Chapter 8 American Gov.

When the law requires an agency to conduct a formal hearing before issuing rules, what effect does this have on the agency's rule-making procedure?

A commitee helps staff collect evidence & calls interested parties & interest groups to testify on the issue. The process can take weeks, months, or even years at the end of which agency administrators must review the entire record & then justify the new rules.

What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy, according to Max Weber?

A division of labor where work is apportioned among specialized workers to increase productivity. A chain of command in which authority flows from top to bottom. Clear lines of authority among workers and their superiors. A goal orientation that determines structure, authority, and rules. Impersonality, whereby all employees are treated fairly based on merit and all clients are served equally, without discrimination, according to established rules. Productivity, where all work and actions are evaluated according to established rules

What was the Pendleton Act, and what event served as its catalyst?

A reform measure that established the principle of federal employment on the basis of open competitive exams & created the civil service commission. The public reaction to James A. Garfield's death & increasing criticism of the spoils system prompted congress to pass the civil service reform act in 1883 (Pendleton Act).

According to the __________ Act, federal agencies must solicit public comments before issuing new rules and regulations.

Administrative Procedures Act

What are quasi-judicial decisions (made by government agencies) ? Can these decisions be appealed to federal courts?

Administrative adjudication ; yes

How are Cabinet secretaries similar to independent agency administrators?

BOTH are appointed by the president

What are government corporations, and what's the purpose for their existence?

Businesses established by Congress to perform functions that private businesses could provide. They charge a fee for their services.

How does Congress exercise control over agencies and departments in the federal bureaucracy?

By nomiating federal appointees.

Under __________, jobs in the federal bureaucracy are awarded on the basis of skills and expertise.

Civil Service System

__________ often holds oversight hearings to investigate the policies and performance of agencies and departments in the federal bureaucracy.

Congress

How do departments differ from independent agencies?

Department heads are part of the president's cabinet while agency heads are not

Why was the spoils system ultimately replaced by the policy coordinating committee system?

Due to growing concerns about a poorly functioning federal bureaucracy. Public reaction to Garfield's death and increasing criticism of the spoils system

What is an independent regulatory commission, and what is its purpose?

Entity created by congress that regulates a specific economic activity or interest. It was designed to be autonomous from political pressure

How do government corporations differ from private companies?

Government corporations perform activities that private companies cannot.

The purpose of the __________ was to prohibit federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities.

Hatch Act

What is Max Weber's merit principle?

Impersonality where all employees are treated fairly based on merit and all clients are served equally, without discrimination, according to established rules.

What is the Administrative Procedures Act?

In 1946 the Administrative Procedures Act established rule-making procedures to give everyone the chance to participate in the process. The act requires that (1) public notice of the time, place, & nature of the rule-making proceedings be provided in the Federal Register; (2) interested parties be given the opportunity to submit written arguments & facts relevant to the rule; & (3) the statutory purpose & basis of the rule be stated. After rules are published, thirty days generally must elapse before they take effect.

Distinguish between independent agencies and independent regulatory commissions. Be able to provide examples of each.

Independent agencies perform services rather than regulatory functions. Ex: NASA, EPA. Independent regulatory commissions are agencies created by congress to exist outside major departments & regulate a specific economic activity or interest. Ex: NLRB, FCC, SEC.

Be familiar with examples of an independent executive agency.

Independent executive agencies closely resemble cabinet departments but have narrower areas of responsibility. They perform services rather than regulatory functions. The president appoints the heads of these agencies, & they serve, like cabinet secretaries, at his pleasure. They exist apart from executive departments for practical & symbolic reasons. Some examples are the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) & the Department of the Interior.

__________ are working groups established to facilitate the coordination of policy making and implementation across a host of government agencies.

Interagency councils

What is the purpose of the Administrative Procedures Act?

It allows the public to participate in rulemaking to determine the extent of judicial review

What does the National Labor Relations board do?

