Deck 12: The Bureaucracy

Question 1

The president's ability to appoint bureaucrats helps him or her control the bureaucracy.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

When it comes to expertise in a policy area, most bureaucrats have less knowledge than the average member of Congress or political appointee.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Americans support smaller government in the abstract but do not support the large cuts to programs that would be necessary to shrink the federal budget and bureaucracy.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The main difference between fire alarm oversight and police patrol oversight is whether a legislator actively monitors a bureaucracy or simply responds to problems.

Question 5

Civil servants are employees of the federal government who

A) are appointed to their positions by their member of Congress.
B) serve at the pleasure of the president.
C) are hired on the basis of their qualifications.
D) cannot be fired except in circumstances of criminal activity.

Question 6

President Donald Trump was able to cut federal spending significantly and reduce the size of the executive bureaucracy early in his tenure as president.

Question 7

The federal bureaucracy was transformed considerably in the early twentieth century due to a number of laws such as the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Question 8

Which one of the following is the most accurate statement regarding the bureaucracy?

A) Americans rarely deal with the bureaucracy.
B) The bureaucracy handles programs such as Social Security but has no say over things like food safety.
C) Regulation of cell phones is outside of the reach of the bureaucracy.
D) Americans regularly encounter the work of the bureaucracy as part of their everyday lives.

Question 9

Under the Hatch Act, federal employees cannot engage in organized political activities, which include voting and contributing money to candidates.

Question 10

Political appointees in the bureaucracy

A) typically keep their jobs for their entire working careers.
B) typically have entry-level positions.
C) typically have senior positions.
D) cannot be fired except for cause by the president.

Question 11

About 35 percent of all federal civil servants are fired annually due to poor job performance.

Question 12

Bureaucrats are principals in the principal-agent game.

Question 13

One of the reasons regulations are controversial is because they require bureaucrats to choose between policy goals that are often incompatible, such as the federal drug-approval process.

Question 14

Bureaucrats

A) do not have much discretion with regard to implementation.
B) are mostly partisan loyalists.
C) have a great deal of discretion with regard to implementation.
D) are held in high regard in public opinion polls.

Question 15

In recent years, Republicans have managed to reduce the size of the federal government through reductions in the federal budget and the elimination of numerous federal programs.

Question 16

Red tape and standard operating procedures are inevitable in the executive bureaucracy.

Question 17

In most cases, bureaucrats have little discretion in how they implement policies due to very specific guidelines from Congress.

Question 18

All federal employees are members of the civil service.

Question 19

Bureaucratic drift stopped during the Progressive Era.

Question 20

Political party leaders such as Andrew Jackson liked the spoils system because it gave people a
strong reason to work on their behalf to gain power.

Question 21

Which one of the following was a significant change in the bureaucracy during the Progressive Era?

A) increased government intervention in social policy, especially in areas related to education
B) increased reliance on the spoils system for federal and state jobs
C) a move away from using political criteria for choosing most federal employees
D) decreased government intervention in the economy

Question 22

From the early 1800s until the Civil War, ________ in the size of government occurred largely because of ________.

A) growth; fundamental changes in what government did
B) growth; the increased size of the United States
C) stability; fundamental changes in what government did
D) stability; the increased size of the United States

Question 23

Why is the bureaucracy also known as the administrative state?

A) It is the part of government that most Americans know something about.
B) It is primarily staffed by permanent employees known as civil servants.
C) Its primary responsibility is putting government policies into practice on a daily basis.
D) Its primary responsibility is creating government policies.

Question 24

Creating regulations for environmental protection

A) is a fairly speedy process.
B) is a political process.
C) is a neutral process most of the time.
D) usually does not entail much by way of political conflict.

Question 25

Which one of the following statements is accurate about the bureaucracy?

A) Bureaucrats typically do not engage in conflictual activities.
B) Bureaucrats typically do the same task over and over.
C) Bureaucrats routinely engage in conflictual activities.
D) Bureaucrats typically avoid political activities.

