The Federal BureaucracyThe Executive Office of the

President, Executive departments, and Agencies

Bureaucracy• Bureaucracy: a large administrative structure

that handles the business of a large organization

• The Executive departments are an example of our executive bureaucracy

• An organization that is built on one of these 3 principles is a bureaucracy:– Hierarchical Authority– Job Specialization– Formal Rules* Each person who works for this type of

organization is a BUREAUCRAT

Our Federal Bureaucracy

• Made up of all of the agencies, departments, and people that allow our National Government to get their job accomplished

• Through the bureaucracy, public policy gets administered

• The people working within the bureaucracy are non elected positions

The Bureaucracy

• There are 3 different types of organizations within the bureaucracy that you should be aware of– Executive Departments– Executive Agencies– Regulatory Agencies (or Regulatory

Commissions)– Government Corporations

• Executive Departments: create the cabinet positions– The cabinet is the group of people that are

the Presidents’ closest advisors; they specialize in a policy area and are in charge of one department

• i.e. Department of Treasury/ Secretary of Treasury

• 15 Executive Departments

• Each Department is headed by a SECRETARY

Cabinet Departments

• State• Defense• Treasury• Justice• Interior• Agriculture• Commerce• Labor

• Health and Human Services

• Housing and Urban Development

• Transportation• Energy• Education• Veteran Affairs• Homeland Security

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/07/politics/main4583057.shtml

• Independent Agencies– THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF

AGENCIES!– Generally, agencies are the non-cabinet level

organizations– Examples: NASA, FDA (Food and Drug Admin),

EPA (environmental Protection Agency)

– Regulatory Agencies • One TYPE of agency, but they are a little more

specific in their responsibility• Monitor economic activity• There are 12 of these organizations

• Independent Agencies– Government Corporations: These organizations

are controlled by the President, but they are different because they run business-like activities

– Best examples = the POST OFFICE

Executive Branch

Executive Departments (Cabinet Members)

President

Executive Agencies

Independent Regulatory Agencies (Independent

Regulatory Commissions)

Government Corporations

In Conclusion…

• Why do we have a bureaucracy?

Nominating and Choosing Members

• President-elect draws up candidates for heads of departments

• May “leak” names to media to test public opinion

• Senate holds confirmation hearings after the President officially appoints someone to office

What is the Cabinet?• The cabinet is an informal advisory

brought together by the President to serve his needs.

• There are now 15 cabinet posts, all created by past and present presidents

• The most recent is the Department of Homeland Security, created after 9/11/01

The Cabinet’s Role• 2 Main Roles: as individuals, they head one of

the executive departments, and as a group they are an advisor to the President

• Different Presidents have different views of how much advice they should take from the cabinet heads

• How much information do you think Barack Obama has taken from his advisors?

Women and Minorities

in the Cabinet• Comparatively, there have been more white males appointed to cabinet members instead of women and minorities.

• However, we are taking steps in the right direction by appointing people such as Colin Powell, Alberto Gonzales, Condi Rice, and Margaret Spellings to heads of cabinets

Women in Cabinet• The first woman appointed to a

cabinet position was –Frances T. Perkins.

• She was appointed by FDR and served from 1933-1945 as Secretary of Labor

Independent Agencies

• Independent agencies were created after 1880- since then, the number of agencies has grown (150 agencies today)

• These agencies administer programs similar to the executive departments

• So, why do we have them?

Independent Agencies

• Why do they exist?– Some agencies don’t “fit” with any department– Separating them from the Executive Departments

keeps the agencies’ work away from party politics• I.e. the Federal Election Commission is an agency

– Their functions are odd or sensitive– Or- they were made independent agencies on

accident

In Conclusion…• The three different structures that exist within

the Federal Bureaucracy are the Executive Office of the President, Executive Departments, and Executive Agencies

• The Executive Office of the President is comprised of various offices that support the president’s and country’s needs

• The Cabinet works to support the president and to head domestic and foreign administrative offices within the White House