Lamar University POLS-2302 Test 3 Prof. Terri Davis

Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

Abolished the Civil Service Commission. The law created two new federal agencies: the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board. Agencies were intended to correct perceived and real problems with the merit system, protect employees from managerial abuse, and generally make the bureaucracy more efficient

government corporations

Agencies formed by the federal government to administer a quasi-business enterprise. It's a corporation that fulfills an important public interest and is therefore overseen by government authorities to a much larger degree than private businesses. EX: US postal service, Amtrak

Weberian Model

Classic model of bureaucracy, in which agencies are apolitical, hierarchically organized, and governed by formal procedures. Bureaucrats would be better able to solve problems through logical reasoning.

regulatory agencies

Emerged in the late nineteenth century as a product of the progressive push to control the benefits and costs of industrialization. EX:Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC),Commodity Futures Trading Commission,The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

*U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation

Established doctrine of inherent powers

Pendleton Act (Civil Service Reform Act of 1883)

Established the Civil Service Commission, an agency charged with ensuring that the federal government's selection, retention, promotion practices were based on open, competitive examinations in a merit system.The passage of this law sparked a period of social activism and political reform.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

a cross-national military organization with bases in Belgium and Germany formed to maintain stability in Europe

liberal internationalism

a foreign policy approach of becoming proactively engaged in world affairs by cooperating in a community of nations

isolationism

a foreign policy approach that advocates a nation's staying out of foreign entanglements and keeping to itself

foreign policy

a government's goals in dealing with other countries or regions and the strategy used to achieve them

cabinet

a group of advisors to the president that help administer duties, consisting of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch who head the fifteen executive departments

Medicaid

a health insurance program for low-income citizens

whistleblower

a person who publicizes misdeeds committed within a bureaucracy or other organization

redistributive policy

a policy in which costs are born by a relatively small number of groups or individuals, but benefits are expected to be enjoyed by a different group in society

distributive policy

a policy that collects payments or resources broadly but concentrates direct benefits on relatively few

executive order

a rule or order issued by the president without the cooperation of Congress and having the force of law

negotiated rulemaking

a rulemaking process in which neutral advisors convene a committee of those who have vested interests in the proposed rules and help the committee reach a consensus on them

Social Security

a social welfare policy for people who no longer receive an income from employment

signing statements

a statement a president issues with the intent to influence the way a specific bill the president signs should be enforced

"spoils system"

a system that rewards political loyalists or party support during elections with bureaucratic appointments after victory

regressive tax

a tax applied at a lower overall rate as individuals' income rises

progressive tax

a tax that tends to increase the effective tax rate as the wealth or income of the taxpayer increases

25th Amendment

amendment detailing the succession order in case of the unplanned departure of the president

bureaucracy

an administrative group of nonelected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs

Keynesian economics

an economic policy based on the idea that economic growth is closely tied to the ability of individuals to consume goods

supply-side economics

an economic policy that assumes economic growth is largely a function of the country's productive capacity

executive agreement

an international agreement between the president and another country made by the executive branch and without formal consent by the senate

treaties

an international agreement entered by the United States that requires presidential negotiation with other nation(s), consent by two-thirds of the Senate, and final ratification by the president

United Nations (UN)

an international organization of nation-states that seeks to promote peace, international relations, and economic and environmental programs

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

an office within the Executive Office of the President charged with producing the president's budget, overseeing its implementation, and overseeing the executive bureaucracy

Civil Right

are guarantees by the government that it will treat people equally, particularly people belonging to groups that have historically been denied the same rights and opportunities as others.

contributory programs

Social programs financed by mandatory contributions by their present or future recipients. In other words people pay into a program with hopes of receiving benefits from that program (i.e. Social Security, medicare, unemployment)

non-contributory programs (Public assistance programs)

Social programs that assist people based on demonstrated need rather than contributions they have made; Paid with American tax dollars. EX: Medicaid

Federal Reserve Board

The board of governors that oversees the is Federal Reserve System, America's central bank. The president appoints the 7 governors, who serve a 14 term (the terms are staggered). A chair and vice chair lead the board for terms of 4 yrs. Importantly the board operates in the Federal Open Market Committee to set monetary policy, like interest rate levels and macroeconomic policy. The board oversees 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks, each of which serves as a "banker's bank" for the country's financial institutions.

fiscal policy

The means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nation's economy. The goal of federal fiscal policy is to have a balanced budget, in which expenditures and revenues match up.

policy processes

The public policy process has four major phases1) agenda setting, (2) policy enactment, (3) policy implementation, and (4) evaluation.

