Federal Bureaucracy

Federal Bureaucracy Structure

The bureaucracy is organized into four types of agencies: cabinet departments, independent regulatory commissions, government corporations, and independent executive agencies. People who work in the federal bureaucracy are said to be civil servants. Civil Servants more closely mirror the diversity of Americans than any of the other branches of government.

Cabinet Departments

There are 15 cabinet departments and each one is headed by a secretary except for the Department of Justice which is led by the Attorney General of the United States. The secretaries and the attorney general comprise the President’s cabinet.

Each cabinet department handles specific policy areas, and they have their own budgets and their own staff. The cabinet departments in the order of creation are:

• Department of State
• Department of Treasury
• Department of Defense
• Department of Justice
• Department of the Interior
• Department of Agriculture
• Departments of Commerce
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Labor
• Department of Urban Development
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Energy
• Department of Education
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Department of Homeland Security

Fig. 1 Chart of the Government of the United States - Wikimedia Commons

Independent Regulatory Commissions

Independent Regulatory Commissions are government agencies that are part of the federal bureaucracy and are responsible for the creation and enforcement of rules to protect American citizens in a particular area of the economy. They also act as judges in disputes in these areas.

Each Independent Regulatory Commission is overseen by a small group of commissioners appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.

Examples of Independent Regulatory Commissions are:

• NLRB (National Labor Relations Board)—This commission is responsible for regulating the relationship between labor (workers) and management.
• FTC (Federal Trade Commission)—The FTC regulates business practices and advertising.

Government Corporations

Government corporations are like business corporations. They provide a service that could be provided by the private sector. The United States has a few government corporations, and they include the United States Postal Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The Tennessee Valley Authority was created as part of the New Deal to control floods and protect against soil erosion.

Government Corporations charge for their services, but are different from private businesses in that citizens cannot buy stock in them.

The Independent Executive Agencies

The Independent Executive Agencies are the rest of the bureaucracy. They are not part of cabinet departments, government corporations, or independent regulatory agencies. Among the largest are:

• NASA—National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• NSF—National Science Foundation

Functions of Federal Bureaucracy

The Federal Bureaucracy is the implementer of policy and the provider of many necessary services. The bureaucracy maintains our highways and works to ensure safety in airways and airports. They work to make sure our food is safe and care for our public lands. Civil servants deliver the mail and implement education policy and much, much more!

Congress makes laws and those laws are then executed by a department or agency. The bureaucracy is important because they fulfill the responsibilities of the government. The bureaucracy writes rules and regulations and enforces them.

Laws that Congress makes are often vague, and it’s up to the bureaucracy to administer them. Therefore, the bureaucracy has the power to shape national policy and affect people’s lives.

The federal bureaucracy also has the power to enforce its regulations and fine corporations who do not abide by the rules they create.

Federal Bureaucracy Examples

We have explored the structure of the bureaucracy and discussed the function of the so-called 4th branch. There are thousands of examples of the federal bureaucracy at work. Some include:

• The United States Department of Agriculture monitors the health and facilities of animals on exhibition.
• The National Labor Relations Board examines the relationship between workers and managers when they come into conflict.
• The Department of Agriculture administers the nation’s food stamp program.
• The Justice Department registered thousands of new African American voters after the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
• The Social Security Administration processes disability claims.
• The Food and Drug Administration monitors plants that manufacture medical devices.
• The Federal Communications Commission regulates cable television.
• The Internal Revenue Service processes your tax refund.

Fig. 2 Government Employees, Wikimedia Commons

Federal Bureaucracy Role

The role of the federal bureaucracy is to implement policy. Laws don’t implement themselves. The purpose of the executive branch is to execute the laws. The bureaucracy is the arm of the executive branch that executes the laws that Congress makes. They also take presidential executive orders and sometimes judicial decisions and implement them in ways that affect the lives of Americans.

They develop the rules, goals, and routines for implementing policy and managing government. Government regulation is the most controversial role of the bureaucracy because it gives the government broad power to implement policy that directly impacts the lives of Americans.