Deck 2: Public Administration, Democracy, and Bureaucratic Power

Question 1

Which of the following is not a basic device for ensuring limited government under the Constitution?

A)Separation of powers
B)Judicial review
C)Federalism
D)Presidential pardon power

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Elections are one example of what type of check and balance?

A)Administrative efficiency
B)Community control
C)Freedom of information
D)Political accountability
E)None of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Democratic political values have varied over time but generally include all of the following except

A)citizen participation in policy making.
B)holding government accountable to citizens.
C)an independent judiciary.
D)legislative compromise and administrative discretion.
E)regular and free elections.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following is distinctly a legislative tool for increasing bureaucratic accountability?

A)Freedom of Information laws
B)Sunshine laws
C)Sunset laws
D)All of the above

Question 5

Which of the following is not an impediment to citizen efforts to make bureaucracy more accountable?

A)Limits on expertise
B)Limits on access
C)Limits on time
D)Limits on dedication

Question 6

In the area of individual privacy, state governments have shown the greatest interest in enacting

A)Freedom of Information laws.
B)fair credit-reporting acts.
C)privacy acts.
D)sunshine laws.

Question 7

The theory of pluralism assumes that

A)groups have equal power in the political process.
B)the public interest results from bargaining and competition.
C)individual interests are subordinate to group concerns.
D)groups are a necessary evil in politics.

Question 8

Which of the following values did the framers of the Constitution seem to emphasize most?

A)Achieving efficient government performance
B)Preventing concentrations of political power
C)Relying on chief executives to resolve conflicts
D)Distrust of the political process

Question 9

Efforts to "reinvent government" have emphasized all of the following except

A)cutting "red tape".
B)putting customers first.
C)empowering employees to achieve results.
D)increased regulation.

Question 10

The idea that the public trusts that their interests will be faithfully served by the actions of their representatives is called

A)the Delegate Role.
B)the Trustee Role.
C)none of the above.

Question 11

Which of the following is not an example of citizen participation in public administration?

A)Attending open meetings
B)Writing complaint letters to a representative regarding actions the administration has taken
C)Serving on Advisory Boards
D)Organizing protests and movements against the actions of the administration
E)None of the above

Question 12

The concept of government as a guarantor of rights and liberties contradicts which of the following values?

A)Political neutrality
B)Pluralism
C)Individualism
D)Limited government

Question 13

Studies of citizen participation tend to confirm all of the following statements except

A)there is considerable social diversity among participants.
B)many participants speak for other government agencies.
C)organized interests are well represented.
D)participants tend to be well educated and affluent.

Question 14

Which of the following is a result of the knowledge explosion?

A)Government employees are hired on the basis of "merit"
B)Managers make more informed decisions
C)Specialists have less power than generalists
D)Decision-making power is concentrated in a few top executives.

Question 15

Two major approaches to representation are

A)trustee role and legislator role.
B)delegate role and administrator role.
C)democratic and bureaucratic.
D)delegate role and trustee role.

Question 16

Political Scientist Francis Rourke suggests that the influence of experts rests on.

A)increasing control by experts of bureaucratic discretion.
B)a pattern of increasing reliance on bureaucratic experts for technical advice.
C)a monopoly of information in the subject area.
D)all of the above.
E)A and C only.

Question 17

Which of the following is not a value shared by administrative reformers?

A)Political loyalty tests for government employment
B)Development of a "science" of administration
C)Faith in statistical evaluations of work performance
D)Economy and efficiency in government

Question 18

Which of the following groups believes in the dichotomy between politics and administration?

A)The Framers of the Constitution
B)Labor union officials
C)Reformers in the late 1800s
D)Supporters of affirmative action

Question 19

Which of the following is a value of democracy not shared in principle by most people?

A)Majority rule
B)Participatory democracy
C)Universal, or near-universal, right to vote
D)Free exchange of political ideas

Question 20

Which of the following statements is not true?

A)Access to decision makers is unevenly distributed in the population.
B)Voting usually does not confer policy mandates.
C)Money and organization are important sources of political influence.
D)The "public interest" is clearly defined, or at least easily definable.

Question 21

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 addressed

A)comprehensive health care and student loan reform.
B)stricter guidelines for doctors and teachers.
C)requirements for schools to cover on-site injuries.
D)all of the above.
E)none of the above.

Question 22

Individualism cannot be reconciled with pluralism.

Question 23

Because of the fragmentation of governmental power, bureaucratic accountability is enforced through multiple channels.

Question 24

Among the drawbacks of citizen participation are the possibilities of co-optation and power transfers to self-perpetuating local cliques.

Question 25

Accountability during the decision-making process within a public administration entity may conflict with

A)equity.
B)contradictory goals.
C)labor specialization.
D)all of the above.
E)none of the above.

Question 26

Bureaucracy, which was designed to carry out laws passed by legislatures, has suffered from the "tilt" of power toward the executive branch.

Question 27

"Grassroots" government is almost always more democratic than a larger, more complex governmental arrangement.

Question 28

Regarding presidential elections, close elections may be ambiguous in their policy meaning, but landslide victories always carry with them clear policy implications.

Question 29

Citizen participation is an established feature of American public administration.

Question 30

The Pentagon Papers exposed top-secret military history of U.S.involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967.

Question 31

Demands for job specialization that result from technological change are likely to reinforce the contemporary trend toward representativeness in job hiring.

Question 32

The fact that bureaucratic decision making involves considerable discretion makes it less likely that bureaucratic predictability will increase.

Question 33

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1966 was used as a means of exposing mismanagement and succeeded in enhancing agency accountability.

Question 34

Emphasis on "economy and efficiency" in government suggests how values of one social institution-in this case, business-can influence the way government affairs are conducted.

Question 35

Affirmative action, in terms of public administration allows for

A)women and minorities to seek employment in public service.
B)employees of public agencies to be more representative.
C)employees to keep their jobs for the long term.
D)A and B only.
E)all of the above.

Question 36

The 1966 Freedom of Information Act was passed by Congress in response to citizen concerns about improving access to hard-to-get information.

Question 37

Changes in the concept of "representativeness" clash most directly with the traditional concept of majority rule.

Question 38

Conflict between the chief executive direction and the legislative direction of a bureaucracy is likely in American government but unlikely in parliamentary systems.

Question 39

Government leaders can substantially disturb, but not substantially control, the behavior of public bureaucracies and bureaucrats.

Question 40

Example(s) of a powerful subsystem is

A)the "Highway lobby".
B)the medical industrial complex.
C)the 9/11 Commission.
D)A and B only.
E)all of the above.

Question 41

One reason bureaucratic power is often "fuzzy" is due to an unclear relationship with the varying political environment that directs it.

Question 42

Today, many fear that democratic values are endangered by government actions that take place without popular control and consent.

Question 43

The conflict between professionalism and participation/representation is a dilemma that troubles public administration within a democratic government.

Question 44

Many citizens feel at ease with the Website WikiLeaks and feel as if it helps monitor the military in a positive way.

Question 45

Subsystem politics in America is built around interest groups and government officials who lack common interests and policy preferences.

Question 46

The Bureau of Consumer Protection was created to protect consumers and buyers from unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent business practices.

Question 47

Political interests in the legislature and in the executive branch are frequently in conflict with one another making it, at best, difficult to enforce accountability.

Question 48

Co-optation is an approach to citizen participation or management that stresses customer satisfaction, examines relationships among existing management processes, seeks to improve internal agency communications, and responds to valid customer demands.