Question 26

The ________ occurs when an individual or a group acts on behalf of another.

A) control game
B) discretionary game
C) principal-agent game
D) regulatory capture game

Question 27

When was the spoils system first used on a large scale to reward campaign supporters?

A) after the election of George Washington
B) after the election of Andrew Jackson
C) after the election of Grover Cleveland
D) after the election of William Howard Taft

Question 28

Regulations are developed according to the ________.

A) search-and-seizure procedure
B) notice-and-comment procedure
C) guidelines established by the Supreme Court
D) guidelines established by the White House chief of staff

Question 29

________ is NOT part of the public process for citizens to respond to proposed regulations.

A) Reading the proposed regulation in the Federal Register
B) The notice-and-comment procedure
C) Lobbying members of Congress to get the regulation revised
D) Asking a federal judge to stop the proposed regulation before it goes into effect

Question 30

Government rules that influence the behavior of individuals and groups are known as ________.

A) platforms
B) procurements
C) regulations
D) incentives

Question 31

While the spoils system ________, its principal drawback was that ________.

A) strengthened political parties; it made government responsible to the mass public
B) strengthened political parties; appointees often lacked experience
C) helped make government responsible to the mass public; appointees often lacked experience
D) helped make government responsible to the mass public; it strengthened political parties

Question 32

________ was not part of the bureaucracy in early American history.

A) The Department of the Treasury
B) The Department of War
C) The Department of Commerce
D) The Department of State

Question 33

Elected officials are challenged in maintaining control over the bureaucracy due to

A) the officials' lack of expertise relative to the bureaucrats.
B) the conflict that arises between the president and Congress in trying to control the bureaucracy.
C) the emphasis on neutral competence among civil servants.
D) the weak tools for controlling the bureaucracy that are available to Congress and the president.

Question 34

The use of standard operating procedures in bureaucracies comes from

A) the complexity of many tasks and the desire by elected officials to limit bureaucratic discretion.
B) the desire by elected officials to give bureaucrats more power over the way laws are implemented.
C) a lack of expertise in the bureaucracy.
D) disagreements between members of Congress and the president that leave bureaucrats uncertain.

Question 35

State capacity requires

A) a bureaucracy of experts.
B) political patronage.
C) politicians imposing their will on bureaucrats.
D) a Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress.

Question 36

Before a new regulation can take effect, it must be ________.

A) approved by the president
B) approved by Congress
C) published in the Federal Register
D) subject to judicial review

Question 37

Why was the federal government small in early American history?

A) Public opinion favored a smaller federal government.
B) Washington, D.C., was built on a swamp
C) The Constitution did not permit a large bureaucracy at the time.
D) Most people lived in large cities and government programs were not needed.

Question 38

The Progressive Era occurred

A) during the early decades of the republic.
B) before the Civil War.
C) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
D) during the Civil War.

Question 39

In the early years of the republic,

A) there was no bureaucracy.
B) members of Congress outnumbered civil servants in Washington, D.C.
C) the spoils system did not exist.
D) the president had a large staff.

Question 40

Where do bureaucrats get their authority to create regulations?

A) from Congress
B) from the president
C) from the Supreme Court
D) from the Constitution

Question 41

Why is it that some tasks are handled by independent agencies even when they might conceivably fall under the scope of an executive department?

A) Members of Congress may create an independent agency because presidents have less control over them than executive agencies.
B) Members of Congress prefer independent agencies to executive departments because they have more control over the people who run them.
C) Independent agencies usually have more policy experts than executive departments.
D) Members of Congress do not recognize the potential policy overlap between the independent agency and the executive department until after they have established it.

Question 42

________ is the largest cabinet department.

A) The Department of Defense
B) The Department of Education
C) The Executive Office of the President
D) The Department of Homeland Security

Question 43

What change characterized the Reagan Revolution's impact on the bureaucracy?

