Soon after the September 11^th, 2001 terrorist attacks President Bush established the Office of Homeland Security to determine how to discover and prevent future terrorist attacks. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 officially created the Department of Homeland Security as a new Cabinet agency and brought together various agencies that concerned security and law enforcement, previously under other departments, and placed them within this new agency.

The Department of War was established in 1789 to handle the military affairs of the young nation and was headed by the Secretary of War.  The Navy split from it after it was given its own department in 1798, but the War Department continued to govern the Army and later the Army Air Corps. In 1947 the War Department was split into the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force in order to form the National Military Establishment with the Department of the Navy. All three departments were combined in 1949 under the Department of Defense.

The agency was originally in the Treasury Department, as its founding purpose was to stop counterfeiters. The agency was moved to the then-recently established Department of Homeland Security in 2003 so that it could focus on threats against the president and other national leaders.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services that is responsible for regulating and ensuring the safety of food, medicine, medical equipment, animal food, and other products that are ingested or directly applied to people or animals. The agency was founded in 1906 to enforce regulations passed by Congress.

Although this question had the potential to be relatively difficult, it should have been simple, given the answer choices (the odd man out (the CIA) is clearly the correct answer). Remember: there are 15 Cabinet-level agencies (“Departments”): Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Justice. If it’s not one of these listed, it cannot be a Cabinet-level agency (although, don’t forget that the VP is part of the Cabinet). 

If you used the context clues provided, this should have been a fairly simple question. The correct answer is “independent executive agency,” which makes sense given that it reports “directly to the president.” Examples of independent executive agencies include: the CIA, and the Selective Service System.

This is a somewhat difficult question. The correct answer is “regulatory agency.” The question itself gives you the specifics of what a regulatory agency is, but purposefully fails to give you actual examples of regulatory agencies (it would be too easy otherwise!). Examples of regulatory agencies include: the FCC, the NLRB, and the Federal Reserve.

This should have been a relatively easy question. The correct answer is “Government Corporation.” Remember: a corporation is a distinct legal entity wholly and completely separate from its owners and operators. This is important mostly due to concepts like limited liability (which are far beyond the scope of your course). Regardless, the government can form corporations, which are the same as any other corporation except for the ownership structure. Examples include: Amtrak and the USPS.

The president is the correct answer. The president sits at the very top of the bureaucratic hierarchy, and wields enormous influence through executive orders and his cabinet. In addition, the president is able to influence the bureaucracy through his appointment powers. That said, Congress can temper the president’s input through confirmation requirement—that is, the Senate must confirm the appointments.

Max Weber is the German sociologist responsible for creating the 6 characteristics of all bureaucracies. They include: (1) a formal hierarchical structure; (2) management by rules; (3) organization by functional specialty; (4) an in-focused mission; (5) purposely impersonal; and (6) employment based on technical qualifications.