Study Notes
Federal Bureaucracy
- Level:
- A-Level
- Board:
- AQA, Edexcel, OCR, IB
Last updated 22 Mar 2021
The Federal Bureaucracy is the unelected, administrative body in the Executive Branch. It is the back bone of the US Government. It is arranged into departments, agencies and commissions.
The main function of the Federal Bureaucracy, is to carry out the policy and work on the finer details of the bills passed by Congress. The bureaucracy has 2.7 million employees, has a $13.8 billion payroll, and is divided into roughly 900 departments. Of all the employees in Washing DC, 11% of the them will work for the Federal Bureaucracy.
The bureaucracy itself can be roughly divided into four groups:
- Executive Departments
- Department of the Treasury
- Executive Agencies
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Independent Regulatory Commissions
- Federal Election Commission
- Government Corporations
- United States Postal Service
However there can be problems of the bureaucracy. There are three main criticisms of the Federal Bureaucracy.
- Clientelism
- Imperialism
- Agencies seek to expand their own power at the expense of other agencies
- Agencies can become involved in a turf battle.
- Incrementalism
- Agencies may act slowly and cautiously, with a natural resistance to change.
- This argument is one that is very similar to the UK Civil Service.
You might also like
Vice President (election, role)
Study Notes
The Senate
Study Notes
Congressional Committees
Study Notes
Congress
Study Notes
The House of Representatives
Study Notes

A Virtual Visit to the White House
11th September 2015
Representatives (Role and Election)
Study Notes
Midterm Elections
Study Notes