Deck 2: The Growth of Government and Administration

Question 1

Which of the following statements about the growth of government is FALSE?

A) In order to determine the actual size of government, we need to consider both the on-budget and off-budget items.
B) The size of government has been the focus of public attention and scholarly discussion for many years.
C) The federal budget and workforce decreased during Republican administrations.
D) All of the above statements are true.
E) None of the above statements are true.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The number of public employees is a simple way to gauge the size of government, but it has which of the following limitations?

A) Nobody knows how many people the government employs.
B) This statistic does not reflect the extent of government's influence on society.
C) The number of employees in the federal government has no relationship to the size of government.
D) All of the above are limitations.
E) None of the above are limitations.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is TRUE about trends in government employment?

A) On-budget employment has remained fairly constant throughout the era after World War II.
B) The real growth in the public workforce has occurred in state and local government since around 1950.
C) The federal government is less involved in the direct provision of services than is state government.
D) All of the above are true.
E) None of the above are true.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following is TRUE of trends in government expenditures?

A) Expenditures by the federal government have always outpaced those of state and local governments.
B) Much of the increase in government spending can be attributed to increases in prescription benefits, social security, and added regulation.
C) Government spending returned to prewar levels after 1945.
D) Federal spending increased somewhat during the 1950s but declined in the 1960s.
E) Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s federal spending remained relatively stable at 22 percent of GDP.

Question 5

Which of the following statements about trends in government regulation is TRUE?

A) There are no accurate methods to calculate the exact costs of regulation.
B) Fines from regulation enforcement more than make up for their cost to industry and individuals.
C) It is clear that regulations provide a cost to society that exceeds their benefits.
D) All of the above are true.
E) Only a and c are true.

Question 6

Which of the following is not an explanation for the growth of government?

A) Changes in economic conditions produce social effects that require some form of government action.
B) Interest groups mobilize and exert pressure on legislators for benefits which leads to the creation of new programs and agencies.
C) Wars and national defense provide an impetus to governments' increase.
D) Only a and b are explanations for the growth of government.
E) All of the above are explanations for the growth of government.

Question 7

Market failure can take the following forms:

A) externality, public goods, incomplete information, and monopoly.
B) complexity, monopoly, public goods, free riders, and externality.
C) externality, incomplete information, monopoly, and pluralism.
D) monopoly, anti-trust, externality, incomplete information, and over-regulation.
E) public goods, monopoly, incomplete information, and federalism.

Question 8

As the economy becomes more complex

A) the need for government action decreases.
B) government programs will address societal problems.
C) the need for government action increases.
D) new technologies will solve social and environmental problems.
E) All of the above.

Question 9

Which of the following is a mechanism to counter the tendency of the political process to lead to big government?

A) advocacy groups
B) federalism
C) client agencies
D) spoils system
E) populism

Question 10

Which of the following is TRUE about public goods?

A) People are willing to pay for public services even though they know they will receive them without paying.
B) Left to its own device, a free market does not supply enough public goods to meet society's demands.
C) Public goods are voluntary in the sense that government cannot force people to pay for them.
D) None of the above are true.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 11

Public choice theory puts a large part of the blame for big government on the voters themselves.

Question 12

Citizens take for granted many of the services government provides because they do not have to pay for them.

Question 13

The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a decrease in military spending that continues to this day.

Question 14

Interest group influence led to the creation of client agencies designed to respond to the needs of specific groups of people.

Question 15

President Andrew Jackson had a key role in professionalizing the national workforce by proposing civil service legislation.

Question 16

Early administrators were highly representative of American society.

Question 17

Checks and balances, separation of powers, and federalism reflect the founders' distrust of centralized power.

Question 18

The creation of new government programs and the expansion of existing ones can be explained in part as a natural outcome of the democratic process and pluralism.

Question 19

If left alone, the free market will provide sufficient information to potential consumers about goods and services.

Question 20

Monopolies result in an overuse of resources and a rise in total income.

Question 21

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Gross domestic product (GDP)

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 22

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Jones Act

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 23

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Mixed economy

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 24

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Market failure

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 25

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Free-rider problem

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 26

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Pluralism

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 27

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Separation of powers

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 28

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Federalism

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 29

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Clientelism

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.

Question 30

Matching Exercise
Match the concepts in the left-hand column to their counterparts in the right-hand column.
-Threshold effect.

A) Economic events where private markets fail to perform efficiently.
B) Political arrangement were different sectors of society organize into groups to exert political influence.
C) Ships traveling between U.S. ports must be built in U.S. shipyards, owned by U.S. citizens, and operated by an American crew.
D) The creation of departments and programs to serve the needs of specific interest groups or segments of society.
E) The total value of all goods and services produced within a country during a specified period.
F) The theory that certain national disturbances cause a permanent jump in government expenditures.
G) A system of government in which the national and subnational governments share power.
H) The constitutional doctrine that power should be diffused throughout the government, keeping the executive, legislative, and judicial branches distinct so that power is not centralized in one branch.
I) A situation arising in the case of public goods in which a citizen received benefits without paying for them.
J) An economy in which the public sector plays a significant role and consumes a considerable proportion of the GDP.