Deck 14: The Bureaucracy

Question 1

As compared to private-sector employees, all of the following statements about public servants are accurate EXCEPT that public servants

A) have higher levels of formal education.
B) must comply with more stringent codes of behavior.
C) are far less satisfied in their positions.
D) express a greater concern for public service.
E) tend to hold more professional jobs than all industries as a whole.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Those workers who do the work of government but don't get a government paycheck are known as ________ bureaucrats.

A) silent
B) covert
C) stealth
D) shadow
E) temporary

Answer 2

D

Question 3

On the whole, the interaction between Titles VI, VII, and IX has changed the demographics of the bureaucracy, fostering a movement toward

A) merit-based civil service.
B) shadow bureaucracy.
C) representative bureaucracy.
D) independent administrative agencies.
E) sunshine laws.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Based on studies cited by public administration scholar Charles Goodsell, which of the following statements is correct?

A) Most government employees are very motivated and hard workers.
B) Most government employees are very unmotivated, lazy workers.
C) Most government employees are motivated by higher salaries.
D) Most government employees are motivated by shorter work hours.
E) Most government employees have lower levels of formal education than employees in the private sector.

Question 5

The assassination of which president by an unsuccessful seeker of a patronage position spurred passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883?

A) President Ulysses S. Grant
B) President Andrew Johnson
C) President Rutherford B. Hayes
D) President James Garfield
E) President Chester Arthur

Question 6

What is the biggest downside to patronage positions in the federal bureaucracy?

A) no access to the president
B) no real benefits
C) no chance of promotion
D) no job security
E) no opportunity to shape policy

Question 7

Most people think of bureaucrats in a ________ sense.

A) very negative
B) negative
C) neutral
D) positive
E) very positive

Question 8

What is the name given to the book, published every four years, that lists the federal positions available through presidential patronage?

A) the book of civil service
B) the plum book
C) the peach book
D) the jobs book
E) the patronage book

Question 9

What criterion determines a federal job's salary?

A) status
B) rank
C) title
D) location
E) area of responsibility

Question 10

Before the establishment of the civil service system in 1883, what system of hiring was used to staff the federal bureaucracy?

A) Bureaucrats were hired permanently and remained in office until they died.
B) Congressional representatives rewarded their supporters with appointments.
C) The Supreme Court oversaw the staffing of the federal bureaucracy.
D) The president hired bureaucrats through the patronage system.
E) After election victory, political parties rewarded their supporters with federal bureaucratic posts.

Question 11

The civil service system created by Pendleton Civil Service Act is guided by which hiring principle(s)?

A) open competition
B) political experience
C) competence
D) bureaucratic experience and political partisanship
E) open competition, competence, and political neutrality

Question 12

According to Max Weber, bureaucracies possess which of the following features?

A) division of labor and specialization of job tasks
B) hiring systems based on worker competency
C) hierarchy with a vertical chain of command
D) standard operating procedures
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 13

All of the following are associated with the process in which the government contracts private business or organizations to provide public services EXCEPT

A) shadow bureaucrats.
B) contracting-out.
C) outsourcing.
D) the plum book.
E) privatizing.

Question 14

Which title of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits federally-funded institutions from discriminating in educational opportunities on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, age, and disabilities that can be reasonably accommodated?

A) Title I
B) Title III
C) Title V
D) Title VI
E) Title VII

Question 15

What factor or factors do political scientists use to distinguish among national bureaucrats?

A) how much they earn
B) how they are hired
C) how they can be fired
D) how long their term is
E) how they are hired, and how they can be fired

Question 16

Federal employees can be fired for poor work quality, or

A) incompetence.
B) recalcitrance.
C) misfeasance.
D) malfeasance.
E) nonfeasance.

Question 17

The Pendleton Civil Service Act introduced a civil service system for the national government based on

A) cause.
B) merit.
C) need.
D) patronage.
E) clout

Question 18

Federal employees can be fired for not doing their work, or

A) incompetence.
B) recalcitrance.
C) misfeasance.
D) malfeasance.
E) nonfeasance.

Question 19

Federal employees can be fired for violating rules or regulations that guide their work, or

A) incompetence.
B) recalcitrance.
C) misfeasance.
D) malfeasance.
E) nonfeasance.

