POLS 340 Exam I Vocabulary

bureaucracy

(1) a formal organizational arrangement characterized by division of labor, job specialization with no functional overlap, exercise of authority through a vertical hierarchy (chain of command), and a system of internal rules, regulations, and record keeping; (2) the administrative branch of government (national, state, or local) in the United States

electoral college

a mechanism established under the Constitution to choose the president and the vice president of the United States; each state has as many electoral votes as members in Congress, and its members, called electors, can be selected by any method; candidates who win the popular vote in each state receive all of that state’s electoral votes

discretionary authority

power defined according to a legal and institutional framework and vested in a formal structure; power exercised through recognized, legitimate channels

entrepreneurial government

a philosophy strongly resembling that of for-profit companies, arguing that government institutions can and must compete with for-profit businesses, nonprofit agencies, and other units of government with emphasis on productivity management, measurable performance, privatization, and change

privatization

a practice in which governments either join with or yield responsibility outright to private-sector enterprises to provide services previously managed and financed by public entities

public administration

(1) all processes, organizations, and individuals acting in official positions associated with carrying out laws and other rules adopted or issued by legislatures, executives, and courts; (2) a field of academic study and professional training leading to public-service careers at all levels of government

stakeholders

bureaucrats, elected officials, groups of citizens, and unorganized interests affected by the decisions of national, state, and local governments; those having a stake in the outcome of public policies

public management

a field of practice and study central to public administration that emphasizes internal operations of public agencies and focuses on managerial concerns related to control and direction

reverse pyramid

a conception of organizational structure, especially in service organizations, whereby managerial duties focus on providing necessary support to frontline employees who deal directly with individuals seeking the organization’s services

jurisdiction

in bureaucratic politics, the area of programmatic responsibility assigned to an agency by the legislature or chief executive; the territory within the boundaries of a government entity

smart cities

use sensors, information communication technology, and other advanced technologies to connect components and to derive real-time data to make more intelligent, data-driven, efficient, and rational decisions to deploy personnel and resources, which informs decision making and improves the lives of citizens

checks and balances

a governing principle, following from separation of powers, that creates overlapping and interlocking functions among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government; these include the president’s power to veto an act of Congress (and Congress’s power to override a presidential veto by a two-third majority), the Senate’s power to confirm or reject presidential appointments to executive and judicial positions, and the power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of the actions of other branches

parliamentary forms of government

a form of government practiced in most democratic nations in which the chief executive and top-level ministers are themselves members of the legislature

power vacuums

where power to govern is splintered, there will inevitably be attempts by some to exercise that power that is not clearly defined and is, therefore, “up for grabs”

bureaucratic neutrality

a central feature of bureaucracy whereby it carries out directives of other institutions of government in a politically neutral way, without acting as a political force in its own right; a traditional notion concerning bureaucratic behavior in Western governments

legislative intent

the goals, purposes, and objectives of a legislative body, given concrete form in its enactments (though actual intent may change over time)

legislative oversight

the process by which a legislative body supervises or oversees the work of the bureaucracy in order to ensure its conformity with legislative intent

electronic government

takes the information technology concept further by integrating disparate information sources into one-stop web “portals” for improving access to information about government

digital governance

the networked extension of information communication technologies to include faster access to the internet, remote service delivery, and multichannel advanced technologies to achieve higher-level service delivery

clientelism

a phenomenon whereby patterns of regularized relationships develop and are maintained in the political process between individual government agencies and particular economic groupings

demographic changes

shifts in the population and economies of numerous locales and regions that impact the delivery of public services

knowledge revolution

a global social phenomenon of the past forty years, particularly in Western industrial nations, creating new technologies and vast new areas of research and education

technological change

rapidly emerging patterns of change (related in part to the knowledge revolution) in communication, medical, and transportation technologies, among others, with significant implications both for the societal challenges confronting government and for the means and resources increasingly available to government for conducting public affairs

data analytics

the process of analyzing, coding, and modeling large datasets to gain insights about citizens and consumers and to create algorithms, calculate correlations, and establish trends for decision making

distributed ledger technology

a decentralized database that is distributed across several different computers where transactions are shared among users on a network and updated by agreement

blockchain

takes distributed ledger technology and integrates organized record updating using “blocks”; each block consists of data that is organized and linked to previously acquired data

cloud computing

a technology that allows users to store data on a distributed network of computers providing location-independent access and security

geographic information systems

virtual mapping technology already in widespread use in both commercial and government sectors

internet of things

the network of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, sensors, objects, or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability, when integrated with artificial intelligence and cloud storage, to transfer data over a network without human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction

open data sources

any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license; the nature means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt, and re-share them

fourth industrial revolution

refers to how technologies are merging with humans’ physical lives

facial recognition technology

a controversial technology coupled with artificial intelligence that is capable of identifying or verifying a person’s identity from a digital image or a frame from a video source

politics-administration dichotomy

originally proposed by Woodrow Wilson in the 1880s, it divides politics and policymaking from policy implementation and public administration

