U.S. GOV. FINAL EXAM CHAP 13 – Flashcards
60 test answers
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answers 60question
The success of the British with respect to defending their ships from U-boats was based on
answer
c. centralization and communication.
Unlock the answer
question
As measured by comparing U.S. government expenditures as a proportion of all economic activity, the United States
answer
b. has one of the smallest governments among Western democracies.
Unlock the answer
question
Government regulation of business grew in response to the realization that
answer
a. a laissez-faire approach does not always result in competitive markets.
Unlock the answer
question
8. One of the reasons why bureaucracies are much larger in other countries is that
answer
c. they offer more social services, such as government-paid health care.
Unlock the answer
question
9. ______________ is not a reason cited by the text for the growth of government?
answer
c. Election and appointment of "left-leaning Social Democratic" government officials
Unlock the answer
question
10. The government began to take steps to provide income security in the wake of
answer
c. the Great Depression.
Unlock the answer
question
11. Social Security was instituted by the government in the
answer
c. 1960s.
Unlock the answer
question
12. In response to the constant cry for reduction in the size of the bureaucracy, the government typically
answer
a. reduces the number of bureaucrats.d. turns over jobs to nonprofit organizations or private contractors.
Unlock the answer
question
13. __________ created new bureaucracies to administer new programs for health care and oversight of the financial services industry.
answer
b. Barack Obama
Unlock the answer
question
14. The Department of ________ is the largest government department in terms of number of employees.
answer
Defense
Unlock the answer
question
15. The biggest units of the executive branch are termed _________ and are headed by __________.
answer
e. departments; secretaries
Unlock the answer
question
16. The CIA is a good example of a federal
answer
a. independent agency.
Unlock the answer
question
17. The larger governmental departments tend to focus on the nation's
answer
a. security.
Unlock the answer
question
18. Which of the following departments has the highest number of civilian employees?
answer
b. Veterans Affairs
Unlock the answer
question
19. Regulatory commissions are usually run with an odd number of commissioners
answer
b. to prevent tie votes.
Unlock the answer
question
20. Government corporations are best described as
answer
d. government agencies that provide services that could be provided by the private sector.
Unlock the answer
question
21. Government corporations are most likely to be created when a service is for the public good and
answer
c. there is the danger of corporate monopoly if the government fails to act.
Unlock the answer
question
22. The U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak are examples of
answer
d. government corporations.
Unlock the answer
question
23. The national bureaucracy is staffed by roughly 2. 8 million civilian employees, who account for about __________ percent of the U.S. work force.
answer
a. 2
Unlock the answer
question
24. The civil service was created after President Garfield was assassinated by a(n)
answer
c. mentally unbalanced job seeker.
Unlock the answer
question
25. The purpose of the Pendleton Act of 1883 was to
answer
e. reduce patronage by creating a civil service.
Unlock the answer
question
26. The civil service system was created to
answer
a. ensure equal partisanship in filling government jobs.
Unlock the answer
question
27. The central feature of the civil service system is
answer
b. the fitting of job openings to agencies' needs.
Unlock the answer
question
A president can appoint about three thousand people to jobs in their administration, which represents __________ of all executive branch employees.
answer
c. less than 1 percent
Unlock the answer
question
29. Presidential appointees in the executive branch fill the top policymaking positions in government, and some 1000 of them require
answer
d. U.S. Senate confirmation.
Unlock the answer
question
30. The bureaucracy may not be fully responsive to a president's wishes because
answer
a. pluralist pressures may pull the agency in a direction other than that favored by the president.
Unlock the answer
question
31. In recent years, morale of government employees has
answer
a. declined, in part because of congressional budget actions.
Unlock the answer
question
32. Presidents can exert considerable influence over agency policymaking by
answer
a. appointing administrators sympathetic to their policy goals.
Unlock the answer
question
33. According to the text, a primary reason for low morale among federal employees is
answer
b. budget cuts resulting in staff reductions with no corresponding work output expectations.
