AP Government and Politics: Chapter 15 – The Bureaucracy – Flashcards
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Bureaucracy
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A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials.
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Laissez-faire
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An economic theory that gobernment should not regulate or interfere with commerce.
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Discretionary authority
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The extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws.
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Competitive service
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The government office to which people are appointed on the grounds of merit as ascertained by a written examination or by having met certain selection criteria (such as training, educational attainments, or prior experience).
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Pendleton Act
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The extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws.
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Name-request jobs
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A job that is filled by a person whom an agency has already identified
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Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
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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.
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Senior Executive Service
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Established by Congress in 1978 as a flexible, mobile corps of senior career executives who work closely with presidential appointees to manage government.
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Whistle Blower Protection Act
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the law that created the Office of Special Counsel, charged with investigating complaints from bureaucrats that that they were punished after reporting to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies.
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Iron triangle
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A close relationship between an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group.
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Issue network
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A network of people in Washington DC based interest groups, on congressional staffs, in universities and think tanks, and in the mass media, who regularly discuss and advocate public policies.
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Authorization legislation
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Legislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency.
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Appropriation
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A legilative grant of money to finance a government program or agency.
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Trust funds
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Funds for government programs that are collected and spent outside the regular government budget.
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Committee clearance
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The ability of a congressional committee to review and approve certain agency decisions in advance and without passing a law.
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Legislative veto
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The authority of Congress to block a presidential action after it has taken place. The Supreme Court has held that Congress does not have this power
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Red tape
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Complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done.
