Chapter 7 - The Bureaucracy Flashcards
Government bureaucracy
The agencies and offices devoted to carrying out the tasks of government consistent with the law
Government agency
An individual unit of the government responsible for carrying out tasks delegated to it by Congress or the president in accordance with the law
Cabinet departments
Departments within the executive branch that encompass many of the agencies that implement federal policy. Secretaries appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate are given the responsibility of leading these departments and providing advice to the president
Independent agency
An agency that exists outside the cabinet departments and is run with a larger degree of independence from presidential influence
Government corporation
A federally owned corporation that generates revenue by providing a public service, operating much like a private business and with a higher degree of autonomy than a cabinet department or an independent agency
Administrative law
The body of law created by executive agencies with the purpose of refining general law passed in legislation
Rule making
The process by which governmental agencies provide details on how laws passed by elected officials will be implemented
Privatization
The contracting of private companies by the government to conduct work that was formerly done by government agencies
Marketization
Government bureaucratic reform that emphasizes market-based principles of management that are common to the private
sector
Government contract
An agreement whereby the government hires a company or an organization to carry out certain tasks on its behalf
Government grants
Money that the government provides to individuals or organizations to perform tasks in the public’s interest
Bureaucratic drift
When government agencies depart from executing policy consistent with the ideological preferences of Congress or the president so as to execute policy consistent with their own ideological preferences
Coalitional drift
When an ideological shift in elected branches creates disparity between the way an agency executes policy and the way new members of Congress or a new president believes the agency ought to execute policy
Bureaucratic capture
When regulatory agencies are beholden to the organizations or interests they are supposed to regulate
Fire-alarm oversight
Congressional oversight that relies on interest groups and citizens to inform representatives of unwarranted action