POSDCORB

acronym standing for the “professional watchwords” of administration": planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, budgeting

liberal democracy

a fundamental arrangement of government founded on the concepts of popular sovereignty and limited government

capitalist system

an economic system in which the means of production are owned by organizations and private citizens

popular sovereignty

a concept under which government authority rests upon the ultimate consent of the governed, which implies some degree of popular participation in voting and other political actions, although this does not necessarily mean mass or universal political involvement

limited government

the concept is given operational application through numerous devices built into the Constitution that effectively limit the power of government over individual citizens

representation

a principle of legislative selection based on the number of inhabitants or amount of territory in a legislative district; adequate, fair, and equal representation has become a major objective of many who feel they were denied it in the past and now seek greater influence, particularly in administrative decision making

demographic representativeness

groups that have been relatively powerless in the past should be represented in government positions in proportion to their numbers in the population

affirmative action

a policy or program designed to bring into public service greater number of citizens who were largely excluded from public employment in previous years

judicial review

the constitutional power of the courts to review the actions of executive agencies, legislatures, or decisions of lower courts to determine whether judges, legislators, or administrators acted appropriately

individualism

a philosophical belief in the intrinsic worth and dignity of individuals, particularly as part of a political order; holds that government and politics should regard the well-being and aspirations of individuals as more important, overall, than those of government

pluralism

a social and political concept stressing the appropriateness of group organization, and the diversity of groups and their activities, as a means of protecting broad group interests in society; assumes that groups are good and that bargaining and competition among them will benefit the public interest

entrepreneurs

individuals who engage in activities directed toward generating value, defined in different ways

due process of law

a fundamental concept that emphasizes procedural guarantees provided by national and state constitutions, and enforced by the judicial system, to protect individuals from unfair or unconstitutional actions by government agencies and private organizations

substantive due process of law

a constitutional principle allowing courts to prevent government interference with fundamental rights; protects individuals from an unreasonable loss of rights

procedural due process of law

a fundamental concept that emphasizes procedural guarantees provided by national and state constitutions, and enforced by the judicial system, to protect individuals from unfair or unconstitutional actions by government agencies and private organizations

representative democracy

a fundamental concept under which representatives are chosen by the electorate; the representatives comprise a legislature that makes binding decisions for its society

participatory democracy

a political and philosophical belief that supports direct involvement by affected citizens in the processes of governmental decision-making; believed by some to be essential to the existence of democratic government

citizen participation

citizen involvement in governmental decision-making

plualist democracy

a normative model of administrative activity characterized by dispersion of power and suspicion of any concentration of power; by exercise of power on the part of politicians, interest groups, and citizens; by political bargaining and accommodation; and by an emphasis on individuals’ and political actors’ own determination of interests as the basis for policy making

administrative efficiency

a normative model of administrative activity characterized by concentration of power, centralization of governmental policy making, exercise of power by experts and professional bureaucrats, separation of politics and administration, and emphasis on technical or scientific rationality

accountability

a political principle in which agencies or organizations are subjected to some form of external control, causing them to give a general account of, and for, their actions

sunshine laws

acts passed by Congress and by some states and localities requiring that various legislative proceedings and various administrative proceedings be held in public rather than behind closed doors; one device for increasing openness and accountability

sunset laws

provisions in laws that government agencies and programs have a specific termination date, unless positive action is taken by the legislative body to reauthorize them before that date

Freedom of Information Act

a statute enacted by Congress and by some state legislatures establishing procedures through which private citizens may gain access to a wide variety of records and files from government agencies

community control

a concept calling for legal requirements that groups affected by government decisions must be represented on decision-making boards and commissions

public interest groups

organized lobbying groups that represent primarily noneconomic interests in attempting to influence public policy

co-optation

a process in organizational relations whereby one group or organization acquires the ability to influence activities of another, usually for a considerable period of time

neoconservatives

those who subscribe to the philosophical basis for the George W. Bush administration’s policy decisions favoring preemptive military action, privatization, lower taxes, and cutbacks in domestic social programs

