Coach Jacobson's Classes
  • Home
  • AP Government
    • Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy >
      • 1.1 (Ideals of Democracy)
      • 1.2 (Types of Democracy)
      • 1.3 (Government Power)
      • 1.4 (Articles of Confederation)
      • 1.5 (Ratification of the Constitution)
      • 1.6 (Principles of U.S. Government)
      • 1.7 (Federalism)
      • 1.8 (Interpretations of Federalism)
      • 1.9 (Federalism in Action)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government >
      • 2.1 (The Senate and House)
      • 2.2 (Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress)
      • 2.3 (Congressional Behavior)
      • 2.4 (Roles and Powers of the President)
      • 2.5 (Checks on the Presidency)
      • 2.6 (Expansion of Presidential Power)
      • 2.7 (Presidential Communication)
      • 2.8 (The Judicial Branch)
      • 2.9 (Legitimacy of the Judicial Branch)
      • 2.10 (The Court in Action)
      • 2.11 (Checks on the Judicial Branch)
      • 2.12 (The Bureaucracy)
      • 2.13 (Discretionary and Rule-Making Authority)
      • 2.14 (Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable)
      • 2.15 (Policy and the Branches of Government)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights >
      • 3.1 (The Bill of Rights)
      • 3.2 (Freedom of Religion)
      • 3.3 (Freedom of Speech)
      • 3.4 (Freedom of the Press)
      • 3.5 (Right to Bear Arms)
      • 3.6 (Balancing Individual Freedom and Public Order)
      • 3.7 (Selective Incorporation)
      • 3.8 (Due Process and Rights of the Accused)
      • 3.9 (Due Process and the Right to Privacy)
      • 3.10 (Social Movements and Equal Protection)
      • 3.11 (Government Responses to Social Movements)
      • 3.12 (Balancing Minority and Majority Rights)
      • 3.13 (Affirmative Action)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs >
      • 4.1 (American Attitudes about Government and Politics)
      • 4.2 (Political Socialization)
      • 4.3 (Changes in Ideology)
      • 4.4 (Influence of Political Events on Ideology)
      • 4.5 (Measuring Public Opinion)
      • 4.6 (Evaluating Public Opinion Data)
      • 4.7 (Ideologies of Political Parties)
      • 4.8 (Ideology and Policy Making)
      • 4.9 (Ideology and Economic Policy)
      • 4.10 (Ideology and Social Policy)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 5: Political Participation >
      • 5.1 (Voting Rights and Behavior)
      • 5.2 (Voter Turnout)
      • 5.3 (Political Parties)
      • 5.4 (Why Parties Change and Adapt)
      • 5.5 (Third-Party Politics)
      • 5.6 (Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making)
      • 5.7 (Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes)
      • 5.8 (Electing a President)
      • 5.9 (Congressional Elections)
      • 5.10 (Modern Campaigns)
      • 5.11 (Campaign Finance)
      • 5.12 (The Media)
      • 5.13 (Changing Media)
    • AP Exam Prep
  • APUSH
    • Period 1 (1491-1607) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 1 (1.1)
      • Day 2- Native Americans and Europeans (1.2-1.3)
      • Day 3- Columbian Exchange (1.4-1.6)
      • Day 4- Causation in Period 1 (1.7)
    • Period 2 (1607-1754) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 2 (2.1)
      • Day 2- European Colonization (2.2)
      • Day 3- Colonial Regions and Trade (2.3-2.4)
      • Day 4- European/Indian Interactions and Slavery (2.5-2.6)
      • Day 5- Colonial Society (2.7)
      • Day 6- Comparison in Period 2 (2.8)
    • Period 3 (1754-1800) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 3 (3.1)
      • Day 2- Causes of the American Revolution (3.2-3.3)
      • Day 3- The American Revolution (3.4-3.6)
      • Day 4- The Articles of Confederation (3.7-3.8)
      • Day 5- The Constitution (3.9)
      • Day 6- Shaping a New Republic (3.10)
      • Day 7- Culture and Migrations (3.11-3.12)
      • Day 8- Continuity and Change in Period 3 (3.13)
    • Period 4 (1800-1848) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 4 (4.1)
      • Day 2- The Era of Jefferson (4.2)
      • Day 3- Politics and Regional Interests (4.3)
      • Day 4- America on the World Stage (4.4)
      • Day 5- The Market Revolution (4.5-4.6)
      • Day 6- Jackson and Federal Power (4.7-4.8)
      • Day 7- Culture and Reform (4.9-4.13)
      • Day 8- Causation in Period 4 (4.14)
    • Period 5 (1844-1877) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 5 (5.1)
      • Day 2- Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War (5.2-5.3)
      • Day 3- Compromise of 1850 and Regional Conflict (5.4-5.5)
      • Day 4- Failure of Compromise and Secession (5.6-5.7)
      • Day 5- The Civil War (5.8-5.9)
      • Day 6- Reconstruction (5.10)
      • Day 7- The Failure of Reconstruction (5.11)
    • Period 6 (1865-1898) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 6 (6.1)
      • Day 2- Developing the West and South (6.2-6.4)
      • Day 3- Industrialization and Capitalism (6.5-6.6)
      • Day 4- Labor in the Gilded Age (6.7)
      • Day 5- Immigration in the Gilded Age (6.8-6.9)
      • Day 6- Middle Class and Reforms (6.10-6.11)
      • Day 7- Politics in the Gilded Age (6.12-6.13)
      • Day 8- CCOT in Period 6 (6.14)
    • Period 7 (1890-1945) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 7 (7.1)
      • Day 2- Imperialism (7.2-7.3)
      • Day 3- The Progressive Era (7.4)
      • Day 4- World War I (7.5-7.6)
      • Day 5- Society in the 1920s (7.7-7.8)
      • Day 6- The Great Depression (7.9)
      • Day 7- The New Deal (7.10)
      • Day 8- Rise of the Axis (7.11-7.12)
      • Day 9- Fighting World War II (7.13-7.14)
    • Period 8 (1945-1980) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 8 (8.1)
      • Day 2- The Cold War (8.2)
      • Day 3- 1950s Society (8.3-8.5)
      • Day 4- Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement (8.6)
      • Day 5- The Vietnam War (8.7-8.8)
      • Day 6- The Great Society (8.9)
      • Day 7- The African American Civil Rights Movement (8.10)
      • Day 8- Society in Transition (8.11-8.14)
    • Period 9 (1980-2020) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 9 (9.1)
      • Day 2- Reagan and the End of the Cold War (9.2-9.3)
      • Day 4- Challenges of the 21st Century (9.6)
    • AP Exam Prep
  • Tennis

