Political Science Chapter 12 Test Questions – Flashcards

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Regulatory capture involves situations in which:
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a bureaucracy is responsive to the interest of the group or corporation that they are supposed to regulate
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A street-level bureaucrat is someone who:
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directly provides services to Americans
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When members of Congress gather information about the bureaucracy by holding hearings and questioning bureaucrats, they are engaged in:
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oversight
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Why is the bureaucracy also known as the administrative state?
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Their primary responsibility is putting government policies into practice on a daily basis.
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A principal consequence of limits on salaries and promotions in the civil service is that:
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it is difficult to reward the best employees
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Which of the following terms describes a government agency that has many political appointees whose inexperience is unlikely to cause bad
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turkey farm
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Which of the following is NOT a motivation for working in government rather than in the private sector?
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desire for higher pay
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Which of the following is NOT a task of federal bureaucrats?
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lawmaking
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The Reagan Revolution's impact on the bureaucracy was characterized by:
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few programs were eliminated and the federal budget steadily increased
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Which of the following is NOT one of the criteria used to select civil service employees?
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membership in the civil employees union
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Why did members of Congress support reform of the spoils system despite being members of political parties that benefited from it?
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They were responding to public demands for bureaucratic reform.
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The federal civil service was created by:
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the Pendleton Act
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Since the 1970s, the size of the federal budget has:
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about tripled
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One of the reasons regulations are controversial is because they require the bureaucracy to choose between policy goals that are often incompatible.
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True
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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?
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police patrol oversight
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Which of the following is NOT a tactic that the legislature can use to correct bureaucratic drift?
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an executive order
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When does an agency have the most discretion in implementing policy?
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when Congress and the president disagree on what an agency should be doing
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When does an agency have the most discretion in implementing policy?
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when Congress and the president disagree on what an agency should be doing
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Why was the federal government small in early American history?
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Americans disliked having government officials who were not elected.
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What was the principal bureaucratic change that occurred during the New Deal?
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The range of policy areas in which the government intervened expanded.
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The store of knowledge, personnel, and institutions for implementing policy is called:
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state capacity
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Before any new regulation can take place, it must first:
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be published in the Federal Register to notify the public
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Political parties liked the spoils system because it gave people a strong reason to work on their behalf to gain power.
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True
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Although some presidential and congressional decisions are specific, many leave room for interpretation by bureaucrats. This explains why bureaucracies:
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can have significant influence on policy
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Which of the following policies were NOT enacted during the George W. Bush presidency?
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health care reform
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Which of the following describes a situation in which bureaucrats implement policies that are more consistent with their preferences than those of elected officials?
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bureaucratic drift
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Early Americans were suspicious of the federal bureaucracy, in part because of their experience with England before the Revolutionary War.
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True
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Which of the following programs is the public LEAST in favor of cutting?
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Medicare
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Which of the following departments was NOT part of the bureaucracy in early American history?
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Department of Commerce
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A reduction in force (RIF) decreases the size of the federal workforce by:
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eliminating entire departments and agencies
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The Office of Management and Budget is primarily responsible for:
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helping the president monitor federal budget expenditures and proposals
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The use of standard operating procedures in bureaucracies comes from:
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the complexity of many bureaucratic tasks and the desire by elected officials to limit their discretion
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Most Republicans opposed the New Deal because they thought that government intervention threatened the system of racial segregation in place in the South.
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False
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About how many federal regulations are issued each year?
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4,000
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Which of the following is the best definition of the bureaucracy?
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the group of employees who are responsible for implementing government policy
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Although the Hatch Act exempts ________ from restrictions on political activity, they still cannot ________.
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political appointees; use government resources for political purposes
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If a group opposes a regulation proposed by a bureaucratic agency, which of the following is NOT an option available to that group?
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The group can seek to replace the civil servants in charge of developing the regulations.
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During the rule-making process, bureaucrats often take into account the views of legislators for all of the following reasons except:
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Congress can step in and change things during the notice and comment procedure
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Most political appointees in the bureaucracy are there:
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to help the president exercise control over the executive branch
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Any government employee who is selected by an elected official is known as:
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a political appointee
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When was the spoils system first used on a large scale to reward campaign supporters?
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not long after the nation's founding
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A budget maximizer is a:
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bureaucrat who seeks additional funding for his or her agency whether or not they need it
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Any situation in which one person delegates responsibility to another is an example of:
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a principal-agent game
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Which is NOT a tactic available to an agency that wants to avoid political control?
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It can try to reorganize as an independent agency.
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The New Deal reforms included a large transfer of power to _______ and ________.
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bureaucrats; the president
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The largest cabinet departments are typically involved in matters related to which policy area?
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security and defense
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What is the largest government agency?
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Department of Defense
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What is the smallest cabinet department?
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Department of Education
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A main consequence of the civil service regulations is:
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significant job security for civil servants
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Civil servants are employees of the federal government who:
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are hired on the basis of qualifications
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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?
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fire alarm oversight
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Which of the following created an opportunity for conservatives to roll back the size and scope of the federal government?
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the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980
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For many Americans, the bureaucracy symbolizes the shortcomings and problems of the national government.
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True
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When it comes to expertise in a policy area, most bureaucrats are not much different than the average member of Congress or political appointee.
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False
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Which of the following policies was NOT included in Lyndon Johnson's Great Society?
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the creation of Social Security
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The group of government programs put in place by Franklin Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression was known as the:
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New Deal
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Which of the following groups of employees is the largest part of the federal workforce?
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contractors
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Which of the following is NOT a preferred role performed by presidential appointees?
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acting independently of the president's policy objectives
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From the early 1800s until the Civil War, ________ in the size of government occurred largely because of ________.
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growth; the increased size of the United States
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Any unnecessarily complex set of procedures in the bureaucracy is called:
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red tape
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Civil service regulations are the rules that govern the hiring and firing of federal employees.
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true
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Which of the following is the most accurate statement regarding the bureaucracy?
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Americans regularly encounter the work of the bureaucracy as part of their everyday lives.
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According to the text, what is the paradox of the federal bureaucracy?
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The same organization that does many important things can also be inefficient and wasteful.
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Which of the following statements best describes how Americans view the bureaucracy?
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Americans generally hold a negative view of the bureaucracy.
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All of the following can influence how Americans view the bureaucracy except:
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the state in which they live
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Elected officials are challenged in maintaining control over the bureaucracy due to:
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the officials' lack of expertise relative to the bureaucrats
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Under the Hatch Act, federal employees cannot engage in organized political activities, which include voting and contributing money to candidates.
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False
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Which of the following was a significant expansion of government action into a new policy area during the Great Society?
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government involvement in guaranteeing civil rights
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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.
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False
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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.
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True
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