Deck 11: The Federal Bureaucracy: Putting the Nations Laws Into Effect

Question 1

Of special concern in James Wilson's analysis was the ability or inability to observe ______.

A) actions and consequences
B) inputs and processes
C) outputs and outcomes
D) costs and benefits

Answer 1

C

Question 2

For Chester Barnard, the essence of a bureaucracy is that it involves ______ in pursuit of a joint objective.

A) clear division of labor
B) loosely organized operations
C) conscious coordination of activities
D) tightly bound rules and regulations

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to James Wilson, if outputs and outcomes are unknown by management, ______.

A) incentives are unclear
B) effective management is impossible
C) quality planning cannot be implemented
D) organizational structure cannot hold

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to early research into bureaucracies, bureaucratic power rests upon ______.

A) individual bureaucrats
B) rational-legal authority
C) the laws of economics
D) the principles of management

Question 5

In order to effectively manage a bureaucracy, both outputs and outcomes must be ______.

A) inherent
B) planned
C) visible
D) included

Question 6

The agency responsible for planning and operating the New Orleans levee and pump system was the ______.

A) American Red Cross
B) Federal Emergency and Management Agency (FEMA)
C) Salvation Army
D) United States Army Corps of Engineers

Question 7

Driving much of the bureaucracy's direct involvement in American lives are the demands of ______.

A) the president
B) Congress
C) the people themselves
D) the federal judiciary

Question 8

The challenge that arises when one actor tasks another to carry out their wishes in the presence of uncertainty and unequal information is called the ______ problem.

A) principal-agent
B) employer-employee
C) manager-worker
D) owner-manager

Question 9

According to Chester Barnard's research at AT&T in the early 20th century, ______ and not just rules and regulations are central to understanding bureaucracy.

A) legislation
B) people
C) labor
D) planning

Question 10

According to Barnard, the job of the leader was to ______.

A) effectively acquire and wield power over the labor force
B) administer authority over clients and workers alike
C) secure the cooperation of those within the organization
D) delegate authority to specialized workers and supervisors

Question 11

An organization designed to carry out specific tasks according to a prescribed set of rules and procedures is referred to as a(n) ______.

A) democracy
B) anarchy
C) bureaucracy
D) hierarchy

Question 12

Which of the following presidents led a major expansion of the federal bureaucracy during his tenure?

A) Ronald Reagan
B) Lyndon B. Johnson
C) George H. W. Bush
D) Bill Clinton

Question 13

The German sociologist who was the first to expertly define what a bureaucracy was ______.

A) Thorsten Veblen
B) G. W. F. Hegel
C) Immanuel Kant
D) Max Weber

Question 14

For Chester Barnard, ______ was central to the success of a bureaucracy and overcoming its challenges.

A) organization
B) leadership
C) power
D) labor

Question 15

Unlike Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court, the federal bureaucracy differs in that it ______.

A) lacks the powers vested in the three branches of government
B) is more complicated and less effective
C) is not considered a part of American government
D) has a more direct impact on American lives

Question 16

Which of the following entities is responsible for making rules that govern housing construction, property taxes, schools, police stations, and water supplies?

A) the EPA
B) the executive branch
C) state and local bureaucracies
D) state legislators

Question 17

An official employed within a government bureaucracy is called a(n) ______.

A) bureaucrat
B) autocrat
C) democrat
D) ethnocrat

Question 18

For political scientist James Q. Wilson, ______ matter as much as individuals.

A) rules and procedures
B) incentives and salaries
C) punishments and rewards
D) organization and management

Question 19

The set of formal rules governing the behavior of bureaucrats and describing the way tasks should be carried out are commonly referred to as ______.

A) federal governmental regulations
B) bureaucratic operational guidelines
C) standard operating procedures
D) federal legislative agendas

Question 20

The sets of rules governing how bureaucrats behave are referred to as ______.

A) standard operating procedures
B) specialized guidelines
C) codes of conduct
D) constitutional guarantees

Question 21

Because individuals were changing with each new presidential administration, the need for ______ became important; otherwise little would get done.

A) standard operating procedures
B) constant supervision
C) merit-based employment
D) bureaucratic tenure

Question 22

In his inaugural address in 1829, President Jackson railed against ______.

A) a highly unqualified bureaucratic system
B) the exertion of bureaucratic power over the people
C) an inability to exercise external control over the bureaucracy
D) the sense of ownership of important administrative positions

Question 23

Regarding bureaucratic accountability, when a person's output is difficult to observe and it is difficult to measure the outcomes of a task, then ______.

