To Accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, and Texas Editions

American Government: Roots and Reform

, 10th edition Karen O ’ Connor and Larry J. Sabato  Pearson Education, 2009 Chapter 9

The Executive Branch and the Federal Bureaucracy

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The Roots of Bureaucracy

 Foreign Affairs, War, Treasury first departments.

 Growth in early 1800s with Post Office.

 Patronage and the spoils system become common.

 Civil War spawns another expansion.

 Pendleton Act is beginning of civil service system.

 Also known as merit system.

 Creation of independent regulatory commissions.

Twentieth-Century Bureaucracy

 Growing number of cabinet departments.

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Need for a larger government to support wars

.

 New Deal and Great Society.

Modern Bureaucracy

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More than 2.7 million employees

.

 Most are selected based on merit.

 Also have high-level appointees.

 Wide variety of skills represented.

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Less diverse than America .

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Scattered throughout D.C. and regional offices .

 Growth of outside contractors.

Formal Organization

 Cabinet departments handle broad, lasting issues.

 Headed by secretaries.

 Government corporations act like businesses.

 Independent executive agencies handle services.

 Narrower than Cabinet department, independent.

 Independent regulatory commissions watch industry.

 Designed to be free from partisan pressure.

Government Workers and Politics

 Hatch Act sets first boundaries.



Federal Employees Political Act

is current standard.

Characteristics of Bureaucracy

 Chain of command from top to bottom.

 Division of labor.

 Clear lines of authority.

 Goal orientation.

 Merit system.

 Productivity.

How the Bureaucracy Works

 Congress creates agencies.

 Main job is implementation of laws.

 Policy made in

iron triangles

or issue networks.

 Increasing use of interagency councils.

Making Policy

 Administrative discretion allows a lot of latitude.

 Rule-making is a quasi-legislative process.

 Formal procedure for making regulations.

 Administrative adjudication is quasi-judicial process.

 Used to settle disputes between two parties.

Agency Accountability

 Unclear who agencies should be accountable to.

 Presidents try to make the right appointments.

 Can also shape policy through executive orders.

 Congress can use oversight powers and funding.

 Police patrol v. fire alarm oversight.

 Judiciary can review regulations.

AV- Growth of Government

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Figure 9.1- Civilian Employment

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Figure 9.2- Employee Characteristics

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Figure 9.3- Agency Regions

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Figure 9.4- The Executive Branch

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Figure 9.5- An Iron Triangle

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Figure 9.6- Rulemaking

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Table 9.1- FEPA

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Table 9.2- Agency Accountability

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