Deck 2: Political Cultural Environment of Public Policy Its Administration

Question 1

The "doctrine of the separation of powers was adopted by the Convention of 1787, not to promote efficiency, but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary power." This statement meant that:

A) A certain amount of governmental friction is needed among the three branches of government.
B) Government efficiency is not the primary need in a democracy
C) A and b
D) None of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In a Republic like the U.S. the:

A) The Legislative branch is supreme & has the most powers.
B) The Presidency is supreme & has the most powers.
C) The Judiciary is supreme and has the most powers.
D) No branch has more powers than another.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The seven step rational decision-making approach has been generally attributed to Harold D. Lasswell, the father of the policy sciences.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

During WWII, Germany and Japan were seen as exemplars of:

A) Libertarianism
B) Utilitarianism
C) Fascism
D) Communitarianism

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a player in the iron triangle?

A) the government agency administering the policy
B) the office of the president promoting the policy
C) the legislative committee creating the policy
D) the special interest group that is advocating the policy.

Question 6

"Mixed scanning" decision making

A) is a synonym for the theory of incrementalism.
B) rejects incrementalism.
C) uses both the incremental and rational-comprehensive model of decision-making.
D) Uses theories of microeconomics.

Question 7

The president who espoused the stewardship theory of the Presidency was

A) Franklin D. Roosevelt.
B) Theodore Roosevelt.
C) George W. Bush
D) George H.W. Bush

Question 8

Allison's Organizational Processes Model argues for the tenets of group theory-- that government decisions are the outcomes of negotiations between different groups and individuals with different bureaucratic perspectives and different political interests.

Question 9

The prerogative theory expressed a level of executive power that President Abraham Lincoln felt might not only exceed constitutional bounds, but also possibly act against the Constitution.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT true about the process of public policymaking?

A) In modern times the media is likely to distill a detailed policy into a sound bite.
B) It involves multiple players and political viewpoints.
C) Policy papers put out by various parties and interest groups need not be read because policy is explained ad nauseum in oral reports via the media.
D) It is a never-ending intangible process.

Question 11

Government in the United States is considered to be pluralistic because it is composed of multiple elements, and multiple competing levels of power.

Question 12

Modern group theory derives from the work of:

A) Arthur Bentley and Graham Allison
B) Arthur Bentley, David Truman and Earl Latham
C) Michael Lipsky
D) Irving Janis.

Question 13

John Locke's theories about government:

A) Were used in the Declaration of Independence
B) Was used as a rationale for the break with England
C) Had a profound influence on the Founding Fathers
D) All of the above.

Question 14

Which of the following is one of the typical outside forces impacting the head of a public agency?

A) Judiciary
B) Auditors
C) Legislature
D) All of the above

Question 15

Incremental policy decision making implies that

A) rational policy decisions are made in a special predetermined order.
B) political elites make the majority of policy decisions.
C) small decisions made at the margins are usually the reality of change.
D) decisions of great importance are made quickly, while less important ones are made slowly.

Question 16

Public policy-making is a hierarchical process with the broadest, most overarching policy being made at the top.

Question 17

In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal when President Nixon was refusing to release his White House tapes he was invoking which form of Executive power?

A) Arch conservative view
B) Laissez faire (hands off) view
C) Liberal view
D) None of the above

Question 18

Which of the following presidents espoused the theory of Executive prerogative:

A) Ronald W. Reagan
B) Abraham Lincoln
C) Gerald Ford
D) William J. Clinton

Question 19

The stewardship theory states that the president should be free to take any actions in the public interest provided they do not conflict with the Constitution.

Question 20

The restricted view of presidential power was/is embodied in:

A) The governance of President H.W. Bush
B) William Howard Taft
C) Arch-conservative viewpoints
D) Held by Libertarians today.
E) All of the above

Question 21

The decision making model known as "muddling through" was the contribution of Amitai Etzioni

Question 22

President Truman's application of the prerogative theory of executive power ultimately checked by the Supreme Court of the United States in th 1970s.

Question 23

Pressman and Wildavsky in their 1973 study of the impact of federal programs in Oakland, California, felt that policy planning should look carefully at the difficulties surrounding the implementation of a policy, in terms of who gets what and how and why from the government.