Chapter 15 Government – Flashcards
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Name the three major characteristics of a bureaucracy.
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Hierarchical authority, Job specialization, formalized rules
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Characteristic of a bureaucracy. Can speed action by reducing conflict over who has power.
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Hierarchical authority
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Characteristic of a bureaucracy. Promotes efficiency because each person in the organization is required to focus on one job.
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Job specialization
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Characteristic of a bureaucracy. Workers can act with some speed and precision because decisions are based on a set of known standards.
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Formalized rules
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Which two departments does the Constitution anticipate?
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military and foreign affairs
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Title reserved for cabinet-rank agencies.
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department
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any governmental body (example, the EPA)
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agency
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the government's many administrators and agencies
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admniistration
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agencies charged with the regulation of business activities
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commission
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agencies that conduct business-like activities
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coorperation/authority
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Agencies that offer advice in management of organization to the administration (e.g. the White House Office, the National Security Council)
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staff agency
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Agencies that actually perform tasks for which the organization exists (e.g. the EPA)
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line agency
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un-elected public-policy maker
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bureaucrat
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(T/F) The Framers carefully laid out the organization of Cabinet departments.
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F
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(T/F) There is little uniformity in the use of terms describing units within the executive branch
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T
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(T/F) Nearly all of the federal bureacracy is in the executive branch
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T
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(T/F) Bureaucracies are privately owned
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F
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(T/F) The main purpose of the federal bureaucracy is to carry out the policies of president and congress.
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T
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(T/F) The federal budget keeps track of spending and receipts occurring in the current year
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T
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(T/F) The fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30
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T
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(T/F) The Executive Office of the President is an umbrella agency made up of offices staffed by the President's closest advisers and assistants.
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T
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(T/F) The Council of Economic Advisers is the largest agency in the Executive Office
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F
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Who heads the White House Office?
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chief of staff
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What office serves as the nerve center of the executive branch?
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White House Office
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The three members of the Council on Environmental Quality are appointed by the ___ with ___ approval.
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President, Senate
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The Office of Management and Budget DOES NOT ...?
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helps president prepare executive orders
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(T/F) Executive departments are each headed by a member of the President's cabinet.
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T
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(T/F) More than half of the employees of executive departments are political appointees.
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F
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(T/F) Many subunits of executive departments are organized geographically and their employees work outside Washington DC
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T
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(T/F) The Senate can reject the President's appointed of a Cabinet member.
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T
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The first African American Cabinet head was appointed in what year?
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1975
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(T/F) The Constitution provides a brief outline of the Cabinet's purpose.
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F
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(T/F) Cabinet members serve as advisers to the President.
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T
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(T/F) Very few women and minorities have held positions in the Cabinet.
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T
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The first executive departments were created by who?
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Congress
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What are the two main jobs of the heads of executive departments?
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adviser to president and overseer of the department
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What is the newest Cabinet department?
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Department of Homeland Security
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The SEC exhibits its ____ powers when it decides disputes.
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quasi-judicial
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The 10 ____ operate largely outside presidential control.
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independent regulatory commissions
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The Civil Rights Commission and the Peace Corps are both ____ agencies.
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independent executive
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The power to establish rules and regulations makes some independent agencies.
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quasi-legislative
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Many claim the advantage of ___ is their flexibility, or freedom from the controls of regular departmental organization
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government corporations
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Within the executive branch and subject to the President's direction and control. They were set up by Congress to carry out certain business-like activities. (e.g. US Postal Service)
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government corporation
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The independent agencies were created by...?
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Congress
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Composed of those civilian employees who perform the administrative work of government.
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civil service
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From 1820s to the 1880s, the ___ was the standard way of choosing federal employees.
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spoils system
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The Merit Systems Protection Board is ___, consisting of members of both parties.
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bipartisan
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The practice of giving government jobs to the President's friends and political supporters.
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patronage
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Persons who pass civil service exams are placed on a ___ kept by Office of Personnel Management.
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register
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Support for regorms in civil service hiring practices increased dramatically as a result of...?
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The assassination of Garfield
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Under this act, merit became the basis of all civil service jobs.
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Pendleton Act
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Under this act, federal workers were forbidden to engage in partisan political activity
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Hatch Act of 1939