It conducts secret ballot elections to determine whether employees wish to be represented by a union. It also investigates, litigates, and remedies unfair labor practice charges.

The __________ led to the creation of a bipartisan commission to oversee appointments to the federal bureaucracy.

Pendleton Act

Cabinet secretaries are appointed by __________ and confirmed by __________.

President; Senate

What roles do the president and Congress play in making agency budgets?

Presidents make changes in an agency's annual budget requests & ignore legislative initiatives originating within the bureaucracy. Congress also has the power of the purse. The first step in the funding process is authorization. Budget authorization originates in the various legislative committeed that oversee particular programs. Once Congress authorizes programs, it requires specific allocation, or appropriation of funds before they can be spent. Such appropriations originate with the House Appropriations Committee, not the specialized legislative committees. Plus, the House Appropriations Committee routinley holds hearings to allow agency heads to justify their budget requests.

Define, and know the purpose of, "The Hatch Act."

Prohibited federal employees from making political contributions, working for a particular party or campaing for a particular candidate. The act was liberalized to allow employees to run for public office in nonpartisan elections.

What are rules created by government agencies that determine how laws are implemented?

Regulations

Which law designates the steps that federal agencies must follow in issuing rules and regulations?

Rulemaking

After a president nominates an individual to be a Cabinet secretary, that appointment must be confirmed by __________.

Senate

What law allowed for the introduction of the civil service system?

The Pendleton Act reform measure that established the principle of federal employment on the basis of open, competitive exams & created the civil service commision.

Define the "spoils system."

The firing of public office holders of a defeated political party to replace them with loyalists of the newly elected party.

What was the consequence of the spoils, or patronage, system?

The firing of public office holders of a defeated political party to replace them with loyalists of the newly elected party. The spoils system was a form of patronage - jos, grants, or other special favors given as rewards to friends & political allies for their support.

What factor was influential in driving expansion of the federal bureaucracy in the post-Civil War era?

The huge growth in big business & widespread price fixing. The creation of the ICC & employer - employee relations.

Before 1883, how were government jobs awarded?

The merit system - a system of employment based on qualifications, test scores, & ability, rather than party loyalty.

Define discretion.

The power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgement; freedom of judgement or choice.

How does the president exercise control over agencies and departments in the federal bureaucracy?

The president can appoint & remove agency heads & other top bureaucrats, reorganize the bureaucracy, make changes in an agency's annual budget proposals, & issue executive orders.

How does the president exercise control over the federal bureaucracy?

The president has the authority to: Appoint and remove agency heads and other top bureaucrats Reorganize the bureaucracy (with congressional approval). Make changes in an agency's annual budget proposal Initiate or adjust polices that would alter the bureaucracy's activities Issue executive orders Reduce an agency's annual budget"

What is implementation?

The process by which a law or policy is put into operation.

Define bureaucracy

The thousands of federal government agencies & institutions that implement & administer federal laws & programs.

Under what circumstance are bureaucrats most likely to exercise discretion?

When an agency is implementing a law that contains ambigulty.

After what war was the Government Issue (G.I.) Bill introduced?

World War II

Political appointees in the federal bureaucracy remain in office until...

a new president is elected.

The largest Cabinet department is the __________.

department of health & human services (HHS).

One consequence of ambiguity in the laws passed by Congress is that government agencies exercise __________ in the implementation of those laws.

discretion

Which body usually creates regulations?

federal agencies

One function of __________ is to provide public services that the private sector is unwilling or unable to do.

government corporations

What is a goal common to both the Pendleton Act and the Hatch Act?

reducing the influence of partisan politics on the federal bureaucracy. Increase presidential control over executive branch

While the president has the authority to appoint and remove agency heads and other top bureaucrats, Congress has the authority to __________.

refuse to appropriate funds for certain programs.

When the Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for air pollution, it is fulfilling the __________ function of the federal bureaucracy.

regulation

The president appoints, but cannot dismiss, officials who serve on __________.

war.