AP Gov't Ch. 15

Question 1

Bureaucracy

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Patronage

Answer 2

A system in which jobs and promotions are gained based political reasons (knowing someone) instead of actually earning it.

Question 3

Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883

Answer 3

Passed in 1883, an act hat created a federal civil service so that hiring and promotions would be based on merit rather then patronage.

Question 4

Civil Service

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Merit Principle

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Hatch Act 1939/1993

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Office of Personal Management

Answer 7

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

Question 8

GS (General Schedule) Rating

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Senior Executive Service

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Independent Regulatory Commission

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

Government Corporation

Answer 11

A government organization that, like business corporations, provides a service that could be delivered by the private sector and typically charges for its services.

Question 12

Independent Executive Agency

Answer 12

The government agencies not accounted for by cabinet departments, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations.

Question 13

Policy Implementation

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Standard Operating Procedures

Answer 14

SOP’s, are procedures for every day decision making enable bureaucrats to bring efficiency and uniformity to the running of complex organizations. Uniformity promotes fairness and makes personnel interchangeable.

Question 15

Administrative Discretion

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Street-Level Bureaucrats

Answer 16

Refers to bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and considerably administrative discretion.

Question 17

Regulation

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Command-and-Control Policy

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Incentive System

Answer 19

An alternative to Command and Control, with market-like strategies such as rewards used to manage public policy.

Question 20

Deregulation

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Executive Orders

Answer 21

Regulations originating with the executive branch. These are one method the president uses to control the bureaucracy.

Question 22

Iron Triangles “Sub-governments”

Answer 22

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