Deck 8: Policy Analysis and Implementation Evaluation

Question 1

Develop a research design for an impact analysis of mandatory seat belt laws. Make sure to develop a strategy for dealing with (1) the possibility that the publicity surrounding the law, rather than the statute itself, affects individuals' behavior, and (2) the extent to which the laws change drivers' behavior by making them generally more safety conscious.

Answer 1

Not Answered

Question 2

Identify areas of public policy in which experimental research designs involving control groups would be technically, politically, and legally plausible.

Answer 2

Not Answered

Question 3

The chapter asks, "Why not just leave it up to the individual whether he or she wants to use seat belts?" Whatever your personal opinion on the matter, what is the best

Answer 3

Not Answered

Question 4

The NPM favors deregulating public employees' functions and trusting them to exercise discretion responsibly. Do you think employee empowerment in this sense will breed incompetence or corruption, or will it inevitably lead to better administration?

Question 5

Describe the differing viewpoints regarding estoppel from the traditional managerial and NPM perspectives. Do you think the government should be liable if a public administrator gives faulty advice to customers?

Question 6

Which of the following was least related to the growth of contemporary interest in policy analysis?

A) the Great Society program
B) Woodrow Wilson's call for a scientific study of public administration
C)the development of new research techniques
D)sunset legislation

Question 7

Shapiro v. Thompson held that residency requirements for welfare benefits interfered with

A) equal protection
B)the right to travel
C) both (A) and (B)
D) neither (A) nor (B)

Question 8

A reduction in the number of fatal traffic accidents after a mandatory seat belt law has been implemented is an indicator of

A) policy impact
B) policy process
C)policy evaluation
D)policy output

Question 9

Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha dealt with

A) the separation of powers
B) administrative discretion
C)equal protection
D)all of the above

Question 10

Pure experimental designs are preferable to quasiexperimental and nonexperimental designs because of

A) randomization from a population
B)the use of treatment and control groups
C) both (A) and (B)
D) neither (A) nor (B)

Question 11

Generally, we would expect the following pattern when administering a new program:

A) marginal costs would decline and then rise
B) marginal costs would keep declining indefinitely
C)marginal costs would rise and then decline
D)marginal costs would keep rising indefinitely

Question 12

Process measures would include

A) funds authorized
B) levels of organization involved in evaluation
C)the number of decision points in an organization
D)the number of cases processed

Question 13

Barriers to utilizing policy analysis include

A) evaluation results are often hard to interpret
B) evaluation may be difficult for organizations to digest
C)evaluation often fails to find a policy impact
D)all of the above

Question 14

The main problem with the "bad blood" experiment described in the chapter was that

A) it was expensive
B) it was clearly illegal when it began
C)according to present national standards, it was immoral
D)the research design was quasiexperimental

Question 15

Deborah Stone reminds us that

A) cost-benefit analysis is a completely valid and rational tool in policy analysis
B) "reasoned analysis is necessarily cost-benefit analysis"
C)"reasoned analysis is necessarily political"
D)agencies should establish benchmarks using business practices and customer surveys to establish standards

Question 16

According to the chapter, the traditional managerial approach is likely to judge policies as desirable when

A) their goals are highly general
B) their goals require street-level administration
C)their goals are "operational"
D)none of the above

Question 17

Which of the following is not generally considered a means of promoting administrative accountability?

A) the merit system
B) legislative oversight
C)sunset provisions
D)all of the above promote accountability

Question 18

"The Seven Deadly Sins of Policy Analysis" were identified by

A) Arnold Meltzner
B) Peter Drucker
C)Aaron Wildavsky
D)none of the above

Question 19

An example of using a social attribute as a "proxy" for a type of behavior would be

A) using race to determine eligibility for a benefit
B) using residency requirements to reduce fraud
C)using age as an indicator of ability
D)all of the above

Question 20

According to the chapter, the TIPS program

A) used focus groups to develop the Sacagewea Dollar
B) is an example of tunnel vision that can result from administrative specialization
C)was supported by Congressman Richard Armey
D)improved public service motivation

Question 21

A policy output is best thought of as

A) policy formulation
B) policy implementation
C)setting the policy agenda
D)a policy pronouncement

Question 22

In NPM language, "steering" rather than "rowing" implies that

A) the government should arrange for the provision of public services rather than provide them itself
B) the government should use cost-benefit analysis when feasible
C)the government should consolidate its authority
D)the legislature should make more specific delegations of authority to clarify objectives

Question 23

Spillover effects include

A) payments to policy evaluators
B) impacts on nontarget groups
C)overhead costs
D)the confounding of experiments by unintended changes in the target population

Question 24

Franchising provides

A) government control over private firms
B) firms with the monopoly right to provide services for the government
C)greater citizen control of government
D)government subcontractors with policy analysis capabilities

Question 25

Street-level public administrators may

A) have a high degree of "public service motivation"
B) engage in "triage" when they lack resources
C)engage in "creaming" of the easiest cases
D)all of the above

Question 26

Congress pressured President George W. Bush to convert the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) from an advisory unit in the White House Office into an executive agency (Department of Homeland Security) to be able to

A) increase administrative efficiency
B)quell concerns about estoppel
C) exert its legislative oversight powers
D) both (A) and (C)

Question 27

Implementation studies have identified the following as important in executing policy:

A) the number of decision points
B) funding levels
C)the clarity of policy goals
D)all of the above

Question 28

Among the "seven deadly sins of policy analysis" is

A) spending too much money
B) using aggregate data analysis
C)engaging in case studies
D)none of the above

Question 29

Policy analysis often neglects

A) qualitative factors
B) statistical controls
C)process analysis
D)budgetary implications

Question 30

When applying the cost-effectiveness approach,

A) the distribution of costs and benefits must be taken into account
B) public administrators must make decisions based on qualitative factors
C)units must be sufficiently different to represent all potential cases of a problem
D)cases or units for treatment must be identical

Question 31

According to the chapter, the greater the number of decision points in a program, the better the chance of it being implemented as formulated.

Question 32

The NPM focuses on how government should work, not what it should do.

Question 33

Opportunities for the use of experimental design in assessing policy impacts in the public sector are limited by political, moral, and legal concerns.

Question 34

If a policy has no discernible impact, there cannot be any reason for continuing it.

Question 35

Process analysis is easiest when the impact analysis is inconclusive.

Question 36

Presentment clauses require Congress to present legislative actions to the President for approval or veto.

Question 37

Systematic policy analysis became a standard public administrative function in the 1940s.

Question 38

Equal protection requires that the government distribute its resources equally among all social groups.

Question 39

Sunshine regulations promote accountability.

Question 40

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is an example of a grass roots movement concerned with policy change.

Question 41

The Freedom of Information Act is an example of a sunset law.

Question 42

Pre-program/post-program comparisons can be improved by comparing the rate of change.

Question 43

Policy evaluation is facilitated by cost-effective analysis.

Question 44

The creation of policy outputs by administrative agencies is acceptable to the NPR.

Question 45

Quasi-experimental design employs statistical controls.