question

Each bureaucratic agency is created initially by

answer

Congress.

question

true or false: The state and local governments have far more employees than the federal bureaucracy.

answer

true

question

true or false: As a percentage of Americaʹs total work force, federal government employment has been growing.

answer

false

question

As a percentage of the total work force, federal government employment is

answer

declining.

question

The classic conception of a bureaucracy was advanced by ________, who argued that the bureaucracy was a ʺrationalʺ way for a modern society to conduct its business.

answer

Max Weber

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In addition to a hierarchical authority structure, Max Weber argued that a bureaucracy involves

answer

extensive rules, task specialization, the merit principle, hierarchical authority structure

question

The Weberian theory of bureaucracies views them in the most positive light as

answer

hierarchical

question

The Weberian model depicts a bureaucracy as

answer

a well-organized machine with plenty of working but hierarchical parts

question

The Weberian model views bureaucracies as

answer

efficient and necessary

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true or false: Government bureaucracies have been shown to be less efficient and effective than private bureaucracies.

answer

false

question

The ________ employs about one-fourth of all federal civilian workers, more than any other department or agency.

answer

Department of Defense

question

There are roughly ________ civilian and military federal government employees

answer

4,000,000

question

________ is a hiring and promotion system based on knowing the right people, working in an election campaign, making large political donations, and/or having the right connections to win jobs with the government.

answer

The patronage system

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Patronage is a hiring and promotion system based on

answer

knowing the right people

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Until the late-nineteenth century, most government employees got their jobs through

answer

the patronage system.

question

The ________ Act was passed partly as a memorial to the memory of President James Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881.

answer

Pendleton Civil Service

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The Pendleton Act established the

answer

federal civil service

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The rationale for all civil service systems is based on

answer

the merit principle

question

The Hatch Act, passed in 1940, prohibits s federal civil service employees from

answer

active participation in partisan politics.

question

Once hired into the federal bureaucracy, a person is assigned a ________ rating, which determines oneʹs salary range.

answer

General Schedule

question

The federal civil service was created by

answer

the Pendleton Act

question

The rationale for the civil service rests on the desire to create a

answer

nonpartisan government service and promotion on the basis of merit

question

Federal employees are prohibited from active participation in partisan politics through the

answer

Hatch Act.

question

a legitimate criticism of the federal civil service is that

answer

Firing incompetents is extremely difficult

question

true or false: The Office of Personnel Management has elaborate rules about hiring, promotion, and firing of civil servants.

answer

true

question

true or false: The top of the civil service is composed of about 9,000 members of the Senior Executive Service.

answer

true

question

true or false: Once hired, civil servants are assigned a General Schedule ranging from GS-1 to GS-18.

answer

true

question

true or false: Due to the merit system, it is easy to fire incompetent civil servants.

answer

false

question

The plum book lists

answer

top federal jobs available by Presidential appointment.

question

true or false: Most presidents seek appointees with sympathy for similar policy positions

answer

true

question

true or false: Ambassadorship appointments often go to large campaign contributors

answer

true

question

true or false: Plum book appointees are often instrumental in changing and reforming their agencies

answer

false

question

true or false: Presidents often consider sex, region, and race in making plum book appointments.

answer

true

question

true or false: presidential appointees to bureaucracies must be recommended by the Office of Personnel Managementʹs ʺrule of three.ʺ

answer

false

question

According to Hugh Heclo, the plum book system of recruiting federal employees tends to result in the appointment of

answer

administrators who do not stay long enough in their appointed position to be effective

question

Which Cabinet department is charged with overseeing the nationʹs national resources?

answer

Interior

question

The real work of a Cabinet department is done in the

answer

bureaus

question

The largest federal agency based on dollars spent is the

answer

Social Security Administration.

question

Which of these is the newest government agency? Drug Enforcement Agency, Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Drug Interdiction Agency, Cyberspace Commission

answer

Social Security Administration

question

The Cabinet department that has the largest budget is the Department of

answer

Health and Human Services

question

Bureaus in the federal bureaucracy are also known as all of the following EXCEPT an administration, an office, a department, a service.

answer

a department.

question

The Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Reserve Board are examples of

answer

independent regulatory agencies.

question

true or false: Regulatory commission members cannot be fired by the president.

answer

true

question

true or false: Regulatory commissions consist of five to ten members.

answer

true

question

true or false: Regulatory commission members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

answer

true

question

true or false: Regulatory commission members may not be drawn from the ranks of present or former employees of the regulated industry.

answer

false

question

An independent regulatory agency is governed by

answer

a small commission, usually with five to ten members, appointed by the president for fixed terms.

