1. THE CIVIL SERVICE AND
INDEPENDENT
AGENCIES
NESTOR ROSA, CHRISTINA PAGAN, ANASTASIYA SERGEYEVA, TENZIN
SONAM
How does a civil service employee enforce or promote
animal rights?

2. The Civil Service
 Civil Service: civilian employees
who perform administrative
work for the government
 A Civil servant is a person in the
public sector employed for a
government department or
agency
 The Constitution says very little
when is comes to the staffing of
the federal bureaucracy, the
only direct reference is in Article
II, Section 2, Clause 2
 “shall nominate, and by and
with the Advice and Consent of
the Senate……in the Heads of
Departments.” (Art. II, Sec. 2,
Cl. 2)
 Vocabulary:
 Spoils
system
 Patronage
 Register
 bipartisan

3. Development of the Civil
Service
 Civil service reformers have worked to reduce
corruption and political influence and promote
merit in federal employment
 In the Beginning:
 George Washington (1789) knew that the success
of the new government would mostly depend on
those he appointed to office
 Result he favored members of his own party

4. Development of the Civil Service
(Continued)
 The Spoils System: the
practice of giving offices and
other favors of government to
political supporters and friends.
 President Andrew Jackson has
been called the father of the spoils
system because he dismissed
over 200 presidential appointees
and 2,000 office holders with
Jacksonian Democrats
 Patronage: also the practice of giving jobs
to supporters.
 Calling Jackson the father of the spoils system seems
somewhat unfair because patronage was widely in use at
the state and local levels long before Jackson's presidency.

5. Reforming the Civil Service
 Many believed that the spoils system was a way to
build and hold power, so reform took place
 Pendleton Act (Civil Service Act of 1883)
 Had the following:
 A Civil Service Commission would be formed to administer
tests to qualified applicants for government jobs
 Competitive exams would be used to hire some government
workers
 Government employees would no longer be forced to make
campaign contributions to political parties
 Its main purpose was to make merit and set the basis for
hiring, promoting, and other personnel activities in the
federal work force
 The Law set up two categories of employment in the
executive branch, the classified and unclassified services

6. The Civil Service Today
 Today 90% of all the men and women who work for the executive branch
agencies are covered by the merit system
 Because the goal of eliminating the spoils system was successful in the
early years of the last century, a new purpose emerged: recruiting and
keeping the best available people in the federal work force
 Goal has succeeded because:
 Today most federal employees are hired through a competitive process
 Employees are paid and promoted on the basis of written evaluations by their
superiors
 Generally protected from disciplinary actions or dismissal for partisan reasons
 The Office of Personal Management (1978) is now the Federal Government’s
central personnel agency, it is an independent agency in the executive branch
 Registers: lists of those applications who pass its tests and are qualified for employment
 Merit System Protection Board an independent agency that enforces the
merit principle in the federal bureaucracy
 Bipartisan: includes members from both parties

7. Independent Agencies
 Until the 1880s, nearly all that the
Federal Government did was done
through its cabinet departments.
Since then, Congress has created a
large number of additional agencies
 What are independent agencies?
An agency in the United States
government that is created by an
act of Congress and is independent
of the executive departments
 Why are independent agencies
separated from the executive
departments? They do no fit well
within any cabinet departments.
Congress has given some agencies
an independent status to protect
them from partisan and pressure
politics.
 Vocabulary:
 independent
agencies
 independent
executive
agencies
 independent
regulatory
commissions
 quasi-legislative
 quasi-judicial
 government
corporation

8. Understanding Independent
Agencies
 There are three groups:
 independent executive agencies: agencies headed
by a single administrator with regional subunits but
lacking cabinet status
 independent regulatory commissions: agencies
created by Congress designed to regulate important
aspects of the nation’s economy and are largely
beyond the reach of presidential control
 government corporation: corporation within the
executive branch subject to the president’s direction
and control set by congress to carry out certain
business like activities.

9. Independent Executive
Agencies
 They are organized like Cabinet departments, the
difference between a cabinet department and an
independent executive agency is that independent
agencies do not have Cabinet status
 Some agencies are not administrative and policy giants but
they do important work and attract public notice (examples
are: the Civil Rights Commission and Peace Corps)

10. Independent Regulatory
Commissions
 There are 10 agencies today and they are beyond the
reach of presidential direction and control
 Each is headed by a board or commission made up of
five to seven members appointed by the President
with Senate consent.
 Congress has given them the power to administer the
programs for which they were created.
 Unlike the other independent agencies, the regulatory
commissions are also quasi-legislative and quasi-
judicial
 Quasi-legislative: having to do with powers that are to
some extent legislative
 Quasi-judicial: having to do with powers that are to some
extent judicial

