Deck 11: Bureaucracy

Question 1

Since the 1950s, compared with the entire workforce, the number of federal employees has

A) increased sharply.
B) increased slightly.
C) gradually declined.
D) decreased sharply.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is an independent agency?

A) the U.S. Postal Service
B) the Department of Agriculture
C) the Environmental Protection Agency
D) the Forest Service

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following statements about the merit system is INACCURATE?

A) Every member and official of a government agency has been appointed as part of the merit system.
B) The merit system establishes competitive exams for jobs.
C) The merit system gives bureaucrats job protection.
D) The merit system in federal employment originated in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following executive agencies was created by Congress in 2010?

A) the Federal Reserve Board
B) the Department of Housing and Urban Development
C) the Council of Economic Advisers
D) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Question 5

Before the Civil Service Act of 1883, how were government appointments handled?

A) Appointments were made on the basis of merit.
B) Appointments were made on the basis of seniority.
C) Appointments were made to political supporters as part of a spoils system.
D) Appointments were made by leaders of Congress.

Question 6

What is the origin of most federal bureaus?

A) Congress passes laws creating and funding most federal bureaus.
B) The Cabinet secretaries create most federal bureaus out of administrative necessity and convenience.
C) Most federal bureaus were explicitly described in Article II of the Constitution.
D) Most federal bureaus are created by executive order of the president.

Question 7

The first regulatory agencies Congress established were

A) in the Department of Commerce.
B) independent regulatory commissions.
C) government corporations.
D) in the Labor Department.

Question 8

An independent agency is an executive branch organization that

A) is part of a Cabinet-level department.
B) charges fees to consumers but carries out governmental responsibilities.
C) is established by Congress but not part of a Cabinet-level department.
D) is established by the president without congressional approval.

Question 9

Public bureaucracies are powerful because

A) they are not subject to control by the president or Congress.
B) their actions cannot be overturned or challenged by courts.
C) they have the power of both "the purse" and "the sword."
D) legislatures, chief executives, and the people delegate vast power to them to make sure a particular job is done.

Question 10

What is a government corporation?

A) Each department in the executive branch is legally registered as a corporation.
B) It is an agency that performs and charges for services usually provided by the private sector.
C) It is a private company, publicly traded, whose sole investor is the federal government.
D) It is a government agency that is charged by Congress to make a profit.

Question 11

The Internet was created by

A) Apple.
B) International Business Machines (IBM).
C) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
D) the Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Question 12

Approximately ________ percent of the nation's employed workforce are employees of state or local government.

A) 1
B) 5
C) 15
D) 33

Question 13

The Civil Service Act of 1883 attempted to pattern government hiring after practices found in

A) business.
B) the Catholic Church.
C) Congress.
D) local government.

Question 14

There are approximately ________ military personnel currently in the United States.

A) 100,000
B) 600,000
C) 900,000
D) 1.4 million

Question 15

Bureaucracy literally means

A) rule by offices and desks.
B) control of the anonymous.
C) next window please.
D) government by the people.

Question 16

Which of the following is a government corporation?

A) the National Park Service
B) Amtrak
C) the Federal Bureau of Investigation
D) the Department of Agriculture

Question 17

Civil servants were given legal protection against being fired without a show of cause in order to

A) conform to the Supreme Court's decision in Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha.
B) force the bureaucracy to respond more to political pressures from parties, interest groups, and elected officials.
C) cleanse bureaucracy of political interference while upgrading performance.
D) enhance the public's trust in bureaucracy.

Question 18

Line agencies are

A) departments, bureaus, or independent agencies whose primary mission is to regulate economic activity.
B) government agencies that perform a market-oriented public service and raise revenues to fund their activities.
C) agencies that are not part of any cabinet department and not subject to congressional oversight.
D) bureau-level agencies that deal directly with the public.

Question 19

At its peak in ________, the federal bureaucracy had ________ employees, not including military personnel.