question

The parts of the federal bureaucracy with responsibility for different sectors of the economy, and making and enforcing rules designed to protect the public interest, are the

answer

independent regulatory agencies.

question

The General Services Administration and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration are examples of

answer

independent executive agencies.

question

Independent regulatory agencies have

answer

powerful rule-making, dispute-settling, and enforcement authority.

question

Amtrak and the United States Postal Service are examples of

answer

government corporations.

question

Government corporations provide

answer

services and charge for them.

question

An obstacle to the successful implementation of public policy is

answer

unclear policy goals and poorly designed policies.

question

Once a policy decision has been made, such as by passing a legislative act or issuing an executive order, the bureaucracy is responsible for

answer

its implementation.

question

The main job of federal bureaucrats is to

answer

implement and regulate government policies.

question

Creating new agencies, developing guidelines, and coordinating resources to achieve a policy goal is called

answer

implementation.

question

Vigorous disputes over the implementation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in regard to funding for womenʹs athletic programs arose primarily due to

answer

lack of clarity in the original policy decision.

question

Section 844 of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

answer

was vaguely written, eventually resulting in scores of court cases.

question

A major complaint of the Food and Drug Administration is

answer

the shortage of personnel.

question

________ save time and bring uniformity to complex organizations

answer

Standard operating procedures

question

Do Standard operating procedures reduce red tape

answer

no

question

________ is the authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem.

answer

Administrative discretion

question

Standard operating procedures become frustrating to citizens and obstacles to action when they

answer

do not directly apply to a particular situation

question

The authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem is called

answer

administrative discretion

question

Administrative discretion is greatest when

answer

rules do not fit a case

question

Those civil service employees who are in constant contact with the public (often a hostile one) and have considerable discretion are known as

answer

street-level bureaucrats.

question

Administrative personnel who exercise discretion, pay attention to routine, and deal directly with clients, are called

answer

street-level bureaucrats

question

When bureaucrats are asked to execute orders with which they do not agree,

answer

slippage is likely to occur between policy decisions and performance.

question

true or false: Bureaucrats are often fired for using too much administrative discretion.

answer

false

question

The diffusion of responsibility within the bureaucracy makes the coordination of policies

answer

both time-consuming and difficult.

question

Proposals to reorganize the government in order to solve the problem of bureaucratic fragmentation

answer

are often opposed by agencies not wanting to be submerged within a broader bureaucratic unit.

question

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was successfully implemented thanks to its

answer

clear goal, its clear methods to achieve the goal, and its lack of bureaucratic fragmentation.

question

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was successful for all of the following reasons EXCEPT its goal was clear; its implementation was straightforward; the authority of the implementors was plain; it was universally supported.

answer

it was universally supported

question

The use of government authority to control or change some practice in the private sector is known as

answer

regulation.

question

The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector is called

answer

regulation

question

Until 1887, the federal government made ________ regulatory policies and had no regulatory agencies.

answer

almost no

question

In the case of Munn v. Illinois, decided in 1877, the United States Supreme Court

answer

upheld the right of government to regulate the business operations of a firm

question

Most regulatory agencies adopt specific ________ to carry out a policy, based on what they believe was the intended purpose of the specific policy at hand.

answer

guidelines

question

Whatever strategy Congress permits a regulatory agency to use, all regulation contains the following elements EXCEPT A) some means of enforcing compliance. B) a grant of power and set of directions from Congress. C) a set of rules and guidelines by the regulatory agency itself. D) an incentive system to maximize performance by those regulated.

answer

an incentive system to maximize performance by those regulated

question

When Congress passes regulatory legislation for which it has established goals, it then

answer

grants power to regulatory agencies to develop guidelines and enforce compliance

question

One proposed solution to the ʺproblemʺ of the proliferation of regulatory agencies and policies has been

answer

deregulation

question

Deregulation has resulted, at least in part, in each of the following EXCEPT A) environmental damage. B) the proliferation of government agencies. C) competitive airline fares. D) an expensive bailout of the savings and loan industry. E) less government oversight in some key areas.

answer

the proliferation of government agencies.

question

Each of the following is a criticism of regulation EXCEPT that it A) lowers prices. B) does not work. C) distorts market forces. D) is too complex. E) gives bureaucrats too much power.

answer

lowers prices

question

Most of the government is composed of

answer

bureaucrats

question

Executive orders are issued by

answer

the president

question

Can the President rewrite statutes to make instructions clearer as to how policies are intended

answer

no

question

true or false: Congress has found it easy to control the bureaucracy

answer

false

question

Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through

answer

rewriting legislation, influencing the appointment of agency heads, holding hearings.

