Deck 14: Bureaucracy Myth and Reality

Question 1

What is the bureaucracy?

Answer 1

Students' answers may vary.
The bureaucracy is composed of units of the executive branch, organized in a hierarchical fashion, governed through formal rules and distinguished by their specialized functions.

Question 2

What is the importance of discretion?

Answer 2

Students' answers may vary.
Discretion is the latitude that administrators have in carrying out their agency's mission.Administrators are also politically influential because they exercise considerable discretion.Handed broad policy guidelines by elected officials, administrators give policy substance through numerous, concrete decisions.For example, Congress directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)to protect employees from cancer-causing chemicals in the workplace.It is up to OSHA to set allowable exposure levels for various carcinogens.In determining these levels, OSHA administrators make decisions about which companies and unions are likely to disagree; inevitably, the decisions will be political and not just technical.

Question 3

Explain the importance of rule-making authority.

Answer 3

Students' answers may vary.
Administrators exercise direct influence through the rule-making authority that Congress delegates to the bureaucracy.When agencies give specificity to vague congressional mandates by issuing rules, these rules carry the force of law.Moreover, as they are far more precise than the legislation under which they were drafted, they shape policy in important ways.

Question 4

Trace the evolution of attitudes toward bureaucracy on the part of elite democrats and popular democrats from the founding to the present.What are the basic arguments each side makes today about the proper role of bureaucracy to our society?

Question 5

Explain the role of expertise in the bureaucracy.

Question 6

Explain bureaucratic politics.

Question 7

Explain the spoils system.

Question 8

Given what you have learned about bureaucracy, as well as about contemporary political life and our political economy, how do you respond to the two key questions in the democratic debate over bureaucracy: (1)How much bureaucracy do we need? (2)Who most influences its behavior-elite or popular democratic forces?

Question 9

Explain the "reinventing government" plan.

Question 10

Explain the importance of cost-benefit analysis.

Question 11

Explain the importance of a mission.

Question 12

Explain the process of administrative adjudication.

Question 13

What is an administrative state?

Question 14

Explain the differences between Cabinet departments, independent agencies, independent regulatory commissions, and public corporations.

Question 15

What is the role of regulation?

Question 16

Explain the difference between economic regulation and social regulation?

Question 17

Explain Jackson's opinion about bureaucrats. What are your thoughts on bureaucracy? Do you find yourself  in line with Jackson?

Question 18

What is a Federal foundation or endowment?

Question 19

Why is autonomy important?

Question 20

What does red tape mean?

Question 21

During which reform era did the attitudes of popular democrats change regarding bureaucracy?

A)New Deal era
B)Progressive era
C)Jacksonian democracy
D)Great Society era

Question 22

Why are administrative agencies political influential?

A)They are directly accountable to the people.
B)They are often handed vague policies by Congress.
C)They always have the support of the president.
D)They actually do not have very much political influence.

Question 23

Although Andrew Jackson espoused the spoils system, he only fired _____ of bureaucrats.

A)5 percent
B)10 percent
C)15 percent
D)20 percent

Question 24

Bureaucratic agencies are likely to be hesitant about taking on new responsibilities

A)when they might threaten the agency's central mission.
B)if they are granted considerable discretion by Congress to implement them.
C)because civil servants are closed-minded and apathetic.
D)when it results in greater autonomy for the agencies.

Question 25

In his first months in office, George W.Bush

A)displayed an overt anti-bureaucratic agenda.
B)enjoyed almost universal congressional support for his regulatory policy.
C)pledged to continue the Clinton-Gore plan to "Reinvent Government."
D)was determined to bring federal agencies in line with conservative objectives.

Question 26

Administrators exercise indirect influence when they

A)advise elected officials.
B)issue regulations.
C)adjudicate legal disputes.
D)enact new civil service laws.

Question 27

Which recent president spearheaded an unprecedented attack on the federal bureaucracy and reinforced negative popular stereotypes about government?

A)George W.Bush
B)Ronald Reagan
C)Jimmy Carter
D)George H.W.Bush

Question 28

The adjudication decisions made by federal agencies are

A)routinely reviewed by congressional committees.
B)not required to meet any due process requirements.
C)handled by administrative law judges.
D)subject to presidential veto.