A) 1936; 6 million
B) 1968; 3 million
C) 1996; 8 million
D) 2005; 10 million

Question 20

________ is when bureaucrats attempt to translate laws into specific rules and actions.

A) Adjudication
B) Regulation
C) Deregulation
D) Implementation

Question 21

Which of the following statements about state and local government employment is most accurate?

A) The number of state and local government employees has remained relatively unchanged since 1950.
B) The number of state and local government employees has declined since 1950.
C) The number of state and local government employees has increased since 1950.
D) The number of state and local government employees has always been less than the number of federal government employees.

Question 22

The use of taxing and spending powers to shape the economy is part of ________ policy.

A) fiscal
B) monetary
C) distributive
D) redistributive

Question 23

Which of the following is an example of a revenue agency?

A) the Federal Reserve System
B) the Agricultural Extension Service
C) the U.S. Customs Service
D) the Securities and Exchange Commission

Question 24

The National Park Service is

A) part of the Department of the Interior.
B) part of the Department of Agriculture.
C) an independent agency.
D) a government corporation.

Question 25

The national security documents leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed that the

A) NSA was collecting private data, such as phone calls, email messages, and web browser history, on millions of Americans and foreign nationals.
B) Bush administration misrepresented intelligence information about nuclear weapons in order to justify the 2003 Iraq War.
C) September 11, 2001, attacks could have been prevented with better information sharing between the FBI, CIA, and NSC.
D) CIA was violating international law by using "enhanced interrogation techniques" against suspected terrorists.

Question 26

The National Security Archive is a

A) private organization that makes extensive use of Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain information about the activities of national security agencies.
B) bureau-level agency in the Department of Homeland Security that classifies the security clearance requirements of all government documents.
C) part of the National Security Agency that classifies the security clearance requirements of all government documents.
D) private organization that the federal government contracts to provide backup copies for all national security documents.

Question 27

The Obama administration's campaign to make government more transparent

A) was jeopardized by Edward Snowden's leak of sensitive national security documents in 2013.
B) resulted in the termination of the National Security Agency's global surveillance operations.
C) resulted in the passage of the Freedom of Information Act.
D) resulted in the repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Question 28

The Financial Stability Oversight Council was created by

A) President Roosevelt in 1939 to reduce unemployment and increase public-sector job opportunities.
B) President Obama and Congress in 2010 to identify system-wide risks to the financial sector.
C) Congress in 1965 to counter the influence of the growing influence of the Office of Management and Budget.
D) President Reagan in 1980 to study the causes of inflation and make policy recommendations to reduce it.

Question 29

Which of the following statements about the Department of Health and Human Services is most accurate?

A) It oversees Medicaid.
B) It has no influence over Medicare.
C) It is under the direct administrative control of the National Institutes of Health.
D) It administers Social Security.

Question 30

The creation of the U.S. Northern Command was important because it

A) ultimately led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
B) unified, for the first time in American history, the Air Force, the Navy Department, and the War Department.
C) breached the long-standing line between domestic law enforcement and foreign military operations for the first time.
D) was the first time the Department of Defense had taken such an action without congressional approval.

Question 31

Which of the following is the best description of an iron triangle?

A) the stable relationship between a bureaucratic agency, a clientele group, and a legislative committee
B) the inability to reform federal rules without help from the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the president
C) the domination of a few large companies in the regulation of iron mining and smelting
D) the breakdown in the separation of powers between Congress, the federal judiciary, and the president

Question 32

The Freedom of Information Act is designed to

A) lead to quicker filing of habeas corpus petitions.
B) make more national security documents available to the public.
C) prevent inefficiency and waste in government management.
D) expand the freedom of speech granted to government employees.

Question 33

The Director of National Intelligence is important because he or she is

A) the highest ranking official in the Department of Homeland Security.
B) the only official in the United States who has access to every top-secret government file.
C) responsible for coordinating the efforts of intelligence agencies and issuing a national security report to the media each morning.
D) responsible for coordinating the efforts of intelligence agencies and reporting directly to the president each morning.

