Chapter 8 Vocab

a system of employment based on qualifications, test scores, and ability, rather than party loyalty (ex: for hiring city employees)

reform measure that established the principle of federal employment on the basis of open, competitive exams and created the Civil Service Commission

an entity created by Congress outside a major executive department that regulates a specified interest or economic activity (ex: the consumer product safety commission)

governmental units that closely resemble a Cabinet department but have narrower areas of responsibility and perform services rather than regulatory functions (ex: CIA, NASA, Environmental protection agency)

businesses established by Congress to perform functions that private businesses could provide (ex: federal prison industries, financing corporation)

The 1939 act to prohibit civil servants from taking activist roles in partisan campaigns. This act prohibited federal employees from making political contributions, working for a particular party, or campaigning for a particular candidate.

the relatively ironclad relationships and patterns of interaction that occur among agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees/The loose and informal relationships that exist among a large number o actors who word in broad policy areas

the ability of bureaucrats to make choices concerning the best way to implement congressional or executive intentions

rules governing the operation of all government programs that have the force of law (ex: control over the sale of tobacco)

a quasi-legislative process resulting in regulations that have the characteristics of a legislative act

a quasi-judicial process in which a bureaucratic agency settles disputes between two parties in a manner similar to the way courts resolve disputes (ex: judicial review)