Distinctiveness of the American Bureaucracy
The Growth of the Bureaucracy
The Federal Bureaucracy Today
Congressional Oversight
Bureaucratic
"Pathologies"
100
A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials.
What is a bureaucracy?
100
The number of federal employees increased eightfold
What is the status of bureaucracy in the early/mid-19th Century?
100
The extent to which appointed bureaucrata can choose courses of action & make policies not spelled out in advance by laws
What is discreationary authority?
100
Legislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency
What is authorization legislation?
100
Complex bureaucratic rules & procedures that must be followed to get something done
What is red tape?
200
Head of the Executive Branch
Who is the president?
200
Latest cabinet department.
What is Homeland Security?
200
1. Paying subsidies to particular groups & organizations in society 2. Transferring money from the federal government to state & local governments 3. Devising & enforcing regulations for various sectors of society & the economy
What are the three areas in which Congress has delegated substantial authority to administrative agencies?
200
A legislative grant of money to finance a government program or agnecy
What is an appropriation?
200
Exists becuase agencies seem to be working at cross-purposes with other agencies
What is conflict?
300
Two roles of cabinet members.
What is advise the president and run their agency?
300
Largely a product of the depression of the 1930s & WWII
What is today's bureaucracy largely a product of?
300
Government offices to which people are appointed on the status of a merit, if they have successfully passed a written examination administered by the OPM or met certain criteria.
What is competitive service?
300
Funds for government programs collected & spent outside the regular government budget
What are trust funds?
300
Occurs when two government agencies seem to be doing the same thing
What is wasteful duplication?
400
What is the first cabinet department in the line of succession to the presidency?
Secretary of State
400
An economic theory that government should not regulate or interfere with commerce
What is laissez-faire?
400
More than 86% of all federal employees
What percentage of employees are hired on grounds other than or in addition to merit?
400
The ability of a congressional committee to review & approve certain agency decisions in advance & without passing a law
What is committee clearance?
400
The tendency of agencies to grow without regard to their benifits that their programs confer or the costs that they entail?
What is imperialism?
500
Number of employees are in the federal government.
4 million
500
- In 1789, James Madison introduced a bill to create a Department of State to assist the new secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, in carrying out his duties. - People appointed to this department were nominated by the president and approved by the Senate, but they were “to be removable by the president” alone. - Madison’s opponents argued that the Senate should consent to the removal of officials as well as their appointment. - On the other hand, Madison responded that, without the unfettered right of removal, the president would not be able to control his subordinates and without his control he would not be able to discharge his constitutional obligation to “take care that the always be faithfully executed.”
What is the debate that arose in the First Congress regarding the bureaucracy?
500
1. The manner in which they are recruited and rewarded 2. Their personal attributes, such as their socioeconomic backgrounds and their political attitudes 3. The nature of their jobs 4. The constraints that outside forces – political superiors, legislators, interior groups, journalists – impose on their agencies
What are the four factors that explain the behavior of bureaucrats?
500
The authority of Congress to block a presidential action after it has taken place
What is a legislative veto?
500
Spending more than is necessary to buy some product or service
What is waste?
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