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AP Government and Politics: Chapter 15 - The Bureaucracy

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18197349BureaucracyA large, complex organization composed of appointed officials.
18197350Laissez-faireAn economic theory that gobernment should not regulate or interfere with commerce.
18197351Discretionary authorityThe extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws.
18197352Competitive serviceThe government office to which people are appointed on the grounds of merit as ascertained by a written examination or by having met certain selection criteria (such as training, educational attainments, or prior experience).
18197353Pendleton ActThe extent to which appointed bureaucrats can choose courses of action and make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws.
18197354Name-request jobsA job that is filled by a person whom an agency has already identified
18197355Civil Service Reform Act of 1978recognized that many high level positions in the civil service have important policy making responsibilities and that the president and his cabinet officers ought to have more flexibility in recruiting, assigning, and paying such people.
18197356Senior Executive ServiceEstablished by Congress in 1978 as a flexible, mobile corps of senior career executives who work closely with presidential appointees to manage government.
18197357Whistle Blower Protection Actthe law that created the Office of Special Counsel, charged with investigating complaints from bureaucrats that that they were punished after reporting to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies.
18197358Iron triangleA close relationship between an agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group.
18197359Issue networkA network of people in Washington DC based interest groups, on congressional staffs, in universities and think tanks, and in the mass media, who regularly discuss and advocate public policies.
18197360Authorization legislationLegislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency.
18197361AppropriationA legilative grant of money to finance a government program or agency.
18197362Trust fundsFunds for government programs that are collected and spent outside the regular government budget.
18197363Committee clearanceThe ability of a congressional committee to review and approve certain agency decisions in advance and without passing a law.
18197364Legislative vetoThe authority of Congress to block a presidential action after it has taken place. The Supreme Court has held that Congress does not have this power
18197365Red tapeComplex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done.

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