Deck 5: The Executive Branch

Question 1

Besides the president, the only other elected executive branch official(s) is (are) the

A) cabinet heads
B) vice president
C) bureau chief
D) White House chief of staff

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The text notes that President Franklin D.Roosevelt was primarily responsible for the ______.

A) creation of e-government
B) reduction of armed forces
C) interaction with state governments
D) expansion of White House staff

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Since the Brownlow Committee's proposal in 1937, the size and power of the Executive Office has dramatically ______.

A) shrunk
B) grown
C) stayed the same
D) been devolved to the states

Answer 3

B

Question 4

As nations have developed their governments, most of them have passed through four basic stages of government.Of the following, all are part of the first stage of basic functions EXCEPT ______.

A) revenue collection, expenditures, and debt management
B) maintenance of internal law and order
C) human welfare responsibilities
D) defense

Question 5

During the first stage of administrative development, the executive branch was concerned with ______.

A) many government functions receiving independent status
B) agriculture and commerce
C) foreign affairs
D) science and technology

Question 6

Which president was primarily responsible for the expansion of the White House staff?

A) John F. Kennedy
B) Eisenhower
C) Franklin D. Roosevelt
D) George W. Bush

Question 7

According to the text, interdepartmental friction is one problem of ______.

A) implementing effective executive management
B) the inefficiency of the Office of Management and Budget
C) the inefficiency of the National Security Council
D) tensions between the president and the bureau heads

Question 8

The Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Transit Administration are examples of ______.

A) independent agencies
B) bureaus
C) the inner cabinet
D) the outer cabinet

Question 9

Which cabinet department spends the most?

A) State
B) Defense
C) Housing and Urban Development
D) Health and Human Services

Question 10

Field administration systems for federal departments and agencies can be categorized into all of the following types EXCEPT ______.

A) areal
B) functional
C) structural
D) prefectoral

Question 11

All of the following are examples of independent agencies within the federal government EXCEPT ______.

A) the Social Security Administration
B) the American Battle Monuments Commission
C) the Department of Veterans Affairs
D) the Federal Reserve Board

Question 12

Which cabinet department employs the most people?

A) Housing and Urban Development
B) Defense
C) Veterans Affairs
D) Health and Human Services

Question 13

Even though the national security adviser generally has more power in foreign policymaking than does the secretary of state, he or she usually ______.

A) has a shorter tenure in the position
B) has a longer tenure in the position
C) cannot meet the president's short-term goals
D) has a less comprehensive knowledge of impending crises

Question 14

Which unit formulates foreign policy for the Executive Office of the President?

A) National Security Council
B) Office of Management
C) Legislative Liaison
D) Office of Information Management.

Question 15

One example of the politics of the administrative process is that the administration of the executive branch is a tug of war between the president and ______.

A) the states
B) Congress
C) his inner cabinet
D) his outer cabinet

Question 16

One of the oldest cabinet agencies is ______.

A) Department of State
B) Department of Housing and Urban Development
C) Department of Energy
D) Department of Veterans Affairs

Question 17

Which of the following units is responsible for foreign policy recommendations?

A) National Security Council
B) Office of Management and Budget
C) Office of Policy Development
D) Office of the Vice President

Question 18

Independent agencies, bureaus, and field offices are all components of the ______.

A) judicial executive branch
B) local executive branch
C) international executive branch
D) federal executive branch

Question 19

Renewing motor vehicle registration online is most associated with ______.

A) the expansion of the White House staff
B) e-government
C) coordination between the White House and the bureaus
D) coordination between the White House and cabinet members

Question 20

Components of the federal executive branch include all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A) bureaus
B) independent agencies
C) the mayoral cabinet
D) cabinet departments

Question 21

Independent agencies account for about ______ of the federal government's spending.

A) one-tenth
B) one-fifth
C) half
D) less than 1 percent

Question 22

What is the relationship between executive departments and bureaus?

Question 23

Compare the size (in employees and budget) and policy focus of federal cabinet departments and independent agencies.

Question 24

When was the National Security Council established?

A) after September 11, 2001
B) after the Mogadishu incident
C) in 1947
D) following the Brownlow Commission Report

Question 25

According to the figures released from the U.S.Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Defense accounts for ______ of all federal civilian employees.

A) half
B) all
C) a third
D) a quarter

Question 26

The last federal government agency to be created was the Department of ______ in ______.

A) State; 2002
B) Veterans Affairs; 1981
C) Homeland Security; 2002
D) Farmers' Affairs; 1954

Question 27

Hugh Heclo (1975) observed that OMB's work requires what attribute?

A) neutral competence
B) persistence
C) state cooperation
D) funding

Question 28

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is located WITHIN ______.

A) Congress
B) the Executive Office of the President
C) all federal departments
D) each Office of Inspector General

Question 29

State and local governments do not have cabinet departments.

Question 30

"Areal" is a categorization system within which part of the executive branch?

A) field offices
B) cabinet departments
C) independent agencies
D) bureaus

Question 31

What is "legislative clearance"?

Question 32

The National Security Council is now associated with presidential foreign policymaking.

Question 33

The Justice Department head is considered to be part of the inner cabinet.

Question 34

Why is the concept of coordination important to public administration?

Question 35

Most federal civilian employees are located in Washington, D.C.

Question 36

Why are independent agencies established as independent?

Question 37

Briefly outline Office of Management and Budget's key responsibilities.

Question 38

Harold Seidman argued that finding the solution to ______ would resolve critical questions about public administration.

A) the executive branch
B) coordination
C) organization
D) government structures

Question 39

The Department of Health and Human Services accounts for more federal spending than ______.

A) Agriculture
B) Defense
C) Labor
D) all of these

Question 40

The power of the National Security Council has weakened over the past half-century.

Question 41

What are some of the problems a president faces in managing the executive branch?

Question 42

The Obama administration has prioritized the improvement of customer service between citizens and its agencies.Is this universally accepted? Do you agree that citizens should be treated as customers? Why or why not?

Question 43

What does it mean to arrange the field offices of the federal executive branch by function? From your perspective, does either contribute to challenges associated with coordination of executive branch functions?

Question 44

How do departmental responsibilities vary from one to another?

Question 45

What are the benefits and weaknesses of e-government? Though many Americans have access to the Internet, should government services be tailored based on access? Why or why not?

Question 46

How has the organization and function of the Office of Management and Budget changed since it was established?