Chapter 9 Questions
Which of the following accurately describes the demographic representativeness of the U.S. federal bureaucracy?
- At the top levels, white males still dominate the federal bureaucracy. - The bureaucracy as a whole comes close to being representative of the U.S. population. - Women are better represented among the top ranks of administrators than they are in Congress or the judiciary.
What are some reasons bureaucrats are accountable to Congress?
- Congress funds bureaucracies. - Congress creates bureaucracies.
How are government corporations similar to private corporations?
- They are governed by boards of directors. - They charge for their services.
As part of the policy formulation process, bureaucrats can bring ideas for potential policies to the ______.
- White House - Congress
Which of the following are tools available to the president to help hold the bureaucracy accountable and to make them more responsive to the will of the president?
- executive orders that force agencies to act - initiatives such as the National Performance Review - reform panels, such as the Volcker commission
The administrative law system is designed to be ______ than the regular federal court system.
- faster - less exspensive - less formal
Bureaucratic agencies can benefit from ______
- focusing on policies a president wants to address - addressing the concerns of voters important to members of Congress
What is the largest independent agency?
The U.S Postal Service
Scholar William West has described the Office of Management and Budget's rule-making oversight as ______.
reactive
Why are bureaucrats brought into the policy formulation process?
- They are often consulted because of their expertise in dealing with societal problems. - They will have to decide how to fill in the program details of a bill that contains vague or ambiguous language.
Which of the following accurately describe the Senior Executive Service?
- They cannot be fired. - Its members are paid more than their peers. - The president can assign them to any position in the bureaucracy.
What are some ways bureaucrats have expertise in their areas?
- They have spent years working with particular policies. - They have scientific, technical, or other types of training.
Which of the following are ways in which accountability is encouraged within bureaucracies?
- administrative law judges - Senior Executive Service - whistleblower protections
Federal departments are each responsible for one ______.
broad policy area
Which committees in Congress are responsible for reviewing the president's budget and for recommending overall spending and revenue levels?
budget committees
Regulatory agencies were originally created to regulate ______ activities
economic
The final authority of approving budgets for federal agencies rests with the ______
members of Congress
Top-paying bureaucratic jobs are most likely to be held by ______.
white men
If Congress is displeased with a bureaucracy's performance or behavior, what are some actions it can take? (Choose every correct answer.)
- cut its budget - modify its authority
What are some of the reasons the federal bureaucracy has grown so much since the United States was founded?
- increased demands on government due to economic growth - the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt - Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiatives
Which of the following are actions the president can perform to exercise oversight of the bureaucratic agencies?
- reorganize them - pick leaders for them
The merit system of hiring civil servants was instituted because of the need for a ______
- skilled workforce - workforce that could serve everyone, not just a particular political party
Which of the following are examples of regulatory agencies?
- the Environment Protection Agency - the Securities and Exchange Commission
The clientele groups for the Department of Education include ______.
- the National Education Association - public school teachers - public school students and their parents
Congress passed the Whistleblower Protection Act for which of the following reasons?
- to protect employees from retaliation if they report their supervisors' misdeeds - to provide whistleblowers with financial reward for reporting misdeeds
Bureaucratic agencies are at odds with democratic principles because the agencies have ______.
- workers with permanent positions - a fixed hierarchy
The federal bureaucracy experienced its greatest expansion during the ______
1930s under president Franklin Roosevelt
From beginning to end, how long does the budgetary process last?
A year and a half
Which president began the spoils system? (Merits & Spoils)
Andrew Jackson
Which of the following statements about an administrative agency's implementation of policy is correct?
Bureaucrats can only spend money appropriated by Congress.
What is the earliest step in the resource allocation process?
Bureaucrats develop annual budget requests for their agencies.
Why is the public policy process inherently democratic? (Public Policy Cycle)
Citizens provide input during each stage.
For its estimates on government spending and revenues, Congress relies mainly on what organization?
Congressional Budget Office
What is the legislative branch equivalent of the executive branch's Office of Management and Budget?
Congressional Budget Office
Which of the following was NOT associated with the Pendleton Act? (Merits & Spoils)
Demotion based on party affiliation
The case of the anonymous whistleblower who alerted Congress about President Trump's call with the president of Ukraine illustrates what aspect of whistleblowing?
Even with protections in place, whistleblowers put themselves at risk
Which statement about federal employees is probably true?
Higher-level employees, who are underpaid in comparison to their counterparts in the private sector, are attracted in part by the excellent benefits they receive.
