Chapter 15 The Federal Bureaucracy
Once hired into the federal bureaucracy, a person is assigned a ________ rating, which determines oneʹs salary range.
General Schedule
Which of the following statements about bureaucracies is FALSE?
Government bureaucracies have been shown to be less efficient and effective than private bureaucracies.
Federal employees are prohibited from active participation in partisan politics through the
Hatch Act.
The Cabinet department that has the largest budget is the Department of
Health and Human Services.
Which Cabinet department is charged with overseeing the nationʹs national resources?
Interior
The classic conception of a bureaucracy was advanced by ________, who argued that the bureaucracy was a ʺrationalʺ way for a modern society to conduct its business.
Max Weber
The ________ Act was passed partly as a memorial to the memory of President James Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881.
Pendleton Civil Service
Which of the following statements about plum book appointees is FALSE?
Plum book appointees are often instrumental in changing and reforming their agencies.
Which of the following statements about independent regulatory commissions is FALSE?
Regulatory commission members may not be drawn from the ranks of present or former employees of the regulated industry.
Which of these is the newest government agency?
Social Security Administration
The largest federal agency based on dollars spent is the
Social Security Administration.
________ is a hiring and promotion system based on knowing the right people, working in an election campaign, making large political donations, and/or having the right connections to win jobs with the government.
The patronage system
Which of the following is TRUE about the federal bureaucracy?
The state and local governments have far more employees than the federal bureaucracy.
Which of the following is NOT true about presidential appointees to bureaucracies?
They must be recommended by the Office of Personnel Managementʹs ʺrule of three.ʺ
Which of the following statements about government regulation in America is accurate?
Until 1887, the federal government made almost no regulatory policies and had no regulatory agencies.
The Pendleton Act established the
federal civil service.
Amtrak and the United States Postal Service are examples of
government corporations.
An ʺiron triangleʺ consists of
a bureaucratic agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee or subcommittee.
Bureaus in the federal bureaucracy are also known as all of the following EXCEPT
a department.
An independent regulatory agency is governed by
a small commission, usually with five to ten members, appointed by the president for fixed terms.
An ʺiron triangleʺ is also referred to as
a subgovernment.
The Weberian model depicts a bureaucracy as
a well-organized machine with plenty of working but hierarchical parts.
The authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem is called
administrative discretion.
When Congress passes regulatory legislation for which it has established goals, it then
grants power to regulatory agencies to develop guidelines and enforce compliance.
Most regulatory agencies adopt specific ________ to carry out a policy, based on what they believe was the intended purpose of the specific policy at hand.
guidelines
According to Hugh Heclo, the plum book system of recruiting federal employees tends to result in the appointment of
administrators who do not stay long enough in their appointed position to be effective.
Which of the following would not be considered a street-level bureaucrat?
an assistant secretary in the Department of Transportation
In addition to a hierarchical authority structure, Max Weber argued that a bureaucracy involves all of the following EXCEPT
an incentive system
Whatever strategy Congress permits a regulatory agency to use, all regulation contains the following elements EXCEPT
an incentive system to maximize performance by those regulated.
Administrative personnel who exercise discretion, pay attention to routine, and deal directly with clients,
are called street-level bureaucrats.
Proposals to reorganize the government in order to solve the problem of bureaucratic fragmentation
are often opposed by agencies not wanting to be submerged within a broader bureaucratic unit.
Studies have found that most Americans
are satisfied with the help received from bureaucrats.
Most of the government is composed of
bureaucrats.
Which of the following would NOT be considered part of the Weberian model of bureaucracy?
decentralized authority structure
As a percentage of the total work force, federal government employment is
declining.
One proposed solution to the ʺproblemʺ of the proliferation of regulatory agencies and policies has been
deregulation.
The rationale for the civil service rests on the
desire to create a nonpartisan government service and promotion on the basis of merit.
andard operating procedures become frustrating to citizens and obstacles to action when they
do not directly apply to a particular situation.
Until 1887, the federal government
had almost no regulatory policies.
The Weberian theory of bureaucracies views them in the most positive light as
hierarchical.
The main job of federal bureaucrats is to
implement and regulate government policies.
Creating new agencies, developing guidelines, and coordinating resources to achieve a policy goal is called
implementation.
The real work of a Cabinet department is done
in the bureaus.
The General Services Administration and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration are examples of
independent executive agencies.
The Weberian model views bureaucracies as
efficient and necessary.
The Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Reserve Board are examples of
independent regulatory agencies.
The parts of the federal bureaucracy with responsibility for different sectors of the economy, and making and enforcing rules designed to protect the public interest, are the
independent regulatory agencies.
ʺIron trianglesʺ face challenges from a growing number of
issue networks.
Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through each of the following EXCEPT
issuing congressional orders.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was successful for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
it was universally supported.
