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| major administrative units of the federal government that have responsibility for the conduct of a wide range of government operations |
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| the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney General |
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| Independent executive agencies |
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| executive branch agencies that are not part of any of the 15 cabinet-level departments (i.e. the Peace Corps, NASA, CIA) |
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| Government foundations and institutes |
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| foundations and institutes administer grant programs to local governments, universities, nonprofit institutions, and individuals for research in the natural and social sciences or to promote the arts (National Science Foundation) |
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| Independent Regulatory commissions |
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| an agency outside the major executive departments that is charged with the regulation of important aspect of the economy (i.e. Federal Trade Commission) |
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| Quasi-governmental companies |
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| a private, profit-seeking corporation created by Congress to serve a public purpose (i.e. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac |
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| the method of hiring government employees from among the friends, relatives, and supporters of elected officeholders |
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| Civil Service Commission (1881) |
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| A legislation created to establish a hiring system based on competitive examinations and to protect federal worker s from dismissal for political reasons. |
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| a measure designed to restrict the political activities of federal employees to voting and the private expression of views. The rationale behind the law was to protect government workers from being forced by their superiors to work for particular candidates |
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| Senior Executive Service (SES, 1978) |
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| a paygrade in the civil service of the U.S. federal government composed of approximately 8,000 top civil servants who would be eligible for substantial merit bonuses but who could be transferred, demoted, o fired more easily than other federal employees. The reform measure replaced the old Civil Service Commission with two new agencies |
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| an evaluation of a proposed policy or regulation based on a comparison of its expected benefits and anticipated costs |
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| Constituency service compromises |
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| the action of members of Congress and their staffs attending to the individual, particular needs of constituents |
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| a form of government oversight that involves selective monitoring triggered by complaints from citizens and interest groups who bring potential problems to legislator’s attention |
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| A three-sided relationship among government agencies, interest groups and key members of Congress in which all parties benefit. Bureaucracy & interest groups: agencies enhance the economic status of the interest group through favorable regulation or awarding government contracts. Interest groups return the favor by lobbying Congress on behalf of the agency. Interest groups & members of Congress: members of Congress votes to appropriate money for programs the interest groups support and in return these interest groups contribute to these Congress members’s reelection campaigns. Bureaucracy & members of Congress: Agencies provide members of Congress with all the information they request and by paying special notice to the needs of districts of congress members in order to keep these members of Congress happy. |
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| a group of political actors that is actively involved with policymaking in a particular issue area |
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| the act of the government satisfying its people by providing them with what they expect, output |
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| the type of democracy B. Guy Peters say we are in now, one that only focuses on the outputs it provides rather than the output |
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| political parties that focus on the importance of a single issue and/or politician |
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| political parties that use the resources of the state to maintain its position within the political system. There is more inter-party action than focusing on the public |
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| The idea that governments should make and define policy rather than deliver the service themselves |
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