The Federal BUREAUCRACY [AP Gov Review Unit 2 Topic 12 (2.12)]
Summary
TLDRThis video covers the federal bureaucracy in the context of AP Government. It explains the structure and role of the bureaucracy in carrying out government responsibilities, focusing on cabinet departments, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations. It explores how these entities create regulations, issue fines, and collaborate with Congress, highlighting the concept of iron triangles and issue networks. Additionally, the video touches on the historical evolution of the bureaucracy, from the spoils system to civil service reforms aimed at increasing efficiency and professionalism. A lighthearted tone is used throughout to engage the audience.
Takeaways
- 📝 The federal bureaucracy consists of millions of employees who carry out the responsibilities of the federal government under the authority of the executive branch.
- 🏛️ The executive branch enforces laws passed by Congress and requires many employees to do so, organized into different cabinet departments and agencies.
- 📜 There are 15 cabinet departments, each with specific missions, like the Department of Defense and the Department of Education, with agencies working to achieve the department's goals.
- 🏦 An example of a department is the Treasury, which has agencies like the IRS (responsible for tax collection) and the U.S. Mint (responsible for printing money).
- 📡 Independent regulatory commissions operate independently from the president but regulate specific areas of society, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
- 📬 Government corporations, like the U.S. Postal Service, are hybrids between government agencies and private businesses, providing public services through a market-driven approach.
- ⚖️ Bureaucratic organizations write and enforce regulations, issue fines for non-compliance, and provide expert testimony to Congress through what’s called the ‘iron triangle’ (bureaucrats, congressional committees, and interest groups).
- 🔄 Iron triangles, while still present, have been weakened by the rise of issue networks, which bring together various stakeholders around specific issues to influence policy.
- 📅 The efficiency of the bureaucracy has improved over time, especially after reforms such as the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883, which replaced the spoils system with a merit-based system for hiring federal employees.
- 📈 Further reforms, like the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, under Jimmy Carter, upheld the merit-based system and expanded opportunities for women, enhancing professionalism and efficiency within the federal bureaucracy.
Q & A
What is the federal bureaucracy, according to the video?
-The federal bureaucracy consists of millions of people employed to carry out the responsibilities of the federal government. It falls under the authority of the executive branch and helps enforce laws passed by Congress.
How is the bureaucracy structured?
-The bureaucracy is structured into several layers, including 15 cabinet departments like the Department of Defense and Department of Education. Each department is subdivided into agencies that work together to achieve the department's goals.
What role do independent regulatory commissions play in the federal bureaucracy?
-Independent regulatory commissions operate somewhat apart from the president's authority but are still part of the executive branch. They regulate specific aspects of society, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates broadcast language and content.
What are government corporations and how do they differ from other bureaucratic entities?
-Government corporations are a hybrid between government agencies and private businesses. They offer services that the government wants to provide, but where the free market is the best way to do so, like the U.S. Postal Service.
What are the main tasks of the federal bureaucracy?
-The bureaucracy writes and enforces regulations, issues fines for non-compliance, and interacts with Congress. For example, the FCC mandates closed captions on TV, and the IRS fines individuals for not filing taxes on time.
What is compliance monitoring in the context of the federal bureaucracy?
-Compliance monitoring refers to bureaucratic agencies ensuring that laws and regulations are being followed. If businesses or individuals fail to comply, agencies like the IRS or EPA issue fines for violations.
What is the iron triangle and how does it function?
-The iron triangle is a relationship between bureaucratic agencies, congressional committees, and interest groups. These entities work together to make policy, with each relying on the others for expertise, funding, and political support.
What are issue networks and how do they differ from iron triangles?
-Issue networks are groups of various stakeholders who come together around a specific issue to effect change, often disrupting iron triangles. They consist of people who may disagree on many things but unite on a particular issue.
What is the spoils system, and how did it lead to reform?
-The spoils system allowed the president to give bureaucratic jobs to political supporters, regardless of qualifications. This led to inefficiency and corruption, and after the assassination of President Garfield, it was reformed through the Pendleton Civil Service Act.
What changes did the Pendleton Civil Service Act and later reforms introduce?
-The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 created a merit-based system for hiring bureaucrats, ensuring that jobs went to qualified individuals. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 further improved efficiency and increased opportunities for women.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to the Federal Bureaucracy and its Structure
In this video, we discuss the role of the federal bureaucracy in executing the responsibilities of the U.S. government, focusing on how the executive branch carries out laws passed by Congress. The federal bureaucracy is composed of millions of workers, and its basic structure includes 15 cabinet departments, each divided into smaller agencies. These agencies, like the IRS and the U.S. Mint under the Treasury Department, work together to fulfill the department's mission. Additionally, independent regulatory commissions and government corporations, such as the FCC and USPS, operate to regulate various aspects of society and provide services to the public.
