Bureaucracies are large, complex organizations in which employees have very specific job responsibilities and work within a hierarchy of authority. The employees of the departments, agencies, bureaus, and offices of government are known as bureaucrats. The Bureaucracy is considered part of the Executive Office. The bureaucracy of the federal government is the largest in the United States, employing more that 2.8 million people. THE BUREAUCRACY

The Spoils System is the practice of winning candidates’ rewarding their supporters with government jobs. Made famous by President Andrew Jackson and based on the saying “to the victor the spoils of the enemy.” In the 19 th century, nearly every federal job was a patronage job. President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, replaced nearly 40,000 Republican postal employees with Democrats. The Pendleton Act of 1883 was legislation to replace the patronage, or spoils system, with the merit system. The Civil Service is a system or method of appointing government employees on the basis of competitive examinations, rather than by political patronage. The Merit System is a system or policy whereby people are promoted or rewarded on the basis of ability or achievement rather than because of seniority, quotas, patronage or the like. WHO ARE THE BUREAUCRATS?

Departments, Independent Agencies (NASA, SBA,) Government Corporations (TVA, USPS, AMTRAK,) Independent Regulatory Agencies (SEC, FRB) Civil Service; Presidents appoint fewer than 1% of all executive branch positions The primary function of the bureaucracy is policy implementation and policymaking. BUREAUS AND BUREAUCRATS

Department of State Department of the Treasury Department of Defense Department of Justice Department of the Interior Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Labor Department of Health and Human Services Department of Housing and Urban Development Department of Transportation Department of Energy Department of Education Department of Veterans Affairs Department of Homeland Security CABINET DEPARTMENTS

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Science and Technology Business Regulation Social Welfare Ambitious Administrators REASONS FOR GROWTH OF THE BUREAUCRACY

Executive Influence Congressional influences Iron triangles Issue networks The Media INFLUENCES ON THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY