Shared Flashcard Set

Details

PSCI 1040 Exam 2 review
Review Part 2 (The Federal Bureaucracy)
28
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
11/02/2011

Additional Political Studies Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Characteristics of a bureaucracy
Definition
1.Hierarchical Organization
2.Specialized Division of Labor
3.Formalized Rules
Term
Functions of a bureaucracy
Definition
-Implement
-Administer
-Regulate
Term
The "Bureaucracy Problem"
Definition
Impossibility of tasks, difficulty measuring performance, slow to change, red tape (unnecessary rules and regulations) and expansionary tendencies.
Term
Spoils system
Definition
System of government employment in which workers are hired on the basis of party loyalty.
Term
Congressional Oversight
Definition
•Senate Confirmations
•Agency Reorganization
•Budgetary Control
•Oversight
Term
Presidential Oversight
Definition
•Input into staffing
•Oversight
•Executive Orders
Term
Why do bureaucracies grow?
Definition
-Growing need.
-Growing demand.
-Bureaucracies themselves want to grow.
Term
Whose fault is waste and spending in the bureaucracy?
Definition
Depends.
Term
Administrative Discretion
Definition
The power of a bureaucracy to interpret a legislative mandate.
Term
Agency
Definition
The basic organizational unit of federal government. Also known as office or bureau.
Term
Bureaucracy
Definition
Hierarchical organization of officials with responsibility for specific tasks.
Term
Civil Service
Definition
A system in which government employees are chosen according to their educational qualifications, performance on examinations, and work experience.
Term
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Definition
Congressional agency that evaluates the president's budget as well as budgetary implications of all other legislation.
Term
End Run
Definition
An agency's effort to avoid OMB controls by appealing to it's allies in congress.
Term
Government Corporation
Definition
Independent organization created by Congress to fulfill functions related to business.
Term
Hatch Act
Definition
A 1939 law prohibiting federal employees from engaging in political campaigning and solicitation
Term
In-and-outers
Definition
Political appointees who come in, go out, and come back in again with each change in administration.
Term
Independent Regulatory Agencies
Definition
Agencies with quasi-judicial responsibilities that are meant to be carried out in a manner of free presidential interference.
Term
Inner Cabinet
Definition
The four original departments that usually have the closest tie to the president. I.e. State, Defense, Treasury, and Justice
Term
Iron Triangle
Definition
A close, stable connection among agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees.
Term
Mugwumps
Definition
Organized in 1880's, a group of civil-service reformers who maintained that government officials should be chosen on a merit basis, not for their political connections.
Term
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Definition
Agency responsible for developing the president's budget, setting personnel policy in the executive branch, and reviewing all proposed legislation sent by the executive branch to Congress to ensure it is consistent with the president's agenda.
Term
Outer Cabinet
Definition
Newer departments that have less access to the president but have evolved in such a way as to provide interest groups access to the executive branch of government.
Term
Patronage
Definition
Appoint of individuals to public office in exchange for their political support. Widely practiced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and continues to present day.
Term
Pendleton Act
Definition
Legislation passed in 1883 creating the Civil Service Commission.
Term
Recess Appointment
Definition
A presidential appointment made without Senate confirmation while the Senate is in recess.
Term
Sunshine Law
Definition
A 1976 law requiring that federal government meetings be held in public.
Term
Senatorial Courtesy
Definition
An informal rule that the Senate will not confirm nominees for positions within a state unless it has the approval of the state's senior senator from the president's party.
Supporting users have an ad free experience!