The Bureaucracy Vocab

Question 1

The departments and agencies within the executive branch that carry out the laws of the nation

Answer 1

federal bureaucracy

Question 2

an official employed within a government bureaucracy

Answer 2

bureaucrat

Question 3

filling of administrative positions as a reward for support, rather than solely on merit

Answer 3

political patronage

Question 4

an act of congress that created the first US Civil Serive Commission to draw up and enforce rules on hiring, promotion, and tenure of office within the civil service (also known as the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883)

Answer 4

pendleton act

Question 5

the merit-based bureaucracy, excluding the armed forces and political appointments

Answer 5

federal civil service

Question 6

a system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends

Answer 6

spoils system

Question 7

a system of hiring and promotion based on competitive testing results, education, and other qualifications rather than politics and personal connections

Answer 7

merit system

Question 8

coorinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy (federal department or agency), congress (congressional committee), and interest groups to achieve shared policy goals

Answer 8

iron triangle

Question 9

webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates

Answer 9

issue network

Question 10

the bureaucracy’s role in putting into action the laws that congress has passed

Answer 10

implementation

Question 11

the power to decide how a law is implemented and what congress meant when it passed into law

Answer 11

bureaucratic discretion

Question 12

the process through which the federal bureaucracy makes rules that have the force of law, to carry out laws passed by congress

Answer 12

regulation

Question 13

when the federal bureaucracy settles disputes between parties that arise over the implementation of federal aws or determines which individuals or groups are covered under a regulation or program

Answer 13

bureaucratic adjudication

Question 14

usually the largest organiztion in government with the largest mission;also the highest rank in the federal hierarchy

Answer 14

department

Question 15

a government entity that is independent of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches

Answer 15

independent (stand-alone) agency

Question 16

a government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by congress

Answer 16

independent regulatory commission

Question 17

a government agency that operates like a business corporation, created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program

Answer 17

government corporation

Question 18

federal statute barring federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds

Answer 18

hatch act

Question 19

legislative or executive review of a particular government program or organization. can be in response to a crisis of some kind or part of routine review

Answer 19

oversight

Question 20

a specific course of action that government takes to address a problem

Answer 20

public policy

Question 21

the list of issues that the federal government pays attention to

Answer 21

policy agenda

Question 22

a nongovernmental organization that seeks to influence public policy through research and education

Answer 22

think tank