question

Regulatory capture involves situations in which:

answer

a bureaucracy is responsive to the interest of the group or corporation that they are supposed to regulate

question

A street-level bureaucrat is someone who:

answer

directly provides services to Americans

question

When members of Congress gather information about the bureaucracy by holding hearings and questioning bureaucrats, they are engaged in:

answer

oversight

question

Why is the bureaucracy also known as the administrative state?

answer

Their primary responsibility is putting government policies into practice on a daily basis.

question

A principal consequence of limits on salaries and promotions in the civil service is that:

answer

it is difficult to reward the best employees

question

Which of the following terms describes a government agency that has many political appointees whose inexperience is unlikely to cause bad

answer

turkey farm

question

Which of the following is NOT a motivation for working in government rather than in the private sector?

answer

desire for higher pay

question

Which of the following is NOT a task of federal bureaucrats?

answer

lawmaking

question

The Reagan Revolution's impact on the bureaucracy was characterized by:

answer

few programs were eliminated and the federal budget steadily increased

question

Which of the following is NOT one of the criteria used to select civil service employees?

answer

membership in the civil employees union

question

Why did members of Congress support reform of the spoils system despite being members of political parties that benefited from it?

answer

They were responding to public demands for bureaucratic reform.

question

The federal civil service was created by:

answer

the Pendleton Act

question

Since the 1970s, the size of the federal budget has:

answer

about tripled

question

One of the reasons regulations are controversial is because they require the bureaucracy to choose between policy goals that are often incompatible.

answer

True

question

Which of the following describes a situation in which legislators pay close attention to a bureaucracy with consistent fact-finding trips, interviews, audits, and calls?

answer

police patrol oversight

question

Which of the following is NOT a tactic that the legislature can use to correct bureaucratic drift?

answer

an executive order

question

When does an agency have the most discretion in implementing policy?

answer

when Congress and the president disagree on what an agency should be doing

question

When does an agency have the most discretion in implementing policy?

answer

when Congress and the president disagree on what an agency should be doing

question

Why was the federal government small in early American history?

answer

Americans disliked having government officials who were not elected.

question

What was the principal bureaucratic change that occurred during the New Deal?

answer

The range of policy areas in which the government intervened expanded.

question

The store of knowledge, personnel, and institutions for implementing policy is called:

answer

state capacity

question

Before any new regulation can take place, it must first:

answer

be published in the Federal Register to notify the public

question

Political parties liked the spoils system because it gave people a strong reason to work on their behalf to gain power.

answer

True

question

Although some presidential and congressional decisions are specific, many leave room for interpretation by bureaucrats. This explains why bureaucracies:

answer

can have significant influence on policy

question

Which of the following policies were NOT enacted during the George W. Bush presidency?

answer

health care reform

question

Which of the following describes a situation in which bureaucrats implement policies that are more consistent with their preferences than those of elected officials?

answer

bureaucratic drift

question

Early Americans were suspicious of the federal bureaucracy, in part because of their experience with England before the Revolutionary War.

answer

True

question

Which of the following programs is the public LEAST in favor of cutting?

answer

Medicare

question

Which of the following departments was NOT part of the bureaucracy in early American history?

answer

Department of Commerce

question

A reduction in force (RIF) decreases the size of the federal workforce by:

answer

eliminating entire departments and agencies

question

The Office of Management and Budget is primarily responsible for:

answer

helping the president monitor federal budget expenditures and proposals

question

The use of standard operating procedures in bureaucracies comes from:

answer

the complexity of many bureaucratic tasks and the desire by elected officials to limit their discretion

question

Most Republicans opposed the New Deal because they thought that government intervention threatened the system of racial segregation in place in the South.

answer

False

question

About how many federal regulations are issued each year?

answer

4,000

question

Which of the following is the best definition of the bureaucracy?

answer

the group of employees who are responsible for implementing government policy

question

Although the Hatch Act exempts ________ from restrictions on political activity, they still cannot ________.

