Deck 8: Bureaucracy

Question 1

Which article of the U.S. Constitution explicitly acknowledged that government agencies, called "departments," would be established to carry out laws and programs?

A) Article I
B) Article II
C) Article III
D) Article IV

Answer 1

Article I

Question 2

What is one way that the president exercises control over agencies and departments in the federal bureaucracy?

A) by conducting oversight hearings
B) by appointing people to top positions in the bureaucracy
C) by signing executive agreements
D) by creating or abolishing agencies

Answer 2

by appointing people to top positions in the bureaucracy

Question 3

What four types of organizational entities make up the federal bureaucracy?

A) federal departments, state departments, independent agencies, and independent regulatory commissions
B) departments, cabinets, independent agencies, and independent regulatory commissions
C) departments, independent agencies, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations
D) federal departments, state departments, agencies, and government corporations

Answer 3

departments, independent agencies, independent regulatory commissions, and government corporations

Question 4

What kinds of changes in the federal bureaucracy followed the Great Depression?

A) The size and scope of the federal bureaucracy increased tremendously.
B) Social Security and programs for creating jobs and regulating economic activity reduced the size of the bureaucracy.
C) The New Deal meant economic activity was removed from the federal government arena and returned to the general public.
D) The Great Depression resulted in almost no change in the activity of the federal bureaucracy.

Question 5

Over time, the EPA's stance on air pollution regulation has shifted most as a result of what events or circumstances?

A) changes in presidential administrations
B) economic downturns
C) the outcomes of court cases
D) advances in state-level air pollution policies

Question 6

Leaders of __________ are under the control of the president.

A) Cabinet departments
B) independent agencies
C) government corporations
D) independent regulatory commissions

Question 7

One function of __________ is to provide public services that the private sector is unwilling or unable to do.

A) the bureaucracy
B) independent agencies
C) government corporations
D) issue networks

Question 8

Under __________, jobs in the federal bureaucracy are awarded on the basis of skills and expertise.

A) issue networks
B) the civil service system
C) government corporations
D) independent regulatory commissions

Question 9

The federal government giving state agencies funding to enforce national air pollution laws is an example of __________.

A) issue networks
B) privatization
C) government corporations
D) decentralization

Question 10

The purpose of the __________ was to prohibit federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities.

A) Civil Service Reform Act
B) Whistleblower Act
C) Pendleton Act
D) Hatch Act

Question 11

Why is it sometimes difficult for top officials to motivate government employees to take action and make changes?

A) It is easy for employees to be fired under the merit system.
B) Decisions are made at the operating level and are not communicated upward.
C) Bureaucracies tend to change slowly and in an incremental fashion.
D) Adequate resources, experience, and structural support lead to lower employee morale.

Question 12

Max Weber identified which of the following as a characteristic of bureaucracy?

A) adaptable personnel
B) flexible job responsibilities
C) decision making by situation
D) central authority

Question 13

Which of the following best describes the proposed reform of decentralization?

A) More privatization would be used to save the federal government money.
B) States or regional and local offices, which are more closely connected to local issues and client populations, would be given greater independence and authority.
C) Large agencies would be broken down into many smaller agencies, because organizations with fewer people tend to operate more efficiently.
D) Decentralizing the bureaucracy would provide a check on congressional and judicial power because more of the government's responsibilities would fall into the private sector.

Question 14

What do decentralization and privatization have in common?

A) Both are typically viewed unfavorably by department and agency heads.
B) Both have decreased since the 1980s.
C) Both are efforts to improve the efficiency of public service delivery.
D) Both are efforts to improve government accountability.

Question 15

Which of the following is a drawback of privatization?

A) The bidding process is too competitive.
B) Privatization may decrease government accountability.
C) Privatized services often cost less to deliver.
D) Privatized service delivery is often too slow.

Question 16

How did the Hatch Act reinforce reforms initiated under the Pendleton Act?

A) The spoils system was modified to the party in power in the legislature rather than in the executive branch.
B) It established the Secret Service to protect the president from assassins after Garfield was shot.
C) It further restricted political influence on the bureaucracy by preventing federal employees from engaging in political activities.
D) Federal employees were hired on the basis of party loyalty rather than a merit system after the reforms.

Question 17

What is decentralization?

A) the tendency of members of Congress to leave elected office in order to take jobs in the federal bureaucracy
B) a trend in which the president spends more time outside the oval office
C) the tendency of members of Congress to defer to agency leadership in their oversight of federal bureaucracy
D) a reform for government agencies in which regional and local offices are allowed to manage their own performance without close supervision from headquarters

Question 18

What are the three sides of the iron triangle?

A) employees in government agencies, interest groups, and legislators and their staff
B) the president, legislators and their staff, and interest groups
C) employees in government agencies, interest groups, and public opinion groups
D) the president, legislators and their staff, and public opinion groups

Question 19

How might congressional reliance on officials in the bureaucracy for information related to policy decisions create problems?

A) Because of the red tape, it may be difficult for Congress to get the information by the time it is needed.
B) Information provided by bureaucratic officials may be too simplistic to be of use to legislators.
C) Presidential appointees may pressure subordinates to withhold or distort information in order to advance the president's policy agenda.
D) Officials who are not experts in the field in which a policy decision is being made may unknowingly provide inaccurate or misleading information.

Question 20

What commonality is shared by members of an issue network or policy community?

A) All members share similar views about the role of government.
B) All members have served in elected office.
C) All members have served as lobbyists.
D) All members have interests in the same policy area.

Question 21

Which of the following statements best describes why the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 does not always provide the desired protection?

A) The government purposely made the act weak as an attempt to protect itself from being wrongfully accused by employees.
B) It can be difficult for an employee to prove that the assertions made against a government agency are true.
C) It can be difficult for an individual to refute a superior's claim that punishment given is for poor performance rather than for providing information.
D) The nondisclosure agreement that employees sign when they become employed by the government automatically puts an employee who reveals information in the wrong.

Question 22

The main concern about issue networks arises because of which of the following factors?

A) None of the members of an issue network is a government employee, so these networks are an example of interest groups holding too much sway in public policy.
B) Issue networks consist of only government employees, so they are lacking the perspective of the business and education worlds that could contribute to better policy decisions.
C) Issue networks are composed of large groups of campaign contributors, which means they have too much power over legislators, especially during election years.
D) Individuals are continually moving through the "revolving door" of employment, thus raising the possibility of impropriety and corruption.

Question 23

__________ often hold(s) oversight hearings to investigate the policies and performance of agencies and departments in the federal bureaucracy.

A) The president
B) Congress
C) The Cabinet secretaries
D) Federal courts