What is the first step in the public policy cycle? (Public Policy Cycle)
Identify problem
Overall, how would you compare the awarding of federal jobs in 1850 and in 1950? (Merits & Spoils)
In 1850 jobs were awarded based on patronage, while in 1950 they were given based on merit
Which of the following is NOT one of the factors typically considered in policy analysis? (Public Policy Cycle)
Inefficiency
What is the impact of a decrease in the deposit ratio? (Federal Reserve)
It allows banks to lend more money.
What is one likely effect of the Hatch Act, which limits civil servants' rights to engage in political activity?
It reinforces the objective of neutral competence.
Which branch of government is granted constitutional authority over government spending?
Legislative - "Congress has constitutional authority over government spending."
What percent of federal bureaucrats is currently appointed by the president? (Merits & Spoils)
Less than one
Bill Clinton campaigned on the issue of "reinventing government" and, once elected, put that promise into action through the ______.
National Performance Review
Which of these duties is not the responsibility of the federal bureaucracy?
Running the public schools. Responsibilities DO include: - Defending the nation - Delivering the mail - Promoting health for general population
What group leads the Federal Reserve? (Federal Reserve)
Seven governors nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate
What event prompted civil service reform? (Merits & Spoils)
The assassination of James Garfield
Which of the following is NOT one of the Federal Reserve's primary responsibilities? (Federal Reserve)
To pass the federal budget
The Federal Reserve System was established under which president? (Federal Reserve)
Woodrow Wilson
Which of the followings statements reflects the agency point of view in federal bureaucracies?
Workers at one agency hold that the needs of their agency come before the needs of other agencies.
According to a study, the Office of Management and Budget tends to examine regulations when ______.
a firm or group complains about a proposed rule
When people at different levels of an organization have authority over people in lower levels of the organization, it creates ______
a hierarchical authority
In their oversight role with regard to the bureaucracy, the courts tend to support ______
administrators
The degree to which bureaucrats must answer for the power that they exercise is called ______
bureaucratic accountability
The degree to which bureaucrats must answer for the power that they exercise is called ______.
bureaucratic accountability
Since Congress authorizes bureaucratic agencies, the agencies ______.
can be sued in court if a party does not feel that the agency carried out the law properly
During the policy implementation stage, bureaucrats must ______.
carry out the decisions made by Congress, the president, and the courts
After 9/11 President Bush sought to streamline the intelligence bureaucracy and thus make it more efficient by
consolidating all of the intelligence services under a single director
The role of presidential appointees to a federal bureaucracy is to provide ______.
day-to-day oversight of the bureaucracy
Which step in the public policy cycle usually coincides with the federal budget process? (Public Policy Cycle)
evaluation
Because elected officials—who must deal with many issues—are generalists, they rely on bureaucrats for ______.
expertise and policy advice
A whistleblower in the federal bureaucracy is a person who ______.
exposes governmental problems such as waste, corruption, and fraud
True or false: Farm-state senators and representatives are no more likely to support funding and programs for the Department of Agriculture than they are to support other agencies.
false
Government agencies such as Amtrak that sell a product or service are called ______.
government corporations
Chain of command is another term for ______
hierarchical authority
During the budgetary process, federal agencies follow guidelines that ______.
include limits on the amount of money they can request
How long does the public policy process last? (Public Policy Cycle)
it never ends
The merit-based civil service system requires that workers be skilled in the jobs and willing to serve people of all political parties. These requirements are part of a concept known as ______
neutral competence
As compared to regular federal judges, administrative law judges
operate less formally.
Presidential appointees to which type of federal agency will likely have the most influence?
regulatory agencies
Except for the Department of Justice, which is headed by the attorney general, each federal agency has a leader known as a ______
secretary
An agency that is trying to retain or increase its funding would be well advised to ______
seek support where it can be found, regardless of politics
Congress will use a sunset clause in legislation in order to ______.
set an expiration date for the authorized program unless it is reauthorized
When attempting to control bureaucracy through reorganization, presidents have generally found what to be most effective?
shifting activities out of agencies and into the Executive Office of the President
What functions, to a degree, as the president's personal bureaucracy?
the Executive Office of the President
Which of the following is not a source of bureaucratic power in promoting an agency's interests?
the support of the general public for the bureaucracy - Sources of bureaucratic power rely on specialized knowledge of its bureaucrats & support of its clientele groups/the president & Congress.
Members of the Senior Executive Service are, in practice, usually assigned to agencies that match their expertise because ______
their experience in specific policy areas is what makes them valuable
True or false: Full-time employees working in the U.S. federal bureaucracy number in the millions
true
True or false: Some federal agencies function as independent agencies, rather than as part of a cabinet-level department, because putting the agencies in a department would pose symbolic or practical problems.
true - for example, NASA exists for civilian as well as military purposes, so it is not part of the Department of Defense
