Gov Chapter 7 Notes - The Bureaucracy

Federal Bureaucracy

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

Bureaucrat

An official employed within a government bureaucracy

Political Patronage

Filing of administrative positions as a reward for support, rather than merit

Pendleton Act 1883

An act of congress that created the first US Civil Service commission to draw up and enforce rules on hiring, promotion and tenure of office with the civil service

Federal Civil Service

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

Merit System

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

Constitutional basis of the bureaucracy is in…

Article 2

Political patronage makes the bureaucracy more…

Impartial, neutral and driven by standard operating and technical expertise

Iron Triangle

Coordinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to achieve shared policy goals

Issue Networks

Webs of influence between interest groups, policy makers and policy advocates

Who do people target if they feel if the bureaucracy is failing?

The president

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 to decide what Congress meant when it passed a law

Regulation

A 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

The main role of the Bureaucracy…

Implementation

Notice and Comment

When an agency proposes a set of rules and allows interested parties to weigh in

Who has the most controll over the the Bureaucracy?

The president

Congressional checks on the bureaucracy…

• Oversight

• Making the bureaucracy testify