Deck 5: Public Personnel Administration and Collective Bargaining

Question 1

Does the political agenda of the nineteenth century civil service reformers continue to affect public personnel administration today? If so, how?

Answer 1

Not Answered

Question 2

There is a tendency for organizations to get what they measure with regard to performance appraisal instruments. What effects (positive and negative) may this have on performance? What could be done to overcome these problems? Give specific examples.

Answer 2

Not Answered

Question 3

Occupational segregation or discrimination is opposed by the spirit and/or letter of contemporary equal opportunity law. What are the advantages and disadvantages of establishing "comparable worth" to deal with such segregation or discrimination?

Answer 3

Not Answered

Question 4

Do you favor collective bargaining in the public sector? If so, what should the scope of bargaining be, and should public employees have a right to strike? If not, why? What other means of providing public employees with a voice in determining working conditions might be used?

Question 5

Affirmative action has recently been handed a series of defeats from our nation's courts and has forced many public administrators to rethink their equal employment opportunity policies. What other policies, besides affirmative action, can the government use to ensure that its workforce is socially representative of the nation as a whole? What type of problems can you foresee with these policies, especially with respect to equity? Do you think your policies will endure strict judicial scrutiny?

Question 6

A major advantage of public personnel according to "Gentlemen" was that it made the federal service

A) broadly representative of the society
B) technically competent
C)politically homogeneous
D)high in prestige

Question 7

A major achievement of the Pendleton Act in 1883 was

A) the creation of the Merit Systems Protection Board
B) prohibiting federal employees from engaging in political campaigns
C)placing most federal employees under a merit system
D)none of the above

Question 8

Which of the following is not a historical phase of public personnel administration?

A) the era of the "gentlemen"
B) the spoils system
C)the merit system
D)all of the above are historical phases of public personnel administration

Question 9

The civil service reformers of the 1870s and 1880s sought

A) efficiency in the public service
B) political change
C)to change the character of elections
D)all of the above

Question 10

As a result of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) was

A) divided into 3 separate agencies: MSPB, EEOC, and OPM
B) divided into 2 separate agencies: GS and SES
C)elevated to a cabinet position
D)left intact

Question 11

SES noncareer appointments are most consistent with which approach to public personnel administration?

A) the managerial approach
B) the political approach
C)the legal approach
D)it is consistent with all approaches

Question 12

Which of the following is not a feature of the Civil Service Reform Act (1978)?

A) the Senior Executive Service
B) merit pay
C)collective bargaining
D)a constitutional right to "whistleblow"

Question 13

Drug testing of public employees raises constitutional questions under the Fourteenth Amendment and/or

A) the Second Amendment
B) the Third Amendment
C)the Fourth Amendment
D)the Seventh Amendment

Question 14

In public personnel management "critical incidents" generally refer to

A) employee's unauthorized speech
B) labor relations impasses
C)prohibited discrimination
D)performance appraisal

Question 15

Which of the following is not a type of Senior Executive Service appointment?

A) career
B) political (that is, noncareer)
C)limited term
D)all are types

Question 16

Which agency is specifically authorized to protect whistleblowers?

A) Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)
B) Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)
C)Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
D)Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Question 17

The doctrine of privilege held that

A) public employment is a public trust
B) public employees are not entitled to constitutional privileges
C)public employment is not a right
D)public employees have no legal rights

Question 18

The "rule of three" refers to

A) the three-member Civil Service Commission
B) control of federal personnel by the Office of Personnel Management, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority
C)control of federal personnel by the President, Congress, and the courts
D)none of the above

Question 19

Who coined the social diversity phrase "make government look like America"?

A) Ronald Reagan
B) Dick Cheney
C)Jimmy Carter
D)Bill Clinton

Question 20

Which of the following was not a feature of the spoils system?

A) rotation in office
B) political activity
C)superannuation
D)representativeness

Question 21

One of the political aspects of the spoils system was

A) control of the presidency by Congress
B) partisan competition
C)presidential domination of the judiciary
D)all of the above

Question 22

Criterion-related validation includes

A) construct validation
B) content validation
C)predictive validation
D)face validation

Question 23

In collective bargaining, an impasse results when

A) the parties cannot agree on a permissible item
B) the parties cannot agree on any item
C)the parties cannot agree on a mandatory item
D)the bargaining unit cannot be organized

Question 24

A union shop requires

A) that all applicants for a job be members of the union
B) that all employees join the union at some time
C)that all employees pay dues to the union, regardless of membership
D)none of the above

Question 25

A problem with position classification has been

A) grade creep
B) keeping up with new technologies
C)rigidity
D)all of the above

Question 26

Locality pay is used to

A) reward companies for using local workers
B) compensate workers for differentials in the cost of living in certain areas
C)compensate workers for their relocation expenses
D)reward workers for above-average performance

Question 27

Racial quotas for promotion of minority group members are

A) always constitutional
B) sometimes constitutional
C)always unconstitutional
D)never used

Question 28

Most public administrators have

A) no constitutional rights
B) no official immunity
C)absolute official immunity
D)qualified official immunity

Question 29

According to the "Memorandum on Religious Exercise and Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace" (1997),

A) agencies must ignore employees' religious practices
B) agencies must publicize employees' religious practices
C)agencies must reasonably accommodate employees' religious practices
D)none of the above

Question 30

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires

A) preference in hiring be given to those with disabilities
B) preference in promotion be given to those with disabilities
C)job restructuring as a reasonable accommodation
D)all of the above

Question 31

Broad banding is a term related to position classification.

Question 32

The Hatch Acts of 1939 and 1940 deal with the political neutrality of civil servants.

Question 33

Position classification promotes administrative impersonality.

Question 34

Affirmative action is limited to members of minority groups.

Question 35

An eligibles register is a list of individuals who have passed a civil service examination within a given period of time.

Question 36

The Federal Labor Relations Authority can arbitrate the wages of most federal employees.

Question 37

Concurrent validation examines applicants new to the field of civil service.

Question 38

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 includes a concept of "underrepresentation" of EEO target groups.

Question 39

Comparable worth concerns pay rates for the same occupations by the same employer.

Question 40

Collective bargaining units are often based on occupation.

Question 41

The Tenure of Office Act of 1820 limited the appointment of federal employees to terms of 10 years.

Question 42

Mediation or fact-finding generally follows grievance arbitration.

Question 43

President Clinton's executive orders concerning labor-management partnerships were rescinded by President Bush.

Question 44

The Supreme Court recognizes the legality of union shops.