📝 How Bureaucratic Entities Carry Out Responsibilities
This section explains the key roles of bureaucratic entities in implementing government policies. First, they write and enforce regulations, such as the FCC's mandate for closed captions on broadcasts. Second, they issue fines for non-compliance, like the IRS penalizing late tax filers or the EPA fining polluters. Lastly, they interact with Congress, where department heads testify before committees, often in collaboration with interest groups. These relationships form 'iron triangles,' though their influence has diminished due to the rise of issue networks, which bring together diverse groups focused on specific concerns, such as tobacco control.
⚖️ Civil Service Reform and Bureaucratic Efficiency
This paragraph discusses the history of how people obtained jobs in the federal bureaucracy, starting with Andrew Jackson's 'spoils system,' where supporters were rewarded with government jobs. The system became problematic, leading to the assassination of President Garfield in 1881. In response, the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 introduced a merit-based system for hiring bureaucrats. This reform professionalized the bureaucracy, making it more effective. Further improvements occurred in the 20th century, particularly under President Carter's Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which promoted efficiency, expanded opportunities for women, and enhanced the merit-based hiring process.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Federal Bureaucracy
💡Cabinet Departments
💡Independent Regulatory Commissions
💡Government Corporations
💡Regulations
💡Iron Triangle
💡Issue Networks
💡Spoils System
💡Civil Service Reform
💡Merit-Based System
Highlights
The federal bureaucracy consists of millions of people employed to carry out the responsibilities of the federal government.
The bureaucracy falls under the authority of the executive branch and is responsible for enforcing laws passed by Congress.
There are 15 cabinet departments, such as the Department of Defense and the Department of Education, with each department subdivided into agencies.
Independent regulatory commissions, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), regulate specific aspects of society.
Government corporations, like the U.S. Postal Service, are a hybrid between government agencies and private businesses.
The bureaucracy writes and enforces regulations, like the FCC rule that required closed captions for TV broadcasts in the 1990s.
Bureaucratic agencies issue fines for non-compliance, such as the IRS fining people for failing to meet tax deadlines or the EPA fining companies for violating the Clean Air Act.
Bureaucrats often testify before congressional committees and provide expertise in their areas, contributing to policy making.
Iron triangles form strong relationships between bureaucratic agencies, congressional committees, and interest groups, although these have weakened due to the rise of competing interest groups and issue networks.
Issue networks are coalitions that come together around a specific issue, sometimes challenging established iron triangles.
In the 19th century, the spoils system allowed presidents to appoint supporters to bureaucratic jobs, often without regard to qualifications.
The assassination of President Garfield in 1881 led to the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883, which introduced a merit-based system for federal jobs.
The merit-based system was further expanded under President Jimmy Carter with the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, promoting professionalism and efficiency in the bureaucracy.
The Civil Service Reform Act also increased opportunities for women to work in the bureaucracy.
The video concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the role and structure of the federal bureaucracy for the AP government curriculum.
Transcripts
hey there and welcome back to heimlich's
history now we've been going through
unit two of the ap government curriculum
and that means it's time to talk about
the federal bureaucracy so if you're
ready to get them brain cows milked
bureaucrat style then let's get to it
okay so in this video here's what we're
trying to do explain how the bureaucracy
carries out the responsibilities of the
federal government so let's begin in the
beginning what is the federal
bureaucracy well in addition to holding
the title for the word i most frequently
misspell in this curriculum the
bureaucracy consists of the millions of
people who are employed to carry out the
responsibilities of the federal
government and which falls under the
authority of the executive branch
remember the executive branch of the
government is there to enforce the laws
passed by congress in order to enforce
those laws it requires a metric butt
load of people so in order to understand
how the bureaucracy works let's begin
with its basic structure first you've
got the cabinet departments of which
there are 15. for example you have the
department of defense in the department
of education and we'll talk a lot more
about those in the next video but for
now just know that all the folks that
make up the president's cabinet are the
heads of those departments now each of
those departments are further subdivided
into agencies which all work together to
accomplish the goals of the department
for example the mission of the
department of the treasury is to quote
maintain a strong economy and in order
to get that done there are several
agencies within that department that
work to achieve that in for example you
have the internal revenue service which
is responsible for collecting taxes and
deciding how and when that occurs and
you also have the united states mint
which coins and prints all our money
okay then under the heading of
bureaucracy we have independent
regulatory commissions they're
independent because they operate
somewhat apart from the president's
authority but they're still associated
with the executive branch and these
commissions do what their names suggest
