THE BUREAUCRACY 2
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- NEUTRAL COMPETENCE
- the principle that bureaucracy should be depoliticized by making it more professional.
- SPOILS SYSTEM
- the 19th century practice of rewarding political supporters with public office.
- PATRONAGE
- a system in which successful party candidates reward supporters with jobs or favors.
- CIVIL SERVICE
- nonmilitary employees who are appointed through the merit system.
- PENDELTON ACT
- civil service reform (1883) that required the hiring and promoting of civil servants to be based on merit, not patronage.
- HATCH ACT 1939
- the law limiting the political involvement of civil servants to protect them from political pressure and keep politics out of the bureaucracy.
- ACCOUNTABILITY
- the principle that bureaucratic employees should be answerable for their performance to supervisors, all the way up the chain of command.
- RED TAPE
- the complex procedures and regulations surrounding bureaucratic activity.
- CLIENTELE GROUPS
- groups of citizens whose interests are affected by an agency or department and who work to influence its policies.
- INDEPENDENT AGENCY
- a government organization independent to the departments but with a narrower policy focus.
- INDEPENDENT REGULATORY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
- government organizations that regulate various businesses, industries, or economic sectors.
- REGULATIONS
- limitations or restrictions on the activities of a business or individual.
- GOVERNMENT CORPORATION
- a company created by Congress to provide a good or service to the public that private enterprise cannot or will not profitably provide.
- BUREAUCRATIC DISCRETION
- top bureaucrats' authority to use their own judgment in interpreting and carrying out the laws of Congress.
- FEDERAL REGISTER
- publication containing all federal regulations and notifications of regulatory agency hearings.
- BUREAUCRATIC CULTURE
- the accepted values and procedures of an organization.
- BUREAUCRATESE
- the often unintelligible language used by bureaucrats to avoid controversy and lend weight to their words.
- WHISTLE BLOWERS
- individuals who publicize instances of fraud, corruption, or other wrongdoing in the bureaucracy.
- IRON TRIANGLE
- the phenomenon of a clientele group, congressional committee, and bureaucratic agency cooperating to make mutually beneficial policy.
- CITIZEN ADVISORY COUNCIL
- a citizen group that considers the policy decisions of an agency; a way to make the bureaucracy responsive to the general public.
- SUNSHINE LAWS
- legislation opening the process of bureaucratic policymaking to the public.
- FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1974
- a law that gives citizens access to the government's files on them.