A) an increase in social programs and a decrease in military spending
B) the elimination of many government programs
C) an increase in federal intervention in the health care sector
D) the elimination of few programs and a federal budget that steadily increased

Question 44

How did the New Deal change the role of the federal government in the lives of individuals?

A) It created a legal system that allowed for citizens to appeal decisions government made in their lives.
B) It moved from broad-based regulations to delivering a wide range of benefits to individuals directly.
C) It gave more control of policies to individual members of Congress.
D) It gave more power to state and local officials.

Question 45

Why does the president have limited control over the Federal Communications Commission compared to an executive department such as the Department of Education?

A) Appointees serve for 14 years-longer than the president serves.
B) It is a body that is controlled exclusively by Congress.
C) There is no process for removing appointees to that body.
D) Appointees serve lifetime terms.

Question 46

The federal civil service was created by ________.

A) the Reagan Revolution
B) Andrew Jackson's reforms
C) the New Deal
D) the Pendleton Act

Question 47

The first large-scale use of the spoils system occurred during the presidency of ________,

A) George Washington
B) Andrew Jackson
C) James Buchanan
D) Theodore Roosevelt

Question 48

Most Americans

A) want the size of government to be cut back significantly.
B) want less spending on entitlements.
C) want to cut the defense budget.
D) want smaller government in the abstract but do not support the significant budget cuts that would be required to achieve it.

Question 49

What accounts for the overwhelming majority of federal spending?

A) education, interest on the debt, and foreign aid
B) defense, health care, and Social Security
C) diplomacy, unemployment, and infrastructure
D) crime prevention, agriculture, and environmental protection

Question 50

Which one of the following was a significant expansion of government action into a new policy area during the Great Society?

A) the first attempts at regulating food and drugs
B) the establishment of Social Security
C) government involvement in guaranteeing civil rights
D) expanded regulation of financial reporting requirements for corporations

Question 51

What was the principal bureaucratic change that occurred during the New Deal?

A) The range of policy areas in which the government intervened expanded.
B) An independent bureaucracy was created.
C) The number and size of government agencies decreased.
D) Limits on the growth of government were established.

Question 52

The Office of Management and Budget

A) prepares the president's annual budget proposal to Congress.
B) has oversight of the development of new regulations.
C) is part of the Executive Office of the President
D) All of these are correct.

Question 53

The Federal Reserve is an example of ________.

A) a cabinet department
B) an independent agency
C) an interest group
D) a congressional subcommittee

Question 54

The largest cabinet departments are typically involved in ________,

A) security and defense
B) education and welfare
C) labor and commerce
D) diplomacy

Question 55

Which one of the following groups of employees is the largest part of the federal workforce?

A) professional jobs
B) service jobs
C) farming, fishing, and forestry jobs
D) installation, maintenance, and repair jobs

Question 56

Which one of the following statements is accurate regarding the federal budget?

A) Federal spending is much lower when a Republican serves as president.
B) Federal spending tends to increase steadily regardless of the party affiliation of the president.
C) Federal spending was dramatically cut after the terrorist attacks in 2001.
D) Democratic presidents would like to dismantle the welfare state.

Question 57

Which one of the following events occurred during the presidency of George W. Bush?

A) fewer prescription drug benefits for seniors
B) increased federal control over local school districts
C) fewer financial reporting requirements for corporations
D) passage of the Affordable Care Act

Question 58

The New Deal reforms included a large transfer of power to ________ and ________.

A) Congress; the president
B) bureaucrats; the president
C) bureaucrats; state governors
D) Congress; state governors

Question 59

________ is not a cabinet department.

A) The Department of Justice
B) The Department of Labor
C) The Department of Agriculture
D) The Environmental Protection Agency

Question 60

Which one of the following policies was included in Lyndon Johnson's Great Society?

A) bilingual education
B) the establishment of Social Security
C) free public education for all
D) child labor laws

Question 61

What is state capacity?

Question 62

Which one of the following activities is prohibited for civil service employees?

