POLS 1101: The Bureaucracy

What is an example of iron triangle

American legions with Department of Veterans Affairs and House Veterans Affairs Committee

What are examples of government corporations

Amtrak, Postal Service

What is the principal

Congress

What is an example of enforcement of laws

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held Volkswagen accountable for falsifying its vehicles' emission levels in 2015

What provide important information that can assist Congress in its oversight duties

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Congressional Research Service (CRS) Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

What are examples of independent agencies

NASA, CIA

How does the Executive Office of the President control bureaucracy

Office of Management and Budget controls the federal budget and regulations

What are the top executives in many agencies a part of

Senior Executive Service (the top management rank for career civil servants)

What bureaucratic organizations come under national security

State Department, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security

What bureaucratic organizations come under public welfare

The Department of Health and Human Services, The Food and Drug Administrative, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

What bureaucratic organizations come under maintaining a strong economy

Treasury Department, Federal Reserve System

How has privatization decreased size of bureaucracy

a formerly government run service that is now provided by private company, but are still paid by government

What are government corporations

a government agency that is established by Congress to provide a market-oriented public service and to produce revenues that meet or approximate its expenditures.

What did the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 create

a hiring system for bureaucracy based on merit

What is marketization

a management strategy that attempts to make a government agency perform better rather than replacing it with a private firm

What do some public agencies provide services to

a specific group or segment of American society

What is iron triangle

a unique relationship between bureaucracy, members of Congress, and lobbyists that results in the mutual benefit of all three of them

How do presidents achieve goals related to management and control of the bureaucracy

appointment powers Executive Office of the President

What is the agent

bureaucracy

What is an iron triangle ultimately a mutually beneficial relationship among

bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups

What does a bureaucracy (sometimes) look like

bureaucratic pathologies rote imperialism turf war lack of coordination clientelism

Who was negatively affected by EPA to regulate greenhouse gases regulation

businesses and jobs

Has the size of the federal bureaucracy increased, decreased, or remained the same over the past decade?

decreased as a percentage of the national workforce

What is the source of the bureaucracy's powers

delegates significant policy-making responsibility to the bureaucracy

Why would congress choose to give such discretion to unelected bureaucrats

don't have the time to be involved in implementation of laws bureaucracy is more flexible and can respond more easily expertise in the field

Can the bureaucracy be reformed?

efforts have been made to improve government performance

What is the second function of the bureaucracy

enforce laws

What is an example of bureaucratic innovation

facilitated the creation of the Internet

What are examples of huge bureaucracies

healthcare, universities, banks, airlines

How are bureaucrats innovative

help devise new ways of doing things

What is bureaucracy supposed to look like

hierarchy division of labor fixed routines equal rules for all technical qualifications

What is the process of rule making

highly political

What are the three functions of bureaucracy

implement enforce innovate

What do bureaucrats do

implement laws

What are inspectors general

independent audit organizations located in most federal agencies

What is the third function of the bureaucracy

innovate

What did Congress created in 1978

inspectors general

How does the iron triangle work

interest group provides electoral support to Congress Congress provides funding and political support to bureaucracy bureaucracy provides low regulation and special favors to interest group

What is the principal-agent problem

interpreted in a way that its was intended to be

What is privatization

involves removing the federal government from one or more of the steps in the government provision of a good or service

What do federal courts have the authority to do within judicial oversight

judge the constitutionality of bureaucratic actions settle disputes between Congress and executive agencies monitor the implementation of laws

What are other forms of oversight

judicial internal citizen

What do bureaucrats make regarding rules

make rules that guide the implementation of laws passed by Congress

What are the key characteristics of the bureaucracy in the American government

mission-driven expertise hierarchical structure

What are the goals of the federal bureaucracy

national security maintaining a strong economy public welfare

What is citizen oversight

ordinary citizens and journalists can file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests

What are the types of oversight

police patrol oversight fire alarm oversight

What does the bureaucracy implement

policies passed by Congress and the president as well as policies that are adjudicated by the courts

At higher levels of government, what are jobs filled with

political appointees

What is a tool by government to reduce its own size

privatization

What has been reinvented within the bureaucracy

procedures, termination, devolution, and privatization

Why is the process of rule making highly political

rules made by the bureaucracy in one administration can be easily reversed by the next

Why do some countries like Norway have a larger government employment as a percentage of labor force

smaller country government does more there

Where have the number of bureaucrats increased

state/local level

What did the merit system require

that appointees to positions in public bureaucracies be objectively qualified

What are bureaucrats members of

the civil service

What is a bureaucracy

the complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that ice employed by all large-scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel

What is oversight

the effort by Congress to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies through hearings, investigations, and other techniques

What is implementation

the efforts of departments and agencies to translate laws into specific bureaucratic rules and actions

How can Congress further control a bureaucracy

the power of the power through the annual appropriations process

What did the merit system end

the spoils system, which awarded jobs based on political connections

What is internal oversight

whistleblowers