question

To limit bureaucratic discretion and make its instructions clearer, Congress can

answer

write new and more detailed legislation

question

As the oversight powers of Congress in regard to the bureaucracy have become more vigorous,

answer

ʺiron trianglesʺ have weakened considerably.

question

A major problem for presidents and Congress in controlling bureaucracies is the existence of

answer

ʺiron triangles.ʺ

question

An ʺiron triangleʺ is also referred to as

answer

a subgovernment.

question

An ʺiron triangleʺ consists of

answer

a bureaucratic agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee or subcommittee.

question

A(n) ________ consists of an administrative agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee or subcommittee.

answer

ʺiron triangleʺ

question

ʺIron trianglesʺ face challenges from a growing number of

answer

issue networks

question

____ is a growing participatory force in bureaucratic decision making whose membersʹ interest in issues is intellectual or emotional rather than material.

answer

Issue networks

question

Subgovernments promote

answer

decentralized and fragmented policymaking

question

A group of participants in bureaucratic policymaking with technical policy expertise and intellectual and emotional commitment to the issue is called

answer

issue network.

question

Which of the following is NOT an area in which an ʺiron triangleʺ has controlled federal policy over the past several decades? A) nuclear power policy B) environmental policy C) pesticide policy D) smoking & tobacco policy

answer

environmental policy

question

ʺIron trianglesʺ are composed of

answer

bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees

question

In 1887, Congress established the first regulatory agency, the ________, and charged it with regulating the railroads, their prices, and their services to farmers.

answer

Interstate Commerce Commission

question

true or false: When the president and Congress chose to deregulate certain areas of the economy or cut taxes, the bureaucracy prevented them from doing so.

answer

false

question

According to Max Weber, a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principle, and behaves with impersonality. It governs modern states.

answer

bureaucracy

question

One of the key inducements used by political machines. A patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.

answer

patronage

question

Passed in 1883, an Act that created a federal civil service so that hiring and promotion would be based on merit rather than patronage.

answer

Pendleton Civil Service Act

question

A system of hiring and promotion based on the merit principle and the desire to create a nonpartisan government service.

answer

civil service

question

The idea that hiring should be based on entrance exams and promotion ratings to produce administration by people with talent and skill.

answer

merit principle

question

A federal law prohibiting government employees from active participation in partisan politics.

answer

Hatch Act

question

The office in charge of hiring for most agencies of the federal government, using elaborate rules in the process.

answer

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

question

A schedule for federal employees, ranging from 1 to 18, by which salaries can be keyed to rating and experience.

answer

GS (General Schedule) rating

question

An elite cadre of about 9,000 federal government managers, established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, who are mostly career officials but include some political appointees who do not require Senate confirmation.

answer

Senior Executive Service (SES)

question

A government agency responsible for some sector of the economy, making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest. It also judges disputes over these rules.

answer

independent regulatory agency

question

A government organization that, like business corporations, provides a service that could be provided by the private sector and typically charges for its services. The U.S. Postal Service is an example

answer

government corporations

question

The government not accounted for by cabinet departments, independent regulatory agencies, and government corporations. Its administrators are typically appointed by the president and serve at the president's pleasure. NASA is an example

answer

independent executive agency

question

The stage of policymaking between the establishment of a policy and the consequences of the policy for the people whom it affects. It involves translating the goals and objectives of a policy into an operating, ongoing program.

answer

policy implementation

question

These are used by bureaucrats to bring uniformity to complex organizations. Uniformity improves fairness and makes personnel interchangeable.

answer

standard operating procedures (SOPs)

question

The authority of administrative actors to select among various responses to a given problem. It is greatest when routines, or standard operating procedures, do not fit a case.

answer

administrative discretion

question

A phrase coined by Michael Lipsky, referring to those bureaucrats who are in constant contact with the public and have considerable administrative discretion.

answer

street-level bureaucrats

question

The use of governmental authority to control or change some practice in the private sector. They pervade the daily lives of people and institutions.

answer

regulation

question

According to Charles Schultze, the existing system of regulation whereby government tells business how to reach certain goals, checks that these commands are followed, and punishes offenders

answer

command-and-control policy

question

According to Charles Schultze, a more effective and efficient policy than command-and-control; in the incentive system, market-like strategies are used to manage public policy.

answer

incentive system

question

The lifting of restrictions on business, industry, and professional activities for which government rules had been established and that bureaucracies had been created to administer.

answer

deregulation

question

Regulations originating from the executive branch. They are one method presidents can use to control the bureaucracy.

answer

executive orders

question

A mutually dependent relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees or subcommittees. They dominate some areas of domestic policymaking.

answer

iron triangles

The Federal Bureaucracy Chapter 15 – Flashcards

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