Response 1
I concur with your rationale on federal bureaucracy as not a fourth member of government branches. First, its creation and implementation was initiated by President Bush in 2001 as a response to the September 11 terrorism. The budget and responsibilities were developed by another branch of government (executive) and continues even today. Mainly, the president dictates agencies’ responsibilities and it has advisory groups which assist in critical response and ensures inter-agency collaboration to deliver their mandate. For example, the president released executive orders in January 2017 to equip the department with essential resources, tools and personnel in accordance to their designated security role ( ORDER, 2017) . However, orders are given by Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security Secretary, such as the recent reassignment and border policies to respond to the migrant crisis at the Mexican border. Secondly, Department of Homeland Security’s budget is dictated by the congress leading to capped capacity and independence. The department has also seen significant social support by both Democrats and Republicans to facilitate changes exhibiting that they do not act as a fourth branch.
Response 2
Federal bureaucracy ensures that services are delivered through political routines such as congressional issues but acts as a branch of the executive. However, other roles in the bureaucracy are governed by legislature and judiciary to ensure accountability and proper policy and constitutional alignment through enforcement. There have been cases when courts have interrupted bureaucratic processes due to alleged violations and jurisdiction breach especially in situations including interest groups ( Balla & Gormley, 2017) . The Iron Triangle comprise of three components: congress, federal bureaucracy and interest groups who work get financial and political support, deliver lenient actions and electoral support respectively. Though the Iron Triangle is based on mutual benefit perspective, sometimes there arise conflicts of interest which necessitate other branches’ intervention to ensure regular service delivery and mandate alignment. The process of implementation begins from the congress which set out policies but actual directives are delivered by independent bureaucratic agencies in accordance to the law and in their capacity to deliver discretion.
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References
ORDER, E. (2017). Executive order: Border security and immigration enforcement improvements.
Balla, S. J., & Gormley Jr, W. T. (2017). Bureaucracy and democracy: Accountability and performance . CQ Press.
