Bureaucracy - Chapter 13 - Pols Test 2

Front 1

Adjudication

Back 1

The process of determining if a law or rule established by the bureaucracy has been broken.

Front 2

Adverse Selection

Back 2

Principal's lack of information about the abilities of an agent.

Front 3

Advisory Committees

Back 3

Temporary or permanent organizations created to provide information and technical expertise to the bureaucracy.

Front 4

Agency Capture

Back 4

A term used to describe when an agency seems to operate for the benefit of those whom it is supposed to regulate.

Front 5

Appointment Power

Back 5

A power of the president that enables him or her to control the bureaucracy by selecting the people who will head it's agencies.

Front 6

Bounded Rationality

Back 6

Herbert Simon's theory that humans are not utility maximizers as suggested in classical rational choice models. Humans satisfice rather than maximize.

Front 7

Bureaucracy

Back 7

The term used to refer to the agencies of the federal government. It also refers to an organizational framework and has no negative connotations.

Front 8

Cabinet Departments

Back 8

The fifteen largest and most influential agencies of the federal bureaucracy.

Front 9

Contracting Out

Back 9

Hiring a private organization to deliver a public program or service.

Front 10

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

Back 10

The organzational structure in the executive branch that houses the president's most influential advisors and agencies. The most important include the White House Office, the Office of Management and Budget(OMB), the National Security Council, and the Council of Economic Advisors.

Front 11

Executive Orders

Back 11

Directives of the president that have teh same weight as law and were not voted on by Congress.

Front 12

Fire Alarm Oversight

Back 12

Oversight that becomes active only when there is evidence of bureaucratic wrongdoing.

Front 13

Government Corporations

Back 13

Federally established businesses that are narrow in focus and are in part self-supporting.

Front 14

Impoundment

Back 14

The limited ability of the president to not spend money appropriated by Congress.

Front 15

Independent Agencies

Back 15

Federal agencies that are not part of the cabinet-level executive departments. Members of these agencies serve fixed and overlapping terms and cannot be removed, which limits the president's control over them.

Front 16

Iron Triangles

Back 16

A term used to refer to the interdependent relationship among the bureaucracy, interest groups, and congressional committees.

Front 17

Legislative Intent

Back 17

The intention of Congress of when it passes laws.

Front 18

Legislative Veto

Back 18

Measures that give Congress the ability to reject an action or decision of the bureaucracy.

Front 19

Merit System

Back 19

A system of governing in which jobs are given based on relevant technical expertise and the ability to perform.

Front 20

Moral Hazard

Back 20

Principal's lack of information about the effort of the agent.

Front 21

Neutral Competence

Back 21

The idea that agencies should make decisions based on expertise rater than political considerations.

Front 22

Overhead Democracy

Back 22

The idea that the bureaucracy is controlled through the oversight of elected officials, who are chosen by the people, thus giving the populace control over the bureaucracy.

Front 23

Police Patrol Oversight

Back 23

The active oversight of the bureaucracy by elected officials to make sure that they are acting according the wishes of the people.

Front 24

Policy Subsystems

Back 24

Network of groups with an interest in a specific policy issue or area.

Front 25

Principal-agent Model

Back 25

A model explaining the relationship between Congress and the bureaucracy, which states teh relationship similar to that between an employer who seeks to have work done (the principal) and an employee who does the work(the agent).

Front 26

Regulatory Agencies and Commissions

Back 26

Agencies that aer independent of cabinet departments and are created by Congress to monitor and regulate specific ares of economic activity.

Front 27

Rule

Back 27

A statement of the bureaucracy taht interprets the law or prescribes a specific action. The rules have the force of the law.

Front 28

Rulemaking

Back 28

The process of bureaucracy deciding what the laws passed by Congress mean and how they should be carried out.

Front 29

Satisficing

Back 29

The idea that humans consider possible alternatives until they find one that is good enough to solve the problem at hand even though it might not be the "best" possible solution.

Front 30

Spoils System

Back 30

A system of governing in which political positions and benefits are given to the friends of the winner.

Front 31

Standards of the due process

Back 31

The procedural guarantees provided to ensure fair treatment and constitutional rights.

Front 32

Sunshine Laws

Back 32

Laws intended to keep the bureaucracy accountable to the people by requiring that agency meetings be open to the public.