The Federal Bureaucracy: the 4th Branch of Government
Bureaucracy – a large, complex administrative structure that handles the everyday
business of an organization
3 Principles of a Bureaucracy
1. Hierarchical Authority – chain of command runs from the top, down. Few
at the top have authority over those in the middle. Those in the middle
direct those at the bottom.
 Reduces conflict over who has the power to make decisions.
2. Job Specialization – each bureaucrat (person who works for the
organization) has defined duties and responsibilities. Division of labor.
 Promotes efficiency b/c everyone becomes good at their special job.
3. Formalized Rules – works according to a set of established regulations and
procedures. Red tape!
 Workers can act w/ speed and precision b/c decisions are based on known
standards, not someone’s arbitrary likes or dislikes.
The Federal Gov’t is considered a bureaucracy b/c it’s a complex organization based on
those principles above.
The Federal Bureaucracy is located in the executive branch (chart on pg 471). This
makes the President the Chief Administrator.
Different titles are given to the units of the executive branch:
 Department – reserved for agencies of Cabinet rank. Ex: Department of Defense
 Agency and Administration – near-cabinet status. Ex: Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) or National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA)
 Commission – agencies that regulate business activities (FCC) or investigative,
advisory, or reporting bodies (Civil Rights Commission)
 Corporation or Authority – agencies that conduct business-like activities (FDIC
or Tennessee Valley Authority)
Staff vs. Line Agency
Staff Agencies – serve in a support capacity. Offer advice and other assistance to
executive branch.
 Ex: National Security Council, White House Office
Line Agencies – actually perform the tasks for which the organization exists. They are
on the line where the action is.
 Ex: Environmental Protection Agency
Congress & the Pres. give line agencies goals to meet and staff agencies help them meet
those goals as effectively as possible.
Executive Office of the President (EOP): An umbrella organization of several agencies
staffed by the President’s closest advisors.
 White House Office – “nerve center” of EOP. The President’s key personal and
political staff. “West Wing” Includes Chief of Staff, press secretary, WH
counsel, President’s physician, and others
 National Security Council – advises President on all domestic, foreign, and
military aspects of the nation’s security
 Office of Homeland Security – oversees CIA, FBI, Coast Guard, FAA, and others
 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – prepares federal budget every year
and submits it to Congress
 Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives
 Office of National Drug Control Policy – led by “Drug Czar”
 Council of Economic Advisors
Executive Departments (aka Cabinet Departments)
 Traditional units of federal administration and each of them is built around
some broad field of activity (health, education, etc…)
 Each dept. is headed by a Secretary, except Dept. of Justice, which is headed by
the Attorney General
o Must be confirmed by the Senate
 Started with 3 departments in 1789. As size and workload of federal gov’t grew,
Congress added new departments
Role of Cabinet
 Oversee the administration of their executive department
 Advise the President
o Cabinet was created by GW, not by the Constitution and has been
followed as a custom. If President wanted to get rid of it, he could.
Independent Agencies
 The 150 additional agencies created by Congress outside the Cabinet
departments
1. Independent Executive Agencies – headed by a single administrator, but
lacking Cabinet status.
 Can be large and important (NASA, EPA), medium-sized (Peace
Corps), or small (Migratory Bird Conservation Commission)
2. Independent Regulatory Commissions – 10 agencies largely beyond the
reach of Presidential control.
 Congress has given them quasi-legislative powers, like making rules
and regulations that have the force of laws
 And quasi-judicial powers like when they decide disputes in those
matters over which they have power
 Examples: Securities & Exchange Commission, the Fed
3. Government Corporations – set up by Congress to carry out certain
business-like activities
 1st one was Bank of the United States in 1791
 Others include U.S. Postal Service, FDIC, Tennessee Valley Authority
The Civil Service
 Composed of civilian employees who perform the administrative work of the
government
 U.S. has more than 2.7 million Federal Gov’t employees
 Only 300,000 work in D.C.
 President appoints 2,500 of the top positions (must be confirmed by Senate)
 Rest are covered by the civil service system
History of Civil Service
 GW (1789) appointed ppl that were qualified to fill government posts, but favored
members of his own party
 Jefferson (1801) came to office and found all of the posts filled by men who
politically or personally opposed him, so he dismissed several hundred
Federalists and replaced them with members of his own party – Dem.-Rep.
 Jackson (1829) said to be “father” of the spoils system
o Practice of giving offices and other gov’t favors to political supporters and
friends
 Over the next 40 yrs, posts were filled by ppl not at all qualified and gov’t became
inefficient and sometimes corrupt
 It took a tragedy to bring about major changes and finally establish the civil
service system
o 1881 - President Garfield was assassinated by angry office seeker that was
mad b/c he was not appointed to high diplomatic post
Civil Service Act of 1883 – the Pendleton Act
 Laid the foundation for the present civil service system
 Main purpose was to make merit, not party loyalty, the basis for hiring,
promotion, etc… in the federal workforce
 New goal for civil service today: recruit and keep the best available ppl in the
federal workforce