GOV - Unit 8

Another before-the-fact control that Congress can exercise is in the _____ , although the Senate can only veto them, not actually appoint them.

a. Appointment of justices

b. Nomination of governors

c. Firing of agency heads

d. Appointment of agency heads

Appointment of agency heads

Which ONE of the following is NOT a task or responsibility of Cabinet secretaries?

a. Helping the president approve laws

b. Heading their own departments

c. Acting as presidential advisers

d. Directing their department's policy for overseeing its operation

Helping the president approve laws

Which ONE of the following is NOT a correct example of an independent agency under the United States bureaucracy?

a. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

b. United States Postal Service

c. Federal Reserve System

d. Central Intelligence Agency

United States Postal Service

Which THREE of the following are specific important functions of bureaucrats?

a. To decide on court cases

b. To settle disputes through administrative adjudication

c. To implement laws that Congress writes

d. To make and enforce their own rules

1. To settle disputes through administrative adjudication

2. To implement laws that Congress writes

3. To make and enforce their own rules

Which of the following is Congress' own watchdog organization that checks on how the bureaucracies are spending their money?

a. Department of Finance

b. Government Accountability Office

c. National Economic Council

d. National Budget Office

Government Accountability Office

Congress delegates substantial authority to administrative agencies in several areas EXCEPT for which ONE of the following?

a. Paying subsidies

b. Creating bureaucratic organizations

c. Transferring money to state and local governments for grants-in-aid

d. Devising and enforcing regulations

Creating bureaucratic organizations

Civil service examinees must meet which THREE of the following selection criteria?

a. Training

b. Education levels

c. Gender

d. Prior experience

1. Training

2. Education levels

3. Prior experience

Which of the following regulates hiring and testing of 90% of federal bureaucrats through a written examination administered by the Office of Personnel Management, where examinees need to meet selected criteria such as training, education levels, or prior experience?

a. The civil authoritative agency

b. The civil service system

c. The federal personnel agency

d. The federal bureaucratic authority

The civil service system

One suggestion for making civil servants more accountable for their work include which of the following?

a. Keeping professionals permanently in their original seat of appointment

b. Making it harder to fire or dismiss a bureaucrat

c. Rotating professionals between agencies from outside

d. Extending appointments to 30 years

Rotating professionals between agencies from outside

Which of the following is an example of how Congress exercises authority over the federal bureaucracy?

a. By interpreting the actions of the bureaucracies in order to determine if the actions are constitutional or not

b. By reorganizing the bureaucracy

c. By confirming or rejecting presidential appointments to bureaucratic organizations

d. By hiring and firing agencies

By confirming or rejecting presidential appointments to bureaucratic organizations

Which ONE of the following statements is a violation of the Hatch Act?

a. Federal workers should not run for public office

b. Federal employees should avoid engaging in many political party activities

c. Federal employees could become officers in a political organization

d. Federal employees could not raise funds for a party or candidate

Federal employees could become officers in a political organization

Which of the following is an example of a regulatory commission, a "watchdog" that by its very nature needs to operate independently, that is not part of a department, and that the president does not have direct control?

a. Federal Communications Commission

b. United States Postal Service

c. General Services Administration

d. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Federal Communications Commission

Which of the following statements is INACCURATE about the Pendleton Act of 1883?

a. It was meant to replace patronage

b. It created a Civil Service Commission to administer the merit system

c. Today, only about 10% take the civil service exam under the Pendleton Act

d. It was a merit-based system by which federal civil service jobs are classified into grades or levels to which appointments are made on the basis of performance on competitive exams

Today, only about 10% take the civil service exam under the Pendleton Act

Which ONE of the following is NOT a U.S. Cabinet department?

a. Department of Education

b. Department of Labor

c. Department of Trade and Industry

d. Department of Homeland Security

Department of Trade and Industry

Which THREE of the following are broad types of bureaucracy?

a. Local governments

b. Independent agencies

c. Government corporations

d. Regulatory commissions

1. Independent agencies

2. Government corporations

3. Regulatory commissions

Which of the following statements is a misconception about the federal bureaucracy of the United States?

a. About 43% of the bureaucracy are women, and 28% represent minority groups

b. Even though bureaucrats work at a variety of jobs, most are white-collar workers like secretaries, clerks, lawyers, inspectors, and engineers

c. About 30% of the civilian employees work for the Air Force, Army, Navy, or some other defense agency

d. About 90% of bureaucrats work in the Washington, D.C. area

About 90% of bureaucrats work in the Washington, D.C. area

Which one of the following is NOT a reason why the people have a negative opinion of the bureaucratic system?

