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Internet Activities: Bureaucracy
 
 
 

Just the Facts, Please

1. Using the website, (http://www.firstgov.gov), click onto the Executive Branch link and answer the following questions about executive agencies.

  1. What are the duties and functions of the following agencies: Council of Economic Advisors, National Security Council (NSC), and Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Who chairs these agencies? What are their priorities?
  2. List the fourteen Cabinet departments, by year of its establishment. List the Secretaries of each Cabinet, the duties and functions for each department, the number of employees, their latest budget, and what services to each provide for the American government. What congressional committees are each accountable to?
  3. Click onto the Independent Establishments and Government Corporations site. Using this list, find the Social Security Administration, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), National Labor Relations Board, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Chart out the duties and functions of each (including services provided to citizens), the staff and budgets. In what ways are they important to the functioning of government?
  4. Click onto the Boards, Commissions, and Committees site. Choose any four and describe and discuss the purpose, the commission staff and budgets of each.
  5. Go to the Government Accountability Project, (http://www.whistleblower.org), describe the programs, resources, and campaigns offered by the Project. Who are some of the Whistle-Blowers in the News? What problems did they uncover? What are some of the "survival tips" offered by the Project?
2. Each former president has a library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. These libraries have Web sites that include a wide variety of information concerning the former presidents. President Jimmy Carter served from 1977 through 1981. Access the Jimmy Carter library and Museum Web site at http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/
  1. What is the National Archives and Records Administration?
  2. Read about the "Faces of Time Exhibit" and take the "Faces of Time Quiz" by selecting the appropriate link on the main page.
  3. What are the three examples of documents found online at the Carter Web site?

3. Go to the United States Office of Personnel Management Jobs website at http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/. Click on the link entitled "General Information." This will lead you to a sub-menu of additional links. Review "How to Apply for Federal Jobs (The Federal Job Search and Application Form)," then "Presidential Management Intern Program," followed by "Federal Salary and Benefits (General Schedule Pay)" and finally "Veterans and Uniformed Services (Veterans Preference)." After covering the material contained in these links, answer the following questions:

  1. What is the "3-Step Process" involving a job search for Federal Career opportunities?
  2. What information must be included on OF-612?
  3. What is the Presidential Management Internship Program? How can a student apply?
  4. What was the range of 2000 basic pay under the GS levels, i.e., from GS-1 to GS-15?
  5. Why are Veterans given a degree of preference in Federal job appointments?
  6. What are the specific "types of preference" given Veterans?

 
 
   
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Exploration

1. Go to http://www.gsa.gov/ and you will be at the General Services Administration website. Select the link in the top navigation bar to "About GSA." Answer the following questions:

  • List the three central management agencies in the Federal Government.
  • Summarize the mission of the GSA.
  • When was the GSA established?
  • Select the back button on your web browser and return to the GSA main page. Select the link to "The American Public," then scroll down and select the link to the "Consumer Information Center (CIC)" in the left-hand column. Where is the Consumer Information Center physically located?
  • Select the link to "Federal Programs" in the center button bar menu area of the CIC’s website. List the federal programs that have available links in this area. Much of the free information that could only be obtained by writing away to the CIC is now available for downloading from its website.

2. Go to the National Performance Review Home Page at http://www.npr.gov/. The Clinton-Gore administration began an initiative shortly after their first election to office called "reinventing government". The reinventing government slogan is "creating a government that works better and costs less." Select the link to Initiatives in the top menu bar. Then select the link to "Reinvention Labs and Waivers", and then click-on Reinvention Labs?" Answer the following questions:

  • Summarize the definition of Reinvention Labs according to the National Performance Review Task Force.
  • Briefly describe the history of Reinvention Labs.
  • Summarize the GAO’s evaluation of Reinvention Labs.

 3. Go to the Congressional Institute’s website at http://www.conginst.org/, and select the link to the "Results Act" on the left. Briefly summarize the purpose of the Act and the date it passed Congress. Select the link to "Views of the Act" and summarize one quotation or speech given about the Act.

  • Do you think that this Act can really "transform the bureaucracy?" Why or why not?
  • Select the link to "Consultations with Congress" on the left. Summarize the congressional leadership’s view on the consultation process.
  
   
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