Once a policy decision has been made, such as by passing a legislative act or issuing an executive order, the bureaucracy is responsible for
its implementation.
Patronage is a hiring and promotion system based on
knowing the right people.
Vigorous disputes over the implementation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in regard to funding for womenʹs athletic programs arose primarily due to
lack of clarity in the original policy decision.
Which of the following is NOT a reason that policy implementation sometimes breaks down in the federal bureaucracy?
lack of standard operating procedures
Each of the following is a criticism of regulation EXCEPT that it
lowers prices.
The diffusion of responsibility within the bureaucracy
makes the coordination of policies both time-consuming and difficult.
As a whole, the permanent bureaucracy is
more broadly representative of the American people than legislators, judges, or presidential appointees
) As a whole, the permanent federal bureaucracy is
more broadly representative of the American people than the rest of the federal government.
Independent regulatory agencies have
powerful rule-making, dispute-settling, and enforcement authority.
All regulations contain each of the following elements EXCEPT
presidential oversight and control of enforcement
The Hatch Act, passed in 1940,
prohibits federal civil service employees from active participation in partisan politics.
Government corporations
provide services and charge for them.
Standard operating procedures accomplish all of the following EXCEPT
reduce red tape.
The use of government authority to control or change some practice in the private sector is known as
regulation.
Which of the following is NOT a method a president can use to control the bureaucracy?
rewrite statutes to make instructions clearer as to how policies are intended
Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through
rewriting laws and budgets and holding hearings.
Administrative discretion is greatest when
rules do not fit a case.
Standard operating procedures
save time and bring uniformity to complex organizations.
When bureaucrats are asked to execute orders with which they do not agree
slippage is likely to occur between policy decisions and performance.
Those civil service employees who are in constant contact with the public (often a hostile one) and have considerable discretion are known as
street-level bureaucrats.
The federal civil service was created by
the Pendleton Act.
The rationale for all civil service systems is based on
the merit principle.
Until the late-nineteenth century, most government employees got their jobs through
the patronage system.
The Federal Aviation Administrationʹs protocol for for hijackings assumed that
the pilot would be able to radio air traffic controllers and alert them to the problem. the FAA would be able to pinpoint the aircraft involved. there would be enough time for the government to formulate a response. the hijackers would be motivated in part by a desire to stay alive.
Executive orders are issued by
the president.
Deregulation has resulted, at least in part, in each of the following EXCEPT
the proliferation of government agencies.
To limit bureaucratic discretion and make its instructions clearer, Congress can
write new and more detailed legislation.
A major problem for presidents and Congress in controlling bureaucracies is the existence of
ʺiron triangles.ʺ
A(n) ________ consists of an administrative agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee or subcommittee.
ʺiron triangleʺ
Which of the following is a legitimate criticism of the federal civil service?
Firing incompetents is extremely difficult.
Which of the following statements about the size of bureaucracies is FALSE?
As a percentage of Americaʹs total work force, federal government employment has been growing
There are roughly ________ civilian and military federal government employees
4,000,000
________ is the authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem.
Administrative discretion
Which of the following statements is FALSE?
Bureaucrats are often fired for using too much administrative discretion.
Which of the following would be included in a plum book?
Cabinet secretaries
Each bureaucratic agency is created initially by
Congress
Which of the following statements about Congress and the bureaucracy is FALSE?
Congress has found it easy to control the bureaucracy.
The ________ employs about one-fourth of all federal civilian workers, more than any other department or agency.
Department of Defense
Which of the following statements about the hiring and firing of civil servants is FALSE?
Due to the merit system, it is easy to fire incompetent civil servants.
Which of the following is NOT an accusation made against the regulatory system?
Excessive regulation contributed to the savings and loan industry disaster of the 1980s.
Which of the following statements about bureaucracies is FALSE?
Each bureaucratic agency is created by the president.
Which of the following is NOT true about standard operating procedures?
Each federal department and agency has a plum book which lists its standard operating procedures.
A major complaint of the Food and Drug Administration is
the shortage of personnel.
As the oversight powers of Congress in regard to the bureaucracy have become more vigorous,
they have also become more fragmented.
The plum book lists
top federal jobs available by Presidential appointment.
An obstacle to the successful implementation of public policy is
unclear policy goals and poorly designed policies.
In the case of Munn v. Illinois, decided in 1877, the United States Supreme Court
upheld the right of government to regulate the business operations of a firm.
The Supreme Court case of Munn v. Illinois (1877)
upheld the right of government to regulate the business operations of a firm.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
was successfully implemented thanks to its clear goal, its clear methods to achieve the goal, and its lack of bureaucratic fragmentation.
Section 844 of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
was vaguely written, eventually resulting in scores of court cases