a. The bureaucracy has a tendency to create long lines

b. The bureaucracy has a tendency to cause federal shutdowns

c. The bureaucracy consists of voters who caters to the administration

d. The bureaucracy has excessive amounts of paperwork

The bureaucracy consists of voters who caters to the administration

Which of the following characterizes patronage?

a. A system of rewarding friends and political allies in exchange for their support

b. A system of giving grants to destitute schools and neighborhoods

c. A system of punishing friends and political allies for launching oppositions to presidential decisions

d. A system of offering gifts to political allies in exchange for deals

A system of rewarding friends and political allies in exchange for their support

Devolution is when Congress does which of the following?

a. Eliminates the task of regulation by a federal agency

b. Shifts the task or burden of regulation from a federal agency to the electors

c. Shifts the task or burden of regulation from a federal agency to states and local municipalities

d. Orders the president to take over the task of regulation from a federal agency

Shifts the task or burden of regulation from a federal agency to states and local municipalities

Which of the following is a way to scale back bureaucracy by turning over bureaucratic functions to private entities?

a. Economization

b. Scaling

c. Privatization

d. Commerce

Privatization

Which of the following is when Congress limits the number of regulations that an agency is allowed to enforce?

a. Regulation

b. Nomination

c. Deregulation

d. Termination

Deregulation

Each cabinet department is headed by a Secretary who sits on the President’s Cabinet, with the exception of the Justice Department, headed by which of the following?

a. Secretary of Justice

b. Attorney General

c. Attorney-at-law

d. Supreme Court justice

Attorney General

According to the Iron Triangle Theory, which ONE of the following statements is INACCURATE?

a. Both lobbyists and bureaucrats value contact with congressional subcommittees that shape the laws that govern their interests

b. Agencies and departments usually keep close contacts with interest group lobbyists who want to influence their actions

c. The president makes sure that his departments are working side by side with interest groups and government agencies

d. Interest groups may provide valuable statistics to government agencies, and they are motivated to have their point of view heard

The president makes sure that his departments are working side by side with interest groups and government agencies

Which TWO of the following are ways to control bureaucracies?

a. Seeking to shrink the size and number of bureaucracies

b. Limiting the power of the president to create more bureaucracies

c. Preventing bureaucrats from making laws

d. Seeking to limit the discretion of bureaucrats

1. Seeking to shrink the size and number of bureaucracies

2. Seeking to limit the discretion of bureaucrats

Which of the following were the original three bureaucracies of the federal government?

a. Defense, Education, and Justice

b. State, Defense, and Economics

c. State, Treasury, and War

d. Treasury, Housing, and State

State, Treasury, and War

Which ONE of the following features does NOT characterize American bureaucracy?

a. It measures productivity for success through evaluation of work based on rules and clear expectations

b. It follows a strict division of labor wherein work is apportioned among specialized workers to increase productivity

c. It has the characteristics of a hierarchy where authority flows in a chain of command

d. It embraces partiality where employees are treated based on patronage and clients are served sometimes with discrimination

It embraces partiality where employees are treated based on patronage and clients are served sometimes with discrimination

Which ONE of the following is NOT a characteristic of a model bureaucracy?

a. There is merit-based hiring and promotion; no granting of jobs to friends or family unless they are the best qualified

b. Employee's job performance is judged by productivity, or how much work an individual gets done

c. There are clearly written, well-established formal rules that all people in the organization follow

d. There is no clear division of labor but each individual can accomplish any given task

There is no clear division of labor but each individual can accomplish any given task

The maze of government rules, regulations, and paperwork that make government so overwhelming to citizens that many people try to avoid any contact is a common complaint about bureaucracy known as which of the following?

a. Red tape

b. Blue tape

c. White maze

d. Yellow maze

Red tape

Which ONE of the following correctly describes “government corporations”?

a. They closely resemble Cabinet departments, but are smaller and less complex

b. They are businesses created by Congress, and they charge fees for their services

c. They regulate large industries and businesses that affect the interests of the public

d. Congress creates them as separate agencies for practical and symbolic reasons

They are businesses created by Congress, and they charge fees for their services

One suggestion for making civil servants more accountable for their work include which of the following?

a. Extending appointments to 30 years

b. Keeping professionals permanently in their original seat of appointment

c. Rotating professionals between agencies from outside

d. Making it harder to fire or dismiss a bureaucrat

Rotating professionals between agencies from outside