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104 ch16/17

Terms in this set (46)

Bureaucracy
A group of departments, agencies, and other institutions that for the most part are located in the executive branch of government and that develop and implement public policy
Implementation
The process by which policy is executed
Rules
Administrative determinations about how laws will be interpreted and implemented
Norms
Informal expressions of the customs, attitudes, and expectations put before people who work within a bureaucratic agency
Spoils system
A system of government in which a presidential administration awards jobs to party loyalists
Civil service system
A system of government in which decisions about hiring promotion, and firing are based on individual's work experience, skills, and expertise
Department
A major administrative unit that is composed of many agencies serving many policy functions, and that is headed by a secretary, who serves in the president's Cabinet
Independent agencies and commissions
Bureaucratic organizations that operate outside of Cabinet-level departments and are less subject to congressional or presidential influence
Government corporation
A corporation created and funded by the government to provide some public service that would be insufficiently provided by the private sector
Principal-agent problem
the problem that occurs when one person (the principle) contracts with another person (the agent) to provide a service and yet cannot directly observe what the agent is actually doing; the agent meanwhile, is motivated to take advantage of the principle
Slack
A situation in which bureaucrats do not work as hard as Congress or the president would like
Drift
A situation in which bureaucrats create policy that does not match the policy preferences of Congress or the president
Agency capture
An agency primarily serves the interests of a nongovernmental group rather than those of elected officials
Red tape
the inefficiency and waste that result from excessive regulation and overly formal procedures
Poiticization
A phenomenon that occurs when Congress and the president select bureaucracy leaders who share their political views
Recess appointment
The means by which the president fills a vacant position in the bureaucracy when Congress is not in session, thus avoiding the need for prior congressional approval
Oversight
Congressional and presidential efforts to monitor and supervise the actions of bureaucratic agencies
Hearing
A formal process in which committees in Congress call upon bureaucrats and other experts to help them understand and oversee a particular agency
Whistle-blower
A bureaucrat who witnesses and publicly exposes wrongdoing by either contracting his or her superiors or tipping off the press
Centralization
A method of increasing the president's power by moving key administrative functions from the departments to the Executive Office of the President
Deregulation
The process of decreasing the number of agency rules that apply to a particular industry or group of industries so as to introduce market forces to their operations
Privatization
The transfer of government functions from the federal government to private companies
Great Society
A set of large-scale social initiatives proposed by President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s to reduce poverty, racial discrimination, environmental degradation, and urban decay
Policy entrepreneuars
Professionals working in think tanks, universities, lobby groups, unions, and interest groups who propose solutions to policy problems and persuade politicians to adopt them
Focusing event
A visible and dramatic event that focuses the domestic policy on a specific problem and accompanying course of action
Great Depression
A period of severe economic recession in the United Staes precipitated by the stock market crash in October 1929
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
A statistic that measures all goods and services produced by a nation's economy
Laissez-faire economics
A theory that discourages the government from becoming involved in the economy
Monetary policy
Policy designed to improve the economy by controlling the supply of available money
Federal Reserve
the federal agency that controls the supply of money in the domestic economy
Fiscal policy
Policy designed to improve the economy through spending and taxation
Defecit
The amount of money a government spends in a year above and beyond what it brings in through taxation and other means
Public debt
The total amount of money that federal government owes
Recession
A period when the nation's GDP declines in two successive quarters
Social Security Act
a 1935 law that established Social Security, an entitlement program providing retirees with a monthly income in order to reduce poverty among the elderly
Entitlements
Benefits that all qualifying individuals have a legal right to obtain
Means-tested program
Any program that targets the poor and for which eligibility is based on financial need
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
a federal program in effect from 1935 to 1996 that provide assistance to households with needy children
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
a program replacing AFDC in 1996 that established new work requirements for welfare recipients and limits on the number of years an individual can receive assistance
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
A federal law passed in 1965 designed to reduce educational inequities by directly aiding school districts with large numbers of poor citizens
Unfunded mandate
a law requiring certain actions without appropriating the necessary funds to carry them out
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
a 2001 federal law that rewards public schools for meeting certain educational benchmarks and punishes schools that fail to do so
Charter schools
Public schools, administered by chartering boards, that are exempt from many rules and regulations applicable to traditional public schools
Vouchers
Tuition subsidies that reduce the costs of sending children to private schools
Medicare
a federally funded entitlement program that offers health insurance to the elderly
Medicaid
A means-tested program, funded by federal and state governments, that extends health insurance to the poor and disabled
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