How has the federal bureaucracy changed from the time of its creation until today?

What will be an ideal response?

One word can best describe the changes that have occurred in the federal bureaucracy: growth. At some points in the development of the bureaucracy, there were periods of slow then rapid growth and at other times, small periods of retrenchment or decline, but the general direction of the federal bureaucracy has been to grow as the demands that the public places on the federal government and its services have also increased. While during the first century of our history the federal bureaucracy remained relatively small in comparison to the rest of government, the second century of our history has placed demands on the bureaucracy that have caused it to grow at a rapid pace. During the Jacksonian period, circa 1830s, Jacksons and his associates developed the spoils system and political patronage but also, ironically, necessitated standard operating procedures. Just following the American Civil War, the bureaucracy increased due to the paperwork needed to process soldier pensions from the Union Army. After that, the Progressive Era led to a rise in federal regulatory agencies and government corporations. This growth continued at a moderate pace until the Great Depression, when the demands of the public for economic relief known as the New Deal led to a tremendous rise in government services and, along with it, a major increase in the federal workforce, which by this time had turned to operating under a merit-based civil service system. Federal programs in the 1960s like the Great Society and the addition of new government departments such as the Department of Education in the 1970s both led to increases in the federal workforce and the accompanying increase in the federal bureaucracy. While during the 1980s and late 1990s there were small periods of government retrenchment and privatization, the trend continues today in a rapid growth of government spending and an accompanying increase in the size of the federal bureaucracy.