American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2014-2015

chAPTeR eleven • The BuReAucRAcy 269

bureaucracy 248

cabinet department 251

capture 256

Civil Service

Commission 259

enabling legislation 264

government

corporation 256

Government in the

Sunshine Act 261

independent executive

agency 251

independent regulatory

agency 253

iron triangle 266

issue network 267

line organization 251

merit system 259

Pendleton Act (Civil

Service Reform

Act) 259

privatization 262

spoils system 259

sunset legislation 261

whistleblower 263

keyterms

chaptersummary

1 Bureaucracies are hierarchical organizations

characterized by division of labor and extensive

procedural rules. Bureaucracy is the primary form

of organization of most major corporations and

universities, as well as governments.

2 Since the founding of the United States, the

federal bureaucracy has grown from a few employees

to about 2.7 million (including the U.S. Postal

Service but excluding the military). Federal, state,

and local employees together make up about 16

percent of the nation’s civilian labor force. Social

Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and military defense

are the largest components of federal spending.

3 The federal bureaucracy consists of fifteen

cabinet departments, as well as a large number

of independent executive agencies, independent

regulatory agencies, and government corporations.

These entities enjoy varying degrees of autonomy,

visibility, and political support.

4 A federal bureaucracy of career civil servants

was formed during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency.

Andrew Jackson implemented a spoils system

through which he appointed his own political

supporters. A civil service based on professionalism

and merit was the goal of the Civil Service Reform

Act of 1883. Concerns that the civil service be

freed from the pressures of politics prompted the

passage of the Hatch Act in 1939. The Civil Service

Reform Act of 1978 made significant changes in the

administration of the civil service.

5 There have been many attempts to make the

federal bureaucracy more open, efficient, and

responsive to the needs of U.S. citizens. The most

important reforms have included sunshine and

sunset laws, privatization, strategies to provide

incentives for increased productivity and efficiency,

and protection for whistleblowers.

6 Congress delegates much of its authority to

federal agencies when it creates new laws. The

bureaucrats who run these agencies may become

important policymakers, because Congress has

neither the time nor the technical expertise to

oversee the administration of its laws. The agency

rulemaking process begins when a proposed

regulation is published. A comment period

follows, during which interested parties may offer

suggestions for changes. Because companies

and other organizations have challenged many

regulations in court, federal agencies now are

authorized to allow parties that will be affected by

new regulations to participate in the rule-drafting

process.

7 Congress exerts ultimate control over all

federal agencies, because it controls the federal

government’s purse strings. It also establishes the

general guidelines by which regulatory agencies

must abide. The appropriations process provides a

way to send messages of approval or disapproval to

particular agencies, as do congressional hearings

and investigations of agency actions.

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