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Related Flashcards
Cards In This Set
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Decision
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An act of choice; a selection from a range of options.
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Utility
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A measure of satisfaction, based on the quantity of pleasure over pain (usually) derived from material consumption.
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Incrementalism
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The theory that decisions are made not in the light of clear-cut objectives, but through small adjustments dictated by changing circumstances.
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Mixed scanning
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A way of making decisions that uses rationalistic, or high-order, processes to set a basic direction before incremental processes are employed.
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Groupthink
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The phenomenon in which psychological and professional pressures conspire to encourage a group of decision-makers to adopt a unified and coherent position.
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Epistemic community
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A network of professionals who are recognized to possess expertise and policy-relevant knowledge in a particular issue area.
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Issue
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A matter recognized as part of the policy agenda, over which there is public debate or disagreement.
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Agenda setting
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The ability to structure policy debate by controlling which issues are discussed or establishing a priority amongst them.
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Cost–benefit analysis
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A technique to evaluate the feasibility of a project or plan, or the impact of a policy, by quantifying its costs and benefits.
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Clientelism
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A relationship through which government agencies come to serve the interests of the client groups they are responsible for regulating or supervising.
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Spoils system
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A system in which the ability to make appointments is a reward for achieving political office, leading to the preferment of friends or supporters.
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Executive agency
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A body that (usually) operates within a government department but enjoys a significant measure of managerial and budgetary independence.
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Balkanization
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The fragmentation of a political unit into a patchwork of antagonistic entities (as has often occurred in the Balkans).
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Maladministration
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Bad administration; the improper use of powers, biased application of rules, failure to follow procedures, or simple incompetence.
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Administrative law
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Law that defines the power and functions of the executive organs of the state.
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