1. Describe these components of the executive branch: cabinet departments, independent agencies, bureaus, and field offices. Have any of them changed over time? In your opinion, are they organized for optimum coordination? Did you realize the executive branch was responsible for that many components?

2. What hinders effective presidential management? Are all presidents focused on effective presidential management? In your opinion, is one factor greater than another? Can you provide some examples of how specific presidents have been effective managers?

3. How has the Executive Office of the President expanded? What role did the Brownlow Committee play in this expansion? How many employees did the Executive Office of the President have as of 2013? What are some of the major agencies the Executive Office includes?

4. Describe the Executive Office of the President: the Office of Management and Budget and the National Security Council. What are their primary responsibilities? If you were president, how would you alter these agencies?

5. What is e-government? How can it improve government performance? Have you or your family ever used e-government? In your opinion, what repercussions does e-government have for non-computer users?

6. The text states that:

“At the core of the debates over government’s structure, there is a paradox. We typically look to the top official—mayor, governor, president—as the chief executive, but the structure this person manages is usually the product of legislative decisions. An executive can propose the creation of a new cabinet-level department, but its creation and budget are both legislative decisions. That’s very different from the private sector, where executives have far greater power to create, abolish, staff, and fund the structures they manage. In government, executives are responsible for managing agencies whose missions, structures, and resources they do not fully control.”

Discuss this paradox and critically analyze the government that created it. Would you rather a system where there were less legislative checks on executive power so that more could be done quickly, or do you value the safety of checks on executive power through the larger legislative branch even if it costs the system in terms of efficiency? Which is the most democratic? Which is the most functional? In other words, should the executive have absolute control of the executive branch or not?

7. After your reading, recall some of the debate between scholars over the importance of organization. Does it matter? Is it all about people? Or is it all about politics? Or is it somewhere in between? Explain your answer.

8. Discuss the problems of executive management in the executive branch, such as the lack of managerial ability among top elected officials, the brief tenures of political appointees, the conflicting goals between the White House and the department in the realm of staffing choices, and the existence of interdepartmental friction. Do you think these problems are inherent in a government the size and scope of the United States or do you think they are due to antiquated systems that need reforming? Any ideas how they can be reformed so as to promote better management in the executive branch?

9. By creating the Executive Office of the President through the Reorganization Act of 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt increased the staff of the executive branch dramatically. Do you think, as the text suggests, that this “swelling of the presidency,” according to Thomas Cronin, was inevitable given the increased leadership responsibilities of the president, or do you think it is unnecessary and should be reversed? What would such a reversal do to our system?