Question 29

In order to gain the political support they need, bureaucracies

A)support the reelection campaigns of key members of Congress.
B)always bend to the wishes of the president.
C)ignore members of Congress and make their case directly to the American people.
D)seek the backing of interest groups.

Question 30

NASA and the CIA are examples of _____.

A)cabinet departments
B)independent regulatory commissions
C)public corporations
D)independent agencies

Question 31

Congress passed the _____ in 1883 to establish the Civil Service System.

A)Sherman Act
B)Morrill Act
C)Clayton Act
D)Pendleton Act

Question 32

Discretion refers to a bureaucratic agency's

A)freedom from presidential influence.
B)ability to give substance to policy.
C)immunity from congressional oversight.
D)power to pursue its mission as it sees fit.

Question 33

The practice known as the spoils system

A)eliminated federal employment as a form of political patronage.
B)was democratic in that it gave more ordinary citizens the opportunity to serve in government.
C)produced efficient administration and closed the door to political corruption.
D)ended during the presidency of Andrew Jackson.

Question 34

Independent regulatory commissions were designed to

A)be highly responsive to presidential mandates.
B)reflect the preferences of the majority party in Congress.
C)be sensitive to the concerns of industry.
D)be insulated from political pressure and influence.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about the civil service is true?

A)The federal government employs more people than state and local governments.
B)The Pendleton Act was designed to make federal service more rewarding to top administrators.
C)Most federal employees work outside Washington, DC.
D)At its highest levels sit career bureaucrats.

Question 36

Discuss the different approaches to bureaucratic reform.Where do elite and popular democrats stand on each? Make a case for the model you believe has the most promise for the future.

Question 37

Why were Progressive reformers unable to achieve their goal of scientific administration?

A)They didn't consider the need for scientifically neutral standards that furthered the public good.
B)They lacked the cooperation they needed from the experts themselves.
C)Elite interests often "captured" the very agencies they were supposed to be regulating.
D)They were not really interested in rule by experts.

Question 38

How do the attitudes of elite democrats compare to those of popular democrats on the issue of bureaucratic expertise?

A)Both sides have been hostile to it from the beginning.
B)Elite democrats opposed it until the New Deal.
C)Popular democrats today see it as a threat to their political accomplishments.
D)Elites today tend to be more positive about market mechanisms.

Question 39

Which of the following statements about the federal bureaucracy is false?

A)Public employees are as open-minded as anyone.
B)Federal agencies vary considerably in size.
C)Polls show that the majority of people are dissatisfied with their actual contacts with civil servants.
D)Bureaucrats approach civil service jobs with strong levels of motivation and pride.

Question 40

A classic example of the dangers of bureaucratic autonomy is

A)NASA during the 1980s.
B)the FBI and J.Edgar Hoover.
C)the Department of Labor.
D)the Department of Education.

Question 41

Why might advocates of market reforms be considered members of the elite democratic camp?

A)They wish to enhance individual freedom of choice.
B)Like all elites, they are hostile to technocratic solutions and expertise.
C)They believe that the pursuit of self-interest in the open market produces the common good.
D)They value political participation as much as economic well-being.

Question 42

According to the text, deregulation

A)was a key part of Johnson's Great Society.
B)has been successful whenever it has been initiated.
C)began to decline during the Reagan presidency.
D)has worked well in some industries but not in others.

Question 43

Privatization is an example of a

A)market-based reform.
B)technocratic reform.
C)popular democrat solution.
D)Clinton-Gore innovation.

Question 44

Compared to economic regulation, social regulation

A)is less of a concern to foes of overregulation such as big business.
B)is a recent phenomenon related to reform movements of the 1960s and 1970s.
C)goes back as far as economic regulation in American history.
D)has been advocated mostly by elite democrats.

Question 45

How did the Reagan administration try to cut back on social regulation?

A)by using cost-benefit analysis.
B)by turning to the courts for favorable decisions.
C)by increasing the budgets of important social regulatory agencies so that they would be more willing to conform to the president's agenda.
D)by agreeing to congressional cuts in defense spending.