Bureaucracy

Question 1

bureaucracy

Answer 1

According to Max Weber, a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality. They govern modern states.

Question 2

myths and realities

Answer 2

americans dislike bureaucrats (find them helpful)
bureaucracy is growing larger (only the states)
most work in D.C. (only 12%)
Bureaucrats are ineffective (no better way)

Question 3

patronage

Answer 3

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

Question 4

pendleton civil service act

Answer 4

Passed in 1883, an Act that created a federal civil service so that hiring and promotion would be based on merit rather than patronage.

Question 5

civil service

Answer 5

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

Question 6

merit principle

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Hatch act

Answer 7

A federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics.

Question 8

Office of Personnel Management

Answer 8

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

Question 9

GS rating

Answer 9

A schedule for federal employees, ranging from GS 1 to GS 15, by which salaries can be keyed to rating and experience.

Question 10

Senior Executive service

Answer 10

An elite cadre of about 9,000 federal government managers, established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, who are mostly career officials but include some political appointees who do not require Senate confirmation.

Question 11

plum book

Answer 11

lists of top federal jobs available for direct presidential appointment with senator confirmation (500 top and 2500 lesser) president searches

Question 12

cabinet departments

Answer 12

15 departments with secretaries (attorney general for dept. of justice) different organization and staffs

Question 13

Independent Regulatory Commissions

Answer 13

a government agency responsible for some sector of the economy making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest. it also judges disputes over these rules (alphabet soup) FCC or FDA

Question 14

Government Corporations

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Independent executive agencies

Answer 15

the government not accounted for by cabinet departments, independent regulatory agencies, and government corporations. Its administrators are typically appointed by the president and serve at the president’s pleaser. NASA is an example.

Question 16

policy implementation

Answer 16

the stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy and the consequences of the policy; translating goals and objectives into an operating program

Question 17

elements of implementation

Answer 17

1. creation of a new agency or assignment of a new responsibility
2. translation of policy goals into operational rules and develop guidelines
3. coordination of resources and personnel to achieve goals

Question 18

program design

Answer 18

policy design defective in its basic theoretical conception

Question 19

lack of clarity

Answer 19

unclear laws and policy due to members of congress trying to escape blame (Title IX)

Question 20

lack of resources

Answer 20

lacks staff, training, funding, supplies, and equiment

Question 21

Standard operating procedures

Answer 21

(red tape)
better known as SOP’s these procedures are used by bureaucrats to bring uniformity to complex organizations. Uniformity improves fairness and makes personnel interchangeable.

Question 22

administrative discretion

Answer 22

the authority of administrative actors to select among various response to a given problem. Discretion is greatest when routines, or standard operating procedures, do not fit a case.

Question 23

street-level bureaucrats

Answer 23

phrase coined by Michael Lipsky, referring to those bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and have considerable administrative discretion.

Question 24

Fragmentation

Answer 24

responsibility for a policy is sometimes dispersed among several units
difficult to coordinate administration
hyperpluralism

Question 25

voting rights act

Answer 25

implemented effectively due to a clear policy goal to register African americans to vote
used federal power to register 300,000 voters

Question 26

privatization

Answer 26

private contractors have become a large branch that help during times of need and because of competition may have better service but they can be corrupt or expensive

Question 27

regulation

Answer 27

the use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector. Regulations pervade the daily lives of people and institutions.

Question 28

Munn v. Illinois

Answer 28

SCOTUS held right of government to regulate business operations

Question 29

Command-and-control policy

Answer 29

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

Question 30

incentive system

Answer 30

a more effective and efficient policy than command-and-control; in the incentive system, market-like strategies are used to manage public policy.

Question 31

deregulation

Answer 31

the lifting of restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer.

Question 32

regulation process

Answer 32

1. agencies develop a set of rules/guidelines
2. enforce rules through court or administration
3. contain elements: grant of power from congress, set of rules of guidelines, means of enforcing compliance

Question 33

how presidents try to control the bureaucracy

Answer 33

appoint the right people to head the government agencies issue executive orders to agencies that have the force of law
change the budget
reorganize agency

Question 34

congress tries to control bureaucracy

Answer 34

senate confirmation
change the budget
hold hearings (congressional oversight)
rewrite legislation

Question 35

Iron triangles

Answer 35

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

• mutually dependent
• decentralized and fragment element

Question 36

issue networks

Answer 36

more widespread participation in bureaucratic policymaking with participants with tech expertise and emotional commitment
decreased predictability that comes with subgovernments