A) it is difficult to ascertain the success or failure of a policy
B) a stalemate results
C) bureaucratic inertia has been reached
D) problems arise

Question 24

Which executive agency became the primary target for bureaucratic reforms of President Andrew Jackson in 1829?

A) Attorney General's Office
B) Postal Service
C) State Department
D) War Department

Question 25

Since the United States was founded, its bureaucracy vastly expanded in size, to the point where today nearly ______ civilian employees work across the country.

A) 10 million
B) 3 million
C) 1 million
D) 500,000

Question 26

Which of the following was a problem with placing the bureaucracy in the hands of the legislature?

A) delays
B) inadequate information
C) managerial pressure
D) ineffective organization

Question 27

During post-Civil War expansion, large corporations and railroads outgrew the ability of individual states to control and regulate them. This led to an increased federal role through the creation of ______.

A) independent federal agencies
B) more executive-level departments
C) expansion of federal regulation to state and local levels
D) increased federal authority over day-to-day state and local operations

Question 28

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are examples of ______, because though they resemble cabinet departments, they are not, in part because they have a narrow mission.

A) independent regulatory agencies
B) government corporations
C) independent executive agencies
D) clientele agencies

Question 29

The secretaries of the different departments along with the vice president and the other heads of some major agencies that meet frequently are called the president's ______.

A) advisors
B) commission
C) cabinet
D) staff

Question 30

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention distrusted the administrative power of the Crown but also knew that legislative bodies could be inefficient and slow in carrying out administrative tasks, so they let the ______ nominate executive branch officials.

A) Supreme Court
B) states
C) president
D) cabinet

Question 31

When bureaucrats compete to take duties and responsibilities away from one another's departments or keep their opponent from doing so, they are participating in ______.

A) turf wars
B) executive privilege
C) hierarchal dissonance
D) interpersonal relations

Question 32

Organizations that exist outside the major cabinet departments and whose job is to monitor and regulate specific sectors of the economy are defined as ______.

A) public corporations
B) independent regulatory agencies
C) private bureaucracies
D) clientele agencies

Question 33

An initial consequence to the patronage system was to make the American bureaucracy ______.

A) more impartial, neutral, and driven by standard operating procedures and technical expertise
B) more independent from the legislature with regard to individual merit and qualifications
C) less dependent on the president with regard to who is chosen and the position they received
D) more partisan based, particularly with the appointment of members of the president's party

Question 34

In settling on how executive branch officers were selected, the most contentious question facing the delegates was how these people would be ______.

A) selected
B) managed
C) paid
D) removed

Question 35

When voters elect their members of Congress and those representatives do not carry out their constituents' wishes once they are in Congress, ______ is present.

A) bureaucratic lack of accountability
B) a free-rider problem
C) a principal-agent problem
D) a corrupt bargain

Question 36

In the early years of its history, the American bureaucracy was ______ in comparison to what it turned into.

A) tiny
B) large
C) immeasurable
D) never considered

Question 37

As a part of his reforms, Andrew Jackson employed political ______, filling administrative positions as rewards for support rather than solely based on merit.

A) merit
B) patronage
C) consideration
D) qualifications

Question 38

Following a successful election, the opportunity to clean house of one's opponents and install supporters in their place is referred to as the ______ system.

A) patronage
B) merit
C) spoils
D) insider

Question 39

In the 1926 case of Myers v. United States, which of the following was the most important outcome?

A) Executive-branch officials were granted tenure, making it difficult to remove them.
B) Presidents retained the authority to remove officials in the executive branch.
C) Executive-branch secretaries were placed on year-to-year contracts.
D) Executive-branch secretaries were placed under the civil service administration.

Question 40

President Andrew Jackson's use of patronage to fill administrative positions is referred to as ______.

A) nepotism
B) the spoils system
C) rational choices
D) loyalty tests

Question 41

Postwar economic prosperity allowed the nation to ______.

A) expand its foreign powers without additional funding
B) fund a large growth in national bureaucracy in defense and social services
C) fund even greater expansions of the American military complex without public accountability
D) avoid the bureaucracy through direct funding of military operations

Question 42

In 1913, the Department of Commerce and Labor was broken in two, with the Department of Commerce focusing on ______ and the Department of Labor focusing on ______.