Question 34

A bureau charged with putting restrictions and obligations on individuals or corporations in the private sector is called a ________ agency.

A) redistributive
B) regulatory
C) fiscal
D) clientele

Question 35

Who has the authority to set interest rates and lending activities for the nation's banks?

A) the Federal Reserve System
B) the Secretary of the Treasury
C) the Internal Revenue Service
D) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Question 36

Which of the following statements about the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is correct?

A) The Fed was established by George Washington and Alexander Hamilton in 1793.
B) Congress created the Fed in 1913.
C) The Fed was established in 1933, during the famous "Hundred Days" of the New Deal.
D) Richard Nixon established the Fed in 1969 as an attempt to gain more White House control over monetary policy.

Question 37

The ________ oversees border safety and security (including immigration and customs); emergency preparedness; science-related concerns pertaining to chemical, biological, and nuclear threats; and information and intelligence analysis and assessment.

A) U.S. Marine Corps
B) secretary of defense
C) U.S. Army
D) Department of Homeland Security

Question 38

The greatest number of federal government professionals working abroad are under the authority of the Department of

A) State.
B) Defense.
C) Commerce.
D) Homeland Security.

Question 39

The responsibility for making fiscal policy lies with ________, and the administration of fiscal policy occurs primarily in the ________.

A) the president; Federal Reserve Board
B) the president; Treasury Department
C) Congress; Treasury Department
D) Congress; Department of Commerce

Question 40

________ is the primary mission of the State Department.

A) Military protection
B) Diplomacy
C) International aid
D) National security

Question 41

What was the mission of the National Performance Review?

A) to reorganize the federal bureaucracy to make it more efficient, more accountable, and less wasteful
B) to review each administrative agency every four years to determine whether it is necessary
C) to analyze the job performance of federal employees
D) to make recommendations to Congress on government reforms

Question 42

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was significant because it

A) ended the "spoils system."
B) was the first major revamping of the federal civil service since its creation in 1883.
C) reinstated the "spoils system."
D) cut the federal workforce by 20 percent.

Question 43

The concept of oversight refers to the effort made by

A) Congress to make executive agencies accountable for their actions.
B) the president to make Congress accountable for its actions.
C) the courts to make the legislative and executive branches responsible for their actions.
D) the states to make the federal government responsible for its actions.

Question 44

Which of the following statements best describes how recent administrations have approached the issue of bureaucratic reform?

A) Republican administrations have aimed to make the existing bureaucracy work more effectively while Democratic administrations have sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies.
B) Democratic administrations have aimed to make the existing bureaucracy work more effectively while Republican administrations have sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies.
C) Both Democratic and Republican administrations have rejected the idea of reducing bureaucracy and have aimed to make existing bureaucracy work more effectively.
D) Both Democratic and Republican administrations have given up on trying to make the existing bureaucracy function more effectively and instead sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies.

Question 45

Describe and evaluate the four key strategies used to promote reforming the federal bureaucracy. What are some of the challenges associated with each different approach? Explain.

Question 46

________ occurs when the federal government passes authority to administer a program to state or local governments.

A) Deregulation
B) Devolution
C) Privatization
D) Implementation

Question 47

Privatization is a way to

A) shrink the federal budget by selling government services or property in the private sector.
B) reduce government costs by relocating government programs to private groups or corporations.
C) reduce big government by doing without some of the programs it once provided.
D) increase the government's role by purchasing private companies.

Question 48

During the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, ________ federal agencies or programs were terminated.

A) 0
B) 10
C) 156
D) 849

Question 49

Describe the organizational structure of the federal bureaucracy. Specifically, what are the differences between departments, agencies, and bureaus, and what are the lines of authority within the executive branch? How is the federal bureaucracy staffed, and how has this changed since the nineteenth century?

Question 50

Which president's approach to the managerial presidency featured a deep belief in the importance of scientific expertise in government service?

