Chapter 7: The Federal
Bureaucracy
Putting the Nation’s Laws into Effect
How the Bureaucracy Is Organized
Ch. 7 Learning Targets
• 7.1 Explain how the federal bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of
government.
• 7.2 Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses its authority to create and
implement regulations.
• 7.3 Explain the role of the bureaucracy in the policymaking process.
• 7.4 Explain how Congress, the president, and the courts can hold the
bureaucracy accountable.
Section 7.1
Introduction
• Interpretation by Americans = unnecessary and confusing set of
rules created by faceless government employees
• Federal bureaucracy – the departments and agencies within the
executive branch that carry out the laws of the nation
• Simply meant to be an organization that carries out tasks
Section 7.1
The Summer of Disastrous Hurricanes
• Hurricane Harvey
– Costliest tropical cyclone in US history
– Dropped as much as 60 inches of rain in some areas of South Texas
• More than 31,000 people involved in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), other agencies,
and the National Guard delivered millions of meals and liters of water
• Hurricane Irma
– Category 5 devastated areas from Key West to South Carolina
– FEMA deployed thousands of people to help
• Hurricane Maria
– Devastated Puerto Rico – 40% lived without power for 6 months or longer
• These natural disasters bring up questions about how the federal bureaucracies'
actions helped or further hurt the situation
Section 7.1
How the Bureaucracy is Organized
• Americans have contact with the bureaucracy
• Bureaucrats, officials employed within government agencies,
are more involved with what Americans interact with in their
daily lives
• Create regulations, demand safe products, fair labor practices,
and environmentally conscious factories
Section 7.1
Development of the American
Federal Bureaucracy
• Growth has been steady and gradual from a few departments
and employees to thousands
– Increase in population, boundaries, demands
– Responses to crises increased size and scope
• Constitutional basis – Article II
– The president must “execute”, bureaucracy created for that purpose
Section 7.1
The First Administration and the First
Cabinet Departments
• George Washington administration had 3 Cabinet departments:
– State: Jefferson
– War: Knox
– Treasury: Hamilton
– Attorney General
• Meant to be advisory bodies to the president
• Now there are 15 cabinet departments – created by Congress over
time
Section 7.1
The Jacksonian Era and the Rise of
Political Patronage
• Political patronage: filling administrative positions as a reward for
support rather than merit
• Meant to help standardize procedures with a constant rotation of
office
• Replaced with merit based system, a system of hiring and
promotion based on competitive testing results, education and other
qualifications, after the passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883
Section 7.1
Review “Think”
• How does having a merit-based service advance the
goals of democratic government?
Section 7.1
Review Question:
Free Response
The Structure of the Modern
Federal Bureaucracy
Ch. 7 Learning Targets
• 7.1 Explain how the federal bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of
government.
• 7.2 Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses its authority to create and
implement regulations.
• 7.3 Explain the role of the bureaucracy in the policymaking process.
• 7.4 Explain how Congress, the president, and the courts can hold the
bureaucracy accountable.
Section 7.2
The Structure of the Modern
Federal Bureaucracy
• Complex web of organizations
• President appoints (with Senate confirmation) top level
bureaucrats tasked with directing agencies, departments, bureaus
• Main administrative units are fifteen cabinet departments
– Responsible for major area of public policy
– Congress sets funds
– Pulled in multiple directions
• Appointed by president, funding by Congress, pressure from interest groups and
citizens
Section 7.2
Federal Bureaucrats
Executive Political Appointees
(Cabinet Secretaries; deputy secretaries)
Senior Executive Service (SES)
Expected to use their authority to achieve
concrete results
Career civil servants
Job rank clearly defined according to GS levels
Hired based on merit
Job protection from political processes
Section 7.2
Iron Triangles and Issue Networks
• Consists of three parts – the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest
groups – each of which works with the other two to achieve their
shared policy goals
• Issue Network – the webs of influence between interest groups,
policymakers and policy advocates
– Temporary; address a specific problem
Section 7.2
Review “Think”
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
policies that protect civil servants from termination?
• In what ways do iron triangles and issue networks
benefit and harm representative democracy?
Section 7.2
Review Question: Free Response
The Bureaucracy and
Policymaking
Ch. 7 Learning Targets
• 7.1 Explain how the federal bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of
government.
• 7.2 Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses its authority to create and
implement regulations.
• 7.3 Explain the role of the bureaucracy in the policymaking process.
