GOVT 2305- Chapter 15
EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency) an independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment
What does bureaucracy do?
-Enforce laws made by policy and law makers -Distribute government services -Face of the government
Weberian Model of Bureaucracy
1. Division of labor 2. Hierarchy 3. Formal rules 4. Maintenance of files and records 5. Professionalization
FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)
1966 law that allows citizens to obtain copies of most public records
What is bureaucracy?
A bureaucracy is an administrative group of nonelected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs.
Government in the Sunshine Act
A federal act that opens most federal administrative agency meetings to the public.
notice-and-comment rulemaking
A procedure in agency rulemaking that requires notice, opportunity for comment, and a published draft of the final rule.
What are independent executive agencies?
Agencies not accounted for by the cabinet departments (the rest of the government)
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Audits, monitors, and evaluates how agencies use the federal gov.'s budget.
What are government corporations
Businesses that are run by the National Government
CIA
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. Its primary function is obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons in order to advise public policymakers
How are cabinet departments organized? How are their heads selected?
Each of the Cabinet departments is organized with a similar hierarchical structure. At the top of each department is the secretary (in the Department of Justice, the highest office is called the "attorney general," but the role is parallel to that of the secretary of state, defense, etc.).
What tools do citizens have to oversee the bureaucracy?
Freedom of Information Act
How many cabinet positions were there in George Washington's administration? What were they?
George Washington's original cabinet consisted of only four members. Secretary of State (Thomas Jefferson), Secretary of Treasury (Alexander Hamilton), Secretary of War (Henry Knox), and Attorney General (Edmund Randolph.)
What is the history of bureaucracy?
In the early U.S. republic, the bureaucracy was quite small. This is understandable since the American Revolution was largely a revolt against executive power and the British imperial administrative order.
What is divestiture?
Is when a company decides to sell of a specific division rather than sell the entire company. process is similar to sell side M&A deal
Privitization
Letting the private sector take over an area that was typically run by the government.
With which president is the Great Society associated?
Lyndon B. Johnson
Under which two twentieth-century presidencies did the size of the federal government grow the most significantly?
Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt
What are the drawbacks of merit hiring?
Merit pay plans may create problems in employee relationships, problems in morale related to jealousy, fear, favoritism, undesirable competition, and job insecurity. Merit programs tend to develop divisive and competitive attitudes rather than cooperation among employees.
How does merit selection work?
Merit selection is a way of choosing judges that uses a nonpartisan commission of lawyers and non-lawyers to locate, recruit, investigate, and evaluate applicants for judgeships. It is called "merit selection" because the judicial nominating commission chooses applicants on the basis of their qualifications, not on the basis of political and social connections.
What was political patronage?
Political patronage is the use of state resources to reward individuals for their political support.
Which president is known as the father of U.S. public administration?
President Woodrow Wilson
Who is credited with being the father of the science of public administration?
President Woodrow Wilson
Who was elected president promising to reduce the size of government but actually increased it because of greater military spending?
Ronald Reagan
Procedural Guidelines
Specifies both the rights and responsibilities of two parties that carry out a given procedure.
What is sometimes considered the "fourth branch of government?"
The Independent administrative agencies of the United States government, while technically part of any one of the three branches, may also be referred to as a 'fourth branch'.
What government agencies were established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
The Interstate Commerce Commission was established in 1887, the Federal Reserve Board in 1913, the Federal Trade Commission in 1914, and the Federal Power Commission in 1920.
Merit Systems Protection Board
The MSPB is responsible for investigating charges of agency wrongdoing and hearing appeals when corrective actions are ordered.
What is public administration?
The management of public programs
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
The office in charge of hiring for most agencies of the federal government, using elaborate rules in the process.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
The office that prepares the president's annual budget proposal, reviews the budget and programs of the executive departments, supplies economic forecasts, and conducts detailed analyses of proposed bills and agency rules.
Are civil service exams still used for most positions?
This mandatory testing has since been abandoned, and now approximately eighty-five percent of all federal government jobs are filled through an examination of the applicant's education, background, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
What developments contributed to the growth of the bureaucracy?
Two developments, however, contributed to the growth of the bureaucracy well beyond these humble beginnings: 1. The first development was the rise of centralized party politics in the 1820s. 2. The second development was industrialization
According to President Wilson, how can bureaucracy and politics be separated?
Wilson advocated separating politics from administration by three key means: 1. making comparative analyses of public and private organizations 2. improving efficiency with business-like practices 3. increasing effectiveness through management and training.
pay schedule
a chart that shows salary ranges for different levels of positions vertically and for different ranks of seniority horizontally
What are regulatory agencies?
a department, bureau, or independent agency whose primary mission is to eliminate or restrict certain behaviors defined as negative in themselves or negative in their consequences
U.S. Civil Service Commission
a government agency of the federal government of the United States and was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships
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
NASA
an independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight
Are all bureaucracies governmental?
bureaucracy is not unique to government but is also found in the private and nonprofit sectors. That is, almost all organizations are bureaucratic regardless of their scope and size; although public and private organizations differ in some important ways.
monopolistic model of bureaucracy
bureaucracy is the sole provider of a service w/o competition the department has no incentive to be efficient
What are the four types of agencies in the U.S. government bureaucracy?
cabinet departments, independent executive agencies, regulatory agencies, and government corporations.
different forms of privatization
complete privatization, privatization of operations, privatization through contracts, franchising, and open competition.
What was the Pendleton Act of 1883?
created the Civil Service Commission, which would give exams to assure that people received government jobs based on merit
Who are civil servants?
employees of the government
What is red tape?
excessive or unnecessarily complex regulations imposed by the bureaucracy
What are the characteristics of bureaucracy?
hierarchical authority, formalized rules, job specialization
What is a merit system?
hiring people into government jobs on the basis of their qualifications
merit system
hiring people into government jobs on the basis of their qualifications
what tools does Congress have to control the bureaucracy?
holding hearings, making appointments, and setting budget allowances
whistleblowers
insiders who report illegal or unethical behavior
acquisitive model of bureaucracy
leaders of bureaucracies seek expanded budgets and larger staffs
What were the advantages of party patronage?
maintaining an active party organization by offering loyal workers occupational rewards. It also guarantees the ruling party loyal and cooperative employees.
spoil system
practice of handing out government jobs to supporters; replacing government employees with the winning candidate's supporters/ not based on qualifications
What is the Hatch Act of 1939?
prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity
Pendleton Act
reform measure that established the principle of federal employment on the basis of open, competitive exams and created the Civil Service Commission
What are standard operating procedures?
rules that lower-level bureaucrats must follow when implementing policies
What was the spoils system?
the practice of rewarding political supporters with government jobs. associated with Andrew Jackson.
What are regulations?
the rules the executive branch makes about how the law will be carried out
