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Ch 14 The Federal Bureaucracy

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133689887BureaucracyA form of organization that operates through impersonal, uniform rules and procedures.
133689888DepartmentUsually the largest organization in government with the largest mission; also the highest rank in Federal hierarchy.
133689889Independent regulatory commissionA government agency or commission with regulatory power whose independence is protected by Congress.
133689890Senior Executive ServiceEstablished by Congress in 1978 as a flexible, mobile corps of senior career executives who worked closely with presidential appointees to manage government.
133689891Spoils systemA system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.
133689892Merit systemA system of public employment in which selection and promotion depend on demonstrated performance rather than political patronage.
133689893Office of Personnel Management (OPM)Agency that administers civil service laws, rules, and regulations.
133689894ImplementationThe process of putting a law into practice through bureaucratic rules or spending.
133689895Administrative discretionAuthority given by Congress to the Federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgment in implementing the laws.
133689896RegulationsThe formal instructions that government issues for implementing laws.
133689897Uncontrollable spendingThe portion of the Federal budget that is spent on programs, such as Social Security, that the president and Congress are unwilling to cut.
133689898EntitlementsPrograms such as unemployment insurance, disability relief, or disability payments that provide benefits to all eligible citizens.
133689899IndexingProviding automatic increases to compensate for inflation.
133689900OversightLegislative or executive review of a particular government program or organization. Can be in response to a crisis of some kind or part of routine review.
133689901Central clearanceReview of all executive branch testimony, reports, and draft legislation by the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each communication to Congress is in accordance with the president's program.
133689902BureaucratA career government employee
133689903Government CorporationA government agency that operates like a business corporation, created to secure greater freedom of action and flexibility for a particular program.
133689904Hatch ActFederal statute barring Federal employees from active participation in certain kinds of politics and protecting them from being fired on partisan grounds
133689905Independent agencyA government entity that is independent of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
133689906Rule-making processThe formal process for making regulations

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