Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Administrative Procedure Act
|
A law passed in 1946 requiring federal agencies to give notice, ask for comments, and (sometimes) hold public hearings before adopting any new rules.
|
|
|
annual authorization
|
when a legislative committee decides how much money an agency can spend in a year. annual authorization is a pretty recent practice that limits the power of the appropriations committee.
|
|
|
appropriation
|
Money set aside for a specific use; appropriations are issued by the House Appropriations Committee.
|
|
|
authorization legislation
|
Legislation that originates in a legislative committee stating the maximum amount of money that an agency may spend on a given program.
|
|
|
buddy system
|
Instead of adhering strictly to merit, a member of the bureaucracy tailors a job opening strictly for one person (so they basically have to hire that person to fill the job reqs). This is done in higher levels/middle levels of the bur.
|
|
|
bureaucracy
|
a set of complex hierarchical departments, agencies, commissions, and other staffs that help a chief executive officer carry out his/her duty to enforce the law.
|
|
|
bureaucratic culture
|
An informal understanding among fellow employees of an agency as to how they are supposed to act.
|
|
|
committee clearance
|
A request made by congressional committees to pass certain agency decisions. Although usually not binding, it is seldom ignored by agencies. So when something has committee clearance, it's going to pass.
|
|
|
competitive service
|
a set of civil servants appointed on the basis of a written exam administered by the Office of Personnel Management or by meeting certain selection criteria.
|
|
|
conflict
|
A bureaucratic pathology (disease) in which some agencies seem to be working at cross-purposes to other agencies.
|
|
|
discretionary authority
|
bureaucracy's ablity to choose courses of action and make policies not spelled out in advance by laws.
|
|
|
duplication
|
A bureaucratic pathology (disease) in which two government agencies seem to be doing the same thing.
|
|
|
Freedom of Information Act
|
A law passed in 1966 giving citizens the right to inspect all government records except those containing military, intelligence, or trade secrets or material revealing private personnel actions.
|
|
|
government corporation
|
Government entity that provides a service for a fee just like a corporation. For example, the U.S. Post Office and AMTRAK.
|
|
|
Hatch Act (1939)
|
Made it illegal for federal civil service employees (bureaucrats) to take an active part in political management or political campaigns by serving as party officers, soliciting campaign funds, running for partisan office, working in a partisan campaign, endorsing partisan candidates, taking voters to the polls, counting ballots, circulating nominating petitions, or being a delegate to a party convention.
|
|
|
imperialism
|
A bureaucratic pathology (disease) in which agencies tend to grow without regard to the benefits their programs bring about or the costs they entail.
|
|
|
iron triangle
|
The closed, mutually supportive relationships that often prevail in the United States between the government agencies, the lobbying organizations, and the legislative committees or subcommittees with jurisdiction over a particular area of government policy. As long as they hang together, the members of these small groups tend to dominate all policy-making in their respective specialized areas of concern, and they tend to present a united front against "outsiders" who attempt to invade their turf and alter established policies that have been worked out by years of private negotiations among the "insiders." The middle-level bureaucrats who run the agencies may use their special friends in Congress to block the efforts of a new President or a new Congressional majority leadership bent on reforming or reducing the size of their agencies. The Congressmen and Senators on the oversight committees can count upon their friends in the agencies to continue "pet" programs and pork-barrel projects important to their local constituencies or even to do special favors for their political supporters and financial backers. Lobbying organizations provide useful information to the committees and the agencies, provide campaign support for the relevant Congressmen, and often help to mobilize public opinion in favor of more money and expanded programs for "their" part of the government bureaucracy.
|
|
|
issue networks
|
Members of Washington-based interest groups, congressional staffers, university faculty, experts participating in think tanks, and representatives of the mass media who regularly debate government policy on a certain subject. Such networks are replacing the iron triangles. Issue networks are not permanent like iron triangles; issue networks disband after they solve an issue.
|
|
|
laissez-faire
|
A belief in a freely competitive economy that was widely held in the late nineteenth century.
|
|
|
legislative veto
|
Congressional veto of an executive decision during the specified period it must lie before Congress before it can take effect. The veto is put into effect through a resolution of disapproval passed by either house or by both houses. These resolutions do not need the president's signature. In INS v. Chadha 1983, the Supreme Court ruled such vetoes were unconstitutional, but Congress continues to enact laws containing them.
|
|
|
name-request job
|
A job in the federal bureaucracy that is filled by a person whom an agency has already identified.
|
|
|
National Environmental Policy Act
|
A law passed in 1969 requiring agencies to issue an environmental impact statement before undertaking any major action affecting the environment.
|
|
|
Open Meeting Law
|
A law passed in 1976 requiring agency meetings to be open to the public unless certain specified matters are being discussed.
|
|
|
oversight
|
Congressional supervision of the bureaucracy.
|
|
|
patronage
|
Bureaucratic appointments made on the basis of political considerations. Federal legislation significantly limits such appointments today.
|
|
|
Pendleton Act
|
A law passed in 1883 which began the process of transferring federal jobs from patronage to the merit system.
|
|
|
Privacy Act
|
A law passed in 1974 requiring government files about individuals to be kept confidential.
|
|
|
red tape
|
A bureaucratic pathology in which complex rules and procedures must be followed to get things done.
|
|
|
revolving door influence
|
Where a government official leaves an important job in the federal government to take more lucrative positions in private industry.
|
|
|
Senior Executive Service
|
A special classification for high-level civil servants created by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Members of this service can be hired, fired, and transferred more easily than ordinary civil servants. They are also eligible for cash bonuses and, if removed, are guaranteed jobs elsewhere in the government. The purpose of the service is to give the president more flexibility in recruiting, assigning, and paying high-level bureaucrats with policy-making responsibility.
|
|
|
spoils system
|
Another phrase for political patronage, that is, the practice of giving the fruits of a party's victory, such as jobs and contracts, to loyal members of that party.
|
|
|
trust fund
|
Money outside the regular government budget. These funds are beyond the control of congressional appropriations committees.
|
|
|
waste
|
A bureaucratic pathology in which an agency spends more than is necessary to buy some product or service.
|
|
|
Whistleblower Protection Act
|
A law passed in 1989 which created an Office of Special Counsel to investigate complaints from bureaucrats claiming they were punished after reporting to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies.
In effect, the act protects bureaucrats who tell Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies. |
|
|
departments
|
major administrative units that are responsible for a broad area of government operation. If something has department status, the national probably has a permanent interest in it: i.e. defense, commerce, or agriculture.
|
|
|
Independent Agency
|
government units that are similar to a cabinet department, but have a narrower area of responsibility (i.e. the CIA) and are not part of any cabinet.
|
|
|
Civil Service
|
branches of public service that are not legislative, judicial, or military and in which employment is usually based on competitive examination.
|
|
|
Incrementalism
|
A type of decision-making in which decisions are usually made on the basis of relatively small adjustments to the existing situation; social and political gradualism.
|
|
|
Deregulation
|
The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry.
|
|
|
What is a Schedule C Job?
|
It's a type of patronage that gives someone a policy determining/confidential job below the cabinet level.
|
|
|
What is a non career executive assignment?
|
It is a type of patronage given to high ranking bureaucrats who advocate presidential programs.
|
