Gov 1 Chapter 4 – Flashcards

At its peak in ________, the federal bureaucracy had ________ employees, not including military personnel. a. 1996; 8 million b. 1982; 1 million c. 1968; 3 million d. 1936; 6 million e. 2005; 10 million

Bureaucracy literally means ________. a. governance by experts b. next window please c. control of the anonymous d. government by the people e. rule by offices and desks

Which of the following is the best description of an iron triangle? a. the stable relationship between a bureaucratic agency, a clientele group, and a legislative committee b. the breakdown in the separation of powers between Congress, the federal judiciary, and the president c. the domination of a few large companies in the regulation of iron mining and smelting d. the inability to reform federal rules without help from the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the president e. the stable relationship between a bureaucratic agency, a legislative committee, and the president

Privatization is a way to a. reduce big government by doing without some of the programs it once provided. b. shrink the federal budget by selling government services or property in the private sector. c. reduce government costs by relocating government programs to private groups or corporations. d. increase the government's role by purchasing private companies. e. reduce government costs by lowering the amount of benefits paid out to private citizens.

Which one of the following agencies was created in 2005? a. the Joint Chiefs of Staff b. the CIA c. the Office of the Director of National Intelligence d. the FBI e. the National Security Agency

The first regulatory agency was the ________, created by Congress in ________. a. Federal Communications Commission; 1934 b. U.S. Post Office; 1791 c. Federal Trade Commission; 1914 d. Interstate Commerce Commission; 1887 e. Environmental Protection Agency; 1970

The ________ is the head of a cabinet department. a. secretary b. director c. chief executive officer d. service administrator e. agency supervisor

Which of the following is the most constitutionally essential way to make the bureaucracy responsible? a. congressional oversight b. more administrative courts c. more government regulation d. more efficient executive management e. further devolution

Which of the following was a way in which President Obama attempted to uphold his campaign promise to reduce government secrecy? a. issuing an executive order designed to promote more rapid declassification of secret documents b. invoking the state secrets privilege to prevent lawsuits related to warrantless wiretapping and torture from going to trial c. making sure that every bill that Congress passed during his first term was put up on the White House website to be viewed by the public for at least five days before holding a vote d. repealing the USA Patriot Act e. releasing a report by the Health and Human Services Department that indicated the health care reform law would actually increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on consumers, even though this would make it harder for Congress to pass the bill

The Freedom of Information Act is designed to a. expand the freedom of speech granted to government employees. b. lead to quicker filing of habeas corpus petitions. c. prevent inefficiency and waste in government management. d. allow the government to acquire any information about a person to aid in a government investigation. e. make more national security documents available to the public.

Which president's approach to the managerial presidency featured a deep belief in the importance of scientific expertise in government service? a. George W. Bush b. George H. W. Bush c. Barack Obama d. Ronald Reagan e. Bill Clinton

What was the chief bureaucratic flaw identified by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States? a. There was a lack of communication between the domestic and foreign security agencies. b. Diplomacy with the Taliban and other sponsors of terrorism had broken down in the mid-1990s. c. The government did not act swiftly enough after the attack in order to prevent further casualties. d. The CIA director lacked adequate access to the president. e. The Federal Aviation Administration was not properly monitoring all inbound airplanes on September 11, 2001.

What is an independent agency? a. an executive branch organization that is part of a cabinet b. an executive branch organization that is very much like a government corporation c. an executive branch organization that is established by Congress d. an executive branch organization that has broad powers to provide a public service that is either too expensive or too important to be left to private companies e. both c and d

A bureau charged with putting restrictions and obligations on individuals or corporations in the private sector is called a ________ agency. a. clientele b. police c. regulatory d. fiscal e. redistributive

Under the administration of ________, EPA officials claimed that they did not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases. a. Ronald Reagan b. Richard Nixon c. George W. Bush d. George H. W. Bush e. Gerald Ford

The Civil Service Act of 1883 attempted to pattern government hiring after practices found in ________. a. business b. local government c. the Catholic Church d. Congress e. the military

The first regulatory agencies Congress established were ________. a. in the Labor Department b. government corporations c. independent regulatory commissions d. in the Department of Commerce e. within the Environmental Protection Agency

Which of the following executive agencies was created by Congress in the aftermath of the financial crisis that began in 2008? a. the Council of Economic Advisors b. the Department of Housing and Urban Development c. the Federal Reserve Board d. the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau e. the Interstate Commerce Commission

Which of the following statements best describes how recent administrations have approached the issue of bureaucratic reform? a. Republican administrations have aimed to make the existing bureaucracy work more effectively while Democratic administrations have sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies. b. Democratic administrations have aimed to make the existing bureaucracy work more effectively while Republican administrations have sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies. c. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have rejected the idea of reducing bureaucracy and have aimed to make existing bureaucracy work more effectively. d. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have given up on trying to make the existing bureaucracy function more effectively and instead sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies. e. Both Democrats and Republicans have avoided any attempts to reform government bureaucracy.

Which of the following is an example of a revenue agency? a. the Federal Reserve System b. the U.S. Department of Revenue c. the Securities and Exchange Commission d. the Agricultural Extension Service e. the U.S. Customs Service