Unlock the answer
question
34. New cabinet departments or agencies can be created
answer
c. by congressional law.
Unlock the answer
question
35. Committees can "punish" an agency by
answer
d. cutting its budget, altering a key program, and holding up the confirmation of nominees.
Unlock the answer
question
36. The legal powers of bureaucratic agencies derive from
answer
c. a constitutional mandate.
Unlock the answer
question
37. Congress has a tendency to grant _________ discretion to those agencies involved in domestic and global security.
answer
a. the broadest range of
Unlock the answer
question
An example of the broad power available to federal agencies in 2013 was the FDA banning ________ from foods.
answer
e. trans fats
Unlock the answer
question
39. Rules that guide the operation of government programs are termed
answer
regulations
Unlock the answer
question
After an ExpressJet flight kept 47 passengers on board an aircraft overnight in Rochester, New York, the Department of Transportation announced a new set of rules limiting tarmac waits to
answer
c. no more than three hours.
Unlock the answer
question
The airline industry claimed that the new Department of Transportation rules limiting passenger tarmac waits on a plane would
answer
a. create longer delays.
Unlock the answer
question
As a result of numerous high-profile incidents, at the end of 2009 the Department of Transportation issued regulations that
answer
e. had the effect of reducing extended tarmac delays to nearly zero.
Unlock the answer
question
Which of the following is not accurate with respect to the ideal, rational decision-making process described by Charles Lindblom?
answer
d. It represents the typical behavior of government decision-makers.
Unlock the answer
question
44. The rational-comprehensive model of policymaking is unrealistic because
answer
a. it is difficult for policymakers to define precise values and goals.
Unlock the answer
question
45. Often, the theoretically correct, or rational, policy is not enacted because
answer
e. the "right" policy is politically unacceptable.
Unlock the answer
question
According to Charles Lindblom, policymaking tends to be characterized by ________, with policies and programs changing bit by bit, step-by-step.
answer
c. incrementalism
Unlock the answer
question
47. According to the text, the Obama administration's bailout of the financial services industry was
answer
e. an example of government intervention that was to be expected, given recent antecedents in current policy.
Unlock the answer
question
In implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), school administrators frequently offer families fewer services than the law calls for because
answer
c. school administrators don't have enough money to provide services to all qualifying students.
Unlock the answer
question
49. Bureaucrats "go by the book" because
answer
d. they operate only within their narrow specialization.
Unlock the answer
question
50. During the Bush administrations struggle against terrorism,
answer
a. many suspected terrorists were subjected to torture, though some were not actually involved in terrorism.
Unlock the answer
question
51. Implementation of policies is often difficult because of all but which of the following reasons?
answer
e. After policies are implemented, they must still undergo the development stage.
Unlock the answer
question
52. Putting specific policies into operation is known as _____________.
answer
implementation
Unlock the answer
question
53. Among the important reasons government programs are not implemented successfully is that
answer
. the government sometimes attempts to implement programs that are not well-suited to bureaucracies.
Unlock the answer
question
Because they believe it will promote efficiency and a growing economy, _________ have been champions of deregulation.
answer
c. conservatives.
Unlock the answer
question
The thorough and lengthy process the FDA uses to evaluate drugs was validated by the controversy involving
answer
c. thalidomide.
Unlock the answer
question
56. Upon taking office, Barack Obama's regulatory agencies
answer
a. began to issue regulations at a faster rate than George W. Bush's agencies.
Unlock the answer
question
___________________ is not one of the reasons government has continued to expand the extent of its regulatory authority.
answer
b. Enforcing consistent regulatory standards among the states
Unlock the answer
question
If Google actually produces a driverless car, the text anticipates that government will be quick to regulate it because
answer
c. safety this new technology would have to be monitored.
Unlock the answer
question
59. Which act held agencies accountable for their performance?
answer
a. The Government Performance and Results Act
Unlock the answer
question
60. One significant difficulty with the initial No Child Left Behind law was that
answer
d. states were allowed to set their own standards for what constituted acceptable student performance
Unlock the answer
