AP Government Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy

According to Max Weber, a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality. They govern modern states.

Implementation

The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.

Administrative Adjudication

a quasi-judicial process in which a bureaucratic agency settles disputes between two parties in a manner similar to the way courts resolve disputes

Merit System

A system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated performance rather than political patronage.

Department

Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy.

Independent Agency

An agency of the United States government that is created by an act of Congress and is independent of the executive departments

Government Corporation

A government organization that, like business corporations, provides a service that could be provided by the private sector and typically charges for its services. The U.S. Postal Service is an example.

Regulatory Agencies

Independent agencies whose primary mission is to impose limits, restrictions or other obligations on the conduct of individuals or companies in the private sector.

Iron Triangle

A mutually dependent relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees. Iron Triangles dominate some areas of domestic policymaking.

Fiscal Policy

The federal government efforts to keep the economy stable by increasing or decreasing taxes or government spending.

Federal Reserve System

The country's central banking system, which is responsible for the nation's monetary policy by regulating the supply of money and interest rates.

Revenue Agencies

Agencies responsible for collecting taxes.

Deregulation

The lifting of restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer.

Devolution

The effort to transfer responsibility for many public programs and services from the federal government to the states.

Privatization

To change from government or public ownership or control to private ownership or control.

Executive Privilege

The right to keep executive communications confidential, especially if they relate to National Security.

Oversight

The effort by Congress, through hearings, investigations, and other techniques, to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies

Patronage

One of the key inducements used by political machines. A _____ job, promotion or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.

Pendleton Civil Service Act

Passed in 1883, an Act that created a federal civil service so that hiring and promotion would be based on merit rather than patronage.

Civil Service

A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service.

Hatch Act

A federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics.

GS (General Schedule) Rating

A schedule for federal employees, ranging from GS 1 to GS 18, by which salaries can be keyed to rating and experience.

Senior Executive Service (SES)

An elite cadre of about 9,000 federal government managers, established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, who are mostly career officials but include some political appointees who do not require Senate confirmation.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

The office in charge of hiring for most agencies of the federal government, using elaborate rules in the process.

Standard Operating Procedures

Better known as SOPs, these procedures are used by bureaucrats to bring uniformity to complex organizations. Uniformity improves fairness and makes personnel interchangeable.

Administrative Discretion

The authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem. Discretion is greatest when routines, or standard operating procedures do not fit a case.

Street-Level Bureaucrats

A phrase coined by Michael Lipsky, referring to those bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and have considerable administrative discretion.

Regulation

The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector. _____ pervade the daily lives of people and institutions.