POLSC232: American Government

4.3: The Executive Branch - The Bureaucracy

• Dr. Patrick Scott's "The Bureaucracy" URL

  Use these slides prepared by Dr. Scott as a reference for taking notes while watching the Bureaucracy lectures.
  

• Dr. Patrick Scott's "Bureaucracy" Page

  Watch these lectures.

• American Government and Politics in the Information Age: "Chapter 14: The Bureaucracy" URL

  Read this chapter. Whether they realize it or not, Americans interact with the bureaucracy every day. Federal agencies reflect the ways in which the political system attempts to identify our most important national goals and address them.

• 4.3.1: History of the Bureaucracy

  • Development of the US Bureaucracy URL

    Read this article on the history and development of the bureaucracy in the American political system from the "spoils system" to the Pendleton Act, which mandated that certain segments of federal civil service jobs be merit-based. Legislators passed this act in the aftermath of the assassination of President James Garfield by a disgruntled government office-seeker.

• 4.3.2: Characteristics and Organization of the Bureaucracy

  • The Regents of the University of California: "The Nature of the Bureaucracy" and "Other Bureaucratic Bodies" Page

    Watch the first two topics in the first three-part presentation to learn more about the perceptions and organization of the federal bureaucracy.

    Then watch the second presentation to learn about regulatory agencies and government corporations.

• 4.3.3: Regulating the Bureaucracy

  • Frederick Kaiser's "Congressional Oversight" URL

    Read this report. Oversight is an integral part of the system of checks and balances between the legislative and the executive branches of government.
    

  • The Regents of the University of California: "Checks on the Bureaucracy" Page

    Watch this presentation to learn about checks on the bureaucracy.

    
    

• 4.3.4: Bureaucratic Reform

  • The Regents of the University of California: "Bureaucratic Reform" Page

    Watch this presentation to learn about bureaucratic reform.
    

• Checkpoint

  • 4.3 Checkpoint Quiz

    Answer these ungraded questions to see how well you have understood the course material in this section.