1.
adjudication: decision making by bureaucracies as to whether or not an individual or organization has complied with or violated government laws and/or regulations
2.
affirmative action programs: in government agencies, efforts to achieve minority and gender representativeness in the workforce through preferential hiring and promotion
3.
appropriation: an act of legislature that authorizes executive agencies to spend a specific amount of money
4.
arbitration: disputes between parties are submitted and decided by a neutral third party
5.
balanced scorecard: a management decision making system that considers both human capital and financial capital costs in making decisions
6.
benchmarking: comparing and measuring policies, practices, and philosophies, and performance measures against those of other high-performing state or local governments
7.
budget: document prepared by the executive branch of government that estimates next year's revenue and proposes programs and the objects of expenditures; must be approved by the legislature
8.
budget maximization: the tendency of bureaucrats to expand their own hours, functions, staff, and budgets
9.
bureaucracy: departments, agencies, bureaus, and offices that perform the functions of government
10.
bureaucratization: a general reference to the size of government, often measured by spending per capita and public employment per 10,000 population
11.
capture theory: the theory that over time regulatory agencies come under the influence of the industries they are supposed to regulate
12.
clout: informal power in the world of politics; usually infers someone who can get things done in the political process
13.
collective bargaining: the determination of wages, benefits, and working conditions through bargaining with unions that represent employees
14.
discretion: the ability of public agencies and employees to make decisions based on their own judgment so long as the decision is reasonable and lawful
15.
earmarking: in government budgeting the practice of allocating specific revenue sources to specific programs, such as gasoline taxes to highways
16.
fiscal year: the yearly government accounting period, not necessarily the same as the calendar year; most state and local government's fiscal year beings july 1 and ends june 30
17.
implementation: the development by the executive bureaucracies of procedures and activities to carry out policies enacted by the legislature
18.
incrementalism: in government budget making, the tendency of bureaucrats and elected officials to focus on new programs and increases in spending, while seldom reviewing existing programs or previous levels of spending
19.
load shedding: government selling off many of its enterprises for to private individuals or firms who would operate them more efficiently and effectively
20.
merit system: selection of employees for government agencies on the basis of competence, with no consideration of an individual's political loyalties or support
21.
partial preemption: state laws on the same subject are valid as long as they do not conflict with federal law on that subject
22.
patronage system: selection of employees for government agencies on the basis of political loyalty and electoral support
23.
performance budgeting: instead of focusing on an organizational unit, a budget is done by program or activity and includes performance to tie expenditures for each program to specific goals established for that program
24.
principal-agent problem: in government, the problem of ensuring that bureaucrats (agents) carry out the intentions of elected officials (principals), that the self-interests of bureaucrats do not conflict with these intentions
25.
privatization: shifting the production of government services from public bureaucracies to private firms
26.
productivity: in government, performing functions and producing desired results at the least possible cost to taxpayers
27.
regulation: the development by the bureaucracy of formal rules for implementing legislation
28.
reinventing government: a reform movement that encourages government bureaucracies to be more entrepreneurial, mission driven, results oriented, decentralized, and responsive to citizens needs
29.
representativeness: as applied to public bureaucracies, the extent to which their workforces generally reflect the social characteristics of the citizens they serve
30.
shortfalls: revenues that fall below those estimated in the budget and force spending cuts during a fiscal year
31.
uncontrollables: in government spending, increases that cannot be easily limited because of prior commitments to existing programs or legal mandates
32.
zero based budgeting: method of budgeting that demands justification for the entire budget request of an agency, not just in requested increase in funding
33.
zero sum game: the theory that for someone to win, someone must lose
