adjudication
A process designed to establish whether a rule has been violated.
adverse selection
In the principal-agent model, the principal not knowing the abilities of the agent.
advisory committee
A miscellaneous set of executive branch organizations that tend to be small, have well-defined tasks, and have few program responsibilities.
agency capture
Bureaucracy run for the benefit of those it is supposed to regulate.
appointment power
Allows the president to choose a wide range of subordinates.
bounded rationality
Argues that utility maximization is impractical and impossible, so humans satisfice.
bureaucracy
Public agencies that translate the intent of democratic institutions into action.
cabinet departments
Administrative agencies charged with carrying out government operations in general policy areas.
contracting out
Hiring a private organization rather than creating a government bureaucracy to deliver a public service.
deregulation
To loosen or eliminate government rules.
Executive Office of the President
the bureaucracy charged with collectively managing all of the executive branch bureaucracies for the president.
executive orders
Directives that have the force of law even though they are not passed by Congress.
fire alarm oversight
The method, rather than constant monitoring, of relying on alarm-raising that Congress and it's committees use on to catch bureaucratic wrongdoing.
government corporations
Federally established businesses with narrow tasks and are run by bipartisan or nonpartisan boards.
impoundment
The ability to delay approved expenditures.
independent agencies
Agencies that are not under the administrative control of a cabinet secretary.
iron triangles
Stable relationships among a clientele group, the bureaucracy managing the programs that affect that group's interests, and the congressional committees with jurisdiction over those programs.
legislative intent
When the court seeks to determine if an agency's actions are authorized by the relevant law passed by Congress.
legislative veto
A provision in a law that allows Congress to reject a proposed action by a public agency.
merit system
A system that bases government employment on competence rather than partisan fealty.
moral hazard
In the principal-agent model, the principal not knowing the effort of the agent.
neutral competence
Public agencies make decisions based on expertise rather than on political or personal considerations.
overhead democracy
The idea that citizens can exercise indirect control over bureaucracy.
police patrol oversight
Politicians vigorously exercise their oversight responsibilities, systematically monitoring the bureaucracy to ensure that it is acting in accordance with democratically expressed wishes.
policy subsystems
Networks of all the groups that share a particular policy interest.
principal-agent model
A model of traditional democracy that is based on the idea of a relationship between a boss who wants some work done (the principal) and an employee who actually does the work (the agent).
regulatory agencies and commissions
Created by Congress to monitor and regulate specific areas of economic activity, but kept out of the cabinet so they are insulated against political pressure.
rule
A statement by a federal agency that interprets a law and prescribes the specific action an agency will take to implement that law.
rulemaking
The process of deciding exactly what the laws passed by Congress mean.
satisficing
A theory that posits when humans are faced with a problem, they consider possible alternatives until they find one that in their view is good enough to solve the problem at hand and choose it, even though it might not be the "best" possible solution.
spoils system
A system where government jobs at all levels are rewards for people's loyalty to a politician or a party.
standards of due process
When the courts seek to ensure that an agency is not depriving anyone of due process guarantees given by the Constitution or the law.
sunshine laws
Laws that require that bureaucratic decisions be made in public meetings.