Bureaucracy

Question 1

Administrative Procedure Act

Answer 1

A law passed in 1946 requiring federal agencies to give notice, solicit comments, and (sometimes) hold public hearings before adopting any new rules.

Question 2

annual authorization

Answer 2

The practice of a legislative committee determining the amount an agency can spend on a yearly basis. This practice is a recent one and curtails the power of the appropriations committees.

Question 3

appropriation

Answer 3

Money formally set aside for a specific use; issued by the House Appropriations Committee.

Question 4

buddy system

Answer 4

A job description by an agency which is tailor-made for a specific person. These appointments occur in middle- and upper-level positions in the bureaucracy.

Question 5

bureaucracy

Answer 5

A large organization composed of appointed officers in which authority is divided among several managers.

Question 6

competitive service

Answer 6

The set of civil servants appointed on the basis of a written exam administered by the Office of Personnel Management or by meeting certain selection criteria.

Question 7

conflict

Answer 7

A bureaucratic pathology in which some agencies seem to be working at cross-purposes to other agencies.

Question 8

discretionary authority

Answer 8

The ability of a bureaucracy to choose courses of action and make policies not spelled out in advance by laws.

Question 9

duplication

Answer 9

A bureaucratic pathology in which two government agencies seem to be doing the same thing.

Question 10

imperialism

Answer 10

A bureaucratic pathology in which agencies tend to grow without regard to the benefits their programs confer or the costs they entail.

Question 11

iron triangle

Answer 11

The policy-making network composed of a government agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group. This network is less common today because of the variety of interest groups that exist and the proliferation of congressional subcommittees.

Question 12

issue network

Answer 12

Members of Washington-based interest groups, congressional staffers, university faculty, experts participating in think tanks, and representatives of the mass media who regularly debate government policy on a certain subject. Such networks are replacing the iron triangles.

Question 13

oversight

Answer 13

Congressional supervision of the bureaucracy.

Question 14

patronage

Answer 14

Bureaucratic appointments made on the basis of political considerations. Federal legislation significantly limits such appointments today.

Question 15

Pendleton Act

Answer 15

A law passed in 1883 which began the process of transferring federal jobs from patronage to the merit system.

Question 16

Privacy Act

Answer 16

A law passed in 1974 requiring government files about individuals to be kept confidential.

Question 17

red tape

Answer 17

A bureaucratic pathology in which complex rules and procedures must be followed to get things done.

Question 18

Schedule C job

Answer 18

A form of patronage under the excepted service for a position of confidential or policy-determining” character below the level of the cabinet and sub cabinet.

Question 19

Senior Executive Service

Answer 19

A special classification for high-level civil servants created by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Members of this service can be hired, fired, and transferred more easily than ordinary civil servants.

Question 20

spoils system

Answer 20

Another phrase for political patronage, that is, the practice of giving the fruits of a party’s victory, such as jobs and contracts, to loyal members of that party.

Question 21

waste

Answer 21

A bureaucratic pathology in which an agency spends more than is necessary to buy some product or service.

Question 22

Whistleblower Protection Act

Answer 22

A law passed in 1989 which created an Office of Special Counsel to investigate complaints from bureaucrats claiming they were punished after reporting to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies.