Objective: Explain how the bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of the federal government.

Starter: What federal government agency or department is viewed most favorably by the U.S. public?

1.How accurate was your prediction?

2.What is the big story the data tells about American opinion on the federal government?

3.Why do you think that is?

4.What is one consequence of Americans having such favorable opinions of these departments and agencies?

5.Is this good news?

6.Are you surprised?

7.Why do you think the Post Office won?

8.Which of the agencies and departments listed above do you have daily contact with?

9.How would you answer the same questionnaire?

10.What do you think would be the agency or department that the public views least favorably?

11.What can the Congress do to control these agencies and departments?

12.What can the POTUS do to control these agencies and departments?

13.Why do you think that 42% of people have an unfavorable opinion of the Department of Education?

14.How different do you think Democrats and Republicans view these agencies and departments?

15.Democrats and Republicans have exactly the same opinion of the Federal Reserve, yet they have very different opinions of the FBI. Why do you think that is?

16.Do you think that most Americans even know what the Federal Reserve does?

17.Do you even know what the Federal Reserve does?

18.If you asked most Americans if they trust the government, only 18% say yes. However, these same Americans have a very favorable view of much of the actual government. How do you explain this dissonance?

19.Do you think the Trump administration is having an impact on Americans' views of the federal government?

20.What do you think Americans' views of these same agencies was like in 2012?

21.How do you think these views of the government will impact the 2020 elections?

Key Federal Departments to Know

Here are some of the biggest and most significant cabinet departments worth knowing!

Take a look!

Word of the Day

Regulations
  1. Define it
  2. Use it in a sentence
  3. Why does the federal government issue regulations?
  4. What regulations has the Trump administration added?
  5. Which sectors of the economy/society have been de-regulated by Trump?

Bureaucratic Agencies

The following guide tells you about the different types of bureaucratic agencies and provides information about each cabinet department as well as dozens of other key agencies.  Read through them and find one that piques your curiosity, as we're about to start a project where you'll be working with that agency for awhile.

Bureaucracy Guide here!

Don't Cut My Department!

In this era of government shutdowns and rumors of government shutdowns, we're going to do the one thing that the Congress and President cannot...get tough with the budget and trim it down to size!  However, it will be at the expense of one or many key agencies. 
  • Each group will select a federal agency to research and defend before a congressional budget committee (played by the remainder of the class)
  • Jacobson will locate the 2019 budget of each agency and will add them up; this sum will represent 100% of all funding we are eligible to cut.
  • After hearing testimony from each agency, the budget committee must reduce federal spending by 20%.  This cut may be across the board or may target specific agencies.
  • The group who does the best job of protecting their agency's budget wins!

Project Template

Closer: How does the bureaucracy carry out the responsibilities of government?

  • Make a claim here!
  • Support your claim with TWO pieces of accurate and relevant information.
  • Use reasoning to explain why your evidence supports your claim.
  • Respond to an opposing or alternative perspective.

Next Class: The Federal Court System