Evolution Of The Federal Bureaucracy
Despite the fact that the federal bureaucracy was never explicitly laid out in the constitution, was never instituted and planned, and was evolved by the gradual accretion of agencies and tasks over time, the federal bureaucracy proves to be one of the most influential and powerful departments in American government.
The original bureaucracy of the federal government began as a small group of people from three departments: the State, Treasury and War departments. This group of people formed together under George Washington’s presidency to form the first bureaucracy, appointed by Washington to advise him as president according to Article 2, Section 3 of the constitution. This small group of white male elites quickly grew to an astounding three …show more content…
million people employed today. Starting with George Washington, who promised to hire only people best qualified for the job but ended up hiring people from the party that he supported, to Andrew Jackson, many presidents followed a patronage system, or spoils system, which allowed presidents to hire whomever they pleased.
Despite many presidents beforehand having used the patronage system to fill government positions, Andrew Jackson was the one who really entrenched the patronage system. Following the old saying, “to the victor go the spoils,” he brought a whole new group of “Jacksonian Democrats” into office. Jackson argued that the spoils system brought greater rotation in office. He thought it was healthy to clear out the government workers who had worked for predecessors, lest they become corrupt. At least one benefit of the spoils system was revealed through this influx of party loyalist: the spoils system assured full turnover in federal offices.
During the 1800s, while more and more federal employees were landing their jobs through patronage, the bureaucracy was growing rapidly as new demands were placed on government.
As the country expanded westward new agencies were needed to manage the land and its settlement. And as people moved into the new areas, a greatly expanded Post Office was necessary. The Civil War sparked the creation of thousands of government jobs and new departments to handle the demands of warfare. After the war, the Industrial Revolution encouraged economic growth and more government agencies to regulate the expanding economy. This quick expansion of government bureaucracy came to a screeching halt in 1881 due to the assassination of President James Garfield. President Garfield was assassinated by a disappointed office seeker Charles Guiteau because he was not granted a government job. This quickly caused need for a reform on how the federal bureaucracy was ran, and most importantly on how government workers were …show more content…
hired.
This reform came when Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883, which created a merit-based federal civil service system. This new system was meant to replace patronage with the principle of federal employment on the basis of open, competitive exams. The Pendleton Act created a three-member Civil Service Commission to administer this new merit system. At first only about 10 percent of federal employees were members of the civil service. Today, about 85 to 90 percent take this exam. As well as providing a more strict and secure employment system, it also brought many benefits to those who were hired such as preventing elected officials and political appointees from firing civil servants. It also required civil servants to be completely liberated from influences of political patronage and partisan behavior.
In reaction to the excesses of Gilded Age millionaires, many Americans demanded that the government regulate business and industry. As a result, a group of independent regulatory commissions emerged as the 20th century dawned. The first of these agencies was the Interstate Commerce Commission, set up in 1887 to monitor abuses in the railroad industry. Reform movements of the early 20th century demanded that government regulate child labor, food processing and packaging, and working and living conditions for the laboring classes. This increase of demands placed on the American government caused not only for the federal bureaucracy to grow exponentially, but also made the presidential cabinet to grow from four to eight positions. These positions were heads of not only the original four departments, such as the Department of State, Treasury, War, and Justice, but also the new departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce and Labor, which later split into two separate departments.
The largest growth of the bureaucracy in American history came between 1933 and 1945. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal meant bigger government, since agencies were needed to administer his many programs. Over fifteen new agencies and programs were developed, each of which required government oversight at the local, state and federal levels. These agencies and programs were designed to get people back to work and the country out of the Great Depression.
In 1939 the Hatch Act was devised, designed to restrict the ability of federal employees to participate in partisan political activities. The goal was to Prohibit federal employees from membership in "any political organization which advocates the overthrow of constitutional form of government." However, many believed the restrictions infringed on constitutional rights of federal employees, and the Hatch Act was later revised in 1993.
With the American entry into World War II in 1941, the needs of the war elevated the number of federal agencies and employees even more. The Department of Defense was created in 1947, and was meant to serve as a national military establishment under a single secretary which also later presided over the former Department of War and the Department of the Navy. The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service and was made part of the Department of Defense. During Roosevelt’s 12 years in office alone, the total number of federal employees increased from a little over half a million in 1933 to an all time high of more than 3.5 million in 1945.
After World War II ended in 1945, the total number of federal employees decreased significantly, but still has remained at levels between about 2.5 and 3 million.
Contrary to popular opinion, the federal bureaucracy did not grow in numbers significantly during the last half of the 20th century. Federal bureaucrats did, however, greatly increase their influence. During this later half of the 20th century, the Cold War was in full swing. This caused the increase in size of the Department of Defense and associated agencies, which in turn caused all branches of the armed forces to grow significantly. In 1978 the U.S. Civil Service Commission was renamed the “Office of Personnel Management” or OPM for short. The OPM manages all civil service programs for the federal government such as civil service laws, rules, and regulations. It also administers written examinations for competitive
service.
So far in the 21st century many changes have been brought to the federal bureaucracy, mostly due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. One of the more important changes has been the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. This act was also intended to consolidate U.S. executive branch organizations related to homeland security into a single cabinet agency. 22 agencies were incorporated such as the Secret Service, Coast Guard and U.S. Border Patrol. In 2004 an overhaul of U.S> intelligence systems was conducted by the Intelligence Reform & Terrorism Prevention Act. This act established the director of National Intelligence, the National Counter-Terrorism Center, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. It also placed intelligence agencies such as the CIA and FBI under the control of the intelligence director.