A) market growth and operations; employer-employee problems and management effectiveness
B) economic growth; employee-employer relations and workplace conditions
C) increasing sales and production; ending or alleviating union actions against employers
D) measuring and improving GDP; assisting businesses with smoothing over labor problems

Question 43

Scholars of American political development have highlighted the importance of ______, in which a set of political choices at one time produces a set of outcomes that shapes the possibilities for future politics and public policies.

A) organizational interdependence
B) path dependence
C) agency independence
D) decision centralism

Question 44

In 1883, Congress passed the ______, commonly referred to as the ______, in order to create the first U.S. Civil Service Commission.

A) Government Service Regulation Act; Arthur Act
B) Merit System Act; Comstock Act
C) Civil Service Reform Act; Pendleton Act
D) Government Work Authorization Act; Work Authorization Act

Question 45

The Progressive Era witnessed ______.

A) expansion of the federal bureaucracy and attempts to limit it
B) decline in the federal bureaucracy and attempts to end it
C) expansion of the federal bureaucracy and attempts to reform it
D) contraction of the federal bureaucracy and attempts to confine it

Question 46

For political scientist Stephen Skowronek, the federal bureaucracy was more ______.

A) fragmented and decentralized than European counterparts
B) highly centralized in comparison to that in other Western nations
C) hierarchal in nature when compared to other democratic institutions
D) open and democratic than other bureaucratic systems around the world

Question 47

The public demand for a more active federal role and the creation of independent regulatory agencies after the Civil War was spurred by ______.

A) a rise in large corporations such as railroads that outgrew the regulatory authority of the states
B) the rising size of federal bureaucratic agencies that needed public oversight
C) an inflation in the scope and authority of state regulatory agencies over corporations
D) increased industrial capabilities in northern states and a growing agrarian society in the South

Question 48

The period from 1890 to 1920 in which the role of the federal bureaucracy in the nation's life expanded along with attempts to take politics out of the bureaucracy itself is described as the ______.

A) Progressive Era
B) Interdependent Era
C) Era of Good Feelings
D) Gilded Age

Question 49

Following the election of Ronald Reagan, the federal bureaucracy began to ______.

A) expand in size
B) maintain its 1980s levels
C) decline (retrench) in size and scope
D) become independent of public services

Question 50

Political scientist Theda Skocpol explained America's lack of developing a comprehensive social welfare system in comparison to that of Europe by describing the ______ as hostile to large-scale government intervention and American ______ as defending the benefits of political patronage.

A) state and local bureaucracies; political institutions
B) federal legislature; executive leadership
C) federal courts; political parties
D) political parties; state and local agencies

Question 51

Under Bill Clinton, the one area in which the federal bureaucracy began to see a significant reduction was ______ policy.

A) economic
B) educational
C) social
D) defense

Question 52

Both the Skocpol and Skowronek studies highlight the question of American ______.

A) nationalism
B) leadership
C) interventionism
D) exceptionalism

Question 53

The ______ created the first U.S. Civil Service Commission to draw up and enforce rules on hiring, promotion, and tenure of office within the civil service.

A) federal civil service
B) merit system
C) spoils system
D) Pendleton Act

Question 54

The focus of reform under the Progressive Era targeted ______.

A) a corrupt, inefficient, and too-political bureaucracy
B) a concise, effective, and apolitical system of bureaucracy
C) an inefficient and disorganized system of polarized bureaucracy
D) a system highly influenced by political parties and lacking authority

Question 55

Healthcare, education, housing, transit, job training, and urban renewal were all targets of President Johnson's ______ programs.

A) Great Society
B) Great Depression
C) Square Deal
D) New Deal

Question 56

President Roosevelt's efforts to combat the crisis of the ______, called the ______, resulted in an unprecedented expansion of the size of the bureaucracy in the federal government.

A) First World War; Secret Expansion
B) Great Recession; Great Society
C) Great Depression; New Deal
D) Second World War; Marshall Plan

Question 57

The CIA is an example of a(n) ______ in which agencies otherwise similar to cabinet departments exist outside the cabinet structure and usually have a narrower focus of mission.

A) private informational agency
B) autonomous congressional committee
C) independent executive agency
D) public governmental corporation

Question 58

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed into law the ______, which created the National Security Council as well as the Central Intelligence Agency.

A) Marshall Plan
B) National Security Act
C) National Civil Service Act
D) Foreign Intelligence Act

Question 59

The system of hiring and promotion based on the results of competitive tests, education, and other qualifications rather than politics and personal consideration was called the ______ system.

