The Five Branches Of The Federal Bureaucracy

A bureaucracy is a group of nonelected officials that carry out functions connected to a series of policies and programs. “Modern society relies on the effective functioning of government to provide public goods, enhance quality of life, and stimulate economic growth. The activities by which government achieves these functions include—but are not limited to—taxation, homeland security, immigration, foreign affairs, and education” (558). There are five different branches of the American bureaucracy: Cabinet department, Independent executive agencies, Independent regulatory agencies, Government corporations, and Presidential commission. Each branch has a different job to do to help the governmental system run smoothly.

The Federal Government currently has fifteen cabinet departments that are appointed by the President. “Cabinet departments are major executive offices that are directly accountable to the president. They include the Departments of State, Defense, Education, Treasury, and several others. Occasionally, a department will be eliminated when government officials

decide its tasks no longer need direct presidential and congressional oversight, such as happened to the Post Office Department in 1970” (571).
The Independent executive agencies report directly to the president, like the cabinet departments. Independent executive agencies have a more focus task to complete than the cabinet departments. “These agencies are considered independent because they are not subject to the regulatory authority of any specific department. They perform vital functions and are a major part of the bureaucratic landscape of the United States” (575).
Government corporations are Agencies formed by the federal government to administer a quasi-business enterprise.

“They exist because the services they provide are partly subject to market forces and tend to generate enough profit to be self-sustaining, but they also fulfill a vital service the government has an interest in maintaining. Unlike a private corporation, a government corporation does not have stockholders. Instead, it has a board of directors and managers. This distinction is important because whereas a private corporation’s profits are distributed as dividends, a government corporation’s profits are dedicated to perpetuating the enterprise. Unlike private businesses, which pay taxes to the federal government on their profits, government corporations are exempt from taxes” (574- 575). Examples of these corporations are electricity companies, postal services, fire fighters,

etc.
The presidential commissions are a unique department that works directly for the president. “In the United States, a Presidential Commission is a special task force ordained by the President to complete a specific, special investigation or research. They are often quasi-judicial in nature; that is, they include public or in-camera hearings” (Google). This department has two important functions. One is to let the citizens know, or draw attention to a problem is, mainly by the media. The other is to divert the attention away from a problem, if the president needs time to think about ways to handle a situation.
These different departments help the government function properly. The people that work for the bureaucracy are not voted into their positions. Presidents choose people for the jobs. Citizens do not have a say in who gets chosen to be in the bureaucracy positions. But citizens do elect the officials that will choose who is in those positions. Both Congress and the president exercise direct oversight over the bureaucracy by holding hearings, making appointments, and setting budget allowances. Citizens exercise their oversight powers through their use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and by voting. Finally, bureaucrats also exercise oversight over their own institutions by using the channels carved out for whistleblowers to call attention to bureaucratic abuses” (586).