chapter 14: the federal bureaucracy

patronage

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

Pendleton Service Act (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 desire to create a nonpartisan government service

merit principle

idea that hiring should be based on entrance exams and promotion ratings to produce administration by people with talent and skill

Hatch Act

federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics while on duty for employment

Officer of Personnel Management

office in charge of hiring for most agencies of the federal government, usually elaborating rules in the process

GS (General Schedule) rating

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

Senior Executive Service

an elite cadre of about 9,000 federal government managers at the top of the civil service system

federal executive branch agencies

-cabinet departments
-independent regulatory commissions
-government corporations
-independent executive agencies

independent regulatory commissions

a government agency with responsibility for making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest in some sector of the economy and for judging disputes over these rules

government corporations

a government organization that provides a service that could be delivered by the private sector and typically charges for its services

independent executive agencies

government agencies not accounted for by cabinet departments. their administrators are appointed by the president and serve at the president's pleasure

policy implementation

stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy and the consequences for the people

policy implementation

1. creation of new agency or assignment of new responsibility to an old agency
2. translation of policy goals into operational rules and development guidelines
3. coordination of resources and personnel

standard operating procedures

enable bureaucrats to bring efficiency and uniformity to the running of complex organizations

administrative discretion

authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem

street-level bureaucrats

a phrase referring to those bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and have considerable administrative discretion

regulation

use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector

regulation

-a grant of power and set of directions from Congress
-set of rules and guidelines by the regulatory agency itself
-some means of enforcing compliance with congressional goals and agency regulation

two types of regulatory activity

1. command-and-control policy
2. incentive system

command-and-control policy

the typical system of regulation whereby government tells business how to reach certain goals, checks that the commands are followed, and punishes offenders

incenvtive system

market-like strategies such as rewards used to manage public policy

deregulation

the lifting of government restrictions on business industry and professional activities

executive activities

regulations originating with the executive branch

iron triangles (subgovernments)

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

a reason the operations of government differ from those of private business is that ________

the government's goal is the public good, whereas one of the primary goals of a business is to make a profit

why would federal agencies require federal employees to fill out detailed paperwork on the work they have completed during the day?

it keeps people accountable for the work they do

Congress can hold the bureaucracy accountable through ________

investigating bureaucratic activities

companies that are not under the direct jurisdiction of the federal government are part of the ________

private sector

in the absence of either positive or negative incentives, government relies heavily on ________ to limit its employees' behavior

rules

when bureaucratic agencies, special interest groups, and congressional committees all depend on one another and are in close, frequent contact, they form what are sometimes called ________

subgovernments

the executive branch is headed by the president and is composed of independent agencies, ________, and ________

regulatory commissions; government agencies

a movement to reinvent government started in the 1980s with the goal of decentralizing authority. it was believed this would create an environment that promoted innovation, and focused on the need to ________

privatize more government jobs

which of these federal agencies has the largest number of civilian employees?

the Department of Defense

the ________ is the president's final authority on a bureaucratic agency's budget

the Office of Management and Budget

which federal agency sets the water-quality standards that determine whether people can safely swim or fish in a lake, river, or bay?

the Environmental Protection Agency

Congressional power of ________ is a potent weapon for controlling bureaucratic behavior

the purse

which agency in the federal bureaucracy established a color-coded security system that assesses the likelihood of another terrorist attack?

Department of Homeland Security

an example of a government corporation is ________

Amtrak

which department is a regulatory commission that controls unfair labor practices?

National Labor Relations Board

which of the following is an example of how the size and responsiveness of the federal bureaucracy led to a negative outcome?

the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina

which bureaucratic principle is evident when the resident director of a dormitory tells all the resident assistants to drop what they are doing and clean up the quad before a group of prospective students arrives on campus?

hierarchy, because lower-level employees are subject to control and direction by higher-level employees

________ committees have the power to keep power in check in a bureaucracy by confirming or rejecting nominees in top bureaucratic positions

Congressional committees

if you want a permanent federal position, you will have to take a civil service exam. the use of civil service exams as a means of selecting the best employee to perform a federal job is an example of the ________

merit system

originally, the federal bureaucracy played a(n) ________ role in government. it was responsible for promoting the economy, defending the country, managing foreign affairs, providing justice, and delivering the mail

modest

in order to qualify for federal student-aid funding, students and their families must answer as many as 153 questions on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), many of which have no effect on their student-aid packages. overly complicated government paperwork and documentation requirements of this sort are often referred to as ________

red tape

laws like Title IX of the Education Amendments and formulating regulations for the improvement of education throughout the country fall under the ________ function as a federal agency

Department of Education's

the president's power to choose his own Cabinet is limited by the fact that members of the Cabinet must ________

be confirmed by a majority of the Senate

the federal regulations written by executive branch departments and agencies are designed to do what?

convert laws into actions

which of the following statements describes the kind of direction that Congress gives federal agencies when passing a new law?

