforce 2016
Figure 14.2
Federal employment is divided into several categories: executive branch, active military forces, and the U.S. Postal Service.
Source: The White House, Office of Management and Budget, FY 2017 Analytical Perspectives Budget of the U.S. Government, Table 8-3, “Total Federal Employment,” p. 83,
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16. Composition of the Federal Workforce
Figure 14.3
These charts show the demographics of the federal workforce. For the first time, statistics on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) workers are available with 2.8 percent of the federal workforce identifying in this category. Additionally, 9.0 percent of all federal workers have a designated disability.
Source:
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17. Historical Evolution of the Bureaucracy 5 of 6
Diversity in the Federal Bureaucracy
Private-Sector Contract Workers
Bureaucrats and Politics
Hatch Act Reform Amendments (HARA)
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
Key Questions
How did the merit-based civil service improve the job performance of federal employees?
What are two gateways to becoming a presidential appointee?
How much authority should the president have over executive branch employees?
Are there government services that should not be contracted out to the private sector?
Should there be a gate that blocks government employees from engaging in certain kinds of political activities? Would such a gate compromise citizen equality?
Why was the civil service designed so that employees remain in place despite turnover in the presidency and in Congress?
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18. Historical Evolution of the Bureaucracy 6 of 6
The federal bureaucracy often employs private- sector workers and organizations to administer federal programs or help support military operations. Here private security personnel help guard government officials in Afghanistan.
Although there is a need for more personnel to supplement U.S. efforts, controversies can arise in terms of oversight of private workers, as well as the dangers they encounter on the job.
Umit Bektas/Reuters
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19. Accountability and Responsiveness in the Bureaucracy 1 of 4
Roles of the Legislative and Judicial Branches
“Power of the purse”
Benghazi investigation
Veterans’ Administration 2014 bureaucratic failure
Power to authorize and appropriate
Courts serve as effective monitors
L.O. 14.4: Assess how the bureaucracy is both accountable and responsive, and how it can fail.
Key Questions
Is it easy or hard for citizens to hold the bureaucracy accountable for its actions? Why?
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20. Accountability and Responsiveness in the Bureaucracy 2 of 4
Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
In 2014, the Department of Veterans Affairs came under heavy criticism when it was discovered that thousands of veterans were forced to wait months for health care services and that personnel and that VA personnel had falsified records to hide these delays. Here General Eric Shinseki is testifying before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee about the scandal; he resigned two weeks later.
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21. Accountability and Responsiveness in the Bureaucracy 3 of 4
Efficiency and Transparency
Major issues require caution, thus take time
1966 Freedom of Information Act
Whistleblowing
1989 Whistleblower Protection Act
Bureaucratic Failure
whistleblowers:
Employees who report mismanagement, corruption, or illegal activity within their agencies.
Key Questions
Why is transparency important in a democracy?
What is more important, transparency or efficiency?
Are private contractors working for the government likely to be whistleblowers? Why or why not?
What can be done about lack of responsiveness by the bureaucracy?
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22. Accountability and Responsiveness in the Bureaucracy 4 of 4
The Food and Drug Administration conducts onsite inspections of food products both domestically produced and imported. Here, two FDA field employees are inspecting fish shipments at the Los Angeles International Airport.
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23. The Bureaucracy and Democracy
Federal government has grown to be more responsive to needs of average individual
Many gates bar speedy implementation of federal policy
Rules and guidelines designed to foster equal implementation of the law
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