Chapter 12 Vocabulary

bureaucracy   Any large, complex administrative structure; a hierarchical organization with job specialization and complex rules. By definition, it is not privately owned. The bureaucracy is based on the principle of hierarchical authority, job specialization, and formal rules. Merit really has nothing to do with it.

bureaucrat   An individual with defined responsibilities in a bureaucracy.

administration   A facet of the bureaucracy that consists of the officials and agencies of the executive branch that carry out public policies.

department   A term traditionally reserved for agencies of cabinet rank

agency   Any governmental body or, more particularly, a major unit headed by a single administrator of near-cabinet rank. The terms agency and administration are generally now used interchangeably.

commission   Term generally reserved for agencies charged with the regulation of business activities. Commissions are headed by varying numbers of top-ranking officers, or commissioners.

authority   Term used used for agencies that have a board and a manager and that is designed to conduct business-like activities.

staff agencies   Those agencies that serve in a support capacity by furnishing advice and assistance in the management of an organization. Examples: The White House Office; National Security Council.

line agencies   Those agencies that actually perform the tasks for which the organization exists. Examples: The Department of State, Department of Justice, and The Environmental Protection Agency.

civil servants   Those employees of the federal government which have been hired on the basis of merit, rather than political affiliation.

spoils system   Term used to generally describe a hiring and promotion system which is based on knowing the right people, rather than on merit.

patronage   The practice of giving government jobs to the President's friends and political supporters.

Pendleton Act of 1883    Federal legislation which created a system in which federal employees were chosen on the basis of competitive examinations, thus making merit, or ability, the reason for hiring people to fill federal positions.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)   Federal agency which is charged with the tesings and hiring of most federal workers.

Merit System Protection Board   Federal agency which enforces the merit selection system in the federal bureaucracy.

Hatch Act   Federal act passed in 1939, and amended 1993, which prohibits civil servants from active participation in partisan politics.

cabinet   Presidential advisory body, traditionally composed of the heads of the executive departments and other officers the President may choose.

independent executive agencies   An agency created by Congress and which operates outside the 14 executive departments in the cabinet.

independent regulatory commissons (agencies)   Independent regulatory commissions are quasi-legislative bodies which operate largely outside presidential control. Members of the independent regulatory agencies are of both parties, and serve long, staggered terms.

government corporations   "Agencies" which provide a service that can be readily handled by the private sector and which are within the executive branch, and under the control of the President. Their top officers are appointed by the President with Senate confirmation; all of their employees are public officials. The Postal Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority are examples of government corporations.

quasi-legislative   Powers of independent agencies which are used in rule making and regulatory functions and which have the force and effect of law.

quasi-judicial   Powers of independent agencies qhich are exercised when disputes are decided in those fields in which Congress has given policing authority, i.e., Interstate Commerce Commission.

iron triangle  Iron triangles are composed of bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees. The iron triangle is characterized by mutual dependency, in which each element provides key services, information, or policy for the others.

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Chief Justice Richard Barajas
Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics
Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas
Last updated:  April 2002