Chapter 15 Outline

Question 1

Explain the Cabinet’s role in the executive branch.

Answer 1

• each cabinet member is the administrative head of one of the executive departments
• advisors to President

Question 2

Three Features of Bureaucracy

Answer 2

Hierarchical Authority: the few officials/units at the top of the organization have authority over those officials/units at the larger middle level, who in turn direct activities of the many officials/units at the bottom level
Job Specialization: precise division of labor within the organization (each bureaucrat has certain defined duties and responsibilities)
Formalized Rules: the bureaucracy works according to a set of established regulations and procedures

Question 3

Benefits of Bureaucracy

Answer 3

• hierarchy speeds action by reducing conflicts over who has the power to make decisions
• job specialization promotes efficiency because each person in the organization is required to focus on one particular job (each worker gains a set of specialized skills and knowledge)
• formalized rules allow workers to act with some speed and precision (decisions are based on a set of known standards)
• formalized rules also enable work to continue even when workers leave and new workers are hired to replace them

Question 4

Executive Branch’s Three Broad Groups of Agencies

Answer 4

Executive Office of the President
Executive Departments (15 Cabinet Departments)
Independent Agencies

Question 5

Chief Officers

Answer 5

• each department is headed by a secretary
  
  • primary link between presidential policy and his/her own department
  • strives to promote and protect his/her department

Question 6

Bureaucracy

Answer 6

a large, complex administrative structure that handles the everyday business of an organization

Question 7

Federal Bureaucracy

Answer 7

all of the agencies, people, and procedures through which the federal government operates; means by which government government makes and administers public policy

Question 8

Bureaucrat

Answer 8

person who works for the organization (has certain defined duties and responsibilities); unelected public-policy makers

Question 9

Cabinet Department

Answer 9

traditional unit of federal administration; each cabinet department is built around some broad field of activity

Question 10

Cabinet

Answer 10

informal advisory body brought together by the President to serve his needs; product of custom and usage

Question 11

Quasi-Legislative

Answer 11

legislature cannot delegate its essential lawmaking powers to any other department, but it may delegate quasi-legislative powers to an administrative agency to carry out legislative objectives, provided that the delegation has sufficient guidelines (rule-making authority)

Question 12

Quasi-Judicial

Answer 12

public administrative agency has powers and procedures resembling those of a court of law or judge

Question 13

Civil Service

Answer 13

composed of civilian employees who perform the administrative work of government

Question 14

Spoils System

Answer 14

“father” of spoils system is Andrew Jackson; practice of giving offices and other favors of government to political supporters and friends

Question 15

Pendleton Act

Answer 15

laid foundation of present federal civil service system; main purpose was to make merit (quality of one’s work) the basis for hiring, promotion, and other personnel actions in the work force

Question 16

Office of Personnel Management

Answer 16

central clearinghouse in the federal recruiting, examining, and hiring process

Question 17

Merit Systems Protection Board

Answer 17

enforces merit principle in federal bureaucracy; hears from federal workers who have complaints about personnel action