Government Chapter 15 Test Questions – Flashcards

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The definition of bureaucracy includes all of the following notions except
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an issue network.
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The text argues that many of the problems of bureaucracy in government arise from its
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political context.
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In Great Britain, civil servants are directed explicitly by the ministers in charge of their departments. In the United States, civil servants often must obey both the heads of their agencies and
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Congress.
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Most federal agencies must share their functions with
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related state agencies.
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The distinctive nature of the U.S. bureaucracy derives from all of the following except
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the practice of incremental budgeting.
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When an agency such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) makes an important decision, it is quite likely to be taken to court. This is an example of what is meant by the term
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adversary culture.
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One would expect the telephone system in France, unlike that in the United States, to be
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owned by the government.
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One complication surrounding the federal bureaucracy is the fact that the Constitution
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does not mention departments or bureaus.
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In the first Congress, it was decided that appointed federal officials would be removable by
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the president alone.
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In the early days of the federal government, the only department that had much power was the
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Treasury Department.
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James Madison argued that the president alone must be able to fire a federal employee because
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otherwise he would not be able to control his subordinates.
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Patronage in the early republic provided the president with all of the following advantages except
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holding special-interest lobbyists at bay.
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During most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, appointments to the civil service were based primarily on
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patronage.
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The eightfold increase in the number of federal employees that occurred between 1816 and 1861 was largely the result of
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increased demands on traditional government functions.
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The great watershed in the expansion of government bureaucracy in the United States occurred during the
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Civil War.
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Between 1813 and 1861, the number of federal employees increased eightfold, in large part because of
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growth in the Post Office.
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Generally, the role of government bureaucracies up to the end of the nineteenth century was to
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provide benefits for interest groups.
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The shift in the role of the federal bureaucracy that occurred between 1861 and 1901 was from
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regulation to service.
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A constitutional limitation on the federal bureaucracy's ability to regulate the economy is that
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only Congress has the constitutional authority to regulate commerce.
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The notion of laissez-faire and of the congressional mandate to regulate led to the bureaucracy's performing a
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service role.
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The federal government did not begin to regulate the economy in any large way until
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the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).
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Initially, the prevailing interpretation of the Constitution held that agencies could not exercise regulatory powers
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unless Congress first set down clear standards.
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Periodically, the size of the bureaucracy has grown substantially. These times of growth have generally occurred during
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wars.
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A dramatic increase in activism by the federal bureaucracy occurred in the twentieth century, largely as a consequence of
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the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II.
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An important effect of World War II on the federal government was to
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greatly increase government revenues from taxation.
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From 1913 to 1940, the average American paid approximately ________ in income taxes each year.
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$7
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If you wanted to do away with high federal taxation, you might see a quick solution in the repeal of the
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Sixteenth Amendment.
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The number of civilians working for the federal bureaucracy has not increased much since 1970. This observation fails, however, to account for the
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growing number of people who work indirectly for the government.
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The importance of the federal bureaucracy today can be measured in part by the total number of federal employees or, more accurately, by the
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discretionary authority of its appointed officials.
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When the text speaks of the discretionary authority of appointed officials, it means their authority to
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make policies that are not spelled out in advance by laws.
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Which of the following is not an area in which the power of the bureaucracy has grown dramatically in recent years?
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Building nuclear energy sources
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The broad factors that best explain the behavior of bureaucratic officials include all of the following except
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their party preferences.
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A person appointed to a government position after passing an examination is probably joining the
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competitive service.
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In recent years, the competitive service has become more decentralized and examinations have become less common. Which of the following is suggested by the text as an explanation for this?
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Civil rights groups have pressed Washington to make the racial composition of the federal bureaucracy look more like the racial composition of the nation.
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Those federal bureaucrats not appointed on the basis of qualifications designed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are called
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the excepted service.
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If you worked in a senior position on a successful presidential campaign and the new president then wished to have your advice while in office, you would be most likely appointed to
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a Schedule C position.
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A post office worker or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent would typically be part of the federal bureaucracy known as
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the excepted service.
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Which of the following statements about the excepted service is true?
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Most employees are appointed by other agencies on the basis of merit within that agency.
