Key Terms
- bureaucracy
- an administrative group of nonelected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs
- bureaucrats
- the civil servants or political appointees who fill nonelected positions in government and make up the bureaucracy
- civil servants
- the individuals who fill nonelected positions in government and make up the bureaucracy; also known as bureaucrats
- government corporation
- a corporation that fulfills an important public interest and is therefore overseen by government authorities to a much larger degree than private businesses
- merit system
- a system of filling civil service positions by using competitive examinations to value experience and competence over political loyalties
- negotiated rulemaking
- a rulemaking process in which neutral advisors convene a committee of those who have vested interests in the proposed rules and help the committee reach a consensus on them
- patronage
- the use of government positions to reward individuals for their political support
- pay schedule
- a chart that shows salary ranges for different levels of positions vertically and for different ranks of seniority horizontally
- privatization
- measures that incorporate the market forces of the private sector into the function of government to varying degrees
- public administration
- the implementation of public policy as well as the academic study that prepares civil servants to work in government
- red tape
- the mechanisms, procedures, and rules that must be followed to get something done
- spoils system
- a system that rewards political loyalties or party support during elections with bureaucratic appointments after victory
- whistleblower
- a person who publicizes misdeeds committed within a bureaucracy or other organization
