The federal government spends almost $4 trillion a year. It has hundreds of agencies and runs more than 2,300 subsidy programs. It employs 2.1 million civilian workers, 1.4 million uniformed military personnel, and 560,000 postal workers. It is a huge organization.

It also fails a lot and is increasingly distrusted. One new Gallup poll finds that three-quarters of Americans think that government corruption is widespread, while another shows that half of Americans believe that the federal government is a threat to our freedom.

A new essay, “Bureaucratic Failure in the Federal Government,” at DownsizingGovernment.org examines structural features of the executive branch that cause federal failure and help to engender such a dim view from the public.