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Which of the following statements concerning the Pendleton Act is incorrect?
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It enhanced the power of patronage in federal appointments.
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The merit system began with the
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Pendleton Act of 1883.
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Employees who are "blanketed in" are
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covered by the merit system, although they are appointed.
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One advantage of the merit system to presidents is that it
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protects them from patronage demands.
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When a civil-service job is filled on a name-request basis, this is an example of the
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buddy system.
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Using the buddy system, an agency can circumvent the usual Office of Personnel Management (OPM) search process by
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tailoring a job description to a specific candidate.
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If an agency committed to consumer protection hires someone from a private environmental protection group, the type of recruitment illustrated would be
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recruitment from an issue network.
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Someone who is hired by an agency from within an issue network is most likely to hold policy views that are
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congenial to that of the agency.
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The agency responsible for ensuring fair treatment of civil servants is the
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Merit System Protection Board.
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Which of the following statements about the firing of a bureaucrat is incorrect?
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None of the above.
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Which of the following statements about the firing of federal employees is true?
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Most bureaucrats cannot be fired.
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Members of the Senior Executive Service, compared to other bureaucrats,
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are easier to transfer but better paid.
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Which of the following was created in 1978 in an attempt to give the president more flexibility in dealing with high-level bureaucrats?
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Senior Executive Service (SES)
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The fact that agencies usually recruit their own staff, often on a name-request basis, should lead us to expect that these recruits will possess the
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agency point of view.
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If one examines the education, sex, race, and social origins of the federal civil service as a whole,
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it looks very much like a cross section of American society.
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When a person is selected by the president to head an agency and to shift its policies in the direction of the president's, the appointee generally finds that
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subordinates wield considerable power.
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A survey of top-level, nonpolitical federal bureaucrats found their political outlooks to be
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very different from the public at large.
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Relative to their share of the population, Republicans tend to be overrepresented in the
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Department of Defense.
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If bureaucrats regularly sabotage the actions of political bosses with whom they disagree, one would expect Republicans to be hurt more than Democrats. Why?
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Because bureaucrats tend to be liberal
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Which law established the Office of Special Counsel?
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The Whistle-blower Protection Act
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The Whistle-blower Protection Act of 1989 is designed to protect
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bureaucrats who tell on their bosses.
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Bureaucrats' own values and beliefs are most likely to have the least influence on their work when their duties are
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highly structured.
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Lawyers working for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are most likely to select cases that
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clearly involve criminal malfeasance.
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A personal attribute that has been shown to have a clear effect on bureaucratic behavior is
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professional training.
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Before recommending legal action against a business for illegal practices, an economist with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) might first want to know whether
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consumers have borne a heavy cost as a consequence of the practice.
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Having a strong agency culture can help an agency by motivating its employees to work hard, but it can also hurt it by
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making the agency resistant to change.
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The "culture" of an agency is shaped by
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All of the above.
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If a job within an agency is labeled "NCE," it is
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not the type of job that would enhance one's career within that agency.
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One of the major constraints under which government agencies operate is the
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large number of regulations they must adhere to.
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The Freedom of Information Act and the Administrative Procedure Act are examples of
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government-wide constraints on bureaucracy.
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A particularly important constraint on bureaucratic power is the need to
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obtain agreement from other parts of the bureaucracy.
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Among the effects of the many constraints on government agencies is the fact that
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lower-ranking employees are reluctant to make decisions on their own.
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In a bureaucracy, why does government sometimes act inconsistently?
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Because what is done to meet one constraint may endanger another constraint
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In a bureaucracy, why is blocking action easier than taking action?
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Because constraints ensure that many voices must be heard before a decision is made
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Probably the most effective means an agency has of remaining powerful is
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entering alliances with influential interest groups.
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The relationship among an agency, a committee, and an interest group was described in the past as
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an iron triangle.
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Because many federal agencies were created to serve some sector of society, we should not be surprised to learn that the American Legion is closely aligned with the
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Department of Veterans' Affairs.
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An agency that Ronald Reagan was unable to abolish because of its persistent support in Congress was the
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Small Business Administration (SBA).
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Which of the following statements about agency allies is correct?
