CHAPTER 12 BJU AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

1966 law that allows citizens to obtain copies of most public records

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

A federal legislative agency that audits (investigates) other agencies of the federal government and reports it's findings to Congress (makes sure they are not spending more money than the government has appropriated for them).

Appropriation

A legislative grant of money to finance a government program or agency

civil service

A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service.

Cabinet

Advisory council for the president consisting of the heads of the executive departments, the vice president, and a few other officials selected by the president.

Bureaucracy

An administrative system staffed largely by nonelected officals who perform specific tasks in accordance with standard procedures

standard operating procedures

Better known as SOPs, these procedures are used by bureaucrats to bring uniformity to complex organizations. Uniformity improves fairness and makes personnel interchangeable.

clients

Computers, such as users' personal computers, that use any of the services provided by servers.

Statutory Law

Law passed by the U.S. Congress or state legislatures signed by president

waste

Material outputs from a system that are not useful or consumed

Administrative Law

The body of law created by administrative agencies (in the form of rules, regulations, orders, and decisions) in order to carry out their duties and responsibilities.

bureaucrat

a civil servant dedicated to the details of administrative procedure

Sunshine Act

adopted in 1977, this act requires that most government meetings be conducted in public and that notice of such meetings must be posted advance

red tape

complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done

merit

in the civil service the standard for employment

delegation

the act of committing or entrusting a task or power to another

Pendleton Act

the act of congress that established the civil service system

oversight

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

press secretary

the individual charged with interacting and communicating with journalists on a daily basis

chief of staff

the person who oversees the operations of all White House staff and controls access to the president

fourth branch

the press as an informally structured check on the legislative, executive and judicial branches of US government

bureaucratese

the vague, sprawling language and wordy jargon used in bureaucratic regulations and documents