AP U.S. Government & Politics
Mr. Oglesby
Chapter 15
The Bureaucracy
Vocabulary Terms
Annual authorizations
Bureaucratic imperialism
Competitive Service
Issue Network
Patronage
Senior Executive Service
Legislative veto
appropriation
Chadha
Discretionary Authority
Laissez Faire
Pendleton Act
Trust funds
Hatch Act
authorization legislation
Civil Service Reform Act
Excepted Service
Name-request job
Red tape
Whistle Blower Protection Act
Federal Trade Commission
bureaucracy
Committee Clearance
Iron triangle
National Performance Review
Schedule C
Administrative Procedure Act
Important questions
1. What are the distinctive features of American bureaucracy?
2. Which criteria would you want to consider if you were trying to convince someone that the federal
bureaucracy is an important policy-making institution?
3. What is meant by the buddy system? What are the potential benefits of this approach?
4. What does the text say about the personal attributes of bureaucrats? How are these attributes related
to the opinions that bureaucrats have? How are these attributes related to their choice of agencies?
5. What does the text mean by the term bureaucratic pathologies? What are some examples of such
“pathologies?” Why does each of them exist? Can they be corrected? Why or why not?