Consider: Why do some call the Bucy the “4th branch of government?

The Last Word: #14 for tomorrow

The Federal BureaucracyChapter 8:

AP Government and Politics

Homework: •Assignment 14 f0r tomorrow

Video: The Big Picture

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/polisci/presidency/OConner_Ch08_Executive_Branch_and_Federal_Bureaucracy_Seg1_v2.html

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Quotes on Bureaucracy• There’s a new game that's sweeping the country.

It's called "Bureaucracy" Everybody stands in a circle. The first person to do anything loses.

• “The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency.”

• “In any bureaucracy, paper work increases as you spend more and more time reporting on the less and less you are doing”

• “Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible”

The “Rules” of Bureaucracy• Preserve thyself. • It is easier to fix the blame than to fix the problem. • A penny saved is an oversight. • Information deteriorates upward. • The first 90% of the task takes 90% of the time; the last 10%

takes the other 90%. • Experience is what you get just after you need it. • For any given large, complex, hard-to-understand, expensive

problem, there exists at least one short, simple, easy, cheap wrong answer.

• Anything that can be changed will be, until time runs out. • To err is human; to shrug is civil service. • There’s never enough time to do it right, but there’s always

enough time to do it over.• Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will.

– O’Toole’s Corollary – Murphy was an optimist.

What is a “bureaucracy”?• We know the second half of

the word, “cracy” means “to rule”.

• And “bureau” is a French word for “desk”…

• So together, the word bureau-cracy literally means “to rule from a desk”.

•The idea is that government workers, who often work at desks, are essentially “ruling us”…

–Why might this be controversial?

What is a “bureaucracy”?A large, complex group organized according to a

certain structure

The Federal “B’ucy”

• Divided into 3 basic parts– Executive

(Cabinet) departments

– Independent Executive Agencies

– The Executive Office of the President

Executive Office of

the President

Executive Deapartments "The Cabinet"

The Executive Branch

("The President")

- The "Right Arm" of the President

- Several agencies staffed by the

President's closest advisors

Independent Agencies - Number in the 100's

- Deal with specific areas/activities outside the scope

of the Cabinet depts.- Report directly to the

President

White House Office

Council of Economic Advisors Other Key

Executive Agencies

Justice HS

- 15 Departments headed by a Secretary

- Do most of the work of the Executive

branch- Broken down into

subunits

National Security Council

NASA

CIA

EPAFEC

SSA

State Defense

Peace Corps

The Bureaucrats• Some Bureaucratic Myths

and Realities– Americans dislike bureaucrats.

• Americans are generally satisfied with bureaucrats, though they may dislike agencies or the “bucy” as a whole (see: Congress)

– Bureaucracies are growing bigger each year.

• Not the federal bureaucracy.– Most federal bureaucrats

work in Washington, D.C.• Only about 12 percent do.

– Bureaucracies are ineffective, inefficient, and always mired in red tape.

• Research suggests not much more so than private businesses.

Roots of the FederalBureaucracy The Civil War and the Growth of

Government

From the Spoils System to the Merit System

Regulating Commerce

The World Wars and the Growth of Government

8.1

Founding to the Civil War

• Patronage used to fill positions

• Remains focused on service, as opposed to regulatory function

The Birthof the Bureaucracy•Not created by the Constitution

•Begins small, only to perform the basic functions of government, and the post office•As nation grows, Bucy grows with it.

The Civil War and the Growth of Government

Civil War changes Creation of the Department of Agriculture Creation of the Pension Office Authorization of thousands more employees

Permanent changes to the bureaucracy Used to meet demands that were

arising in the nation

8.1

From the Spoils System to the Merit System – The Era of Reform•Civil War demonstrates need for better or more organized bucy; industrialization also increases need

•Over 200,000 employees added between 1861-1901. New departments created

•Progressive Movement advocates for an end to patronage

•Pendleton Act creates merit-based system for hiring

•Merit system

•Jobs given according to ability

•Civil Service system

•Current system based on merit

Regulating Commerce Growth of big business

Unfair business practices

Additional depts Reaction to railroad shipping

rates, ICC created as first Indie Reg commission Changing focus: from

service to regulation Protect workers and small

businesses from big businesses

Sixteenth Amendment Federal income tax

8.1

The World Wars and the Growth of Government

Franklin D. Roosevelt Social programs during Depression

World War II veterans benefits G.I. Bill, housing

Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Housing

and Urban Development, Transportation

Most recent: the dept of Homeland Security

8.1

FIGURE 8.1: How many employees work in the federal executive branch? 8.1

Bureaucratic Growth

Chapter 13: WilsonAP Government and

Politics

Growth and Size of the

Bureaucracy

Consider: Is a “lifetime” bureaucrat a good thing?

Assignment 12 for Thursday

Working for “the Man”…• Who are the “’crats”?

– Directly (bucy; about 4 million) and indirectly (private companies and contractors; as many as 8-10 million more) employed or funded by the federal government

• Types of jobs:– Competitive (general exam by

OPM) vs. excepted (hired by agencies for specific jobs) service

– Name – request – specific person hired for specific job

• The buddy system…good or bad?

The Postal Service: A Model of Inefficiency?