William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

470 Chapter 13 | The Bureaucracy

The Executive Branch of the Federal Government

The executive branch includes the 15 cabinet offices, as well as several independent agencies, commissions,

and government corporations.

Source: Based on GPO Access: Guide to the U.S. Government, http://bensguide.gpo.gov/files/gov_chart.pdf (accessed 9/22/12).

President

Vice President

Executive Oice of the President

Department

of Agriculture

Department

of Commerce

Department

of Defense

Department

of Education

Department

of Energy

Department of

Health and Human

Services

Department

of Homeland

Security

Department of

Housing and Urban

Development

Department of

the Interior

Department

of Justice

Department

of Labor

Department

of State

Department of

Transportation

Department of

the Treasury

Department

of Veterans

Aairs

Selected Independent Establishments and Government Corporations

Central Intelligence Agency

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Environmental Protection Agency

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Federal Election Commission

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

General Services Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities

National Labor Relations Board

National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)

National Science Foundation

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

Peace Corps

Securities and Exchange Commission

Selective Service System

Small Business Administration

Social Security Administration

U.S. Agency for International Development

U.S. Postal Service

NUTS

& B O LT S

13.1

Each executive department contains many smaller, sometimes diverse organizations.

Nuts & Bolts 13.2 shows the organizational chart for the Department of Agriculture,

for example. As you can see, the Department of Agriculture includes offices that help

farmers produce and sell their crops and offices that ensure food safety, but it also houses

the Forest Service and offices that manage issues related to housing and utilities in rural

areas. The Department of Agriculture also administers the food stamps program, even

though the program has no direct connection to farming or food safety.

In addition to executive departments, the government contains a group of

agencies, commissions, and government corporations that are called independent

agencies to highlight that they are not part of an executive department. Most of these

agencies carry out specialized functions, such as regulating a particular activity

(these are called independent regulatory agencies) or carrying out policy in a narrow

area. The Federal Reserve System, for example, manages the money supply, banking

system, and interest rates, while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA) directs aviation research and space exploration. Nuts & Bolts 13.1 includes

only some noteworthy or well-known agencies; there are many more.

independent agencies

Government offices or organizations

that provide government services

and are not part of an executive

department.

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