A) merit
B) civil service
C) spoils
D) front lobby

Question 60

Organizations that act to serve and promote the interests of their clients are known as ______.

A) public corporations
B) independent regulatory agencies
C) private bureaucracies
D) clientele agencies

Question 61

Where does the term "red tape," often associated with bureaucracy, originate from?

A) the narrow ribbons previously used in England and America to tie up packets of legal and government documents
B) the narrow red strips that were used to seal the doors of congressional sessions during the pre-Civil War era
C) the red carpet that was rolled out for legislators as they arrived to Capitol Hill during each congressional session
D) the red pen marks that would cover the pages of a bill under review in a joint committee

Question 62

The Government Accountability Office is responsible for ______.

A) acting as the liaison between the executive and judicial branches
B) acting as the liaison between the public and the executive branch
C) providing oversight for the judicial branch interpretation of federal laws
D) providing oversight for executive branch implementation for Congress

Question 63

Career civil servants are best described as a ______.

A) federal employee who ranks are clearly defined according to the General Service levels of government bureaucracy
B) state employee who has worked within their field for a minimum of 20 years
C) federal employee with higher level supervisory and administrative responsibilities that gets treated more like a vice president of a business
D) state employee that has recently retired after working for 30 years from the department of education

Question 64

Of the roughly 6,500 political appointees in the executive branch, about ______ require Senate confirmation.

A) 500
B) 1,500
C) 3,000
D) 10,000

Question 65

A civil service that truly reflects the diversity of American people is described as a ______.

A) representative bureaucracy
B) responsive executive
C) reflective administration
D) reactive hierarchy

Question 66

When bureaucratic agencies engage in rulemaking, the rules must be ______.

A) vetted by the president
B) carried out by Congress
C) postponed until all three branches weigh in on them
D) published in the Federal Register

Question 67

One area in which federal employees are restricted from acting is in participation in the ______ process.

A) representative
B) political
C) implementation
D) regulatory

Question 68

The bureaucracy's role in putting into action the laws that Congress has passed is known as ______.

A) implementation
B) rulemaking
C) advising
D) representation

Question 69

Although the main focus for many members of Congress was tax reform for the current legislative session, things have shifted towards discussions on healthcare reform instead. This is an example of ______.

A) bureaucratic drift
B) congressional deadlock
C) legislative capture
D) senatorial misappropriations

Question 70

When the American people feel that the federal bureaucracy has failed, public outrage typically falls on whom?

A) state representatives
B) state governors
C) federal legislators
D) the president

Question 71

When the federal government settles disputes between parties that arise over the implementation of federal laws and presidential executive orders or in order to determine which individuals or groups are covered under a regulation or program, it is described as ______.

A) bureaucratic discretion
B) judicial review
C) executive action
D) bureaucratic adjudication

Question 72

The Water Well Corporation has just been chosen to build a new water works facility in the town of Sandy Beach. The Water Well Corporation would be an example of a ______.

A) government corporation
B) private contractor
C) public service provider
D) civil service provider

Question 73

Besides the president (chief executive), at the top of the federal hierarchy of labor are ______.

A) civil service supervisors
B) privately hired managers
C) executive political appointees
D) senior executive service members

Question 74

Congress' oversight ability assists with shaping what?

A) presidential behavior
B) bureaucratic behavior
C) state laws
D) federal laws

Question 75

The process through which the federal bureaucracy fills in critical details of a law is called ______.

A) implementation
B) rulemaking
C) advising
D) representation

Question 76

As of 2016, there are ______ cabinet-level departments.

A) 10
B) 20
C) 15
D) 12

Question 77

The Hatch Act of 1939 was designed to prevent ______.

A) funds from being spent on negative campaigning
B) federal funds from being used for political elections
C) pernicious political activities
D) voter fraud during federal and state elections

Question 78

The Federal Register is designed to ______.

A) document votes from each member of Congress on bills that are presented on the floor
B) be a published document for recording bureaucratic agencies engagement in rulemaking
C) act as a voter registration record for each state
D) record each new bill that is passed during state legislative sessions

Question 79

When Congress allows bureaucrats to have some power to decide how a law is to be implemented and, at times, to interpret what a law actually means, Congress has opened up a space for ______.

A) political appointment
B) executive action
C) bureaucratic discretion
D) partisan representation

Question 80

President George W. Bush came under intense scrutiny for his perceived mismanagement of ______.

A) Hurricane Andrew
B) the wildfires that plagues California
C) Hurricane Katrina
D) the flooding of the Ohio River