Deck 7: Decision Making

Question 1

If you were the Secretary of the Department of Labor faced with the questions of regulation posed in the benzene case discussed in the chapter, what would you decide? How would you make the decision? How would you explain it to a court reviewing it?

Answer 1

Not Answered

Question 2

In what ways does the separation of powers affect administrative decision making? Does it promote the rational-comprehensive approach, incrementalism, or is it neutral?

Answer 2

Not Answered

Question 3

What aspects of public administration that you have studied thus far seem most likely to change with improved information technologies? How will they change?

Answer 3

Not Answered

Question 4

Describe "ideal" street-level administration from the traditional managerial, New Public Management, political, and legal perspectives. Which perspective most closely conforms with your idea of an "ideal" street-level administrator?

Question 5

Picture a world in which all public administrative decisions employed an adjudicatory format. How do you think our government would function, if it could function at all? What would the administrative structure of the federal government look like?

Question 6

A major benefit of the rational-comprehensive approach is that

A) it chooses acceptable means
B) it develops acceptable objectives
C)it is highly efficient
D)its choices are highly explicit

Question 7

Incremental decision making tries to achieve comprehensiveness through

A) elections
B) pluralism
C)adjudication
D)none of the above

Question 8

The greatest problem faced in applying the rational comprehensive model in the United States is that

A) tradeoffs between economy and efficiency are sometimes necessary
B) politicians are inherently irrational
C)policy objectives are often unclear
D)public administrators lack technical competence

Question 9

Which decision-making approach is least likely to promote the use of organizational memory?

A) incremental
B) rational-comprehensive
C)adjudicatory
D)all of the above are equally likely to promote the use of organizational memory

Question 10

The best example of an operational policy objective is

A) equal employment opportunity
B) equity
C)reducing crime
D)achieving the public interest

Question 11

In practice, public administrators are likely to use

A) incrementalism
B) B)rational comprehensiveness
C)adjudication
D)all of the above

Question 12

Defining a policy objective clearly can

A) lead to a loss of political support
B) facilitate the rational comprehensive approach
C)reduce the discretion of public administrators
D)all of the above

Question 13

One of the dangers of incrementalism is

A) immobilism
B) unintended consequences
C)ineffective policy
D)all of the above

Question 14

In comparison to other decision-making approaches discussed in the chapter, adjudication is most useful when

A) policy goals are clear
B) regulations are being adopted
C)the matters to be decided are idiosyncratic
D)standardization is desired

Question 15

A statutory clause that fits Justice Rehnquist's description as a "legislative mirage" is most likely to be the product of

A) rational-comprehensive decision making
B) incrementalism
C)mixed scanning
D)adjudication

Question 16

It is generally easiest to find the rationale for an administrative decision that was made according to

A) administrative discretion
B) incrementalism
C)mixed scanning
D)adjudication

Question 17

Of the following, mixed scanning is most institutionalized in

A) the Executive Office of the President
B) the congressional subcommittee system
C)the Supreme Court
D)regulatory agencies

Question 18

Amitai Etzioni is most closely associated with

A) the Council of Economic Advisers
B) the rational-comprehensive approach
C)incrementalism
D)mixed scanning

Question 19

According to the chapter, the managerial approach to decision making favors

A) bureaucratic organization
B) participatory organization
C)advocacy administration
D)none of the above

Question 20

Adjudication can be considered a type of

A) mixed scanning
B) rational-comprehensive decision making
C)incrementalism
D)none of the above

Question 21

An agency culture is best thought of as

A) its ideology
B) its organizational structure
C)its values
D)its personnel

Question 22

Premise controls are most important in

A) routine work
B) nonroutine work
C)tightly controlled hierarchies
D)none of the above

Question 23

Grid regulations increase

A) administrative discretion
B) the time spent on administrative adjudication
C)uniform treatment
D)the opportunity for individuals to present their cases

Question 24

Computers and information technology are most likely to

A) resolve value conflicts
B) clarify thinking
C)eliminate "bounded rationality"
D)protect privacy

Question 25

Specialization

A) promotes expertise
B) promotes tunnel vision
C)identifies policy jurisdictions
D)all of the above

Question 26

Narrowing the range of choices available to decision makers can be achieved through

A) specialization
B) hierarchy
C)formalization
D)all of the above

Question 27

According to the New Public Management, empowering employees will enhance

A) allocational efficiency
B) technical efficiency
C)both allocational and technical efficiency
D)neither allocational nor technical efficiency

Question 28

Mixed scanning requires decision makers to differentiate between

A) local and national policy
B) long-range goals and limited decisions
C)politics and administration
D)policy design and implementation

Question 29

Which is not a step in incremental decision making?

A) arriving at a consensus
B) making a satisfactory decision
C)considering the general objectives of a policy
D)considering all feasible alternatives

Question 30

Which is not a step in rational-comprehensive decision making?

A) determining objectives
B) choosing the best alternative
C)considering the means of accomplishing objectives
D)arriving at a consensus between all interested parties

Question 31

Specialization tends to limit managerial responsibility.

Question 32

According to Herbert Simon, new informational technologies will be of only marginal importance to public administration.

Question 33

A "problem stream" is an admixture of problems, big and small, some of which an organization has yet to even confront.

Question 34

Premise controls are most important when work is routine.

Question 35

According to the chapter, incrementalism is more likely than the rational-comprehensive approach to reduce conflict.

Question 36

Incremental decision making is best suited to a homogeneous society.

Question 37

Analysis is more comprehensive in the process of incremental decision making than in rational-comprehensive decision making.

Question 38

Privacy is threatened by mixed scanning techniques.

Question 39

Bounded rationality refers to the tendency for decision makers to know all of the consequences of a complex decision in advance.

Question 40

Compared to incrementalism, adjudication has the advantage of promoting widespread participation.

Question 41

Strategic planning is an important component of the mixed scanning approach to decision making.

Question 42

Adjudication has a tendency to lead to uniform treatment.

Question 43

With regard to decision making, the disorganized and chaotic nature of organizations has lead some to refer to them as "garbage cans."

Question 44

The NPM frowns upon public administrators exercising subjective judgments.

Question 45

Prospective adjudication occurs when a person applies for disability compensation.

Question 46

The recognition primed decision model isn't concerned about the context of the decision making situation.