WHAT IS THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY?| 325What Is the Federal Bureaucracy?
The federal bureaucracy that makes up the government’s executive branch
comprises millions of civil servants, who work for the government in perma-
nent positions, and thousands of political appointees holding short-term, usu-
ally senior positions, who are appointed by the president. Another name for the
bureaucracy is the administrative state, or the state.
What Do Bureaucrats Do?
The task of the bureaucracy is to implement policies established by congressional
acts or presidential decisions. These tasks are summarized in Nuts and Bolts 11.1.
Sometimes the tasks are very specifi c. For example, in the appropriations bill for
fi scal year 2010, Congress mandated a 3.4 percent pay increase for military per-
sonnel and funds for certain new military equipment.^2 These provisions required
no discretion on the part of the bureaucrats who implement them. Their tasks were
limited to making the administrative changes necessary to raise military pay and
following through with the purchase of specifi ed equipment.
More commonly, however, legislation determines only the general guidelines for
meeting governmental goals, allowing bureaucrats to develop specifi c policies and
programs. In these cases, bureaucrats’ actions constitute the essence of govern-
ment action, determining “who gets what, when, and how.”^3 For example, the 1938
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act gave the Food and Drug Administration
DEFINE BUREAUCRACY
AND EXPLAIN ITS MAJOR
FUNCTIONSbureaucracy The system of civil
servants and political appointees
who implement congressional or
presidential decisions; also known
as the administrative state.
civil servants Employees of
bureaucratic agencies within the
government.
political appointees People
selected by an elected leader, such
as the president, to hold a govern-
ment position.COAST GUARD VESSELS RESPOND TO
the fi re on BP’s Deepwater Horizon
oil rig after it exploded in the
Gulf of Mexico. Some observers
have accused regulators of
failing to properly oversee this
and similar offshore oil drilling
operations. Are such failures the
exception or the rule in the federal
bureaucracy?