Term
|
Definition
| the agencies and offices devoted to carrying out the tasks of government consistent with the law. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an individual unit of the government responsible for carrying out tasks delegated to it by Congress or the president in accordance with the law. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
departments within the executive branch that encompass may 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.
i.e. Department of Agriculture → the Food and Nutrition Service is an agency within the department. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
an agency that exists outside of the cabinet departments and is run with a larger degree of independence from presidential influence.
-Independent agencies were designed to have greater autonomy from political officials than departments. → Employees could not be fired by the president or their superiors vs. Workers in leadership positions who are appointed by the president can be fired for any reason.
i.e. EPA |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
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.
-With independent agencies, the president appoints the boards and commissions of the government corporations, and the Senate must approve the appointments. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
the contracting of private companies by the government to conduct work that was formerly done by government agencies.
1. When the government hires a company/organization on a contract basis to carry out a task.
* Building roads.
2. The government can give grants to people/organizations to perform a task in the public interest.
* Conducting research
3. Government relies on volunteers and private donations to conduct work that is sanctioned by the government, but directed by a private agency.
* the Red Cross |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
government bureaucracies reform that emphasizes market-based principles of management that are common to the private sector.
1. The Grace Commission focused on the idea that government bureaucracies should adopt market-based principles of management widely used by private corporations.
2. Government-funded vouchers that parents can “spend” to send their children to private schools.
3. “Pollution rights” → companies (typically power plants) are allotted permits to pollute the environment with a certain quantity of emissions. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an agreement whereby the government hires a company or an organization to carry out certain tasks on its behalf. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| money that the government provides to individuals or organizations to perform tasks in the public's interest. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| privately funded organizations or individuals who operate independently to do work that is sanctioned in the government. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| anything of value that is the property of the government, ranging from federal land to office supplies. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 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. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
when an ideological shift in elected branches creates disparity between the way an agency executes policy and the way new members of Congress or new president believes the agency ought to execute policy.
→ principals change; agents stay the same. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| when regulatory agencies are beholden to the organizations or interests they are supposed to regulate. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
the body of law created by executive agencies with the purpose of refining general law passed in legislation.
- The vast majority of administrative law is made within the executive-branch bureaucracy, not within the White House. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| congressional oversight that relies on interest groups and citizens to inform representatives of unwarranted action. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| congressional oversight that consists of actively monitoring agencies through routine inspection. |
|
|
Term
| What is the relationship between federal bureaucrats and the President? |
|
Definition
| Most people who work in leadership positions in executive agencies technically work as agents for the president and serve at the president’s discretion. |
|
|
Term
| How does the Congress regulate federal bureaucrats? |
|
Definition
| Congress can set limits on how much control the president has over some executive-branch employees and controls the funding for executive branch agencies. |
|
|
Term
| What is the role of the bureaucracy? |
|
Definition
People in bureaucracies implement the policies that elected officials in Congress and the White House decide upon.
* i.e. protect borders, regulate markets, dispense Social Security payments and operate national parks.
-At the lower levels of government, → bureaucrats teach, enforce the law, and distribute driver’s licenses.
- Bureaucrats build coalitions to bring about policy change.
- Bureaucrats are the government officials who are most directly in contact with public; they can sometimes encourage people to communicate with Congress. |
|
|
Term
| What are the three settings agencies in the executive branch exist in? |
|
Definition
1. Department
2. Independent agencies
3. Government corporations |
|
|
Term
| What kind of public goods does the bureaucracy help create? |
|
Definition
1. Scientific knowledge: NASA
2. Security: DHS
3. National Parks: the Department of the Interior
4. Public health: CDC
5. Funding for public goods: IRS |
|
|
Term
| How does the president coordinate the actions of numerous agencies? |
|
Definition
| The president sets the direction for the executive branch and has a large White House bureaucracy to help make decisions. |
|
|
Term
| How do agencies help solve prisoner's dilemma, like companies competing against one another? |
|
Definition
A regulatory agency is necessary to enforce and monitor this “cooperate-cooperate” outcome.
i.e. Two drug companies make aspirin tablets compete on the basis of price and product quality. |
|
|
Term
| What were the major eras of reform and expansion of the bureaucracy? |
|
Definition
1. The Progressive Era (1900s): the bureaucracy grew as the national government increasingly regulated the national economy and built a larger military.
2. New Deal Era (1930s-1940s): the national bureaucracy expanded due to New Deal legislation and WWII → agencies were created to regulate more sectors of the economy.
- The Department of Defense was expanded through the merger of the Departments of Army, Navy, and Air Force → this reflected the need to coordinate the global presence of American military after WWII.
- Social Security
3. Great Society (1960s-1970s): Large spikes in the expansion of the bureaucracy correlated to the world wars and the Korean, Vietnam, and two Iraq wars.
