America's Bureaucracy

In the United States of America, there are four different kinds of bureaucracies: departments, independent agencies, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations. While departments were originally intended to be the largest and most important of government bureaucracies, many independent agencies are larger in terms of both staffs and budgets than many departments.

Departments, Bureaus, Agencies, and Commissions

There are fifteen executive branch departments, the heads of which are all members of the president’s cabinet. The largest departments are the Department of Defense and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Each so-called cabinet-level department oversees a broad area of national policy and programs. The Department of Treasury, which includes the Internal Revenue Service, is charged with collecting, spending, and accounting for the government’s money. The Justice Department, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is headed by the attorney general, enforces national laws and prosecutes those who violate them. The newest department, the Department of Homeland Security, was established in 2002.

Each department has several bureaus, agencies, and commissions, or other sub-department divisions, that perform specialized functions within the jurisdiction of the department. For example, within the State Department, there are six under-secretaries with various responsibilities as well as almost fifty specialized bureaus and offices.