APGOPO Unit 2 pt 4 - The Bureaucracy

An administrative group of nonelected officials charged with implementing policies created by the other branches of government.

• Bureaucracy

• Issue Networks

• Iron Triangles

• Government Corporations

Bureaucrats hired through a merit-based personnel system; employees of the government.

• Civil Servants

• Justices

• Ambassadors

• Constituents

Hiring people into government jobs on the basis of their qualifications, not on political patronage.

• Merit System

• Spoils System

Granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support; also known as the Spoils System.

• Patronage

• Merit System

Passed in 1883, this did away with the "Spoils System" and made the hiring of federal employees merit based.

• Pendleton Civil Service Act

• Budget and Impoundment Control Act

• Freedom of Information Act

• Marbury v. Madison

The 15 largest and most influential agencies of the federal bureaucracy. (ex: Dept. of State, Dept. of Defense, Dept. of Education, etc.)

• Cabinet Departments

• Independent Executive Agencies

• Independent Regulatory Commissions

• Government Corporations

Part of the bureaucracy responsible for a narrowly defined function and whose structure is intended to protect it from partisan politics. (ex: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Aeronautical and Space Agency (NASA)

• Independent Executive Agencies

• Cabinet Departments

• Independent Regulatory Commissions

• Government Corporations

Part of the bureaucracy responsible for making, enforcing and regulating rules to protect the public interest in certain areas of the economy (ex: Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal reserve board (FRB)

• Independent Regulatory Commissions

• Independent Executive Agencies

• Cabinet Departments

• Government Corporations

Part of the bureaucracy that sells a service and is expected to be financially self-sufficient. (ex: US Postal Service, the National Park Foundation, Amtrak)

• Government Corporations

• Independent Regulatory Commissions

• Independent Executive Agencies

• Cabinet Departments

A mutually dependent relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees. These are long lasting, stable relationships designed to influence public policy.

• Iron Triangles

• Issue Networks