Gov Chapter 15

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.

Which Cabinet department is charged with overseeing the nation's 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 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

Which of these is the newest government agency?

Social Security Administration

The largest federal agency based on dollars spent is the

Social Security Administration.

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 Management's 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.

Which of the following is NOT an area in which an ʺiron triangleʺ has controlled federal policy over the past several decades?

environmental policy

The Pendleton Act established the

federal civil service.

Amtrak and the United States Postal Service are examples of

government corporations.

Which of the following statements about bureaucracies and the scope of government is FALSE?

When the president and Congress chose to deregulate certain areas of the economy or cut taxes, the bureaucracy prevented them from doing so.

An independent regulatory agency is governed by

a small commission, usually with five to ten members, appointed by the president for fixed terms.

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

Until 1887, the federal government had

almost no regulatory policies.

Which of the following would not be considered a street-level bureaucrat?

an assistant secretary in the Department of Transportation

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.

In addition to a hierarchical authority structure, Max Weber argued that a bureaucracy involves all of the following EXCEPT

an incentive system.

As the oversight powers of Congress in regard to the bureaucracy have become more vigorous, they have also

become more fragmented

The plum book

book lists top federal jobs available by Presidential appointment.

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.

Most of the government is composed of

bureaucrats

The real work of a Cabinet department is done in the

bureaus.

Each bureaucratic agency is created initially

by Congress.

Bureaus in the federal bureaucracy are also known as all of the following EXCEPT a

department

One proposed solution to the ʺproblemʺ of the proliferation of regulatory agencies and policies has been

deregulation

The Weberian theory of bureaucracies views them in the most positive light as

hierarchical.

Creating new agencies, developing guidelines, and coordinating resources to achieve a policy goal is called

implementation.

The General Services Administration and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration are examples of

independent executive agencies.

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.

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.

A major problem for presidents and Congress in controlling bureaucracies is the existence of

iron triangles

As a percentage of the total work force, federal government employment

is declining.

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.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was successfully implemented thanks to its

its clear goal, its clear methods to achieve the goal, and its lack of bureaucratic fragmentation.

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

As a whole, the permanent bureaucracy is

more broadly representative of the American people than legislators, judges, or presidential appointees.

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.

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.

Standard operating procedures accomplish all of the following EXCEPT

reduce red tape.

The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector is called

regulation

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.

Studies have found that most Americans are

satisfied with the help received from bureaucrats.

Section 844 of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was vaguely written, eventually resulting in

scores of court cases.

Government corporations provide

services and charge for them.

A major complaint of the Food and Drug Administration is the

shortage of personnel.

When bureaucrats are asked to execute orders with which they do not agree,

slippage is likely to occur between policy decisions and performance.

Administrative personnel who exercise discretion, pay attention to routine, and deal directly with clients, are called

street-level bureaucrats.

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.

An ʺiron triangleʺ is also referred to as a

subgovernment

Each of the following is a criticism of regulation EXCEPT

that it lowers prices

Federal employees are prohibited from active participation in partisan politics through

the Hatch Act

Deregulation has resulted, at least in part, in each of the following EXCEPT

the proliferation of government agencies.

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 America's total work force, federal government employment has been growing.

There are roughly ________ civilian and military federal government employees

4,000,000

The Federal Aviation Administrationʹs protocol for for hijackings assumed that

All of the above

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

To limit bureaucratic discretion and make its instructions clearer,

Congress can write new and more detailed legislation.

Which of the following statements about Congress and the bureaucracy is FALSE?

Congress has found it easy to control the bureaucracy.

Which of the following would NOT be considered part of the Weberian model of bureaucracy?

Decentralized authority structure

The ________ employs about one-fourth of all federal civilian workers, more than any other department or agency.

Department of Defense

The Cabinet department that has the largest budget is the

Department of Health and Human Services.

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 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.

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 is NOT true about ʺiron trianglesʺ?

they are indestructible

The diffusion of responsibility within the bureaucracy makes the coordination of policies both

time-consuming and difficult.

The main job of federal bureaucrats is

to implement and regulate government policies.

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 Weberian model depicts a bureaucracy as a

well-organized machine with plenty of working but hierarchical parts.

Issue networks are a growing participatory force in bureaucratic decision making

whose members' interest in issues is intellectual or emotional rather than material.