Reading Guide 14.1.docx

Unit X: The Federal Bureaucracy Chapter 14: The Federal Bureaucracy Everyday our lives are impacted by bureaucrats, without even thinking, from your drive to school, to the food you eat, water you drink, the delivery of the mail. All of these are a part of the federal bureaucracy. When talking about food alone, at least 15 agencies and 30 statutes regulate the food you consume. The function of bureaucracy is to carryout the laws that have been passed. The bureaucracy is an extension of the executive branch, but can also act as all three branches of government. For example, Congress passes an environmental protection law, it is the bureaucracy that determines how with the law be enacted. I.E. How long do companies have to reach the new standard, how often will the EPA check on progress and if progress is not meet, how will companies be fined. 

Define the term Bureaucracy o Explain Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy, also known as the Weberian Model or Theory

Chapter 14 Section 1: The Bureaucrats Objective 1: Describe the bureaucrats – who are they, how they got there, and what they do. 

Bureaucrats are typically much less visible than the president of members of congress, however, they make up the largest part of our federal government

Some Bureaucratic Myths and Realities  

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List four prevalent myths about bureaucracy. (pg 453) Despite the complaining most of us have about bureaucracies, in reality they do a very good job. How often have you had issues with your mail delivery? Or if you visited a national park, did you enjoy your experience? Was the park clean? What about your middle school trip to DC, did you enjoy the Smithsonian? The monuments? What about filling our FAFSA? Will you take out student loans? Most Civilian employees work for just a few agencies. Department of Defense (DOD) employ around 28% (1.3million people) Atterbury Job Corp for example is one not too far from us. See Figure 14.1 and Table 14.1 to see where most Bureaucrats are employed.

Civil Servants 

Overall, our bureaucracy is pretty diverse, and in most cases, mirrors that of the private sector.

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One major change that has happened to the bureaucracy is that how and who gets the job has changed. o In the old days, the patronage system was a major reason  Define the term: Patronage  Andrew Jackson is quoted saying, “To the victor, goes the spoils” o What major event changed the use of Patronage? (Hint assassination) o In 1883, Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service Act  Define the term: Civil Service  Since the Pendleton Civil Service Act, majority of the federal jobs are hired based on the merit principle.  Define the term: Merit Principle  What is the difference between patronage and the merit principle?  What must you do to get a civil service job? o In 1939, to help protect federal employees, Congress passed the Hatch Act  What is the purpose of the Hatch Act?

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The responsibility to oversee the Pendleton Civil Service Act and the Hatch Act fall on the Office of Personnel Management o Define the term: Office of Personnel Management (OPM)  Think of the OPM as the Federal Governments Human Resource Department  OPM Jobs are ranked on a GS Rating (General Schedule)  The GS Rank from 1-18 determine requirements for each job along with salaries  The President still has high ranking jobs he selects (Patronage Jobs) Those jobs can be found in a book called the “Plum Book”  What are some of the common characteristics of plum book appointees?