ABSTRACT
As the nation has grown both in geographic size and in population, the responsibilities of the national government have grown concurrently. The roles and responsibilities of the government have grown to encompass more than 1,400 different programs, housed in 15 executive agencies, and a myriad of independent agencies and regulatory commissions, which employ 2,700,000 federal employees and have a budget of over $1.7 trillion. This explosion in the responsibilities of the national government has led to a proliferation of the bureaucracy. The relationship between the president and the bureaucracy has often been difficult, as presidents endeavor to move their programs through an often intransigent federal workforce. This has become a significant problem for presidents, who often see the departmental bureaucracies slowing down federal programs or moving programs in directions that are not in line with presidential goals and objectives.
