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administrative law
the rules and reulations written by admin. to administer law. The effectiveness of a law is often determined by how administrative law is written
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administrative review
administrators' study and interpretation of a law and writing the rules and regulations to implement the law's enforcement. All law undergo administrative review, whereas relatively few undergo judicial review, which is the courts, interpretation of the law
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attorney general's opinion
interpretation of the constitution, statutory laws, or administrative law by Texas' Attorney general. Government officials may request opinioons, and although they are not legally binding, government officials usually follow them
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cabinet system
a system that allows the chief executive appoint and remove top-level administrators, thereby giving the chief executive more control over the administration
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civil service (merit) system
an employment system used by goverments that take merit into account in hiring promotions
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clientele intrest groups
the groups most concerned with the law and policies being administered by a government agency
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contract spoils or contract patronage
the practice by which public officials award government contracts to benifit their campaign contributors, supporters, and allies
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elective accountability
the obligation of officials to be directly answerable to the voters for thier actions. This allows elected administrators to ignore the wishes of the chief executive
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hierarchy
a pyramid-shaped administrative organization in which several employees report to a single higher administrator until there remains only one person with ultimate authority at the top
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iron Texas star
a model depicting policy making in Texas by a coalition of interests that includes interest groups, the lieutenant governor, the speaker, standing committees, the governor, administrators, and boards and commissions
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iron triangle
a working coalition among administrative agencies, clientele interest groups, and legislative committees that share a comman interest in seeing either the implementation or defeat of certain policies and proposals
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ombudsman
an official who hears complaints of employees and citizens concerning government administrators or policy administration. Ombudsmen usually lack authority to force administrative compliance, but they can bring the complaints to the proper authorities and represent the interests of the complaining individual within the administration
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opening-meeting laws
with some exceptions, laws that require meetings of government bodies that make decisions concerning the public interest to be open to public scrutiny
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open-records laws
laws that require most records kept by government to be open for the examination of the parties involved
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permanent school fund
a small source of funding for the Texas public school system. leases, rent, and royalties from designed public school land are deposited into the fund. The school system uses the interest and dividend income from this fund for public education
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privatization
the hiring of private contractors to perform goverment services and functions
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"revolving door"
the interchange of employees between government agencies and the private businesses with which they have dealings
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spoils system
a system that gives elected officials considerable discretion in employment adn promotion decisions
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whistleblowers
government employees who expose corruption, imcompetence, and criminal acts by other government employees
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