CHAPTER NINE
 The Bureaucracy

Explore

Your Government at the White House web site provides information on the executive branch and its departments and agencies. Click on "President Bush's Cabinet" and read the biographies of his cabinet members to judge whether you think these people are qualified to lead their departments.

 

USAJOBS, the official job site of the U.S. federal government, provides employment information for thousands of federal jobs. The jobs vary enormously in what they involve and their associated job requirements, but the U.S. federal government remains one of the country's largest employers. Study for that civil service exam!

 

Information on the federal executive branch is available from FirstGov.gov, the U.S. government's official web portal. Links can be found to different departments and agencies that make up the federal bureaucracy.

 

What keeps the federal government from drifting back into the spoils system? Obviously the Hatch Act and the Pendleton Act are key protections, but the government also provides a bureaucracy to protect civil servants against partisan pressures or other illegal workplace violations. The U.S. Merit System Protection Board protects federal workers and hears cases from workers who believe their careers have been threatened for political or other unauthorized reasons.

 

Government corporations are rare because they exist to provide a public good when no private corporation has ever ventured to do so or when private corporations have failed to earn profits in the past. This link provides the history of one of the few of these government corporations, the Tennessee Valley Authority.

 

Ever wanted to find out something about government documents and records? Follow the directions provided by the Freedom of Information Act Reference Guide to learn what types of information you can petition to see, how to petition and whom to petition, plus the timing and fees for making requests.

 

How many people work for the government? The Office of Personnel Management's table on employment provides information on the number of employees (see the first column).

 

The Public Service Employees Network provides descriptions of civil service exams, sample questions, and even some sample tests from around the country.

 


KEEPING THE REPUBLIC

As political scientist Kenneth Meier points out, despite negative stereotypes, most people who deal with bureaucracy find it a positive experience. Here are a few ways Meier suggests citizens make use of what he calls the “fourth branch of government.”

  • Take advantage of the bureaucracy. Don’t be afraid to contact any agency-be it the EPA, the Social Security Administration, or the U.S. Postal Service-about issues that are of concern to you.
  • Vote. Bureaucrats aren’t elected, but their bosses, the public officials who appoint them, are. Your vote can shape the bureaucracy.
  • Change your expectations. Don’t ask the government to do things it was not designed to do. Expectations that bureaucracy should bail out poorly managed corporations or solve labor disputes, for example, make us increasingly dependent on government, encourage public cynicism when government fails to accomplish unrealistic goals, and cause government to grow even larger.
  • Encourage the media watchdog. Keeping the spotlight of public scrutiny on the bureaucracy and preventing it from shrouding itself in secrecy make it easier to access and control. If you see something troubling at the DMV or county courthouse, call a reporter.

    • Source: Kenneth J. Meier, Politics and the Bureaucracy: Policymaking in the Fourth Branch of Government (Pacific Grove, Calif.: Brooks/Cole, 1993).