they are created for the specific
purpose of regulating some aspect of
society for example we have the federal
communications commission which is
responsible in addition to its many
other responsibilities for making sure
potty mouth language doesn't end up on
our television broadcast thanks to the
fcc i could not go on television and say
[Laughter]
and i definitely could not talk about
how
you know what i'm saying anyway the
final kind of bureaucratic entity you
should know about is the government
corporation this is a kind of hybrid
between a government agency and a
private business when there are services
that the government wants to offer to
the public but the free market is the
best way to do it then a government
corporation is created or acquired so
the next time you go outside to check
the mail you can think about government
corporations because one of the biggest
of these is the u.s postal service okay
so that's the basic structure of the
bureaucracy now let me briefly tell you
about what these entities do in order to
carry out the will of the executive
branch first these organizations write
and enforce regulations for example if
you've ever seen closed captions on a
video or tv screen that's because in the
mid 90s the fcc made it a rule that
closed captions be included for those
with disabilities there are a few
exceptions to the rule but for the most
part if you want to broadcast a show on
tv and you don't include the closed
captions the fcc is going to get you
which brings us to the next thing these
organizations do namely issue fines for
non-compliance if you decide that the
april 15th deadline for filing your
taxes just doesn't appeal to you then
maybe the irs is going to slap a fine on
you quick fast and in a hurry or another
example if businesses don't abide by the
provisions of the clean air act and
pollute the environment to their little
hearts content well the environmental
protection agency is about to hit them
with a fine and that's what's known as
compliance monitoring now the third
thing these bureaucratic organizations
do is interact with congress the
department heads are often experts in
their field and they'll go to
congressional committees and testify on
behalf of the dealings of that agency or
their department now these bureaucratic
agencies often work very closely with
congressional committees and interest
groups and when they do so this
relationship is called an iron triangle
these three entities work together and
rely on one another's strength in order
to make policy bureaucrats offer
expertise to congressional committees
with whom they are eager to cooperate
since its congress who approves funding
for their department committee members
want to pay attention to interest groups
because they often have policy experts
who can inform them of the implications
of certain policies and interest groups
can provide funding for congressional
races and if interest groups help these
congress people get elected then they
will likely provide funding for a
bureaucratic agency that will address
the interests of the interest group and
on around the triangle we go now these
days iron triangles aren't as prevalent
as they have been in the past and that's
partly because the number of competing
interest groups have multiplied
dramatically another reason is the
prevalence of issue networks which have
worked to weaken iron triangles so for
example an iron triangle that formed
around tobacco interest could be
severely disrupted by an issue network
which is a conglomeration of a bunch of
folks who sometimes disagree about a lot
of things but they come together around
one specific issue and seek to effect
change if one of these issue networks is
alarmed that so many americans are using
tobacco then they have influence to
break the triangle okay we done got
ourselves into the weeds of how the
bureaucracy works and now we need to
finish by talking about how the
efficiency of the bureaucracy has
changed over time and really this has to
do with how people come to work in the
bureaucracy back in the days of andrew
jackson getting a job in the bureaucracy
was the result of something called the
spoils system you know that saying to
the winner goes the spoils well that's
the idea of the spoils system in
jackson's day when the president won an
election that meant that he had hundreds
of bureaucratic jobs to fill and so he
would give them to those who were not
necessarily qualified for the jobs but
rather those who supported his candidacy
as you can imagine such a system can go
sideways pretty quickly as it did in
1881 in the assassination of president
james garfield just like every president
before him garfield began his term by
hearing from thousands of applicants for
bureaucratic jobs people who had helped
him get elected and there were way more
people applying than there were jobs to
give out so some people had to be told
no well as it turns out he told one
particular guy named charles guiteau no
job for you and in response kateau found
garfield at a train station and went
ahead and shot it so that event created
the occasion for reform in the way
people got bureaucratic jobs and the
word for that is civil service reform
the result was the pendleton civil
service act of 1883 which created a
merit-based system for applicants
seeking jobs in the bureaucracy now jobs
went to the people who were actually
qualified for them rather than people
who just supported the candidate so you
know good updates and it helped increase
the effectiveness of the bureaucracy
since competent people were now working
these jobs now that reform continued
into the 20th century in order to make
the bureaucracy more professional and
specialized and neutral under jimmy
carter's administration congress passed
the civil service reform act of 1978
which upheld the merit-based system
already in place but also further
expanded opportunities for women to work
in the bureaucracy and increase the
efficiency of many departments all right
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