4. The growth in the civilian bureaucracy in the early 2000s resulted largely from the establishment of the new Department of Homeland Security. |
|
|
Term
| What was the negative effects of the spoils system? |
|
Definition
| Patronage appointment soon became obvious as constant turnover and underqualified appointees interfered with the effective implementation of government policies; they are not always knowledgeable or professionally trained to do the job. |
|
|
Term
| Who were the mugwumps and what did they support? |
|
Definition
| Mugwumps were mostly Republicans known for their willingness to support the Democrats when necessary to achieve reforms. They wanted to abolish the spoils system and make the bureaucracy more professional. |
|
|
Term
| What did the Pendleton Act of 1883 do? |
|
Definition
| Made it illegal to require people to pay dues to political parties in order to get national government jobs, and instituted layers of the national bureaucracy that are “protected”, meaning they are not subject to political appointment and are classified or ranked by the skill and education levels required. |
|
|
Term
| What are the characteristics of civil services? |
|
Definition
| Civil services are characterized by a system of evaluation and promotion from within the bureaucracies to ensure that competent people fill the jobs. |
|
|
Term
| What are the characteristics of civil servants? |
|
Definition
| Civil servants have their jobs protected from patronage and they cannot be fired by an incoming president for political reasons. |
|
|
Term
| What do presidential commissions do? |
|
Definition
| Presidential commissions make recommendations, abolish certain agencies, and privatize much of the work of the government. |
|
|
Term
| What has caused the bureaucracy to reduce in size? |
|
Definition
| It is the result of various programs of reform, which led to a decline in the number of employees and the elimination of numerous agencies. |
|
|
Term
| What is effect of promoting privatization? |
|
Definition
| It is a way for politicians to keep the size of government in check while still maintaining the services that make constituents happy. |
|
|
Term
| What are the two major factors contributing to principal-agent dilemma? |
|
Definition
1. The tendency of government agencies to “drift” from their defined missions.
2. The often-conflicting motivations of bureaucrats and elected officials. |
|
|
Term
| What are the reasons for "drifting"? |
|
Definition
1. Leaders may feel that they do not have the resources to do all that Congress and the president ask → may delay implementation of regulation and focus on other tasks.
2. The new president may disagree with a law passed by the previous administration and instruct the bureau to drag its heels or ignore the law all together.
a. These cross-pressure from the different branches of government could lead to the bureaucracy drifting away from its congressional mandate.
3. Corporations may provide a compelling argument against the policy.
4. Bureaucracy may spend money it gets from Congress irresponsibly.
5. The bureaucracy may simply be corrupt. |
|
|
Term
| What do bureaucrats generally want? |
|
Definition
1. Clarity of instructions: Congress and the president often disagree.
2. Autonomy: there is too much intrusion by the people who pay their budgets and hire their bosses
3. Resources: Money and staffing allocated by people who fit it easier to get re-elected the more they complain about spending within the bureaucracy |
|
|
Term
| Why does the bureaucracy create most rules and regulations for conducting commercial activities instead of Congress? |
|
Definition
| Congress’s immense workload makes it impossible for its members, and their staff, to write sufficiently detailed legislations and they do not have the expertise that the executive-branch has. |
|
|
Term
| What did the court rule in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council? |
|
Definition
established a legal standard for upholding an agency’s authority to write law in a specific area.
a. The courts are first supposed to examine whether the congressional statute explicitly authorized the agency to write rules of implementation. |
|
|
Term
| What are "street-level bureaucrats"? |
|
Definition
| People who most directly implement policies and staff the offices that interact with citizens and representatives from interest groups or companies. |
|
|
Term
| What are the influences on bureaucracy? |
|
Definition
1. Presidential appointments
a. There can be tension between the professionals already working in the bureaucracy and the noobs.
2. Congressional budgeting decisions
a. Budgeting serves as Congress’s major control over the executive-branch bureaucracy.
- Congress authorizing that something be done by the national government vs. Congress appropriating money to enable the national bureaucracy to implement the law.
b. “incremental budgeting":
3. Congressional oversight
a. The Administrative Procedures Act (APA) of 1946, established guidelines for decision-making.
- Make record accessible to the public --> The Freedom of Information Act (1966)
- Publish regulations in a timely manner.
- Publish proposed regulations and allow public hearings prior to enforcement -->The Sunshine Act (1976)
- Use trial-like procedures to adjudicate disputes.
- Report to Congress regularly on the results of regulations.
4. Interest groups
a. Interest groups attempt to influence those who write administrative laws and complain when their interests are threatened. |
|
|
Term
| What do the Freedom of Information Act and the Sunshine Act do? |
|
Definition
| These acts constitute a system of congressional oversight over the bureaucracy. |
|
|
Term
| What is the iron triangle? |
|
Definition
1. The interest groups → representing the private sector that is being regulated by the government.
2. The Congressional committees → that write laws regulating that sector.
3. Bureaucratic agency → implements the laws.
a. May lead to biased regulatory decisions |
|
|
Term
| Why do staff members for a congressional committee go to work as lobbyist for a regulated business or industry? |
|
Definition
| Lobbying organizations seek out such people because they know the laws, regulations, and the right people. |
|
|
Term
| What three realms does the American bureaucracy touch? |
|
Definition
1. Agencies can write statues or administrative law → legislate.
2. Hold hearings and decide cases → adjudicate as quasi courts.
3. Implement policies → the primary reason for the existence of the bureaucracy.
a. Giving agencies rule-making and adjudication powers relieves the burden on the other branches. |
|
|
Term
| What is the progressive vision of bureaucracy? |
|
Definition
a. Bureaucrats should help resolve differences and solve collective dilemmas among politicians and among groups in society in a productive manner.
b. A bureaucracy independent of political meddling by avoiding favoritism and bias can aid an agency to make decisions they feel are in the best interests of the country without regarding a particular party’s ideology. |
|
|
Term
| What is the democratic vision of bureaucracy? |
|
Definition
a. The Democratic Vision of a bureaucracy responsive to the wishes of politicians elected by the people.
- Bureaucrats and government agencies are part of democratically elected governments; they should be responsive to what elected officials tell them to do. |
|
|
Term
| What is the right balance between the progressive and democratic visions of bureaucracy? |
|
Definition
A trade-off between loyalty and commerce occurs: Bureaucrats should have a measure of loyalty to the goals of elected officials, but competent enough to act in unexpected, but valuable ways.
* It has been a key purpose of such institutions and procedures to provide the right incentives so that bureaucrats can be effective while balancing these two visions. |
|
|