Question 20

Which title of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in personnel practices based on race, color, ethnicity, age, and disabilities that can be reasonably accommodated?

A) Title I
B) Title III
C) Title V
D) Title VI
E) Title VII

Question 21

Which of the following statements about the boards of independent regulatory commissions is accurate?

A) The boards of independent regulatory agencies are loyal to presidential preferences.
B) Independent regulatory agencies are under the direction of bipartisan boards.
C) To reduce undue influence, board members of independent regulatory agencies are appointed to life terms.
D) Board members are usually nominated from the career bureaucrats within the agency and approved by the Office of the President.
E) Because of their independence, the boards of independent regulatory commissions do not need congressional support for survival.

Question 22

Which president proposed the civil service reforms that led to passage of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978?

A) Lyndon Johnson
B) Richard Nixon
C) Gerald Ford
D) Jimmy Carter
E) Ronald Reagan

Question 23

What title is given to the top political appointee who heads each of the national government's 15 departments?

A) director
B) secretary
C) director-general
D) general secretary
E) deputy secretary

Question 24

According to political scientists, how many stages are there in the public policy cycle?

A) three
B) four
C) five
D) six
E) seven

Question 25

The process by which the federal government shifts greater responsibility to state and local governments, thereby putting the implementation of national policy in the hands of state and local bureaucrats, is known as

A) outsourcing.
B) government contracting.
C) preemption.
D) devolution.
E) the shadow bureaucracy.

Question 26

Which of the following rights is denied to national civil servant unions?

A) the right to bargain for improved training opportunities
B) the right to strike
C) the right to bargain for enhanced due process protections in disciplinary matters
D) the right to negotiate certain aspects of work conditions
E) the right to strike and to negotiate salaries and work hours

Question 27

Which of the following best describes the business of an independent regulatory agency?

A) the selling of services to create financial independence
B) development of standards for specific industries and businesses
C) responsibility for broadly defined policy areas
D) accountability for a narrowly defined function
E) researching policy areas, and reporting to the relevant cabinet agency

Question 28

According to the politics-administration dichotomy, who implements public policy?

A) politically neutral bureaucrats
B) congressionally nominated bureaucrats
C) presidentially nominated bureaucrats
D) partisan bureaucrats
E) elected politicians

Question 29

Which of the following federal agencies has the highest percentage of union members?

A) State Department
B) Department of the Treasury
C) U.S. Postal Service
D) National Park Service
E) Department of Defense

Question 30

All of the following are considered independent administrative agencies EXCEPT

A) the Smithsonian Institution.
B) the National Science Foundation.
C) the Product Safety Commission.
D) the General Services Administration.
E) the Office of Personnel Management.

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT a part of the agenda-setting stage of the public policy cycle?

A) Elected officials place issues on their agendas.
B) Bureaucrats may work to create issue networks.
C) Elected officials formulate a policy.
D) Elected officials establish a plan.
E) Bureaucrats work to create an iron triangle.

Question 32

Which of the following is the newest of the national government's 15 federal departments?

A) Department of Energy
B) Department of Education
C) Department of Housing and Urban Development
D) Department of Homeland Security
E) Department of Veterans Affairs

Question 33

Which of the following is expected to make enough money to cover its own costs?

A) independent regulatory agency
B) cabinet department
C) independent administrative agency
D) Executive Office of the President
E) government corporation

Question 34

Which of the following was the first independent regulatory commission established by the federal government?

A) Interstate Commerce Commission
B) Food and Drug Administration
C) Consumer Product Safety Commission
D) General Services Administration
E) Office of Personnel Management

Question 35

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 created or supported the creation of all these agencies EXCEPT

A) the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
B) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
C) the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).
D) the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB).
E) the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

Question 36

Which of the following is the second stage in the public policy cycle?

A) agenda setting
B) resource allocation
C) policy formulation
D) policy approval
E) policy implementation

Question 37

Senior executive service (SES) positions are

A) political appointments.
B) civil service positions.
C) congressionally appointed.
D) hybrids of political appointments and civil service positions.
E) congressionally appointed civil service positions.

