Executive Branch
The Cabinet and Executive Agencies
Who gets the blame for
problems in the country?
The President
Bureaucracy
• A large, complex administrative structure that handles the
everyday business of an organization
• Hierarchical authority
• Job specialization
• Formalized rules
Executive Departments
• 15 departments
• Carry out much of the Federal Government’s work
• Each department is headed by a secretary
• except for the attorney general over the Department of Justice
• The departments are further divided into subunits called
agencies, which are further divided into smaller units
The Cabinet
• Informal advisors to the president and each is the head of an
executive department
• In 1789, Congress established
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•
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secretary of state
secretary of the treasury
secretary of war
attorney general
• In 2012, traditionally includes Vice-President, the White House
Chief of Staff, the heads of the 15 executive departments, and
others
Choosing the Cabinet
• President appoints heads of the 15 executive departments
• Presidents rarely appoint those of opposing party
• Individuals may have been involved in the presidential
campaign
• Other factors: professional qualifications, experience, and
geography, gender, race, etc.
Executive Agencies
• Government agencies outside the 15 executive departments
• approximately 150 agencies
• The work of these agencies are similar to those of the
executive departments
• Why are they not part of the 15 executive departments?
1.
2.
3.
4.
The agency does not fit well with any department
Protects the agency from the influence of partisan pressure
By accident
Sensitive nature of an agency’s function
• The heads of these agencies do not have Cabinet status
Examples of Executive
Agencies
From the known . . .
• NASA
• Peace Corps
• The Civil Rights Commission
. . . to the unknown
• American Battle Monuments Commission
• Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
• Migratory Bird Conservation Commission