Deck 1: The Practice and Discipline of Public Administration: Competing Concerns

Question 1

Describe the differences between public and private administration in terms of (1) constitutional arrangements, (2) the public interest, (3) markets, and (4) sovereignty.

Answer 1

Not Answered

Question 2

How ought the Department of Homeland Security be structured? The textbook suggests along the hierarchical lines of traditional public management. Do you agree with this approach? What is gained by organizing it along these lines? What is lost by not organizing it according to NPM, political, or legal lines?

Answer 2

Not Answered

Question 3

Any discourse on public administration uses terms like "the public interest," "equity," "effectiveness," and "efficiency." Can these terms be defined in a fashion that could provide specific guidance for public administrators? How would you define them?

Answer 3

Not Answered

Question 4

Take each of the approaches to public administration-managerial (traditional and NPM), political, and legal-and state the values associated with each approach. Continue the discussion by taking any three of the following six characteristics, and explain how it relates to each of the different approaches: organizational structure, view of the individual, cognitive approach, budgeting, decision making, and characterization of government function.

Question 5

Explain how the values embodied in the NPM approach may at times be at odds with the values of the political and legal approaches.

Question 6

Politics is salient to public administration because

A) most public employees are hired on a partisan basis
B) all administrative functions are highly political
C)public administrators are involved in the public policy cycle
D)all of the above

Question 7

Which of the following is not a central value of the managerial approach?

A) accountability
B) economy
C)effectiveness
D)providing for political representation in public administration

Question 8

According to the chapter, the political approach considers individuals as

A) members of groups
B)ill- informed
C)interchangeable with one another
D)all of the above

Question 9

A good or service that individuals cannot be excluded from and that is not exhausted as more individuals use it is known as

A) public interest
B) public good
C)public choice
D)none of the above

Question 10

Unlike private firms, governments cannot readily

A) go bankrupt
B) dissolve
C)seek lower labor costs in other geographic areas
D)all of the above

Question 11

Contemporary federalism in the United States is best characterized by

A) a strict separation of federal from state functions
B) subordination of the federal government to the states
C)dependence of the state governments on the federal government for the administration of state programs
D)dependence of the federal government on the states for implementation of federal programs

Question 12

According to the chapter, which of the following is least valued by the political approach to public administration?

A) representativeness
B) responsiveness
C)clear lines of administrative jurisdiction
D)interest groups

Question 13

The cognitive approach of the legal perspective is best described as

A) theoretical
B) social scientific
C)inductive
D)none of the above

Question 14

According to the chapter, the legal approach treats individual intentions as

A) subjective assessments
B) objective facts
C)always irrelevant
D)always relevant

Question 15

The judiciary's power to dispense with the harsh application of the law and adjust remedies to specific groups and individuals is known as

A) adjudication
B) equal protection
C)due process
D)equity

Question 16

The U.S. Constitution

A) comprehensively provides for federal and state public administration
B) comprehensively provides for federal administration
C)contains no provisions for public administration
D)none of the above

Question 17

According to the chapter, the best approach to public administration is

A) managerial
B) political
C)legal
D)none of the above is best

Question 18

Which approach frowns upon using social classifications for the sake of analyzing and predicting individual behavior?

A) traditional management
B) New Public Management
C)political
D)legal

Question 19

Osborne and Gaebler's idea that government should "steer, not row" is referring to their support of

A) incremental decision making
B) privatization
C)deregulation
D)benchmarking

Question 20

Benchmarking

A) encourages experimentation
B) promotes results-oriented public administration
C)permits greater flexibility
D)all of the above

Question 21

"Sunshine" provisions are most closely associated with which approach?

A) traditional management
B) New Public Management
C)political
D)legal

Question 22

"Muddling through" refers to an incremental style of

A) budgeting
B) decision making
C)organizing
D)regulating

Question 23

The public values of representation and transparency

A) are equally relevant to the public and private sectors
B) have differing relevance to the public and private sectors
C)do not bear on the practice of public administration
D)none of the above

Question 24

According to the text, the New Public Management (NPM) approach is the best way to organize

A) social welfare programs
B) homeland security
C)all of public administration
D)none of the above

Question 25

Which of the following could not be described as public or quasi-public good?

A) small businesses
B) a lighthouse
C)homeland security
D)public education

Question 26

Which of the following is not associated with the traditional managerial approach to public administration?

A) Max Weber
B) Paul Appleby
C)Woodrow Wilson
D)Frederick Taylor

Question 27

Public administration resembles private management in that

A) it is profit-seeking
B) it regulates the public at large
C)it provides services
D)none of the above

Question 28

The public sector may favor contracting -out because

A) private employees are generally more able than public employees
B) contracting-out helps the public sector take better advantage of markets
C)contracting-out always reduces costs
D)all of the above

Question 29

The legal approach to public administration is derived from

A) administrative law
B) judicialization of public administration
C)constitutional law
D)all of the above

Question 30

Which of the following is not generally considered a feature of bureaucratic organizations?

A) specialization
B) impersonality
C)hierarchy
D)adjudication

Question 31

Which of the following are considered advantages of collaborative government?

A) government being able to benefit from the activities of private entities in reaching shared objectives
B) promoting cost effectiveness by coordinating public administrative efforts with those of corporations and nonprofits
C)taking advantage of private organizations' specialization, expertise, capacity, flexibility
D)all of the above

Question 32

The Separation of Powers doctrine was intended by the framers of the Constitution to promote efficiency in governmental operations.

Question 33

The governmental obligation to promote the public interest distinguishes public administration from private management.

Question 34

All public administrative organizations are bureaucratically structured.

Question 35

The civil service reform movement of the nineteenth century tried to bring politics back into public administration.

Question 36

Judicialization is the tendency for administrative processes increasingly to resemble courtroom procedures.

Question 37

Rule of law embodies the central values of procedural due process, substantive rights, and efficiency.

Question 38

Frank Goodnow developed the principles of scientific management.

Question 39

Politics and administration are easily separable in modern governments.

Question 40

The constitutional separation of powers facilitates administrative coordination.

Question 41

The managerial and political approaches to public administration are sometimes in conflict with the legal approach.

Question 42

For the most part, the Constitution does not regulate relationships between private parties.

Question 43

The New Public Management approach maintains that government will be more responsive and efficient if it is compelled to react to market like forces.

Question 44

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 established "Sunshine" provisions.

Question 45

Public administrators are not agents of the sovereign people and generally are not considered to hold the "public trust."

Question 46

The incremental approach to budgeting is associated with the political approach to public administration.

Question 47

Collaborative governance could potentially lead to the government losing the ability to provide a service itself.