Law and Government
Bureaucracy
Study Guide: To be completed by Monday, April 28
Study Materials:
Text: Magruders, Chapter 15
Power Point: Bureaucracy (located on the lesson plans page)
Objectives:
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What is a bureaucracy?
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What are the major elements of the federal bureaucracy?
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How are groups within the federal bureaucracy named?
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What is the difference between a staff agency and a line agency?
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What is the Executive Office of the President?
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What are the duties of the White House Office and the National Security Council?
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What are the additional agencies in the Executive Office of the President that assist the
President?
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What are the origins of the executive departments, and how did they develop?
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How are members of the Cabinet chosen?
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What role does the Cabinet play in the President’s decisions?
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Why does the government create independent agencies?
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What are the characteristics of independent executive agencies and independent regulatory
commissions?
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How are government corporations structured?
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How did the civil service develop?
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What are the characteristics of the current civil service?
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What restrictions are placed on the political activity of members of the civil service?
Terms
Bureaucracy
Bureaucrat
Cabinet
Civil service
Competitive service
Congressional oversight
Discretionary authority
Domestic affairs
Executive Departments
Executive Office of the President
Excepted service
Federal budget
Fiscal year
Independent agencies
Government corporation
Iron triangle
Issue networks
laissez – faire
line agency
merit system
national performance review
Office of Personnel Management
Pendleton Act
Red tape
Spoils system
Staff agency
Critical Thinking
How might a strong, entrenched bureaucracy weaken the power of elected representatives?
How does the Office of Management and Budget enhance the president’s ability to perform his role as
chief administrator?
Economist Milton Friedman called bureaucracy, “…both a vehicle whereby special interests can achieve
their objectives and an important special interest in its own right.” What doe Friedman mean? What
can government do to minimize the situation Friedman describes?
How and why does the government limit the political activities of members of the civil service? Explain
whether you would change any of these limits and why, or why not.