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Government Vocabulary
Gov. Vocab Chapter 15
22
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12th Grade
12/12/2009

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Term
Patronage
Definition
One of the key inducements used by machines, a patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.
Term
Pendleton Civil Service Act
Definition
Passed in 1883, an Act that created a federal civil service so that hiring and promotion would be based on merit rather than patronage.
Term
Civil service
Definition
A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service.
Term
Merit principle
Definition
The idea that hiring should be based on entrance exams and promotion ratings to produce administration by people with talent and skill.
Term
Hatch Act
Definition
A federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics.
Term
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Definition
The office in charge of hiring for the most agencies of the federal government, using elaborate rules in the process.
Term
General Schedule (GS) rating
Definition
A schedule for federal employees, ranging from GS 1 to GS 18, by which salaries can be keyed to rating and experience.
Term
Senior Executive Service (SES)
Definition
An elite cadre of about 9,000 federal government managers, established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, who are mostly career officials but include some political appointees who do not require Senate conformation.
Term
Bureaucracy
Definition
According to Max Weber, a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality, they govern most states.
Term
Independent regulatory agency
Definition
A government agency responsible for some sector of the economy, making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest. It also judges disputes over these rules, the interstate commerce commission is an example.
Term
Governmental corporations
Definition
A government organization that, like business corporations, provides a service that could be provided by the private sector and typically charges for its services. The U.S. Postal Service is an example.
Term
Independent Executive Agency
Definition
The government not accounted for by cabinet departments, independent regulatory agencies, and government corporations. Its administrators are typically appointed by the president and serve at the president's pleasure. The Veterans Administrations is an example.
Term
Policy Implementation
Definition
The stage of policy-making between the establishment of a policy and the consequences of the policy for the people whom it affects. Implementation involves translating the goals and objectives of a policy into and operating, ongoing program.
Term
Standard Operating Procedures
Definition
Better knows as SOPs, these procedures are used by bureaucrats to bring uniformity to complex organizations. Uniformity improves fairness and makes personnel interchangeable.
Term
Administrative Discretion
Definition
The authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem. Discretion is greatest when routines, or standard operating procedures, do not fit a case.
Term
Street-Level Bureaucrats
Definition
A phrase coined by Michael Lipsky, referring to those bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and have considerable administrative discretion.
Term
Regulation
Definition
The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector. Regulations pervade the daily lives of people and institutions.
Term
Deregulation
Definition
The lifting of restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer
Term
Command-and-Control Policy
Definition
According to Charles Schultze, the existing system of regulation whereby government tells business how to each certain goals, checks that these commands are followed, and punishes offenders.
Term
Incentive System
Definition
According to Charles Shultze, a more effective and efficient policy than command-and-control; in the incentive system, market-like strategies are used to manage public policy.
Term
Executive Orders
Definition
Regulations originating from the executive branch. Executive orders are one method presidents can use to control the bureaucracy; more often, though, presidents pass along their wishes through their aides.
Term
Iron Triangles
Definition
Entities composed of bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees, which have dominated some areas of domestic policy-making. Iron triangles are characterized by mutual dependency, in which each element provides key services, information, or policy for the others.
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