A) Barack Obama
B) George W. Bush
C) Ronald Reagan
D) Bill Clinton

Question 51

"Zero-base budgeting" was a

A) method of budgeting that dictated funding for federal agencies could never be cut unless the federal government was running a budget deficit.
B) method of budgeting from the bottom up whereby each agency was required to rejustify its entire mission rather than merely its next year's increase.
C) method of budgeting in which each federal agency would receive a zero percent increase each year.
D) phrase used by President Bill Clinton in his attempts to persuade the public that there was very little basis for cutting the funding of most federal programs.

Question 52

Which of the following statements about congressional oversight of the bureaucracy is most accurate?

A) The number of oversight hearings has decreased over time as the bureaucracy has expanded.
B) Although the number of oversight hearings has increased over time as the bureaucracy has expanded, the extent of oversight does depend somewhat on which party controls the White House.
C) The number of oversight hearings has remained constant over time despite the fact that bureaucracy has expanded.
D) Oversight has been eliminated as a result of a 2012 Supreme Court decision.

Question 53

The most visible indication of oversight is the

A) use of a unanimous Supreme Court opinion by the lower federal courts to generate public support for a particular policy.
B) use of the nullification power by the states to declare an act of the federal government unconstitutional.
C) use of public hearings before congressional committees and subcommittees.
D) size of the total national debt.

Question 54

In 1937, the Committee on Administrative Management claimed that "the president needs help" because

A) President Roosevelt had serious health problems related to polio and could not fulfill all of the constitutional responsibilities of the presidency.
B) President Roosevelt needed to devote all of his energy to guiding the American military's efforts in World War II and he could not effectively manage the federal bureaucracy.
C) the "spoils system" had filled the executive branch with Republicans who were refusing to enact key parts of President Roosevelt's agenda.
D) the national government had grown rapidly during the preceding 25 years, but the structures and procedures necessary to manage the burgeoning executive branch had not yet been established.

Question 55

Which of the following is an agency created by Congress to assist in overseeing the federal bureaucracy?

A) the Congressional Budget Office
B) the Congressional Office on Legislative Affairs
C) the Office of Management and Budget
D) the Congressional Oversight Office

Question 56

What would be the most likely outcome if federal governmental officials were to cease all economic regulation?

A) The marketplace would work more efficiently and quickly.
B) The marketplace would favor the more numerous workers rather than corporate interests.
C) The marketplace would fall into chaos.
D) The marketplace would globalize more quickly.

Question 57

Devolution describes a process through which

A) Congress gives up some of its power to the executive branch.
B) the federal government is downsized by delegating the implementation of programs to state and local governments.
C) state and local governments are downsized by delegating the implementation of programs to the federal government.
D) the federal government is downsized by completely cutting wasteful programs.

Question 58

One drawback of devolution is that

A) the standards associated with particular programs become increasingly rigid and hard to enforce.
B) the standards associated with particular programs become increasingly variable between states.
C) Congress is removed completely from the United States' foreign policy process.
D) states have a much harder time implementing programs than the federal government does.

Question 59

By 2000, the National Performance Review had succeeded in

A) cutting the federal workforce by approximately 270,000 jobs.
B) cutting the federal workforce by approximately 425,000 jobs.
C) increasing the federal workforce by approximately 270,000 jobs.
D) increasing the federal workforce by approximately 425,000 jobs.

Question 60

The different agencies of the executive branch can be grouped according to the different kinds of services they provide. Describe the three main categories of agencies. What kinds of services do they provide? Provide some examples of each.

Question 61

Describe the challenge of bureaucratic accountability. What is oversight and how does congressional action shape bureaucratic responsibility? What are some possible ways in which the president can gain more control of the bureaucracy?

Question 62

Although they are often unpopular with the public and there are many complaints that government is too large, bureaucracies perform important functions for government. Describe the main functions of bureaucracy and provide some examples of each. How has the size of the federal government changed over the last 50 years?