2.12- The Bureaucracy

​Previous Class: Checks on the Judicial Branch
Next Class: Discretionary and Rule-Making Authority

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

Class Notes for the Day!


Starter: What has happened to the ratio of government employees as a percentage of the U.S. population over the past half century?

Picture
Picture

1.How accurate was your prediction?

2.What is the big story with these charts?

3.Are these charts contradictory?

4.What are two causes of the changes displayed in the charts?

5.What are two consequences of the changes displayed in the charts?

6.Is the information contained in the chart good or bad news?

7.List three government jobs that you would like to see cut.

8.List three government jobs that you would like to see NOT cut.

9.What is one question you have about this information?


Quiz Today: Judicial Branch


Brainstorming

  1. What does the federal government do (what services do they provide)?
  2. Considering the above data, why and how has the role of government expanded?

Bureaucracy Vocabulary

A bureaucracy is a large, complex organization of appointed officials.  The federal bureaucracy in the U.S. includes all of the agencies, people, and procedures through which the national government operates, roughly 4 million people!
In lieu of a word of the day, we're going to get ourselves introduced to some concepts that relate to the federal bureaucracy.
2AB     4B

Let's Meet the USDA!

To get an idea of what the coolest branch of government that nobody knows about actually does, we will be reading from the award-winning author Michael Lewis (Moneyball, The Big Short, and The Blind Side), who started writing feature articles for Vanity Fair about the transition of the executive branch from the Obama to the Trump administrations.  While his articles (which ultimately became the book The Fifth Risk) centered on his belief that the incoming administration was unprepared and uninterested in what the government actually does, we'll take a look at a section where he spends some time researching some interesting things that take place in the many offices of Washington, D.C.  In this excerpt, he examines the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which does a lot more than you might think!

Click here!

  1. What are some common criticisms of bureaucracy?
  2. Do you agree with Lewis that it is important for government to do the tasks he describes?
  3. Do you think it's best that some things are best left to experts, even if it is at the expense of democracy?

Roles of the Bureaucracy

Let's continue to explore the executive branch by searching for the main ways that the federal bureaucracy handles public policy, whether creating it or enforcing it.  With your group, complete your section of the chart below.

​2AB     4B

Closer: Explain how the bureaucracy carries 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.

On Deck

​Next Class: Discretionary and Rule-making Authority
Textbook: Read sections 14.3-14.4 (pp. 420-432)

