AP Gov Ch 14 Vocab

Edwards, Government in America, 2014 Elections and Updates (16e). (2014). Chapter 14 Full Vocabulary.

Bureaucracy

A hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality.

Patronage

One of the key inducements used by party 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 alone.

Civil Service

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

Merit Principle

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

Hatch Act

A federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics while on duty or for employees in sensitive positions at any time.

Office of Personnel Management

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

GS (General Scheduling) 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

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

Independent Regulatory Commission

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 the rules.

Government Corporation

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

Independent Executive Agency

Government agencies not accounted for by cabinet departments, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations. Administrators are typically appointed by the president and serve at the president’s pleasure. ex. Nasa

Policy Implementation

The stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy and the consequences of the policy for the people affected. Implementation involves translating the goals and objectives of a policy into an operating, ongoing program.

Standard Operation Procedures

Better known as SOPs, these procedures for everyday decision making enable bureaucrats to bring efficiency and uniformity to the running of complex organizations. Uniformity promotes fairness and makes personal 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 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.

Deregulation

The lifting of government restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities.

Command-and-Control Policy

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

Incentive System

An alternative to command-and-control, with marketlike strategies such as rewards used to manage public policy.

Executive Orders

Regulations originating with the executive branch. Executive orders are one method presidents can use to control the bureaucracy.

Iron Triangles

Also known as subgovernments, a mutually dependent, mutually advantageous relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees. Iron triangles dominate some areas of domestic policymaking.