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The Small Business Administration (SBA) is part of an iron triangle.
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Why are iron triangles less common today than they once were?
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Because agencies today are pressured by so many interest groups
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Secretaries of agriculture have found that they have considerable discretion in setting policy despite the involvement of strong interest groups because
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the groups most often work against rather than with one another.
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Which of the following statements about issue networks is correct?
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They are groups that regularly debate government policy on specific issues.
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One way that Congress exercises authority over agencies is through the
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statutes that create and define them.
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Which of the following characterizes appropriations?
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They are usually made annually.
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Compared to appropriations, authorizations are
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usually larger.
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The main reason some interest groups are important to agencies is that these groups
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are important to Congress.
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When a law originating in a legislative committee specifies a certain sum of money, it is called a(n)
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authorization measure.
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The most powerful group in Congress in terms of control over an agency's budget is the
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House Appropriations Committee.
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The process of revising agency budget requests is commonly called
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marking up.
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All of the following have weakened the power of appropriations committees over government agencies except
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the 1983 Supreme Court decision ruling unconstitutional the legislative veto.
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The power of the House Appropriations Committee over agency budgets has recently diminished, in part because of
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congressional concern with meeting spending limits.
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When congressional committees require that agency decisions be submitted to them before the agency implements them, the committees are exercising the power of
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committee clearance.
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An example of an informal congressional control over agencies is when
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individual members of Congress seek privileges for constituents.
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The effect of a legislative veto is to
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give Congress control over certain executive decisions.
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The legislative veto is a stratagem to increase the power of
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Congress.
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The legislative veto was declared unconstitutional in
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Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha.
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In practice, the effect of the Supreme Court ruling against the legislative veto in the Chadha case has been
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negligible.
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Congressional supervision of the bureaucracy involves all of the following except
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bills of attainder.
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The text suggests congressional investigations have been a regular feature - sometimes constructive, sometimes destructive - of legislative executive relations since
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1792.
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The investigative power of Congress
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c and d.
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Which of the following statements about the congressional power to investigate is incorrect?
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Congress cannot sentence an individual in contempt to jail.
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The text concludes that when bureaucracies operate at cross-purposes, it is usually because
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Congress wants it that way.
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When a citizen is required by an agency to use one accounting system rather than another, or to file forms before receiving any benefits, such requirements are called
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red tape.
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Among the "pathologies" commonly attributed to bureaucracies are all of the following except
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synergism.
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One bureaucratic "pathology" described by the text is imperialism, meaning the tendency of agencies to
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grow, irrespective of the benefits and costs of their programs.
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One bureaucratic "pathology" described by the text is conflict, meaning the tendency of agencies to
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work at cross-purposes with one another.
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Governmental hiring practices exemplify the need for all of the following except
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encouraging partisan politics.
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The source of bureaucratic "pathologies" is usually
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Congress.
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Buses in major cities are required to have lifts for people using wheelchairs because of a decision made by
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the Department of Transportation.
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According to the text, hammers costing the government hundreds of dollars usually are a result of
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one-of-a-kind purchases.
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Buying American, using minority contractors, and paying the prevailing wage are all examples of
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red tape that drives up costs.
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To reduce waste in government, one is also likely to have to increase
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red tape.
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Which of the following statements about the attitude of most Americans toward government bureaucrats and bureaucracies is true?
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They tend to be satisfied with bureaucrats if they have actually had contact with public officials.
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According to the text, most of the problems of bureaucracies are
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inseparable from the problems of government.
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The National Performance Review (NPR) is different from preceding reform efforts in that it
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offered reorganization plans that tried to emulate innovative, quality-conscious U.S. corporations.
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To the authors of the National Performance Review (NPR), the problem with the bureaucracy was that it
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All of the above.
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The National Performance Review (NPR) featured one "horror story" which focused on paper work associated with a(n):
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ashtray.
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The National Performance Review (NPR) was reinforced by a 1993 Act which required agencies to
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set goals, measure performance, and report on results.
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Bureaucrats issue rules, in part, because they are nervous about
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irritating the president or Congress.
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Bureaucratic inefficiency might be desirable in that it might help
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protect our liberties.
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