| bureaucrats | people employed in a government executive branch unit to implement public policy; public administrators; public servants
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| shadow bureaucrats | people hired and paid by private for-profit and nonprofit organizations that implement public policy through a government contract
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| contracting-out | also called outsourcing or privatizing; a process by which the government contracts with a private for-profit or nonprofit organization to provide public services, such as disaster relief, or resources needed by the government, such as fighter planes
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| bureaucracy | any organization with a hierarchical structure; most commonly used to designate a government agency or the collection of all national executive branch organizations
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| plum book | a publication that lists the top jobs in the bureaucracy to which the president will appoint people through the patronage system
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| merit-based civil service | a personnel system in which bureaucrats are hired on the basis of the principles of competence, equal opportunity (open competition), and political neutrality; once hired, these civil servants have job protection
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| civil servants | bureaucrats hired through a merit-based personnel system who have job protection
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| senior executive service (SES) | a unique personnel system for top managerial, supervisory, and policy positions offering less job security but higher pay than the merit-based civil service system
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| department | one of fifteen executive branch units responsible for a broadly defined policy area and whose top administrator (secretary) is appointed by the president, is confirmed by the Senate, and serves at the discretion of the president
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| independent administrative agency | an executive branch unit created by Congress and the president that is responsible for a narrowly defined function and whose structure is intended to protect it from partisan politics
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| independent regulatory commission | an executive branch unit outside of cabinet departments responsible for developing standards of behavior within specific industries and businesses, monitoring compliance with these standards, and imposing sanctions on violators
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| government corporation | an executive branch unit that sells a service and is expected to be financially self-sufficient
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| politics-administration dichotomy | the concept that elected government officials, who are accountable to the voters, create and approve public policy, and then competent, politically neutral bureaucrats implement the public policy
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| authorization law | a law that provides the plan of action to address a given societal concern and identifies the executive branch unit that will put the plan into effect
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| appropriation law | a law that gives bureaucracies and other government entities the legal authority to spend money
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| administrative discretion | the authority delegated to bureaucrats to use their expertise and judgment when determining how to implement public policy
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| administrative rule making | the process by which an independent commission or agency fills in the details of a vague law by formulating, proposing, and approving rules, regulations, and standards that will be enforced to implement the policy
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| administrative adjudication | the process by which agencies resolve disputes over the implementation of their administrative rules
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| sunshine laws | legislation that opens up government functions and documents to the public
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| sunset clause | a clause in legislation that sets an expiration date for the authorized program/policy unless Congress reauthorizes it
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| conflict of interest | in the case of public servants, the situation in which they can personally benefit from a decision they make or an action they take in the process of doing their jobs
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| whistle-blower | a civil servant who discloses mismanagement, fraud, waste, corruption, and/or threats to public health and safety to the government
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| inspectors general | political appointees who work within a government agency to ensure the integrity of public service by investigating allegations of misconduct by bureaucrats
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