CHAPTER 15 QUESTIONS

Question #1 What is a bureaucracy? A large, complex, administrative structure that handles the everyday business of an organization. Possesses these three characteristics: 1. Hierarchical authority 2. Job specialization 3. Formalized rules

Question #2 What three groups make up the federal bureaucracy? 1. Executive Office of the President 2. Executive Departments 3. Independent Agencies

Question #3 Briefly define each of the following. Administration: The officials in the executive branch of government and their policies and principles. Commission: Name given to agencies charged with the regulation of business activities (Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Communications Commission) or to investigative, advisory, or reporting bodies (Civil Rights Commission, Federal Elections Commission). Agency: Used to refer to any governmental body, but also used to identify a major unit headed by a single administrator of near-Cabinet status (EPA, NASA). Department: An agency of Cabinet rank (Department of Defense, State, Treasury, etc.). Corporation or Authority: Title given to agencies conducting business- like activities headed by a board of managers (Federal Deposit Insurance Company, Tennessee Valley Authority).

Question #4 What are staff agencies? Staff agencies are those agencies that serve in a support capacity. They aid the President and other administrators by offering advice and other assistance in the management of the organization.

Question #5 How do line agencies differ from staff agencies? Line agencies perform the tasks that Congress or the President has set out. Staff agencies make the performance of those tasks possible (providing personnel, tools, logistics, etc.)

Question #6 Give three functions of the Cabinet: 1. Advise the President 2. Head a department (Defense, State, Treasury, etc.) 3. Represent the Administration (credit gets pushed up, blame gets pushed down).

Question #7 Independent agencies operate outside of the 15 executive departments, give 4 reasons why: 1. They don’t fit in well with any particular department. 2. They need to be independent from the influence of partisan and pressure politics. 3. They formed that way accidentally. 4. The peculiar and sensitive nature of their function warrants it.

Question #8 What are the three types of independent agencies? Briefly explain each. Independent Executive Agencies: single administrator with subunits operating on a regional basis… do not have Cabinet status (EPA, NASA, GSA) Independent Regulatory Commissions: largely beyond the reach of presidential direction and control… they police or regulate vital aspects of the nation’s economy (SEC, NRC, FTC, etc.) Government Corporations: subject to president’s control but set up by Congress to carry out certain business-like activities (FDIC, Amtrak)

Question #9 What is the civil service? Civilian employees who perform the administrative work of government.

Question #10 What is the spoils system? The practice of giving offices and other favors of government to political supporters and friends.

Question #11 List the tenets of the Pendleton Act? To make merit (the quality of one’s work) the basis for hiring, promotion, and other personnel decisions in the federal workforce. Set up two categories of employment. 1. Classified (based on merit) 2. Unclassified (not based on merit) Merit determined by exam administered by the Civil Service Commission (90% of federal employees are considered “classified” employees).

Question #12 How are the political actions of federal employees limited? Governed by the Hatch Act (1939) and the Federal Employees Political Activity Act (1993). Can: 1. Vote 2. Register voters 3. Contribute money to candidates 4. Participate in campaigns 5. Hold office in a political party Cannot: 1. Run in partisan elections 2. Engage in party activity while on government property or while on the job 3. Collect political contributions from subordinates or the general public 4. Use a government position to influence an election

Question #13 What was the Civil Service Reform Act? Passed in Established the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as an independent agency tasked with recruiting, examining, and hiring federal employees. The Merit Systems Protections Board Enforces the merit system and fields grievances