In summary, the federal bureaucracy has expanded exponentially over the years due to the response to public wishes and desires, national crisis, the subdivision of departments, and the increases of state and local programs. All of these factors have contributed in making on of the most powerful sources of government legislation the U.S. has ever seen.
The original bureaucracy of the federal government began as a small group of people from three departments: the State, Treasury and War departments. This group of people formed together under George Washington’s presidency to form the first bureaucracy, appointed by Washington to advise him as president according to Article 2, Section 3 of the constitution. This small group of white male elites quickly grew to an astounding three …show more content…
million people employed today. Starting with George Washington, who promised to hire only people best qualified for the job but ended up hiring people from the party that he supported, to Andrew Jackson, many presidents followed a patronage system, or spoils system, which allowed presidents to hire whomever they pleased.
Despite many presidents beforehand having used the patronage system to fill government positions, Andrew Jackson was the one who really entrenched the patronage system. Following the old saying, “to the victor go the spoils,” he brought a whole new group of “Jacksonian Democrats” into office. Jackson argued that the spoils system brought greater rotation in office. He thought it was healthy to clear out the government workers who had worked for predecessors, lest they become corrupt. At least one benefit of the spoils system was revealed through this influx of party loyalist: the spoils system assured full turnover in federal offices.
During the 1800s, while more and more federal employees were landing their jobs through patronage, the bureaucracy was growing rapidly as new demands were placed on government.
As the country expanded westward new agencies were needed to manage the land and its settlement. And as people moved into the new areas, a greatly expanded Post Office was necessary. The Civil War sparked the creation of thousands of government jobs and new departments to handle the demands of warfare. After the war, the Industrial Revolution encouraged economic growth and more government agencies to regulate the expanding economy. This quick expansion of government bureaucracy came to a screeching halt in 1881 due to the assassination of President James Garfield. President Garfield was assassinated by a disappointed office seeker Charles Guiteau because he was not granted a government job. This quickly caused need for a reform on how the federal bureaucracy was ran, and most importantly on how government workers were …show more content…
hired.
This reform came when Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883, which created a merit-based federal civil service system. This new system was meant to replace patronage with the principle of federal employment on the basis of open, competitive exams. The Pendleton Act created a three-member Civil Service Commission to administer this new merit system. At first only about 10 percent of federal employees were members of the civil service. Today, about 85 to 90 percent take this exam. As well as providing a more strict and secure employment system, it also brought many benefits to those who were hired such as preventing elected officials and political appointees from firing civil servants. It also required civil servants to be completely liberated from influences of political patronage and partisan behavior.
In reaction to the excesses of Gilded Age millionaires, many Americans demanded that the government regulate business and industry. As a result, a group of independent regulatory commissions emerged as the 20th century dawned. The first of these agencies was the Interstate Commerce Commission, set up in 1887 to monitor abuses in the railroad industry. Reform movements of the early 20th century demanded that government regulate child labor, food processing and packaging, and working and living conditions for the laboring classes. This increase of demands placed on the American government caused not only for the federal bureaucracy to grow exponentially, but also made the presidential cabinet to grow from four to eight positions. These positions were heads of not only the original four departments, such as the Department of State, Treasury, War, and Justice, but also the new departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce and Labor, which later split into two separate departments.
The largest growth of the bureaucracy in American history came between 1933 and 1945. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal meant bigger government, since agencies were needed to administer his many programs. Over fifteen new agencies and programs were developed, each of which required government oversight at the local, state and federal levels. These agencies and programs were designed to get people back to work and the country out of the Great Depression.
In 1939 the Hatch Act was devised, designed to restrict the ability of federal employees to participate in partisan political activities. The goal was to Prohibit federal employees from membership in "any political organization which advocates the overthrow of constitutional form of government." However, many believed the restrictions infringed on constitutional rights of federal employees, and the Hatch Act was later revised in 1993.
With the American entry into World War II in 1941, the needs of the war elevated the number of federal agencies and employees even more. The Department of Defense was created in 1947, and was meant to serve as a national military establishment under a single secretary which also later presided over the former Department of War and the Department of the Navy. The Department of the Air Force was also created as a new service and was made part of the Department of Defense. During Roosevelt’s 12 years in office alone, the total number of federal employees increased from a little over half a million in 1933 to an all time high of more than 3.5 million in 1945.
After World War II ended in 1945, the total number of federal employees decreased significantly, but still has remained at levels between about 2.5 and 3 million.
Contrary to popular opinion, the federal bureaucracy did not grow in numbers significantly during the last half of the 20th century. Federal bureaucrats did, however, greatly increase their influence. During this later half of the 20th century, the Cold War was in full swing. This caused the increase in size of the Department of Defense and associated agencies, which in turn caused all branches of the armed forces to grow significantly. In 1978 the U.S. Civil Service Commission was renamed the “Office of Personnel Management” or OPM for short. The OPM manages all civil service programs for the federal government such as civil service laws, rules, and regulations. It also administers written examinations for competitive
service.
So far in the 21st century many changes have been brought to the federal bureaucracy, mostly due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. One of the more important changes has been the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. This act was also intended to consolidate U.S. executive branch organizations related to homeland security into a single cabinet agency. 22 agencies were incorporated such as the Secret Service, Coast Guard and U.S. Border Patrol. In 2004 an overhaul of U.S> intelligence systems was conducted by the Intelligence Reform & Terrorism Prevention Act. This act established the director of National Intelligence, the National Counter-Terrorism Center, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. It also placed intelligence agencies such as the CIA and FBI under the control of the intelligence director.
In summary, the federal bureaucracy has expanded exponentially over the years due to the response to public wishes and desires, national crisis, the subdivision of departments, and the increases of state and local programs. All of these factors have contributed in making on of the most powerful sources of government legislation the U.S. has ever seen.