Research Paper Draft

Research Paper draft

The Postal Service of the United States, USPS (United States Postal Service) is an independent federal agency of the executive branch of the government that controls the mail service in the United States. It handles around 300,000 billion pieces of mail annually for distribution in the United States and abroad. Generally, the American public purchases multiple stamps to avoid going to the post office, because the USPS has been placed at strategic locations on public roads. The USPS has assigned employees to collect mails daily from each of the mailboxes in correspondence. The USPS has generated its official website for buying stamps and sending packages domestically and internationally with labels to be scanned upon receipt thereof.

Paul Starr has been followed a differentiated approach to communication and development after the American Revolution and this has enabled America to be successful distinctively (Starr, 2004, p.2). Compared with Europe, the development of the United States of America has its own path of dependence derived from communication culture based on constitutive choices. It has followed a de jure pattern that comes with the matter of law and conscious decision making. Along with the opening of a public sphere, which refers to openly accessible information and communication about matters of general concern (Starr, 2004, p.2), the postal system has become a way to distribute messages.

Congress retains control of postal system, and in the Post Office Act of 1792, post offices are required to open following the population. Instead of keeping only the profitable ones, the profitable post offices actually subsidize the non-profitable ones. The revenue comes from delivering letters, but mainly the revenue from the first class mail is the main source of support. However, as an agency of the federal government, the postal system is struggling to survive in recent years.

Steven Greenhouse claims the postal service has “long lived on the financial edge” (Greenhouse, 2011, p.1). When dealing with an agency facing financial trouble, it is always important to figure out where the money comes from and the money goes. Economically speaking, profit equals revenue minus cost, in which revenue refers to demand and cost means supply. The only way for the postal system to make money is by delivering mail, within states, nationally, and globally. Wherever there is a demand for mail, the postal system has its chance to make more pennies. Yes, the postal system delivers periodicals, such as newspapers, but under the Post Office Act of 1792, newspapers get much cheaper postal rates than letters. However, this may be analyzed that United States Postal Service is currently not profitable since the costs are exceeding the revenues. At the side of supply, the expenses seem to exceed the possible money earned through different ways of services. Costs include salary, pension, delivery, tools, construction, and so on. As Longley points out, “the law merely requires the Postal Service to remain 'revenue-neutral', neither making a profit nor suffering a loss” (Longley, 2013).

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