High School American Government, Part 12: Bureaucracy


  1. Assess the nature, sources and extent of bureaucratic power. Bureaucratic power has grown with increases in the size of  government,  advances in technology and the greater complexity of modern society.  Congress and the president can no longer decide the details of policy across the wide range of needs throughout the nation. For this reason, bureaucracies must draw up the detailed rules and regulations that govern the nation.
  2. Describe the types of agencies in the federal bureaucracy and the extent and purposes of the bureaucracy.  The federal bureaucracy has 2.8 million civilian employees in 15 cabinet departments and more than 60 independent agencies  as well as the Executive Office of the President.  Federal employment is not growing but federal spending is rapidly growing. 
  3. Trace changes over time in the size and composition of the bureaucracy and assess the repercussions for democracy.  Most bureaucrats believe strongly in the value of their own programs and seek added power,  pay and prestige. Over time the merit system replaced the spoils system in federal employment, but the civil service system raised problems of responsiveness and productivity in the bureaucracy. Civil service reforms have not resolved these problems. 
  4. Outline the budgetary process and the advantages and the disadvantages of the current system.  Departments and agencies send their budget requests forward to the president's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB usually reduces agency requests in line with the president's priorities. The president submits spending recommendations to Congress  (The Budget of the United States Government). Congress passes it's appropriation acts prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. Most budgeting is incremental and the question is usually about proposed increases, not justifying every dollar spent. Non-programmatic budgeting, although is supposed to help reduce conflict over the value of particular programs, tends to result in established programs continuing long after the need for them.
  5. Outline the federal regulations that are in place.  Congress can create, abolish or reorganize departments and agencies, alter department and agencies authority and functions by requiring bureaucrats to testify before congressional committees, by undertaking investigations and studies through the Government Accountability Office, by intervening directly on behalf of constituents,  by instructing presidential nominees in Senate confirmation hearings, by withholding agency appropriations, by writing very specific provisions into appropriations acts and by delaying or defeating nominations. Interest groups also influence decision making by their testifying at public hearings,  by contacting the media,  lobbying Congress,  initiating lawsuits and providing information and commentary. 
  6. Summarize the constraints that Congress can place on the bureaucracy.  Judicial control is limited to determining whether agencies have exceeded the authority granted them by law or whether they have abided by the rules of procedural fairness.

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