A) working for a candidate
B) discussing politics with friends and family
C) donating money to a political organization
D) donating money to a candidate

Question 63

A civil servant

A) can be fired for any reason at any time.
B) has lifetime tenure.
C) cannot be fired after three years of satisfactory performance, except "for cause."
D) typically makes a higher salary than her or his private-sector counterpart.

Question 64

Although elected officials have a variety of strategies for preventing bureaucratic drift, a key limitation is that

A) they work in executive departments but not independent agencies.
B) they usually do not have enough information to decide on the appropriate tactic.
C) bureaucrats may just ignore them and do what they want anyway.
D) most require the president and Congress to agree on their use.

Question 65

Even though political appointees are allowed to engage in some political activities, the Hatch Act still poses which one of the following difficulties for them?

A) It does not apply to their opponents in Congress.
B) Congress and the courts have never clarified exactly which activities are prohibited, so they have to use educated guesswork.
C) Presidents can put pressure on them to engage in political activities because of the Hatch Act exemption.
D) Their jobs often mix government service with political action, and it is difficult to keep them separate.

Question 66

Most political appointees in the bureaucracy are appointed

A) as a reward for political service.
B) because someone has to fill the job, so it might as well be the president's friends.
C) because of their expertise in the area.
D) to help the president exercise control over the executive branch.

Question 67

What is the principal-agent game? Be sure to provide an illustration.

Question 68

Melissa is a bureaucrat for the Department of Education. During her free time she volunteers for a political campaign and actively speaks out on behalf of a candidate. Melissa may be
Violating ________.

A) the Pendleton Civil Service Act
B) the Hatch Act
C) the Lobbying and Campaigning Act
D) the Pure Food and Drug Act

Question 69

The Senior Executive Service (SES)

A) was abolished by President Donald Trump.
B) was fully staffed during the Trump administration.
C) is exempt from civil service restrictions.
D) was a strong supporter of the Trump presidential campaign in 2016.

Question 70

Why are bureaucrats attentive to pressures from elected officials?

Question 71

Bureaucratic drift

A) violates the Constitution.
B) no longer happens at the federal level.
C) will always exist because bureaucrats tend to be technical experts in their respective fields.
D) was eliminated by President Barack Obama.

Question 72

Which one of the following is a benefit of civil service employment requirements?

A) It creates clear conditions under which we can reduce the size of the federal government by removing entrenched employees.
B) It makes it easy to remove poor performers from their jobs.
C) It means that the best and brightest in their fields are more likely to work for the government instead of the private sector.
D) It makes it difficult for elected officials to hire and fire employees for political purposes.

Question 73

Which one of the following describes a situation in which legislators pay close attention to a bureaucracy with consistent fact-finding trips, interviews, audits, and calls?

A) advance warning
B) fire alarm oversight
C) notice and comment
D) police patrol oversight

Question 74

After three years of satisfactory performance, civil servants

A) are eligible for early retirement.
B) cannot be fired for any reason.
C) cannot be fired except "for cause."
D) qualify for a bonus on average of $10,000.

Question 75

Although the Hatch Act exempts ________ from restrictions on political activity, they still cannot ________.

A) political appointees; run for office unless they resign from their position
B) political appointees; use government resources for political purposes
C) civil servants; use government resources for political purposes
D) elected officials; donate money to other officials

Question 76

When members of Congress gather information about the bureaucracy by holding hearings and questioning bureaucrats, they are engaged in ________.

A) oversight
B) stacking the deck
C) policing
D) investigating

Question 77

How did Andrew Jackson impact the federal bureaucracy in the United States?

Question 78

Which one of the following describes a situation in which legislators monitor a bureaucratic organization only after someone complains or a problem of implementation has been brought to their attention?

A) advance warning
B) fire alarm oversight
C) police patrol oversight
D) bureaucratic drift

Question 79

Explain how the transition from legislation to regulation occurs.

Question 80

Civil service requirements exist in order to

A) strengthen political parties.
B) separate politics from policy.
C) make it easier to fire employees for poor performance.
D) promote more loyalty to the president.