Joint Chiefs of Staff

consist of six members, one each from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, plus a chair and vice chair. The chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the president's top uniformed military officer

Article II

establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws

Medicare

is an entitlement program funded through payroll taxes for older people and retirees who no longer get health insurance through their work

U.S. v. Nixon

landmark decision against President Richard Nixon limiting the power of any U.S. president to claim executive privilege

22nd Amendment

limits the presidency to two four- year terms in office

"soft power"

nonmilitary tools used to influence another country, such as economic sanctions

independent regulatory agencies

report directly to the president, with heads appointed by the president. They are assigned far more focused tasks. These agencies are considered independent because they are not subject to the regulatory authority of any specific department. They perform vital functions and are a major part of the bureaucratic landscape of term-72the United States. EX: NASA,Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Great Depression

severe economic downturn from 1929-1939 following the stock market crash in October 1929

excise tax

taxes applied to specific goods or services as a source of revenue

Executive Office of the President

the administrative organization that reports directly to the president and is made up of important offices, units, and staff of the current president and headed by the White House chief of staff

budget deficit

the annual amount by which expenditures are greater than revenues

neoconservativism

the belief that, rather than exercising restraint, the United States should aggressively use its might to promote its values and ideals around the world

public policy

the broad strategy the government uses to do its job; the relatively stable set of purposive governmental behaviors that address matters of concern to some part of society

bureaucrats

the civil servants or political appointees who fill nonelected positions in government and make up the bureaucracy

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

the congressional office that scores the spending or revenue impact of all proposed legislation to assess its net effect on the budget

collective security

the cooperation of several countries in an alliance to strengthen the security of each

Monopolistic Model

the extent to which bureaucracies compete for scarce resources is not what provides the greatest insight into how a bureaucracy functions but instead the absence of competition. This model views bureaucracy as the sole provider of a service. Without competition, the department has little or no incentive to be efficient, and typically is not penalized for waste or inefficiencies.

public administration

the implementation of public policy as well as the academic study that prepares civil servants to work in government

Cold War

the period from shortly after World War II until approximately 1989-1990 when advanced industrial democracies divided behind the two superpowers (East: Soviet Union, West: United States) and the fear of nuclear war was abounded

veto power

the power of the president to reject a law proposed by Congress

inherent powers

the powers neither enumerated nor implied but assumed to exist as a direct result of the country's existence

"hard power"

the use or threat of military power to influence the behavior of another country

Bush Doctrine

various related foreign policy principles established by President George W. Bush in efforts to counter security threats by non state actors (terrorist) and nations. It moved the nation away from deterrence, which discourages attack, to a policy of preemption, which signals the US willingness to strike first in order to prevent an enemy attack.

Civil Liberties

which are limitations on government power designed to protect our fundamental freedoms. For example, the Eighth Amendment prohibits the application of "cruel and unusual punishments" to those convicted of crimes, a limitation on government power.

Acquisitive Model

A model of bureaucracy that views top level bureaucrats as seeking to expand the size of their budgets and staffs to gain greater power. proposes that bureaucracies are naturally competitive and power-hungry, meaning bureaucrats recognize limited resources available to feed bureaucracies so will work to enhance the status of their own bureaucracy to the detriment of others

Aaron Wildavsky

Developed the two presidencies thesis, suggests that there are two distinct presidencies, one for foreign policy and one for domestic policy, and that presidents are more successful in foreign than domestic policy.

economic sanctions

Is the embargo on trade and the flow of money between the countries. Boycotts, embargoes, and other economic measures that one country uses to withdraw customary trade and financial relations for foreign and security policy purposes. In hopes of putting pressure on another country into changing its policies. EX: Soft money

Preemption

Strategy in which the United States intervenes militarily before the enemy can make its move. Preemption is a new idea; the United States has tended to be retaliatory in its use of military force. EX: Iraq war