The Federal Administrative System

Question 1

Bureaucracy

Answer 1

A form of organization that operates through impersonal, uniform rules and procedures

Question 2

Bereaucrat

Answer 2

A career government employee

Question 2

Department

Answer 2

Usually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy

Question 3

Independent Agency

Answer 3

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

Question 3

Independent Regulatory Commission

Answer 3

A government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by Congress

Question 4

Government Corporation

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Senior Executive Service

Answer 5

Established by Congress in 1978 as a flexible, mobile corps of senior career executives who worked closely with presidential appointees to manage government

Question 6

Spoils System

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Merit System

Answer 7

A system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated performance rather than political patronage

Question 8

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Answer 8

Agency that administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations

Question 9

Hatch Act

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Implementation

Answer 10

The process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending

Question 11

Administrative Discretion

Answer 11

Authority given by Congress to the Federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgement in implementing the laws

Question 12

Regulations

Answer 12

The formal instructions that government issues for implementing laws

Question 13

Rule-making process

Answer 13

The formal process for making regulations

Question 14

Uncontrollable Spending

Answer 14

The portion of the Federal budget that is spend on programs, such as Social Security, that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut

Question 15

Entitlement Programs

Answer 15

Programs such as unemployment insurance, disability relief, or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens

Question 16

Indexing

Answer 16

Providing automatic increases to compensate for inflation

Question 17

Oversight

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Central Clearance

Answer 18

Review of all executive branch testimony, reports, and draft legislation by the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each communication to Congress is in accordance with the president’s program