TEXT 16: THE AMERICAN CIVIL SERVICE
Many people think of a federal bureaucrat as a pencil pusher shuffling papers in Washington, D.C. This image, however, is not accurate. First of all, only 11 percent of all federal government employees work in Washington, D.C. Most of them work in regional and local offices scattered across the United States and the world. Second, FBI agents, forest rangers, and air-traffic controllers are as much part of the federal bureaucracy as are secretaries and file clerks. Their activities have little to do with bureaucratic paperwork.
Federal government employees play a vital role in assuring the smooth functioning of the United States government. Who are the people who work for the many departments and agencies that make up the federal bureaucracy? The typical man or woman in the federal service is about 43 years old and has worked for the government for a total of about 15 years. Federal workers are better educated than workers in the general population. More than a half of them have some college training, while a quarter have done graduate work at universities.
Federal workers hold a great variety of jobs. Besides administrative workers, the government also employs doctors, veterinarians, lawyers, cartographers, scientists, engineers, accountants, and many other professionals.
The way the civil servants get their offices is also important. During the first years of democracy, George Washington declared that he appointed government officials according to "fitness of character." Another president, Andrew Jackson argued that long service in the same jobs by any group of workers would only promote tyranny.
TEXT 17: THE ORIGINS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM
When the United States began to establish its civil service system in the 19th century, it had a long history upon which to draw. Historians believe that public government officials — civil servants — date back to the early civilizations of the Middle East. The longest stable civil service in history, however, first developed in China.
China's civil service established and elaborated the world's greatest system of hiring personnel on competitive basis. The idea to merit rating for promotions, which is a characteristic of modern civil service systems, also originated within the Chinese system.
The basic characteristic of China's civil service system was an educated and honest bureaucracy. Candidates were tested not only on their grasp of specific topics of government but also on their knowledge of history, literature, poetry, and art. Frequently, only 1 out of every 100 candidates passed the examinations and won a position. Every several years thereafter, officeholders were tested again. The results, along with periodic merit ratings based on job performance, determined whether they received a promotion, retained their present level, or were dismissed.
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Some type of civil service examinations became an accepted practice in many later civil systems. Today the civil service in the United States shares some of the characteristics common to the systems of China, Great Britain, and some other European nations. In particular, they share the concepts of examinations for appointment and promotions based on merit. At the same time, the United States civil service maintains individual characteristics based on the American system of government and values.
TEXT 18: THE CONCEPT OF BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE
In the waning years of the nineteenth century, political scientist and future President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, spoke to an audience and outlined his views of the American government. "Our Government, he said, founded one hundred years ago, was no type of an experiment in advanced democracy, as we allowed Europe and even ourselves to suppose; it was simply an adoption of English constitutional system of government."
One aspect of the United States' English heritage is bicameralism. The concept of bicameralism — a two-house legislature — originated in England and came with the early English colonists to North America. Bicameralism emerged in England's Parliament. During the 1200s the Great Council that included English nobles and bishops advised the monarch. Knights and elected representatives from towns and regions also met with the Great Council. In the 1300s the elected members and the nobility and bishops began to meet separately, and Parliament became a two-house legislature that included the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Slowly, the Commons gained strength; first by winning the right to discuss tax laws, and later by assuming the power to introduce bills.
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After the Civil War and the execution of Charles I, Parliament gained control of the government. Then in 1660 Parliament restored the monarchy. By the 1700s nations of the Western world admired and envied Great Britain for its democracy and stability. It was the shining example of the political theory of a balanced government.
The pure forms of government, as historian Bernard Bailyn noted, were monarchy, the rule of one; aristocracy, the rule of the few; and democracy, the rule of many or all. All three forms in the course of history had degenerated repeatedly into their evil counterparts: tyranny, oligarchy, and mob rule. But some success could be achieved by mixing elements of these pure forms.
TEXT 19: US CONGRESS RULES
The main task of each house of Congress is the same — to make laws. Because the House of Representatives and Senate differ in many ways, each chamber has organized itself to carry out its work of making the laws. These complex rules enable Congress to carry out its lawmaking duties.
Article I of the US Constitution says that each House may determine the rules of its proceedings. Thomas Jefferson compiled the first manual on the Senate rules when he was Vice President. He emphasized the importance of such rules.
House rules are generally aimed at defining the actions an individual representative can take. In the Senate, the rules are more flexible and designed to make certain all senators have maximum freedom to express their ideas. For example, the Senate usually allows unlimited debate on proposed legislation, whereas the House limits representatives to speaking for five minutes or less during a debate.
With fewer rules, the Senate has a more informal atmosphere. Senators may debate a proposal for weeks or even months. In contrast, the complex rules in the House require that legislation move quickly once it reaches the floor. House debates rarely last more than one day. Moreover, leaders of the House of Representatives have more power than leaders in the Senate. For example, the rules of the House allow its leaders to make key decisions about legislative work without consulting other House members.
Most of the work of Congress is carried out in Committees. Because the House is so large, representatives generally do not make a practice of expressing their positions on the floor, where they have only limited time to speak. In the committees, however, representatives have more influence, and they have the time to study and shape bills.
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