answer

political appointees; use government resources for political purposes

question

If a group opposes a regulation proposed by a bureaucratic agency, which of the following is NOT an option available to that group?

answer

The group can seek to replace the civil servants in charge of developing the regulations.

question

During the rule-making process, bureaucrats often take into account the views of legislators for all of the following reasons except:

answer

Congress can step in and change things during the notice and comment procedure

question

Most political appointees in the bureaucracy are there:

answer

to help the president exercise control over the executive branch

question

Any government employee who is selected by an elected official is known as:

answer

a political appointee

question

When was the spoils system first used on a large scale to reward campaign supporters?

answer

not long after the nation's founding

question

A budget maximizer is a:

answer

bureaucrat who seeks additional funding for his or her agency whether or not they need it

question

Any situation in which one person delegates responsibility to another is an example of:

answer

a principal-agent game

question

Which is NOT a tactic available to an agency that wants to avoid political control?

answer

It can try to reorganize as an independent agency.

question

The New Deal reforms included a large transfer of power to _______ and ________.

answer

bureaucrats; the president

question

The largest cabinet departments are typically involved in matters related to which policy area?

answer

security and defense

question

What is the largest government agency?

answer

Department of Defense

question

What is the smallest cabinet department?

answer

Department of Education

question

A main consequence of the civil service regulations is:

answer

significant job security for civil servants

question

Civil servants are employees of the federal government who:

answer

are hired on the basis of qualifications

question

Which of the following describes a situation in which legislators monitor a bureaucratic organization only after someone complains or a problem of implementation has been brought to their attention?

answer

fire alarm oversight

question

Which of the following created an opportunity for conservatives to roll back the size and scope of the federal government?

answer

the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980

question

For many Americans, the bureaucracy symbolizes the shortcomings and problems of the national government.

answer

True

question

When it comes to expertise in a policy area, most bureaucrats are not much different than the average member of Congress or political appointee.

answer

False

question

Which of the following policies was NOT included in Lyndon Johnson's Great Society?

answer

the creation of Social Security

question

The group of government programs put in place by Franklin Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression was known as the:

answer

New Deal

question

Which of the following groups of employees is the largest part of the federal workforce?

answer

contractors

question

Which of the following is NOT a preferred role performed by presidential appointees?

answer

acting independently of the president's policy objectives

question

From the early 1800s until the Civil War, ________ in the size of government occurred largely because of ________.

answer

growth; the increased size of the United States

question

Any unnecessarily complex set of procedures in the bureaucracy is called:

answer

red tape

question

Civil service regulations are the rules that govern the hiring and firing of federal employees.

answer

true

question

Which of the following is the most accurate statement regarding the bureaucracy?

answer

Americans regularly encounter the work of the bureaucracy as part of their everyday lives.

question

According to the text, what is the paradox of the federal bureaucracy?

answer

The same organization that does many important things can also be inefficient and wasteful.

question

Which of the following statements best describes how Americans view the bureaucracy?

answer

Americans generally hold a negative view of the bureaucracy.

question

All of the following can influence how Americans view the bureaucracy except:

answer

the state in which they live

question

Elected officials are challenged in maintaining control over the bureaucracy due to:

answer

the officials' lack of expertise relative to the bureaucrats

question

Under the Hatch Act, federal employees cannot engage in organized political activities, which include voting and contributing money to candidates.

answer

False

question

Which of the following was a significant expansion of government action into a new policy area during the Great Society?

answer

government involvement in guaranteeing civil rights

question

The problem of control is not difficult to fix as long as the bureaucracy is well stocked with policy experts instead of politicians and political appointees.

answer

False

question

Americans support smaller government in the abstract but do not support cuts to the large programs that would be necessary to shrink the federal budget and bureaucracy.

answer

True

Political Science Chapter 12 Test Questions – Flashcards

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