USA PATRIOT Act

short title of the controversial post-9/11 antiterrorist legislation “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” that increased national government authority to investigate, detain, and wiretap persons suspected of engaging in terrorist activity

bureaucratic imperialism

the tendency of agencies to try to expand their program responsibilities

interest groups

private groups representing a portion (usually small) of the general adult population; they exist in order to pursue particular public-policy objectives and seek to influence government activity in the effort to achieve their objectives

specialized language

technical vocabulary used by bureaucratic agencies, one effect of which is to restrict access and outside influence

consistuency

any group of organization interested in the work and actions of a given official, agency, or organization, and a potential source of support for it; the interests (and sometimes geographic area) served by an elected or appointed public official

subsystem (iron triangle)

any political alliance uniting some members of an administrative agency, a legislative committee or subcommittee, and an interest group according to shared values and preferences in the same substantive area of policy making

multiple referral

a legislative tactic that has strengthened the power of Congress, as a whole, and congressional leaders over policy subsystems

gridlock

deruved from term referring to traffic that is so congested that cars cannot move; government is so divided that no consistent policy direction can be established

partisanship

political party pressures on elected members of Congress, state legislatures, or local councils, boards, and commissions

issue networks

open and fluid groupings of various political actors (in and out of government) attempting to influence policy; “shared knowledge” groups having to do with some aspect or problem of public policy; lacking in the degree of permanence, commonality of interests, and internal cohesion characteristic of subsystems

bureaucratic accountability

principles of political accountability applied in an effort to control bureaucratic power

line-item veto

a constitutional power available to more than forty of America’s governors, through which they may disapprove a specific expenditure item within an appropriations (or other) bill instead of having to accept or reject the entire bill

casework

services performed by legislators and their staff on behalf of constituents

federalism

a constitutional division of governmental power between a central or national government and regional government units, with each having some independent authority over its citizens

intergovernmental relations

all the activities and interactions occurring between or among governmental units of all types and levels within the U.S. federal system

unfunded mandates

federal (or state) laws or regulations that impose requirements on other governments, often involving expenditures by affected governments, without providing funds for implementation

preemptions

the assumption of state or local program authority by the federal government

eminent domain

power of governments to take private property for a legitimate public purpose without the owner’s consent

fiscal federalism

the complex of financial transactions, transfers of funds, and accompanying rules and regulations that characterizes national-state, national-local, and state-local relations

fiscal mismatch

differences in the capacity of various governments to raise revenues, in relation to those governments’ respective abilities to pay for public services that they are responsible for delivering

grants-in-aid

money payments furnished to a lower level of government to be used for specific purposes and subject to conditions spelled out in law or administrative regulation

externalities

the economic consequences or impacts of federal grants-in-aid at the regional and local level

formula grants

type of national government grant-in-aid available to states and local governments for purposes that are ongoing and common to many government jurisdictions; distributed according to a set formula that treats all applicants uniformly, at least in principle; and have the effect of reducing grantors’ administrative discretion

project grants

form of grant-in-aid available by application to states and localities for an individual project; more numerous than formula grants but with less overall funding by the federal government

categorical grants

a form of grant-in-aid with purposes narrowly defined by the grantor, leaving the recipient relatively little choice as to how the grant funding is to be used, substantively or procedurally

medicaid

national government health care program operated by the states to assist the poor

gubernatorial

refers to anything concerning the office of a state governor

single state agency requirement

a requirement contained in federal grants designating only one state agency to administer national grants, and to establish direct relationships with its counterpart in the national government bureaucracy

vertical functional autocracies

associations of federal, state, and local professional administrators who manage intergovernmental programs

picket-fence federalism

intergovernmental administrative relationships among bureaucratic specialists and their clientele groups in the same substantive areas; suggests that allied bureaucrats at different levels of government exercise considerable power over intergovernmental programs

block grants

a form of grant-in-aid in which the purposes to be served by the funding are defined very broadly by the grantor, leaving considerable discretion and flexibility in the hands of the recipient

regulatory federalism

an approach to intergovernmental relations under which federal agencies use regulations as opposed to grants to influence state and local governments

devolution

a process of transferring power or functions from a higher to a lower level of government in the U.S. federal system

hierarchy

a clear vertical chain of command in which each unit is subordinate to the one above it and superior to the one below it

patronage

selection of public officials on the basis of political loyalty rather than merit, objective examination, or professional competence

formal theory of organization

stresses formal, structural arrangements within organizations, and “correct” or “scientific” methods to be followed in