Congress gives agencies administrative discretion in implementing the law

the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission owes its existence to the lobbying of ________

civil rights groups

the spoils system was perhaps more overt than at any other time in the history of the U.S. federal government under the administration of ________

Andrew Jackson

Congress can use the "power of the ________" to coerce bureaucrats to create particular policies

purse

the rationale for the civil service rests on the ________

desire to create a nonpartisan government service and promotion on the basis of merit

the power to grant or withhold budget requests of agencies may be one of ________ most potent weapons in controlling the bureaucracy

Congress's

the administration hoped that the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 would help overcome problems of ________ involved in providing for security

fragmentation

which of the following statements about government regulation in America is accurate?

Until 1887, the federal government made almost no regulatory policies and had no regulatory agencies

although the president and Congress have a significant role in the way the bureaucracy is run, the ________ also have a role in judging on laws and agency reviews

federal courts

which of the following contributes to the negative perception of government bureaucracy?

the inefficiency of inter-agency communication

the Hatch Act (1939) made it illegal to fire federal employees for ________ reasons

political

interest groups, scholars, and other experts that communicate about, debate, and interact regarding issues of interest, and thus influence public policy when the legislature acts on these issues, are commonly referred to as a(n) ________

issue network

in the context of the federal bureaucracy, the patronage or spoils system refers to a system of ________

filling the bureaucracy based on criteria of political loyalty

in the context of government, the term bureaucracy generally refers to ________

departments and agencies in the executive branch

if an agency is accused of or revealed to be misusing or abusing its power or neglecting its mandate, Congress will first ________

hold hearings

the many quasi-judicial processes within the bureaucracy are subject to oversight through appeals to the ________

Congress

the president has the power to hold agencies accountable through ________

the appointment and removal of agency heads

most regulatory agencies adopt specific ________ to carry out a policy, based on what they believe was the intended purpose of the specific policy at hand

guidelines

interest groups monitor agencies that ________

serve or regulate their own members

the Federal Reserve Board is an example of a(n) ________

independent regulatory agency

the parts of the federal bureaucracy with responsibility for different sectors of the economy, and making and enforcing rules designed to protect the public interest, are the ________

independent regulatory commissions

in the context of the federal government, government corporations ________

have independent boards and are expected to be run like private companies

an especially vivid example of the death of an "iron triangle" is ________

nuclear power policy

the first civil service system was established by the ________

Pendleton Act

the FDA stands for the ________, a government agency that sets limits and standards on ________

Food and Drug Administration; food imports and medical devices

which of the following was one of the original responsibilities of the bureaucracy?

delivering the mail

most bureaucrats have some leeway in their ability to make choices regarding the best way to implement congressional intentions through administrative ________

discretion

the most recently formed department in the federal bureaucracy is the Department of ________

Homeland Security

the 1973 oil crisis led to the creation of the ________

Department of Energy

the fifteen major administrative units of the executive branch that have responsibility for broad areas of government operations are called ________

Cabinet departments

Charles Guiteau, a frustrated bureaucratic office seeker, helped end the spoils system in 1881 when he assassinated ________

President James Garfield

independent agencies are called this because ________

they have limited responsibilities focusing on services

which system of appointment allowed political parties to reward their supporters by giving them government jobs?

spoils system

the General Schedule of the civil service system established the ________

job grades, with pay ranges and requirements for each grade level

when a victorious president fires current executive-branch employees and hires loyalists instead, this is known as ________

the spoils system

bureaucracies and ________ are the only two policymaking institutions within American government that are not staffed by election

the courts

the merit system uses entrance exams and promotional ratings to produce administration, which is an example of the fair hiring practices for those under ________

civil service systems

regulations and population have accounted for the ________ of federal bureaucracy in the United States over time

growth

the agency created to regulate labor-management relations is the ________

National Labor Relations Board

________ typically have narrow responsibilities for a specific policy issue (such as the environment), not covered by one of the federal departments

independent agencies

proposals that portions of governmental bureaucracy be turned over to private organizations are generally referred to as ________

privatization

the purpose(s) of the Interstate Commerce Commission when it was created in 1887 was/were to ________

regulate the railroads, their prices, and their services to farmers