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

“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,