Essay 18

The federal bureaucracy as part of the executive branch exercises substantial independence in implementing governmental policies and programs. Most workers in the federal bureaucracy are civil-service employees who are organized under a merit system. 

(a) Describe one key characteristic of the merit system.

One key characteristic of the merit system is that it hires government employees based on their abilities and not on their political connections. All applicants are required to take a standardized test determining their competency. 

(b) For each of the following, describe one factor that contributes to bureaucratic independence. 

The structure of the federal bureaucracy: In each organization their is bureaucratic independence. An example of an organization is the FBI. This organization has a hierarchy of power. At the top of the group is director who is in charge of everyone down to the field agents. Every organization has these levels of power which contribute to the bureaucracy. Each organization is independent but has different levels of superiority. 

The complexity of the public policy problems: A few factors that contribute to bureaucratic independence relating to the complexity of the public are specialized units/expertise, delegated authority and discretionary authority. Delegated authority complicates public policy problems because congress and the president cannot handle all issues. Instead they delegate authority to the bureaucracy. Discretionary authority causes public policy problems because legislation lacks detail. This then causes the bureaucracy to fill in the gaps. 

(c) For each of the following, explain one Constitutional provision that it can use to check the bureaucracy. 

Congress can use appropriations to check the bureaucracy. This method allows Congress to reward or punish certain agencies such as the FBI or the Drug Enforcement Administration. Congress can also pass legislation to check the bureaucracy. The largest way that Congress can affect bureaucracies though are by impeaching executive officials. 
The courts use judicial review to declare bureaucratic actions unconstitutional. They can also make injunctions against federal agencies. 
Interest groups check the power of bureaucracy by creating a false sense of urgency on a specific topic. They closely monitor their publicity and make sure that they use their freedom of speech in their media to change their follows beliefs and petition the government.