Executive Agencies (or "the Bureaucracy")

• Who cares?: Recall ch. 1--gov. role in our lives
• Characteristics
  • Established structure (full-time, career)
  • Hierarchically organized (supervision)
  • Specialized tasks (div. of  labor, allocation)
  • Administers or establishes rules for governing

History

• History: Growing and shrinking
  • Spoils System
  • Civil Service Act of 1883 (“Pendleton Act”)
    • Merit System
    • “Tenure”
  • Grew with government through 1960s
  • Decline in size since 1968

Organization

• Types
  • Cabinet Departments
  • Independent Executive Agencies
  • Government Corporations
  • Independent Regulatory Commissions
    [web extras: White House - alphabetical list of all agencies, corporations and commissions; and...
    WikiAnswers - "What is the difference between and executive agency and an independent regulatory agency?"]
• Categories of Services
  • Public Welfare (Health, Safety, Education)
  • Economic (Banking, Revenue, Fiscal)
  • Int./Ext. Security (Legal, Diplomatic, Military)

Budgeting

• Annual cycle
  • March-June: Agency request to OMB
  • July-Sept.: OMB compiles requests
  • Oct.-Jan.: President prepares budget
  • February: President submits to Congress
• Annual federal budget takes 2 years!
  • Prepared in Executive Branch
  • Legislated in Congress

Control?

• Shared Control
  • President: White House Management
    • Propose creation and reorganization
    • Propose budget
  • Congress
    • Legislation: Create, Reorganize, Budget
    • Oversight: Review, Hearings, Budget