Unit 2D: The Bureaucracy

Federal bureaucracy

The departments and agencies within the executive branch that carry out the laws of the nation.

Bureaucrat

An official employed within a government bureaucracy.

Department

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

Independent (stand-alone) agency

A government entity that is independent of the 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 is operated like a business corporation, created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program.

Federal Civil Service

The merit-based bureaucracy, excluding the armed forces and political appointments.

Spoils system

A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.

Political patronage

Filling of administrative positions as a reward for support, rather than solely on merit.

Merit system

A system of hiring and promotion based on competitive testing results, education, and other qualifications rather than politics and personal connections.

Hatch Act

Federal statute barring federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds.

Implementation

The bureaucracy's role in putting into action the laws that Congress has passed.

Bureaucratic discretion

The power to decide how a law is implemented and what Congress meant when it passed the law.

Regulation

The process through which the federal bureaucracy makes rules that have the force of law, to carry out the laws passed by Congress.

Bureaucratic adjudication

When the federal bureaucracy settles disputes between parties that arise over the implementation of federal laws or determines which individuals or groups are covered under a regulation or program.

Pendleton Act

1. An act of Congress that created the first U.S. Civil Service Commission to draw up and enforce rules on hiring, promotion, and tenure of office within the civil service (also known as the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883).

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.

Public policy

A specific course of action that government takes to address a problem.

Policy agenda

The list of issues that the federal government pays attention to.

Think tank

A nongovernmental organization that seeks to influence public policy through research and education.

Iron triangle

Coordinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy (federal department or agency), Congress (congressional committee), and interest groups to achieve shared policy goals.

Issue network

Webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates.