The federal government's Bureaucracy is made up of the following organizations; presidential commissions, cabinet departments, government corporations, independent regulatory agencies and independent executive agencies. It is large since it is made up of about 2.6 million employees in the United States. All these departments work together for one common good, which is administering the law. The executive branch of the government has more power than the judiciary and the legislative branches of the United States federal government. The executive branch comes up with programs which are then implemented through the chain in the executive branch. It is the responsibility of the president always to oversee the activities of the most powerful branch of the federal government, which is the executive. The modern day presidents have the tasks of both a manager and a leader. Political scientists refer to them as managerial presidents. The essay discusses the structure and framework of bureaucracy in the USA federal government. It entails a lot of research from the work of Charles Lindblom, Simon, Roger Cobb, and Charles Elder.
The United States federal government has an Executive Branch, which is made up of cabinet departments, which happens to be the largest unit in the state. These state agencies include transportation, labor, agriculture, interior, justice, defense, education, and Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce and Veteran Affairs. The departments found in the cabinet have a wide range of responsibilities in the daily operations of the government. These departments have a definite hierarchy which entails divisions, bureaus, agencies, and offices. A good example is the FBI, which is under Justice Department and has an estimate of 58 offices in the United States. These are the main departments in the US government. The head of these departments reports directly to the president. The president has the mandate to appoint the cabinet ministers based on merit and experience.
The United States Federal government is also made up of Independent agencies. These agencies operate outside the cabinet structure, and are created by the Congress. Some of the agencies that fall under this category include NASA and CIA. There are also other regulatory commissions in the country that deal with broader issues such as communication, energy and trade. These independent commissions are led by a panel or commission. The members of the commission are appointed by the president himself. Some of these agencies include; Energy Regulatory Commission and Federal Communications Commission among others. When new departments are created, they are mostly created as independent agencies, to prevent political interference, which could easily affect their performance. The existing bureaucracy defines the performance of the new departments, and allows them to fit into the system. Another type of the Independent agencies is the Independent executive agencies. These are the new agencies that the president makes the independent so that he increases his control over them.
Apart from these agencies, there are also other agencies that are very import such as the fees and tax collection departments. Running a government has to do with managing its resources, and giving the best services to the citizens. This cannot be achieved without collecting revenue for the federal government. The department of interior is one of these agencies, and it collects fees from people who visit parks in the US. The internal revenue service also coordinates collection of taxes for every citizen in the United States.
The Bureaucratic nature of the government in the United States makes it easy to administer the law, and make it easy for the leaders to serve their people. There are also regulatory agencies whose main role is to regulate the economy of the country. They make rules and policies for business and industries whose production affects the well-being of the public. These regulatory commissions act as watchdogs, and the president does not have a direct control on them. An example of this division is the ATF, which is a department in the treasury. The department regulates firearms, tobacco and alcohol among the citizens of United States. The government of the United States is made up of so many agencies that make work and service delivery easy for both the government and its citizens. Most former residents In the USA have come into power planning to trim the bureaucracy in the system, but none of them has managed.
Using “We the people” as a guide to American politics as a reference, it is clear that bureaucracy in the government affects public policies through elections, state politics as well as the digital divide in the united States(Cheney and Harlin p, 21). The author reinforces the importance of internet politics, and its influence on criticism of policies creation framework in the United States. The author provides a back ground to government systems, making the students confident to talk about USA politics without sounding naive. The interesting read outlines the framework used to divide roles between various government departments, as well as ways used by the government to ensure the efficiency of these departments(Cheney and Harlin p, 177).
Charles Lindblom argues that the Bureaucratic nature of the US government uses bounded rationality, limited policy analysis and fails to include any theoretical framework when formulating their policies. The author criticizes the attempts of the government to make very quick decisions, which later end up being policies, with very little information or research(Lindblom, P 14). The public administration in the United States is bureaucratic, and uses the rational, comprehensive approach, as the ideal model for developing public policy. The author argues that the approach is very shallow, and does not account for all potential factors that the policy could affect. Lindblom emphasizes the importance of sharing resources during policy analysis and states clearly that the approach used by the government agencies is very difficult. This is because it is difficult to identify values and objectives at the same time. According to Roger Cobb, Agenda building is a continuous political process that depends on all the agencies of the government. The cooperation between these agencies is very important and needs support and commitment of the departments involved(Cobb and Elder ,P 77). Roger Cobb discusses models of agenda building in his book, where he identifies mobilization as a possible way to build agenda between various government departments. In his model, the issues that are started inside the government are treated as public agendas. The idea is expanding these issues from formal agenda to public agenda. If the approach is used in the United States bureaucratic environment, it will ease the policy formulation process in various agencies and departments. Elder argues that public administration and public policy will always depend on the stability of the government. The author points out the effects of the political instability of a nation will always affect the process of policy formulation and implementation.
In conclusion, it is clearly that although the structure of the US government has face a lot of criticism from scholars it is fairly effective, and achieve the main aims of a government. Although scholars accuse this government to be too bureaucratic, it still, works effectively to provide services to its citizen. It has an allowance to create new departments that will not be influenced by the executive branch of the government. The powers of the president too are also controlled, and the president cannot impose his will on the citizens through public policy.
Work Cited
Cheney, Lynne V, and Greg Harlin.We The People. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2008. Print.
Cobb, Roger W, and Charles D Elder.Participation In American Politics. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1972. Print.
Lindblom, Charles Edward. The Science Of "Muddling Through". Indianapolies: Bobbs, Merrill. Print.
