Chapter 10 - Comparative Government and Politics, 11th Edition

Literally, rule by officials. In the context of comparative politics, describes the people and organizations who form the public administration.

The classic image of bureaucracies tied up in procedure and rules, deriving from the habit in some sixteenth-century European countries of binding administrative documents in red tape.

A system in which career advancement and leadership is based on talent, qualifications, and achievement.

A patronage-based arrangement in which elected politicians distribute government jobs to those with the foresight to support the winning candidate.

An approach to bureaucracy that emerged in the 1980s, based on the idea that market-oriented principles would make it more efficient.

The practice of contracting private contractors to provide services previously under the control of the public bureaucracy.

The use of information and communication technology to provide public services.

An administrative unit over which a secretary or minister exercises direct management control. Usually structured as a formal hierarchy, often established by statute, and usually having cabinet-level status.

An operating unit of a department, responsible to the secretary but often with considerable independence. Also known as sections or bureaus, or (confusingly) as departments in countries where the larger unit is a ministry.

Operates at one or more removes from the government, providing management flexibility and political independence.

An independent government body created to set and impose standards in a focused area of activity.

An approach based on recruitment to the civil service as a whole, not to a specific job within it, and in which administrative work is conceived as requiring intelligence and education, rather than technical knowledge.

An approach based on recruiting people with technical backgrounds to a specific department or job.

Policies designed to overcome the legacy of past discrimination by emphasizing the recruitment of women, ethnic minorities, and other groups under-represented in the bureaucracy.

A public official appointed by a legislature to investigate allegations of maladministration in the public sector.