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AP Government

APUSH

Tennis

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  • Home
  • AP Government
    • Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy >
      • 1.1 (Ideals of Democracy)
      • 1.2 (Types of Democracy)
      • 1.3 (Government Power)
      • 1.4 (Articles of Confederation)
      • 1.5 (Ratification of the Constitution)
      • 1.6 (Principles of U.S. Government)
      • 1.7 (Federalism)
      • 1.8 (Interpretations of Federalism)
      • 1.9 (Federalism in Action)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government >
      • 2.1 (The Senate and House)
      • 2.2 (Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress)
      • 2.3 (Congressional Behavior)
      • 2.4 (Roles and Powers of the President)
      • 2.5 (Checks on the Presidency)
      • 2.6 (Expansion of Presidential Power)
      • 2.7 (Presidential Communication)
      • 2.8 (The Judicial Branch)
      • 2.9 (Legitimacy of the Judicial Branch)
      • 2.10 (The Court in Action)
      • 2.11 (Checks on the Judicial Branch)
      • 2.12 (The Bureaucracy)
      • 2.13 (Discretionary and Rule-Making Authority)
      • 2.14 (Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable)
      • 2.15 (Policy and the Branches of Government)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights >
      • 3.1 (The Bill of Rights)
      • 3.2 (Freedom of Religion)
      • 3.3 (Freedom of Speech)
      • 3.4 (Freedom of the Press)
      • 3.5 (Right to Bear Arms)
      • 3.6 (Balancing Individual Freedom and Public Order)
      • 3.7 (Selective Incorporation)
      • 3.8 (Due Process and Rights of the Accused)
      • 3.9 (Due Process and the Right to Privacy)
      • 3.10 (Social Movements and Equal Protection)
      • 3.11 (Government Responses to Social Movements)
      • 3.12 (Balancing Minority and Majority Rights)
      • 3.13 (Affirmative Action)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs >
      • 4.1 (American Attitudes about Government and Politics)
      • 4.2 (Political Socialization)
      • 4.3 (Changes in Ideology)
      • 4.4 (Influence of Political Events on Ideology)
      • 4.5 (Measuring Public Opinion)
      • 4.6 (Evaluating Public Opinion Data)
      • 4.7 (Ideologies of Political Parties)
      • 4.8 (Ideology and Policy Making)
      • 4.9 (Ideology and Economic Policy)
      • 4.10 (Ideology and Social Policy)
      • Test Review
      • Celebration of Knowledge!
    • Unit 5: Political Participation >
      • 5.1 (Voting Rights and Behavior)
      • 5.2 (Voter Turnout)
      • 5.3 (Political Parties)
      • 5.4 (Why Parties Change and Adapt)
      • 5.5 (Third-Party Politics)
      • 5.6 (Interest Groups Influencing Policy Making)
      • 5.7 (Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes)
      • 5.8 (Electing a President)
      • 5.9 (Congressional Elections)
      • 5.10 (Modern Campaigns)
      • 5.11 (Campaign Finance)
      • 5.12 (The Media)
      • 5.13 (Changing Media)
    • AP Exam Prep
  • APUSH
    • Period 1 (1491-1607) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 1 (1.1)
      • Day 2- Native Americans and Europeans (1.2-1.3)