• 7.4 Explain how Congress, the president, and the courts can hold the
bureaucracy accountable.
Section 7.3
The Bureaucracy and Policymaking
• Key implementer of policy, but getting to the policy is complex
and ever changing
• Defining the problem
– Getting on the policy agenda
– Getting policy debated and passed
– Discussion of finance
• A long series of events take place before bureaucrats can do
their job effectively
Section 7.3
Implementation, Rulemaking, Advising,
and Representation
• Bureaucracy's main function = implementation – putting into
action the laws that Congress has passed
• Implementation is complicated
– New policies are introduced into a body of existing policies
– New policies might be vague
• Leads to bureaucratic discretion – bureaucrats have some power to decide how a law
is implemented
– Regulation – process through which the federal bureaucracy fills in critical
details of a law
Section 7.3
Independent Regulatory and
Independent Executive
• Over one hundred agencies of the national government with
regulatory powers
– Environmental Protection Agency
– Top officials serve at the pleasure of the president
• 20 independent regulatory agencies, commissions
– Federal Communications Commission
– Commissioners serve for set terms
– More insulated from political influence
Section 7.3
Bureaucratic Politics
• Bureaucracy acts as a court to settle disputes between parties
– Bureaucratic adjudication
• Members represent the American people more accurately
• Restricted from engaging in political campaigns
– Hatch Act – can’t raise money for campaigns, prohibited from
participating in federal campaigns or holding elected office
– Meant to separate official authority from partisan politics
Section 7.3
Evaluation and (Maybe) Termination
• Evaluation – determining if a policy is achieving its stated
objectives
• Congress has the authority to formally terminate a policy
• Courts can terminate a policy using judicial review
Section 7.3
Review “Think”
• What are the dangers in allowing an unelected
bureaucracy to make rules and adjudicate whether
or not those rules have been broken?
Section 7.3
Review Question: Free Response
Checks on the Bureaucracy
Ch. 7 Learning Targets
• 7.1 Explain how the federal bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of
government.
• 7.2 Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses its authority to create and
implement regulations.
• 7.3 Explain the role of the bureaucracy in the policymaking process.
• 7.4 Explain how Congress, the president, and the courts can hold the
bureaucracy accountable.
Section 7.4
Checks on the Bureaucracy
• Control, Oversight, and Reform
• Individual bureaucrats may undermine effective regulation for
their own self interests
– “look the other way” mentality
Section 7.4
Presidential Checks on Bureaucracy
• Authority divided among different branches, federal agencies
answer to more than one overseer
• The President
– Formal control
• Appoint and remove individuals at the top layers
– Based on ideology and willingness to carry out administration’s goals
• Write an annual budget
• Harder to control lower level
Section 7.4
Congressional Checks on Bureaucracy
• Senate confirmation of presidential appointees
• Legislation terminates or creates agencies and programs
– Sets goals, priorities, and an organizational structure
• Oversight
– Congressional hearings
• Members of bureaucracy may be required to testify before Congress, justifying
their actions
– Government Accountability Office (GAO) – monitors if funds are being
spent appropriately
– Serves as a safeguard against future mistakes, and holds bureaucrats
accountable for actions
Section 7.4
Impact of the Judiciary and the Media
• Judicial decisions may restrict and constrain the scope of accepted
bureaucratic action
• Michigan v. EPA (2015)
– SCOTUS overturned the EPA’s limits on mercury, arsenic, and acidic gases
emitted by coal-fired power plants, known as MATS
• Challenged by private sector because compliance was expensive
• Estimated costs near $9.6 billion, but to prevent premature deaths
• Justice Scalia determined EPA's interpretation of Clean Air Act “unreasonable”
• Public opinion rarely constrains bureaucratic behavior
– Hurricane Katrina, and bureaucratic handling, made the public more wary of
federal aide
Section 7.4
Reform and the Reliance on Private
Organizations
• Federal reliance on private contractors was questioned after the
disastrous handling of Hurricane Katrina
– Lack of federal help, illustrated private organizations stepping up
• Habitat for Humanity
• Minnesota Helpers
– Not all positively viewed
• Running scams to take advantage of federal relief
• Americans want effective and strong implementation of policy, but do
not want unelected bodies to be too strong
Section 7.4
Review “Think”
• Why is it difficult for the president and Congress to
control the bureaucracy despite the tools they have
for doing so?
Section 7.4
Review Question: Free Response
