William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

474 Chapter 13 | The Bureaucracy

in the world with the largest military, and the increased costs associated with some

government services, such as health care.

Those who blame bureaucrats for the increasing size of the federal government

miss some important points. First, the increase in total federal spending masks the fact

that many agencies see their budgets shrink.^38 Particularly in recent administrations,

one of the principal missions of presidential appointees, both in agencies and in the

EOP, has been to scrutinize budget requests with an eye to cutting spending as much as

possible.^39 And in most years, some government agencies are eliminated (in fact, most

of the executive department head counts in Table 13.1 have grown smaller in recent

editions of this text).^40

Public-opinion data also provide an explanation for the overall growth in

government: the American public’s demand for services.^41 Despite complaints

about the federal bureaucracy, polls find little evidence of demands for less

government. When the Pew Research Center asked people in 2017 to name two

programs that should have their spending cut as a way of reducing the budget

deficit, the only program that was named by more than a quarter of respondents

was foreign aid (see Table 13.2). Far fewer people favored cuts in the programs that

account for the overwhelming majority of federal spending: defense, health care

spending, and Social Security. In other words, while in the abstract Americans

might want a smaller government that is less involved in everyday life, they do not

support the large-scale budget cuts that would be necessary to achieve this goal.

The public’s desire for more government services is often encouraged by elected

officials, who create new government programs (and expand existing ones in

response to constituent demands) as a way of building support and improving their

chances of reelection.

Since 1992, the federal civilian

workforce has shrunk by

18%

Source: Office of Management and

Budget

DID YOU KNOW?

Organization Total Employees

Defense (civilian only) 726,000

Veterans Affairs 345,100

Homeland Security 182,400

Justice 118,200

Treasury 92,400

Agriculture 8 7, 3 0 0

Health and Human Services 74,10 0

Interior 6 4,9 0 0

Transportation 54,700

Commerce 40,900

State 2 7, 6 0 0

Labor 16,500

Energy 14,700

Housing and Urban Development 8,000

Education 4,100

Employment

in Cabinet

Departments

Source: “Budget of the United States

Government Fiscal Year 2019,”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/

2018/02/spec-fy2019.pdf (accessed 5/17/18).

TABLE

13.1

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