HY 357 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
6 Jun 2018
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The Functions of the Federal Bureaucracy
The federal bureaucracy performs three primary tasks in government: implementation,
administration, and regulation.
When Congress passes a law, it sets down guidelines to carry out the new policies. Actually
putting these policies into practice is known as implementation. Often, policy directives are not
clearly defined, and bureaucrats must interpret the meaning of the law. The bureaucracy often
has some flexibility, known as administrative discretion, in actual implementation.
The routine of bureaucracy — collecting fees, issuing permits, giving tests, and so on — is the
administration of its defined purpose.
The federal bureaucracy makes regulations (the rules by which federal and state programs
operate) through an administrative process known as rule making. Regulations can be challenged
in court, and they are not put into effect until the legal issues are resolved.
The Structure of the Federal Bureaucracy
The bureaucracy that implements, administers, and regulates federal programs is in the executive
branch. However, Congress and the courts have bureaucracies of their own. Each member of
Congress, for example, has a staff that manages the office and helps draft legislation.
Congressional committees also have their own staffs, as do the Congressional Budget Office
(CBO) and the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). (Congress created the latter in the
1970s.) These two offices provide in-depth analysis of the operations of federal agencies. The
following sections focus only on the executive branch bureaucracies.
Cabinet departments
The cabinet departments, the largest administrative units in the federal bureaucracy, have
responsibility for broad areas of government operations such as foreign policy (Department of
State) and law enforcement (Department of Justice). The departments are organized
hierarchically and include bureaus, divisions, offices, and agencies. The FBI, for example, is a
bureau of the Justice Department and has 58 field offices throughout the country.
Independent agencies
Independent agencies are created by Congress and do not operate within the cabinet structure.
The most important agencies include the CIA, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA). Independent agencies
are often created by presidential direction; President John F. Kennedy's Peace Corps is an
example. Regulatory commissions are also independent of cabinet departments. Many are run
by boards whose members are appointed by the president for limited terms and confirmed by the
Senate. They deal with a broad range of issues ranging from product safety to the licensing of
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Document Summary
The federal bureaucracy performs three primary tasks in government: implementation, administration, and regulation. When congress passes a law, it sets down guidelines to carry out the new policies. Actually putting these policies into practice is known as implementation. Often, policy directives are not clearly defined, and bureaucrats must interpret the meaning of the law. The bureaucracy often has some flexibility, known as administrative discretion, in actual implementation. The routine of bureaucracy collecting fees, issuing permits, giving tests, and so on is the administration of its defined purpose. The federal bureaucracy makes regulations (the rules by which federal and state programs operate) through an administrative process known as rule making. Regulations can be challenged in court, and they are not put into effect until the legal issues are resolved. The bureaucracy that implements, administers, and regulates federal programs is in the executive branch. However, congress and the courts have bureaucracies of their own.
