public administration

 

 

the set of people who are not involved directly in the making of major political decisions but who construct and implement the policies that carry out those decisions such as police officers, public health nurses, IRS agents, and public university presidents

bureaucracy

 

 

a way of organizing the public administration that emphasizes professionalism, recruitment, and promotion on the basis of merit, standardization of procedures, and the smooth flow of commands

hierarchical command structure

 

 

an organization in which there is a single, branching path of power via a chain of command, but no commands move up the structure, and no commands can move laterally across tiers -- bureaucracies are hierarchical

ombudsman

 

 

a government official whose primary duty is to seek out citizens' complaints of abuse by public administrators and to negotiate changes in the offending practices

representative bureaucracy

 

 

the idea that members of the public administration should be similar to the groups they serve in such characteristics as class, race, and gender so that public officials will be able to serve the public better

higher civil service

 

 

specialized and executive members of the public administration corresponding to professionals and managers in the private sector