Key Terms Match

Chapter 15: The Bureaucracy

Match the following terms and descriptions:

1. A freely competitive economy

2. Appointment of officials not based on the criteria specified by OPM
3. A requirement that an executive decision lie before Congress for a specified period
before it takes effect
4. A 1993 effort, led by Vice President Al Gore, to make the bureaucracy work better and
cost less
5. Top-ranking civil servants who can be hired, fired, and rewarded in a more flexible
manner than can ordinary bureaucrats
6. A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials
7. Appointment of officials based on selection criteria devised by the employing agency and
OPM
8. Refers to the tendency of agencies to grow without regard to the benefits their programs
confer or the costs they entail.
9. Legislation that began the federal merit system
10. Governmental appointments made on the basis of political considerations
11. The right of committees to disapprove of certain agency actions
12. The ability of officials to make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws
13. Groups that regularly debate governmental policy on subjects such as health care or auto
safety
14. Government jobs having a confidential or policy-making character
15. Funds such as that of Social Security that operate outside the government budget
16. A proposal by President Bush in 2002 which would consolidate 22 federal agencies and
nearly 170,000 federal employees
17. The mutually advantageous relationship among an agency, a committee, and an interest
group
18. Monies that are budgeted on a yearly basis; for example Congress may set yearly limits
on what agencies can spend
19. A legislative grant of money to finance a government program
20. Legislative permission to begin or continue a government program or agency
21. A job to be filled by a person whom a government agency has identified by name
22. Complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done
23. The practice of giving the fruits of a party's victory, such as jobs and contracts, to the
loyal members of that party
A. annual authorizations
B. appropriation
C. authorization legislation
D. bureaucratic imperialism
E. bureaucracy
 F. committee clearance
G. competitive service
H. Department of Homeland Security
I. discretionary authority
J. excepted service
K. iron triangle
L. issue networks
M. laissez-faire
N. legislative veto
O. name-request job
P. National Performance Review
Q. patronage
R. Pendleton Act
S. red tape
T. schedule C
U. Senior Executive Service
V. spoils system
W. trust funds

Important Terms
Administrative Procedure Act A law passed in 1946 requiring federal agencies to give notice, solicit
comments, and (sometimes) hold public hearings before adopting any new rules.

annual authorization The practice of a legislative committee determining the amount an agency can
spend on a yearly basis. This practice is a recent one and curtails the power of the appropriations
committees.

appropriation Money formally set aside for a specific use; issued by the House Appropriations
Committee.

authorization legislation Legislation that originates in a legislative committee stating the maximum
amount of money that an agency may spend on a given program.

buddy system A job description by an agency which is tailor-made for a specific person. These
appointments occur in middle- and upper-level positions in the bureaucracy.

bureaucracy A large organization composed of appointed officers in which authority is divided among
several managers.

bureaucratic culture An informal understanding among fellow employees of an agency as to how they
are supposed to act.

committee clearance A request made by congressional committees to pass on certain agency decisions.
Although usually not binding, it is seldom ignored by agencies.

competitive service The set of civil servants appointed on the basis of a written exam administered by
the Office of Personnel Management or by meeting certain selection criteria.

conflict A bureaucratic pathology in which some agencies seem to be working at cross-purposes to other
agencies.

discretionary authority The ability of a bureaucracy to choose courses of action and make policies not
spelled out in advance by laws.

duplication A bureaucratic pathology in which two government agencies seem to be doing the same
thing.

Freedom of Information Act A law passed in 1966 giving citizens the right to inspect all government
records except those containing military, intelligence, or trade secrets or material revealing private
personnel actions.

imperialism A bureaucratic pathology in which agencies tend to grow without regard to the benefits their
programs confer or the costs they entail.

iron triangle The policy-making network composed of a government agency, a congressional committee,
and an interest group. This network is less common today because of the variety of interest groups that
exist and the proliferation of congressional subcommittees.

issue network Members of Washington-based interest groups, congressional staffers, university faculty,
experts participating in think tanks, and representatives of the mass media who regularly debate
government policy on a certain subject. Such networks are replacing the iron triangles.

laissez-faire A belief in a freely competitive economy that was widely held in the late nineteenth century.

legislative veto Congressional veto of an executive decision during the specified period it must lie before
Congress before it can take effect. The veto is effected through a resolution of disapproval passed by
either house or by both houses. These resolutions do not need the president's signature. In 1983, the
Supreme Court ruled such vetoes were unconstitutional, but Congress continues to enact laws containing
them.

name-request job A job in the federal bureaucracy that is filled by a person whom an agency has already
identified.

National Environmental Policy Act A law passed in 1969 requiring agencies to issue an environmental
impact statement before undertaking any major action affecting the environment.

non career executive assignments A form of patronage under the excepted service given to
high-ranking members of the regular competitive service, or to persons brought into the civil service at a
high level who are advocates of presidential programs.

Open Meeting Law A law passed in 1976 requiring agency meetings to be open to the public unless
certain specified matters are being discussed.

oversight Congressional supervision of the bureaucracy.

patronage Bureaucratic appointments made on the basis of political considerations. Federal legislation
significantly limits such appointments today.

Pendleton Act A law passed in 1883 which began the process of transferring federal jobs from patronage
to the merit system.

Privacy Act A law passed in 1974 requiring government files about individuals to be kept confidential.

red tape A bureaucratic pathology in which complex rules and procedures must be followed to get things
done.

Schedule C job A form of patronage under the excepted service for a position of confidential or
policy-determining" character below the level of the cabinet and sub cabinet.

Senior Executive Service A special classification for high-level civil servants created by the Civil Service
Reform Act of 1978. Members of this service can be hired, fired, and transferred more easily than
ordinary civil servants. They are also eligible for cash bonuses and, if removed, are guaranteed jobs
elsewhere in the government. The purpose of the service is to give the president more flexibility in
recruiting, assigning, and paying high-level bureaucrats with policy-making responsibility.

spoils system Another phrase for political patronage, that is, the practice of giving the fruits of a party's
victory, such as jobs and contracts, to loyal members of that party.

trust fund Money outside the regular government budget. These funds are beyond the control of
congressional appropriations committees.
waste A bureaucratic pathology in which an agency spends more than is necessary to buy some product
or service.

Whistleblower Protection Act A law passed in 1989 which created an Office of Special Counsel to
investigate complaints from bureaucrats claiming they were punished after reporting to Congress about
waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies.