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The Bureaucracy

The Bureaucracy. The Executive power is vested in the President.

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The Bureaucracy

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  1. The Bureaucracy • The Executive power is vested in the President. • He is not constitutionally required to appoint any advisers or aids. However, the Constitution anticipates that he will – it says “he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive departments.” • It also gives him the power to appoint (with Senate approval) public ministers, officers, and department heads.

  2. The Bureaucracy • President George Washington created the Cabinet and with it, the bureaucracy. • He appointed 4 advisers: a Secretary of State (Thomas Jefferson), a Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton), a Secretary of War (Henry Knox) and an Attorney General (Edmund Randolph) • Today there are 15 executive departments

  3. The Bureaucracy • The Executive Branch Departments in order of creation: • State (1789) • Defense (1789) • Treasury (1789) • Justice (1789) • Interior (1849) • Agriculture (1862) • Commerce (1913) • Labor (1913) • Health & Human Services (1953) • Housing and Urban Development (1965) • Transportation (1966) • Energy (1977) • Education (1979) • Veterans’ Affairs (1988) • Homeland Security (2002)

  4. The Bureaucracy • Some famous Cabinets: • Andrew Jackson relied on his “kitchen cabinet” of informal advisers rather than the agency heads • Abraham Lincoln appointed the famous “team of rivals” to his Cabinet

  5. The Bureaucracy • Appointment Process • Presidential nomination • White House review • Paperwork financial disclosure • FBI investigation • Senate confirmation hearings • Senate vote

  6. The Bureaucracy • Many Cabinet appointments have caused controversy: • Timothy Geithner, taxes not paid • Gov. Richardson (Commerce) withdrew his name after scandal over selling state services • Hilda Solis (Labor), taxes not paid • Tom Daschle (HHS), taxes not paid

  7. The Bureaucracy • In addition to the Cabinet, there is a large Federal bureaucracy that runs many aspects of our government. • Features: • 1) Hierarchical authority • 2) Job specialization • 3) Formal Roles

  8. EXECUTIVE BRANCHFEDERAL BUREAUCRACY

  9. The Bureaucracy • Five Functions of Bureaucrats • Implement the law • Provide expertise • Provide research and information to the President • Provide research and information to Congress • Quasi-judicial powers and responsibilities

  10. The Bureaucracy • History of the Bureaucracy • The Whig Theory (1780s – 1828) • The idea that public service was domain of an elite class. • Families had a tradition of public service. • The Spoils System (1828 – 1883) • Andrew Jackson used government jobs or “patronage” to reward supporters and to remove elitists from the bureaucracy

  11. The Bureaucracy • History of the Bureaucracy • The Civil Service System (1883 – Present) • The Pendleton Act (Civil Service Reform Act of 1883) established the principle of employment on the basis of merit and created the Civil Service System to oversee the hiring and firing of government employees • Calls for “neutral” competence and expertise • Under the New Deal, federal bureaucracy grew. • Hatch Act, 1937, limited political behavior of civil servants • Post WWII - more expertise, more demands

  12. The Bureaucracy • Executive Office of the President • 12 total agencies act as the Presidents right arm. • The majority of the Presidents closest advisors work in the EOP. • White House Office: President’s staff. • National Security Council: Foreign affairs and national security • Office of Management and Budget: Prepares the Federal budget.

  13. The Bureaucracy • Independent Agencies • Administered by a presidential appointee with no fixed term • Responsible for narrower set of functions than department • Some are housed in departments • Social Security Administration is part of HHS, Coast Guard is part of Transportation • Others are independent of any department • Examples include The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

  14. The Bureaucracy • Independent Regulatory Agencies and Commissions • Independent of any department or agency • Each headed by a group of 5 - 10 commissioners who are appointed by president to fixed terms and not subject to removal by president • Example include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal Communication Commission (FCC)

  15. The Bureaucracy • Government Corporations • Permits organizations to use businesslike method and remain politically independent • Run by boards of directors appointed by President to long terms • Examples include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Student Loan Management Authority (SallieMae) and the U.S. Postal Service

  16. The Bureaucracy • Reasons for the growth of Federal Bureaucracy • We have over 3 million federal bureaucrats paid for by the taxpayers • Issues and problems require more expertise today because society and technology is so complex • The size of our nation in both geographic size and population leads to more bureaucrats • Americans demand more services from their government, requiring the use of more people to provide those government services

  17. The Bureaucracy • A few myths about Bureaucrats “They’re appointed by the President and can be fired by the President.” • Only about 9,000 out of 3,000,000 civilians employees of the Federal Government are appointed by the president • Of those, only about 3,000 – 5,000 could conceivably be fired by the President (unless they massively violate the conditions of employment – PATCO strike of August 1981)

  18. The Bureaucracy • “They’re just paper-pushers” • Only about a half million government employees have characteristically bureaucratic positions such as clerk or general administrator • The government employs about 147,00 engineers and architects, 84,000 scientists, and 2,400 veterinarians • “They all work in Washington DC” • Only about 10% of government civilian employees work in Washington D.C • Only about 22% of government employees work for the federal government

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