| A | B |
|---|
| Bureaucrat | A career government employee |
| Bureaucracy | A professional corps of officials organized in a pyramidal hierarchy and functioning under impersonal, uniform rules and procedures. |
| Department | Usually the largest organization in government, also the highest rank in federal hierarchy. |
| independent agency | A government entity that is independent of legislative, executive, and judicial branches. |
| Independent Regulatory Commission | A government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by congress |
| Government Corporation | A Government agency that operates like a business corporation, created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program. |
| Senior Executive Service | Established by congress in 1987 as a flexible, mobile corps of senior career executives who work closely with presidential appointees to manage government |
| Spoils System | A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends |
| Merit System | A system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated performance rater than political patronage. |
| Office of Personnel management (OPM) | Agency that administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations. |
| Hatch Act | Federal statute barring federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them form being fired on partisan grounds. |
| Implementation | The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending. |
| Administrative Discretion | Authority given by congress to the federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgement in implementing the laws. |
| Regulations | The formal instructions that government issues for implementing laws. |
| Rule-Making Process | The Formal process for making regulations |
| Uncontrollable Spending | the portion of the federal budget that is spent on programs, such as social security, that the president and congress are unwilling to cut. |
| Entitlements | Programs such as unemployment insurance, disaster relief, or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens. |
| Indexing | Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation. |
| Oversight | Legislative or executive review of a particular government program or organization. Can be in response to a crisis of some kind or part of routine review. |
| Central Clearance | review of all executive branch testimony, reports, and fraft legislation by the office of Management and Budget to assure that each communication to congress is in accordance with the president’s program. |
| Red Tape | The term used to describe the anger citizens feel that government officials follow strick rules and regulations. Although seem as annoying by many see it as nessisary to have an impartial government |
| Where did the term Bureaucracy come from? | bureau- a cloth covering desks of gov't officials in France and "-ocracy" |
| What is the difference between the Conglomerate and Clientele approach to agencies? | Conglomerate brings together different elements of government, and clientel tries to bring more focus onto issues the public wants the government to focus on. |
| Why are independent regulatory agencies more controversial than other agencies? | This is because they are often regulating businesses and the things that the public hates the government doing. |
| How much control does the president have over Independent Regulatory Commissions? | Only in the appointment of new officers, but cannot replace existing officers in the commission. |
| Which chair in an independent regulatory commission is deemed the most powerful figure in United States Economics? | Federal Reserve Chair |
| What are the two meanings of "independent" in federal bureaucracy? | 1. Outside the president's control, 2. "separate", "standing alone" from other agencies |
| How can low level officials become very influential in the executive branch? | Due to informal ties with people higher up in the government. |
| What is the theory of public bureaucracy? | That each department seeks to be more powerful than they originally were with new job titles and positions. |
| Which acts by Congress helped to limit the Spoils System? | Pendleton Act and the Civil Service Commission |
| What is the percent of civilian employees in the military? | 25% |
| What measures have been taken by the OPM to ensure that the best person gets the job? | A written and oral test, creating a list of qualified personel, and a process to approve people who are not on the list. |
| What can't public sector unions do that private sector unions can? | Strike, negotiate pay or benefits. |
| What is the importance of administrative discretion? | The agencies must be effective and able to enact the laws congress passes. |
| Federal Register | Where all proposed rules and regulations for federal agencies are posted so that the public knows what is going on. |
| What is the first type of uncontrollable spending mentioned on pg 367? | programs in which financial payments are required to all Americans who are eligible. |
| What was the second type of uncontrollable spending mentioned on pg 367? | Programs that require more federal spending each year automatically though cost of living increases or interest national dept. |
| What control does Congress have over bureaucracy? | Congress has control over the spending to agencies, and the power the agencies have. |
| What power does the president have over bureaucracy? | He can change assignments, appointments, reorganization, and budgeting. |
| Iron Triangles | A relationship between Congress, agencies, and PAC's that work together to get their ideas turned into policy. |