Question 38

Which of the following statements about career civil servants in senior executive service positions is NOT true?

A) They can be moved from job to job.
B) They give up job security for higher pay.
C) They hold most of the top policy-related patronage positions.
D) They can be moved between agencies.
E) They are immune from firing except for misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance.

Question 39

In 1939 Congress passed the Hatch Act, which did what?

A) limited all restrictions on federal bureaucrats' rights to engage in political activity
B) allowed for political considerations to be made in bureaucratic hiring
C) maintained the rules of the patronage system in regards to bureaucrats' political activity
D) limited federal bureaucrats' rights to engage in political activity
E) required federal bureaucrats to indicate their party loyalty upon hiring

Question 40

Which of the following is an example of a hybrid agency that fits into more than one category of federal agency?

A) Consumer Product Service Commission
B) Food and Drug Administration
C) Office of Personnel Management
D) General Services Administration
E) Executive Office of the President

Question 41

Outline the development of the merit-based civil service system.

Question 42

Which act of Congress, passed in 1976, requires most multi-headed national agencies to conduct open, public meetings?

A) Administrative Procedure Act
B) Freedom of Information Act
C) Government in the Sunshine Act
D) Hatch Act
E) E-Government Act

Question 43

Which piece of legislation established the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), which is charged with preventing bureaucratic conflicts of interest?

A) Ethics in Government Act
B) Administrative Procedure Act
C) Freedom of Information Act
D) Sunshine Act
E) E-Government Act

Question 44

Describe the purpose and features of the E-Government Act of 2002.

Question 45

Under what authority do bureaucrats have the power to use their expertise and judgment to implement public policy?

A) appropriations laws
B) authorization laws
C) administrative discretion
D) administrative rule making
E) administrative adjudication

Question 46

Explain the rationale behind the government's contracting-out process.

Question 47

Define bureaucrats, and identify their key functions and roles.

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT a way in which Congress encourages bureaucratic accountability?

A) by making rulings as to whether agency policies comply with the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
B) by approving the legislation that creates, regulates, and funds bureaucracies
C) through Senate confirmation of top bureaucrats
D) thorough legislative oversight of agency policies
E) by investigating the concerns of citizens, media, or interest groups regarding agency policy implementation

Question 49

What type of clause forces the expiration of a program or policy after a specified number of years without congressional reauthorization?

A) sunshine clause
B) exit clause
C) sunset clause
D) finite clause
E) temporary clause

Question 50

Who are SES bureaucrats, and how are they appointed to office?

Question 51

Which piece of legislation provided protection to whistle-blowers, employees who disclose government misconduct, waste, or abuses of authority?

A) Ethics in Government Act
B) Inspector General Act
C) Freedom of Information Act
D) Sunshine Act
E) Civil Service Reform Act

Question 52

Which of the following refers to laws that provide plans of action to address societal concerns and identify the executive units that will put them into effect?

A) appropriation laws
B) authorization bills
C) authorization laws
D) administrative discretions
E) administrative adjudications

Question 53

Which of the following mechanisms is used by bureaucrats to determine if their rules have been broken and to impose penalties on violators?

A) appropriations laws
B) authorization laws
C) administrative discretion
D) administrative rule making
E) administrative adjudication

Question 54

Identify the five categories of executive branch organizations used by political scientists.

Question 55

Outline the process of administrative rule-making, and provide an example of its use.

Question 56

Which of the following was one of the first laws designed to enhance federal bureaucratic accountability to the people?

A) Federal Register
B) Administrative Procedure Act
C) Consumer Product Safety Act
D) Sunshine Act
E) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Question 57

Which of the following open up government functions and documents to the public, ensuring transparency and public access to decision making?

A) authorization laws
B) executive orders
C) appropriations laws
D) sunshine laws
E) sunset clauses

Question 58

Explain the role of shadow bureaucrats in the exercise of modern government.

Question 59

Discuss the purpose and structure of government corporations.

Question 60

The legal means to monitor bureaucrats' work and hold them accountable is possessed by

A) the media and private citizens.
B) special-interest groups.
C) Congress.
D) the president.
E) Congress, the president, and the federal judiciary.

Question 61

Who are inspectors general, and what is their function?