The Bureaucracy

Question 1

Administrative Procedure Act

Answer 1

A 1946 law requiring federal agencies to give notice, solicit comments, and sometimes hold public hearings before adopting 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.

Question 3

appropriation

Answer 3

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

Question 4

authorization legislation

Answer 4

Legislation stating the maximum amount of money an agency may spend on a given program.

Question 5

buddy system

Answer 5

A job description, in a middle-/upper-level bureaucracy, by an agency which is tailor-made for a specific person.

Question 6

bureaucracy

Answer 6

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

Question 7

bureaucratic culture

Answer 7

An informal understanding among fellow employees of an agency as to how they are supposed to act.

Question 8

committee clearance

Answer 8

A request made by congressional committees to review certain agency decisions. Seldom ignored by agencies.

Question 9

competitive service

Answer 9

Civil servants appointed on the basis of a written exam by the Office of Personnel Management/meeting certain selection criteria.

Question 10

conflict

Answer 10

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

Question 11

discretionary authority

Answer 11

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

Question 12

duplication

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Freedom of Information Act

Answer 13

A law giving citizens the right to inspect all government records except those sensitive or classified.

Question 14

imperialism

Answer 14

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

Question 15

iron triangle

Answer 15

The exclusive policy-making network composed of a government agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group.

Question 16

issue network

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

laissez-faire

Answer 17

A belief in a freely competitive economy, without government intervention.

Question 18

legislative veto

Answer 18

The authority of Congress to block a presidential action after it has taken effect. The Supreme Court has ruled that congress does not have this power.

Question 19

name-request job

Answer 19

A job in the federal bureaucracy that is filled by a person whom an agency has already identified.

Question 20

National Environmental Policy Act

Answer 20

A law requiring agencies to issue an environmental impact statement before undertaking any major action affecting the environment.

Question 21

noncareer executive assignments

Answer 21

A form of patronage under the excepted service given to high-ranking president-program advocating bureaucrats.

Question 22

Open Meeting Law

Answer 22

A law requiring agency meetings to be open to the public, unless certain specified matters are being discussed.

Question 23

oversight

Answer 23

Congressional supervision of the bureaucracy.

Question 24

patronage

Answer 24

Bureaucratic appointments made on the basis of political considerations.

Question 25

Pendleton Act

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Privacy Act

Answer 26

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

Question 27

red tape

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Schedule C job

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Senior Executive Service

Answer 29

A special classification for high-level civil servants which can be hired, fired, and transferred more easily than ordinary civil servants, giving flexibility in hiring. Are guaranteed a job somewhere in the government.

Question 30

spoils system

Answer 30

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

Question 31

trust fund

Answer 31

Money outside the regular government budget.

Question 32

waste

Answer 32

A bureaucratic pathology in which an agency spends more than is necessary to buy something.

Question 33

Whistleblower Protection Act

Answer 33

A law protecting bureaucrats claiming to be punished after reporting to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies.