Deck 8: Public Administration: Budgeting and Service Delivery

Question 1

Rewarding campaign and other supporters with government jobs began in earnest with the presidency of Andrew Jackson, spreading to state and local governments shortly thereafter. It is generally referred to as

A)the merit principle.
B)veterans' preferences.
C)the spoils system.
D)patronage.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The budget is important because it is

A)put together through an incremental process.
B)the end product of a long political struggle.
C)a document published annually.
D)an authoritative statement of policy priorities and plans.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The constitutions or statutes of __________ states mandate that the state adopt a balanced state budget each fiscal year.

A)twelve
B)fifty
C)thirty-one
D)forty-eight

Answer 3

D

Question 4

General obligation bonds are

A)forbidden in most states.
B)paid off with user fees collected from the use of a specific facility, such as a toll road.
C)paid off with the jurisdiction's regular revenues.
D)paid off with special revenues secured through off-budget investments.

Question 5

The basic strategy of agency heads in the normal budget process is to

A)defend the base amount received the previous year and to seek funds for new or expanded programs.
B)get funds for new or expanded programs.
C)build a new budget request from scratch; a process known as zero-based budgeting.
D)defend the base amount received the previous year.

Question 6

Budgets are normally based on fiscal years. The most common fiscal year used by state and local governments is

A)October 1 through September 30.
B)June 1 through May 31.
C)January 1 through December 31.
D)July 1 through June 30.

Question 7

If a state constructs its budget by making small adjustments to the previous year's allocations while avoiding a comprehensive review of requested funds, it is engaging in which type of budgeting?

A)Line item budgeting
B)Performance budgeting
C)Incremental budgeting
D)Capital budgeting

Question 8

The process of review and evaluation of financial records, program performance, operations, and management that both follows the execution of the budget and serves in the preparation of the upcoming budget describes which stage of the budget process?

A)Formulation
B)Audit
C)Adoption
D)Zero-based budgeting

Question 9

The special funding procedure for one-time, nonrecurring expenditures, such as purchasing university buildings, rapid transit systems, and bridges, is termed

A)an incremental budget.
B)a capital budget.
C)a line item budget.
D)a performance budget.

Question 10

State enactment of legislation parallel to federal merit system legislation

A)established comprehensive merit systems in all fifty states by 1980.
B)established comprehensive merit systems in forty-nine states by 1949.
C)set the pace for perfection of the federal civil service system.
D)was encouraged by conditions set by 1939 amendments to federal Social Security legislation of 1935.

Question 11

Official activity to cope with sexual harassment in the workplace has

A)been concentrated in the states and every state now has statewide policies designed to cope with the problem.
B)begun in the private sector, spread to local government, and then been taken up by individual state agencies in six states.
C)been ignored at the national level but aggressively dealt with at the state level.
D)yet to be proven a matter requiring public attention, given its private nature.

Question 12

Collective bargaining in state and local governments is

A)exactly the same process as that found in the private sector, where supply and demand govern the process.
B)permitted in all states and by most local governments.
C)complicated by the fact that the results of the negotiations affect the political allocation of public resources.
D)a very successful process, as shown by the successful wage and salary increases in the public sector as compared with the private sector.

Question 13

If a police department tracks arrests, clearance rates, crime rates, and citizen satisfaction surveys to evaluate how well they meet their objectives and these results are utilized in determining budget priorities, it is an example of which type of budgeting?

A)Line item budgeting
B)Performance budgeting
C)Incremental budgeting
D)Capital budgeting

Question 14

Which of the following is not an assumption behind the concept of representative bureaucracy?

A)Bureaucrats have discretion.
B)A workforce representative of the values, points of view, and interests of the people it governs will be responsive to their special problems and concerns.
C)Bureaucrats do not have discretion given the hierarchical nature of administrative agencies that constrains their behavior.
D)A representative bureaucracy provides strong symbolic evidence of a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Question 15

Under federal law, all states are required to establish merit systems for a sizable portion of their workers, and comprehensive merit systems currently exist in

A)forty-eight states.
B)about half the states.
C)only a few states.
D)most of the states.

Question 16

Generally, states and localities with large populations and high levels of per capita income provide

A)fewer services and thus employ larger numbers of workers than do smaller, less affluent jurisdictions.
B)more services and thus employ larger numbers of workers than do smaller, less affluent jurisdictions.
C)fewer services and thus employ smaller numbers of workers than do smaller, less affluent jurisdictions.
D)more services and thus employ fewer numbers of workers than do smaller, less affluent jurisdictions.

Question 17

If a state employee performs her work in a way that is motivated primarily by political considerations, is unqualified for the position, and thus tends to perform poorly in that position, she is violating which of the following?

A)Neutral competence
B)Patronage
C)Performance evaluation
D)Representative bureaucracy

Question 18

Which of the following terms are not considered formal stages of the budgeting cycle?

A)Fiscal audit
B)Formulation
C)Budget execution
D)Adjudication

Question 19

The use of a line item budget permits

A)careful tracking of dollar expenditures and accountability for items purchased with governmental funds.
B)development of a means of measuring performance.
C)ready conversion to zero-based budgeting.
D)avoidance of the pitfalls of incrementalism.

Question 20

In terms of the clients each serves, how do public and private management differ?

A)While public management serves citizens, legislatures, chief executives and interests groups, private management focuses on customers who purchase products or services.
B)While private management serves citizens, legislatures, chief executives and interests groups, public management focuses on customers who purchase products or services.
C)While public management serves only a single entity, private management focuses on a variety of different customers.
D)There are no differences between public and private management in terms of the clients they serve.

Question 21

There are less than 19.1 million state and local government employees.

Question 22

The Pendleton Act of 1883 established the first merit system in the state of Massachusetts.

Question 23

Line item budgets show where the money was spent, but they do not tell us how effectively the money was spent.

Question 24

A performance audit examines agency or department activities in relation to goals, objectives, and outcomes; ensuring that the government is serving its citizens efficiently and effectively.

Question 25

Ten percent of all working Americans are employed by government.

Question 26

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Balanced-budget constraints are contained in fifty state constitutions.

Question 27

The concept of neutral competence holds that employees should perform their duties competently without influence from political pressures.

Question 28

More often than not, good government workers are the scapegoats for vague and poorly designed statutes and policies, failed political and corporate leadership, and other factors beyond the control of civil servants.

Question 29

The outcomes of the public budget process represents the results of a zero-sum game-for every winner there are no losers.

Question 30

Long-term investments, such as buildings, highways, bridges, etc. are funded through a capital budget.

Question 31

In most states and localities the governor, mayor, or city manager is responsible for developing and leading the lobbying for the annual budget.

Question 32

The concept of privatization

A)is an alternative method for providing public services through private firms.
B)often elicits strong opposition from public-employee unions, who fear that their members will lose their jobs.
C)is an alternative method for providing public services that can often lower the cost of government operations.
D)All of these choices.

Question 33

The merit principle holds that individuals with the best qualifications should receive a job or get promoted based on their job performance.

Question 34

Bureaucratic discretion

A)prevents administrators from having to deal with political pressures.
B)is the ability of public employees to make decisions interpreting law and administrative regulations.
C)ensures that outcomes of policy will be precisely as intended by the legislation.
D)ensures that the legislature, rather than agencies, will make public policy.

Question 35

In all but four states and most municipalities, the fiscal year runs between July 1 and June 30 of the following year.

Question 36

New Public Management is an approach to government in which

A)governments cannot meet similar standards as the private sector, due to financial and accountability constraints.
B)governments must abide by much more detailed ethics, performance rules, and procedures compared to those of private firms.
C)legislatures are reluctant to grant agencies flexibility to make decisions because they do not want to give up power.
D)government should manage for results through entrepreneurial activity, privatization, and improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.

Question 37

Contractors and construction firms that benefit from programs included a state highway department's expenditures are best described as

A)clientele groups.
B)political action committees.
C)interest groups.
D)government partners.

Question 38

In public budgeting, incrementalism refers to using last year's expenditures as a base for this year's budget figures.

Question 39

The quality and capacity of public administration have improved markedly in the vast majority of the country's states, municipalities, and counties in terms of the characteristics of employees and the efficiency, effectiveness, and professionalism with which they perform their duties.

Question 40

Strikes, the legal weapon of last resort in the procedures employed by unions in the private sector, are, for government employees at the state and local level,

A)permitted in only thirteen states and only for nonessential services.
B)legal in all states and commonly used by public employees to get higher wages and better working conditions.
C)legal under the National Labor Relations Act and legal under most public-union collective bargaining agreements.
D)illegal in only twelve states.

Question 41

Bowman and Kearney describe bureaucracy as a "paradox," which is both problematic and beautiful. Describe the major components of this paradox and provide at least two specific illustrations of each side of the paradox. In summary, discuss if it is possible to overcome this paradox.

Question 42

More than 40 percent of local workers belong to unions.

Question 43

The concept of representative bureaucracy suggests that the employee composition of public agencies should resemble the composition of the general population in terms of gender, racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other related characteristics of society.

Question 44

The policy of affirmative action is grounded in the related concept of representative bureaucracy.

Question 45

Criticisms of bureaucrats are widespread. To what do you attribute this phenomenon? Is it fully deserved? Should citizens be concerned by it? In your opinion, do bureaucrats serve the public interest? How do you define the public interest?

Question 46

Many practical problems are associated with implementing policies to create a representative bureaucracy and protect merit principles, cope with sexual harassment in the workplace, and deal with the effects of collective bargaining. Discuss the difficulties of implementing a program to achieve a representative bureaucracy.

Question 47

Under affirmative action, the absence of overt discrimination in employment is not sufficient; organizations must implement preferential hiring and promotion schemes to redress existing imbalances in the composition of their work force.

Question 48

Regarding representative bureaucracy, empirical research indicates that the specific agency a person works for and the profession that person belongs to are better predictors of public policy preferences than racial, sexual, and other personal characteristics.

Question 49

Surveys of women show that at least half of the respondents report being a victim of sexual harassment.

Question 50

Bureaucratic decision making makes public employees important budget and policy makers.

Question 51

In 1883, New York became the first state to enact a merit system.

Question 52

Discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with an alternative service delivery arrangement such as privatization. Do you believe that privatization is a plausible alternative for delivering public services?

Question 53

Strikes by public employees are illegal in most jurisdictions, although thirteen states permit work stoppages by nonessential workers under strictly regulated conditions.

Question 54

If you were an agency head, what type of approach to budgeting would you pursue? Be sure to describe the various options for constructing a budget and the pros and cons related to each as you present your response.

Question 55

Bureaucrats have broad discretion in interpreting law and administrative regulations.