Unit 5: Chapter 14: Bureaucracy

Question 1

bureaucrats

Answer 1

people employed in a govt executive branch unit to implement public policy; public administrators; public servants

Question 2

Shadow bureaucrats

Answer 2

people hired and paid by private for profit and nonprofit organizations that implement public policy through a govt contract

Question 3

contracting-out

Answer 3

a process by which the govt contracts with a private for profit or nonprofit org to provide public services, such as disaster relief, or resources needed by the govt, such as fighter planes

Question 4

bureaucracy

Answer 4

large org, such as govt agency, with the following characteristics; a division of labor, specialization of job tasks, hiring systems based on worker competency, hierarchy with a vertical chain of command, and standard operating procedures

Question 5

spoils system

Answer 5

A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.

Question 6

merit-based civil service system

Answer 6

a personnel system in which bureaucrats are hired on the basis of the principles of competence, equal opportunity, and political neutrality; once hired, these civil servants have job protection

Question 7

civil servants

Answer 7

bureaucrats hired through a merit-based personnel system who have job protection

Question 8

Pendleton civil service act (1883)

Answer 8

created the federal civil service system that practices government employment should be based on open, competitive examinations and merit.

Question 9

civil service reform act (1978)

Answer 9

recognized that many high level positions in the civil service have important policy making responsibilities and that the president and his cabinet officers ought to have more flexibility in recruiting, assigning, and paying such people.

Question 10

senior executive services

Answer 10

a unique personnel system for top managerial, supervisory, and policy positions offering less job security but higher pay than the merit-based civil service system

Question 11

Departments

Answer 11

one of 15 executive branch units responsible for a broadly defined policy area and whose top administrator is appointed by the pres., is confirmed by the senate, and serves at the discretion of the pres

Question 12

independent administrative agency

Answer 12

an executive branch unit created by congress and the president that is responsible for a narrowly defined function and whose structure is intended to protect it from partisan politics

Question 13

independent regulatory agencies

Answer 13

an executive branch unit outside of cabinet dept. responsible for developing standards of behavior within specific industries and businesses, monitoring compliance with these standard, and imposing sanctions on violators

Question 14

economic regulation

Answer 14

government regulation of quality and safety of products as well as conditions under which goods and services are produced

Question 15

Government corporations

Answer 15

an executive branch unit that sells a service and is expected to be financially self-sufficient

Question 16

politics administration dichotomy

Answer 16

the concept that elected govt officials, who are accountable to the voters, create and approve public policy, and then competent, politically neutral bureaucrats implement the public policy

Question 17

authorization laws

Answer 17

a law that provides the plan of action to address a give societal concern and ID’s the executive branch unit that will put the plan into effect

Question 18

appropriation law

Answer 18

a law that gives bureaucracies and other govt entities that legal authority to spend money

Question 19

administrative discretion

Answer 19

the authority delegated to bureaucrats to use their expertise and judgement when determining how to implement public policy

Question 20

administrative law

Answer 20

Law relating to the authority and procedures of administrative agencies as well as to the rules and regulations issued by those agencies.

Question 21

administrative rule making

Answer 21

the process by which an independent commission or agency fills in the details of a vague law by formulating, proposing, and approving rules, regulations, and standards that will be enforced to implement the policy

Question 22

administrative adjudication

Answer 22

the process by which agencies resolve disputes over the implementation of their administrative rules

Question 23

What are the 6 stages of public policy making

Answer 23

1. agenda setting
2. policy formulation
3. policy approval
4. resource allocation
5. policy implementation
6. policy evaluation

Question 24

administrative procedure act (APA) 1946

Answer 24

before a new rule is passed, an agency must give notice so people may solicit comments

Question 25

congressional oversight

Answer 25

The United States Congress has the authority to conduct hearings, investigations, and budget reviews of the actions by the executive branch.

Question 26

conflict of interest

Answer 26

in the case of public servants, the situation in which they can personally benefit from a decision they make or an action they take in the process of doing their jobs

Question 27

whistles blowers

Answer 27

a civil servant who discloses mismanagement, fraud, waste, corruption, and/or threats to public health and safety to the govt

Question 28

inspector generals

Answer 28

political appointees who work within a govt agency to ensure the integrity of public service by investigating allegations of misconduct by bureaucrats