      • Day 3- Columbian Exchange (1.4-1.6)
      • Day 4- Causation in Period 1 (1.7)
    • Period 2 (1607-1754) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 2 (2.1)
      • Day 2- European Colonization (2.2)
      • Day 3- Colonial Regions and Trade (2.3-2.4)
      • Day 4- European/Indian Interactions and Slavery (2.5-2.6)
      • Day 5- Colonial Society (2.7)
      • Day 6- Comparison in Period 2 (2.8)
    • Period 3 (1754-1800) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 3 (3.1)
      • Day 2- Causes of the American Revolution (3.2-3.3)
      • Day 3- The American Revolution (3.4-3.6)
      • Day 4- The Articles of Confederation (3.7-3.8)
      • Day 5- The Constitution (3.9)
      • Day 6- Shaping a New Republic (3.10)
      • Day 7- Culture and Migrations (3.11-3.12)
      • Day 8- Continuity and Change in Period 3 (3.13)
    • Period 4 (1800-1848) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 4 (4.1)
      • Day 2- The Era of Jefferson (4.2)
      • Day 3- Politics and Regional Interests (4.3)
      • Day 4- America on the World Stage (4.4)
      • Day 5- The Market Revolution (4.5-4.6)
      • Day 6- Jackson and Federal Power (4.7-4.8)
      • Day 7- Culture and Reform (4.9-4.13)
      • Day 8- Causation in Period 4 (4.14)
    • Period 5 (1844-1877) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 5 (5.1)
      • Day 2- Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War (5.2-5.3)
      • Day 3- Compromise of 1850 and Regional Conflict (5.4-5.5)
      • Day 4- Failure of Compromise and Secession (5.6-5.7)
      • Day 5- The Civil War (5.8-5.9)
      • Day 6- Reconstruction (5.10)
      • Day 7- The Failure of Reconstruction (5.11)
    • Period 6 (1865-1898) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 6 (6.1)
      • Day 2- Developing the West and South (6.2-6.4)
      • Day 3- Industrialization and Capitalism (6.5-6.6)
      • Day 4- Labor in the Gilded Age (6.7)
      • Day 5- Immigration in the Gilded Age (6.8-6.9)
      • Day 6- Middle Class and Reforms (6.10-6.11)
      • Day 7- Politics in the Gilded Age (6.12-6.13)
      • Day 8- CCOT in Period 6 (6.14)
    • Period 7 (1890-1945) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 7 (7.1)
      • Day 2- Imperialism (7.2-7.3)
      • Day 3- The Progressive Era (7.4)
      • Day 4- World War I (7.5-7.6)
      • Day 5- Society in the 1920s (7.7-7.8)
      • Day 6- The Great Depression (7.9)
      • Day 7- The New Deal (7.10)
      • Day 8- Rise of the Axis (7.11-7.12)
      • Day 9- Fighting World War II (7.13-7.14)
    • Period 8 (1945-1980) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 8 (8.1)
      • Day 2- The Cold War (8.2)
      • Day 3- 1950s Society (8.3-8.5)
      • Day 4- Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement (8.6)
      • Day 5- The Vietnam War (8.7-8.8)
      • Day 6- The Great Society (8.9)
      • Day 7- The African American Civil Rights Movement (8.10)
      • Day 8- Society in Transition (8.11-8.14)
    • Period 9 (1980-2020) >
      • Day 1- Contextualizing Period 9 (9.1)
      • Day 2- Reagan and the End of the Cold War (9.2-9.3)
      • Day 4- Challenges of the 21st Century (9.6)
    • AP Exam Prep
  • Tennis