11. Agency Date
Est.
No. of Members Terms Major Functions
Board of Governors,
Federal Reserve
System
1913 7 14
years
Supervises banking system, practices; regulates money
supply, use of credit in economy.
Federal Trade
Commission (FTC)
1914 5 7 years Enforces antitrust, other laws prohibiting unfair
competition, price-fixing, false advertising, other unfair
business practices
Securities and
Exchange
Commission (SEC)
1934 5 5 years Regulates securities, other financial markets, investment
companies, brokers; enforces laws prohibiting fraud, other
dishonest investment practices
Federal
Communications
Commission (FCC)
1934 5 5 years Regulates interstate and foreign communications by radio,
television, wire, satellite, and cable
Nation Labor
Relations Board
(NLRB)
1935 5 5 years Administers federal labor-management relations laws; hold
collective bargaining elections; prevents, remedies
Federal Maritime
Commission (FMC)
1936 5 5 years Regulates waterborne foreign, domestic off-shore
commerce of the United States; supervises rates, services.
Consumer Product
Safety Commission
(CPSC)
1972 5 5 years Sets, enforces safety standards for consumer products;
directs recall of unsafe products; conducts safety research,
information programs.
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC)
1974 5 5 years Licenses, regulates all civilian nuclear facilities and civilian
uses of nuclear materials.
Commodity Futures
Trading Commission
(CFTC)
1974 5 5 years Regulates commodity exchanges, brokers, futures trading
in agriculture, metal, other commodities.
Federal Energy
Regulatory
1977 5 4 years Regulates, sets rates for transmission, sale of natural gas,
electricity, oil by pipeline; Licenses hydroelectric power
Independent Regulatory Commissions

12. Government Corporations
 Government corporations are within the executive branch and
subject to the President’s direction and control
 It is setup much like a corporation in the private sector; it is run by a
board of directors with a general manager who directs the corporation’s
operations according to the policies established by that board
 Differences between government and private corporations:
 Congress decides the purpose for which the public agencies exist and the
functions they can perform
 All who work for these corporations are public employees
 The President selects most of the top officers of government corporations with
Senate confirmation
 Public agencies are financed by public funds appropriated by Congress and
not by private investors
 Set up by Congress to carry out certain business like activities
 There are now more than 50 of these corporations. (examples: the
U.S. Postal Service, the FDIC)

13. How does a civil service employees enforce
or promote animal rights?
 How are the civil service, independent agencies, and animal
rights related?
 Jobs in the federal bureaucracy are covered by some part of the
civil service system
 The civil service gives the Civil Service exam to prospective
government employees
 Once they become employees, they work to enforce laws that
protect animal’s rights.

14. USDA APHIS (Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service)
 Do government agencies help to protect animal rights?
 Yes they do, APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) is
an agency within the USDA. It administers the Animal Welfare Act and
carries out wildlife damage management activities. APHIS helped to
enact the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act.
 The Animal Welfare Act requires that minimum standards of care
and treatment be provided for certain animals bred for commercial
sale, used in research, transported commercially, or exhibited to the
public.
 The Horse Protection Act prohibits horses subjected to a process
called soring from participating in
exhibitions, sales, shows, or auctions.

15. Migratory Bird Conservation
Commission
 The Migratory Bird Conservation
Commission was established in 1929 by the
passage of the Migratory Bird Conservation
Act, which was created and authorized to
consider and approve any areas of land
and/or water recommended by the
Secretary of the Interior for purchase or
rental by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
and to fix the price or prices at which such
areas may be purchased or rented.
 North American Wetlands Conservation
Act. This Act provides for Federal funding to
encourage partnerships to protect, enhance,
restore, and manage wetlands and other
habitats for migratory birds and other fish
and wildlife to carry out the North American
Waterfowl Management Plan.

16.  The Marine Mammal Commission
is an independent agency of the
U.S. Government, established
under Title II of the Marine Mammal
Act (1972)
 The commission helps marine
mammals by:
 undertaking a review and study of the
activities existing laws in the United
States and participating in
international conventions relating to
marine mammals.
 Examples: The International Convention
for the Regulation of Whaling, the
Whaling Convention Act of 1949, the
Interim Convention on the Conservation
Marine Mammal
Commission

17. Bibliography
 Prentice Hall: American Government, William A. McClenaghan
 "Realty, National Wildlife Refuge System." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.fws.gov/refuges/realty/mbcc.html>.
 "Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/migtrea.html>.
 "Migratory Bird Treaty Act." Sialis Home - Helping Bluebirds and Other Small Cavity Nesters Survive
and Thrive. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.sialis.org/mbta.htm>.
 Marine Mammal Commission. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://mmc.gov/>.
 "Marine Mammal Protection Act - Office of Protected Resources - NOAA Fisheries." Home :: NOAA
Fisheries. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/laws/mmpa/>.
 "USA.gov | Independent Agencies and Government Corporations." USA.gov: The U.S. Government's
Official Web Portal. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/Federal/Independent.shtml>.
 Pictures:
 http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/art_symbols/symbols.html
 http://www.ardlinc.com/image/usda-aphis.gif
 http://www.oceanlight.com/log/img/mmc_2007.jpg
 http://www.sheddaquarium.org/images/articles/Shedd-Aquarium-Beluga-Whale-2.jpg
 http://www.imata.org/uploads/animals/174_DolphinsLook.jpg
 http://libcom.org/files/animal-rights[1].jpg
 http://www.jhsph.edu/bin/v/n/peace_corps.jpg