Deck 10: Public Administration and the Public

Question 1

1. Within the bounds of privacy and decency, list all the ways in which you are dependent upon public administrators on a day to day basis. How do these relationships of dependence fit into the discussion of public administration and the public presented in the book? How would further development of e-government impact this dependence? Would it increase, decrease, or not impact efficiency? Why?

Answer 1

Not Answered

Question 2

In your view, how serious is the tension between democratic constitutionalism and public administration? Why? If you consider the tension to be a problem, how could it be alleviated? If you do not think there is a tension between democratic constitutionalism and public administration, discuss the governmental processes and values that you believe make the two compatible. If you believe that there is a tension between the two, but that it is not problematic, explain how the tension contributes to the desirable functioning of government.

Answer 2

Not Answered

Question 3

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of greater citizen participation in public administration. Consider each of the possible means of participation discussed in the chapter.

Answer 3

Not Answered

Question 4

The NPM favors the contracting out of government goods and services. What potential problems may arise out of the increased use of contracting? How could these problems be addressed? Explain.

Question 5

The NPM views the public primarily as "customers" of government services. Do you think it is appropriate to label citizens "customers"? Why or why not? What are some advantages and disadvantages of the customer service approach?

Question 6

The joint provision of public services by public administrators and service consumers is

A) coproduction
B) human services integration
C)advocacy administration
D)mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act

Question 7

Which of the following best fits the definition of a "public interest group"?

A) the AFL- CIO
B) the American Bar Association
C)the League of Women Voters
D)the Public Broadcasting System

Question 8

Which of the following best describes the relationship between citizen and public administrator upon which traditional democratic constitutionalism is predicated?

A) subject and ruler
B) sovereign and servant
C)client and service provider
D)none of the above

Question 9

Which of the following is the best example of a client-centered facility?

A) a municipal golf course
B) a prison
C)a department of motor vehicles
D)none of the above is client-centered

Question 10

According to the chapter, which of the following is most likely to socialize most individuals to administrative culture?

A) working for a public agency
B) being a prisoner
C)going to a public school
D)living in a family

Question 11

"Anomie" is a sense of

A) control over one's environment
B) high personal efficacy
C)personal isolation and lack of control over one's environment
D)socialization

Question 12

According to the chapter, which of the following is least characteristic of democracy?

A) equality
B) civic participation based on expertise
C)pluralism
D)rotation in office

Question 13

Of the following, who is most closely associated with the idea that citizens are subjects of the administrative state?

A) Emmette Redford
B) Charles Goodsell
C)Alvin Gouldner
D)Ralph Hummel

Question 14

In which sphere of human activity is public administration least likely to intervene in the United States?

A) religion
B) social relationships
C)economic relationships
D)politics

Question 15

Which approach to public administration tends to shift the burden of cost and time to individual members of the public?

A) NPM
B) traditional managerial approach
C)political approach
D)all of the above

Question 16

According to the chapter, democracy requires

A) hierarchy
B) seniority
C)equality
D)command

Question 17

According to the chapter, most people in the United States believe

A) government wastes a lot of money
B) government cannot be trusted to do the right thing most of the time
C)government is run for the benefit of a few big interests
D)all of the above

Question 18

According to Charles Goodsell, most citizens perceive their interactions with public bureaucracies as

A) unfair
B) inefficient
C)efficient
D)corrupt

Question 19

According to the chapter, which of the following most accurately describes the public's view of public administration?

A) public administration is viewed favorably both in abstract and concrete terms
B) public administration is viewed negatively both in abstract and concrete terms
C)public administration is viewed favorably in the abstract but negatively in concrete terms
D)public administration is viewed negatively in the abstract but favorably in concrete terms

Question 20

Congressional casework is most closely related to

A) promoting "pork barrel" legislation
B) policy making
C)adjudicating
D)ombudsmanship

Question 21

An example of "direct" public participation in public administration would be

A) litigation
B) legislative casework
C)voting in presidential elections
D)community action agencies

Question 22

Human services integration can help improve public administration through which of the following?

A) reducing paperwork
B) limiting the burdens of cost and time shifted to the client
C)improving the effectiveness of the programs by increasing the focus on the client
D)all of the above

Question 23

Client-centered public administration emphasizes

A) impersonality
B) passing costs off to clients
C)due process
D)organizing functions around clients' overall needs and interests

Question 24

According to the chapter, therapeutic service is best associated with which of the following approaches to public administration?

A) legal
B) traditional managerial
C)political
D)new public management

Question 25

Of the following, which author finds the relationship of the public to contemporary public administration most satisfactory?

A) Emmette Redford
B) Milton Friedman
C)Charles Goodsell
D)Charles Reich

Question 26

In this chapter a virtuous circle

A) replaces the "iron triangle"
B) describes the relationship between bureaucracy and citizenship
C)may result from better administrative performance leading to improved trust in government
D)may result from more e-government applications leading to reduced lines at the department of motor vehicles

Question 27

Which of the following is not a constraint agency?

A) police department
B) fire department
C)department of motor vehicles
D)Internal Revenue Service

Question 28

Ombudsmen originated in

A) Sweden
B) the United States
C)England
D)Denmark

Question 29

According to the chapter, coproduction

A) in some ways is the opposite of client-centered public administration
B) may enable a citizen to learn more about how a public administrative function is organized and operated
C)involves the joint provision of public services by public agencies and service customers
D)all of the above

Question 30

In the absence of a market, the NPM seeks to ascertain customer preferences through

A) voting
B) surveys
C)performance appraisals
D)statistical inference

Question 31

Litigation and street-level encounters are largely informed by the values of the legalistic approach.

Question 32

According to Ralph Hummel, bureaucratic action is generally termed "irrational."

Question 33

The percentage of eligible citizens who vote in the United States has decreased dramatically over the past few decades.

Question 34

The public has a tendency to have more frequent contact with service agencies versus constraint agencies.

Question 35

In the past 50 years, judicial decisions and legislation have made it easier to have the "standing" necessary to litigate a claim against an administrative agency.

Question 36

Individual citizens tend to become dependent on public administrative action in the modern administrative state.

Question 37

According to Milton Friedman, administrative largess is a form of "new property" that should be protected by procedural due process.

Question 38

E-government eliminates all needs for individual clients to meet face to face with a public administrator.

Question 39

Treating individuals impersonally as cases increases the effectiveness of therapeutic services.

Question 40

The traditional managerial approach puts less reliance on outsourcing than does the NPM.

Question 41

Upper-class populations have particularly great difficulty in dealing with public bureaucracies.

Question 42

Most of the public agrees that the government wastes a lot of money.

Question 43

The traditional managerial approach to public administration encourages governments to steer, not row.

Question 44

The NPM does not support human services integration.

Question 45

The political system in the United States has established a structure in which public policy is always made by simple majority preferences.