Chapter 7: The Executive Branch at Work Section 1: The Federal Bureaucracy (pgs.192-195)

What is the Federal Bureaucracy? A bureaucracy is any organization that has a clear formal structure, a division of labor, and a set of rules and procedures by which it operates. The federal bureaucracy contains all the agencies and departments of the executive branch, including the office of the VP, the EOP, the executive departments, and the independent agencies. The federal bureaucracy is made up of between 2.7 to 3 million people.

The Federal Bureaucracy It also includes outside contractors. And Federal funds also paid for numerous state and local employees. Taking these people into account add millions to the total number of government employees. The Federal bureaucracy is the nation’s largest empolyer.

Administrators & Bureaucrats in the Federal Bureaucracy The top administrators are political appointees. They are nominated by the president and approve by the Senate. They are only in office during the term of the president that nominated them. Most of the bureaucrats (or people below the Administrators) and are skilled expert workers, that are hired through a competitive process and stay in there jobs as presidents come and go.

The Civil Service & the Spoils System Today, people that work for the federal government go through a competitive process to be hired but it was not always like this. During the 1st hundred years of our republic jobs were given out by the president as political rewards to people who supported him in getting him elected. By Jackson’s administration in the 1830s he replaced over 2,000 employees when he became president.

Changes in the Spoils System Critics of the spoils system believed it led to corruption giving federal projects to friends and the massive turnover after an election left the government in inexperienced hands. In 1871, Congress created a Civil Service Advisory Board to write rules governing federal hiring.

Changes in the Spoils System When President James Garfield was assassinated by disappointed office seeker in 1881, President Chester Arthur used the assassination to get civil service reform. In 1883, Arthur signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act into law. This based hiring and promotions on merit and not party affiliation. The act created the Civil Service Commission to give exams to test a person qualifications to have a job. Garfield Arthur

The Civil Service Today The Pendleton Civil Service Act initially applied to only 10% of the federal bureaucracy. Today more than 90% of federal government jobs are protected by civil service legislation. The Civil Service Act of 1978 created agencies that manage today’s civil service.

The Civil Service Today The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) conducts competitive exams, places applicants in jobs, and maintains the administrative functions of the civil service.