The Federal Bureaucracy Libertyville High School

Federal Bureaucracy – What is it? Bureaucracy = any large, complex administration handling everyday ops for an entity Three features of a bureaucracy 1.Hierarchical authority (“chain of command”) 2.Job specialization 3.Formalized rules

Elements of the Federal Bureaucracy Made up of all agencies, people and procedures of the Executive Branch Department – cabinet level (ex. State) Agency / Administration – major units of Fed gov’t; about 150 (ex. SSA, NASA) Commission - independent regulatory agency, beyond control of President; 12; have legislative, judicial, executive powers (ex. SEC, FCC) Corporation / Authority – have business like responsibilities (ex FDIC)

Executive Office of the President (EOP) EOP = Closest advisors & assistants to President EOP Components White House OfficeOffice National Security Council Office of Management and Budget (OMB)OMB Council of Economic AdvisorsCouncil of Economic Advisors EOP are staff agencies (exist to support president in exercising his executive powers) Meeting in Oval Office

The President’s Cabinet Informal advisory body brought together to serve President’s needs Made up of Department Heads Role of Cabinet White House Cabinet room

Executive Departments Fifteen Executive Departments, headed by a Secretary (or Attorney General) Each has a broad field of activity Examples Workers are civil servants, not political appointees Departments are line agencies (perform tasks for which they were established)

Agencies and Administrations Agencies outside the Departments Why have them? Fill job that don’t fit within department scheme (ex. Office of Personnel Management – hires and fires for entire federal government bureaucracy) As government has expanded in scope & power, agencies have been created to implement policy

Agencies Three main groups Independent Executive Agencies Ex – NASA, GSA Independent Regulatory Agencies Ex – FCC, SEC Government Corporations Ex – FDIC, USPS

The Civil Service Civil service are the civilian employees of Federal Gov’t (2.7 million, with 300,000 in DC area alone) Pendleton Act of 1883 est. modern Civil Service (before = spoils system, patronage) Merit, not connections, determined if person got job