Chapter 15 The Federal Bureaucracy

Each bureaucratic agency is created initially by

Congress

Which of the following statements about bureaucracies is FALSE?

Each bureaucratic agency is created by the president.

Which of the following is TRUE about the federal bureaucracy?

The state and local governments have far more employees than the federal bureaucracy.

Studies have found that most Americans

are satisfied with the help received from bureaucrats.

Which of the following statements about the size of bureaucracies is FALSE?

As a percentage of Americaʹs total work force, federal government employment has been growing

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

declining.

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.

Max Weber

In addition to a hierarchical authority structure, Max Weber argued that a bureaucracy
involves all of the following EXCEPT

an incentive system

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

hierarchical.

The Weberian model depicts a bureaucracy as

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

The Weberian model views bureaucracies as

efficient and necessary.

Which of the following would NOT be considered part of the Weberian model of bureaucracy?

decentralized authority structure

Which of the following statements about bureaucracies is FALSE?

Government bureaucracies have been shown to be less efficient and effective than private bureaucracies.

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

Department of Defense

There are roughly ________ civilian and military federal government employees

4,000,000

As a whole, the permanent bureaucracy is

more broadly representative of the American people than legislators, judges, or presidential appointees

) As a whole, the permanent federal bureaucracy is

more broadly representative of the American people than the rest of the federal government.

________ 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.

The patronage system

Patronage is a hiring and promotion system based on

knowing the right people.

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

the patronage system.

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

Pendleton Civil Service

The Pendleton Act established the

federal civil service.

The rationale for all civil service systems is based on

the merit principle.

The Hatch Act, passed in 1940,

prohibits federal civil service employees from active participation in partisan politics.

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

General Schedule

The federal civil service was created by

the Pendleton Act.

The rationale for the civil service rests on the

desire to create a nonpartisan government service and promotion on the basis of merit.

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

Hatch Act.

Which of the following is a legitimate criticism of the federal civil service?

Firing incompetents is extremely difficult.

Which of the following would be included in a plum book?

Cabinet secretaries

Which of the following statements about the hiring and firing of civil servants is FALSE?

Due to the merit system, it is easy to fire incompetent civil servants.

The plum book lists

top federal jobs available by Presidential appointment.

Which of the following statements about plum book appointees is FALSE?

Plum book appointees are often instrumental in changing and reforming their agencies.

Which of the following is NOT true about presidential appointees to bureaucracies?

They must be recommended by the Office of Personnel Managementʹs ʺrule of three.ʺ

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

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

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

Interior

The real work of a Cabinet department is done

in the bureaus.

The largest federal agency based on dollars spent is the

Social Security Administration.

Which of these is the newest government agency?

Social Security Administration

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

Health and Human Services.

Bureaus in the federal bureaucracy are also known as all of the following EXCEPT

a department.

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

independent regulatory agencies.

Which of the following statements about independent regulatory commissions is FALSE?

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

An independent regulatory agency is governed by

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

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

independent regulatory agencies.

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

independent executive agencies.

Independent regulatory agencies have

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

Amtrak and the United States Postal Service are examples of

government corporations.

Government corporations

provide services and charge for them.

An obstacle to the successful implementation of public policy is

unclear policy goals and poorly designed policies.

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

its implementation.

The main job of federal bureaucrats is to

implement and regulate government policies.

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

implementation.

Which of the following is NOT a reason that policy implementation sometimes breaks down in
the federal bureaucracy?

lack of standard operating procedures

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

lack of clarity in the original policy decision.

Section 844 of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

was vaguely written, eventually resulting in scores of court cases

A major complaint of the Food and Drug Administration is

the shortage of personnel.

Which of the following is NOT true about standard operating procedures?

Each federal department and agency has a plum book which lists its standard operating procedures.

Standard operating procedures

save time and bring uniformity to complex organizations.

Standard operating procedures accomplish all of the following EXCEPT

reduce red tape.

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

Administrative discretion

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

do not directly apply to a particular situation.

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

administrative discretion.

Administrative discretion is greatest when

rules do not fit a case.

The Federal Aviation Administrationʹs protocol for for hijackings assumed that

the pilot would be able to radio air traffic controllers and alert them to the problem. the FAA would be able to pinpoint the aircraft involved. there would be enough time for the government to formulate a response. the hijackers would be motivated in part by a desire to stay alive.

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

street-level bureaucrats.

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

are called street-level bureaucrats.

Which of the following would not be considered a street-level bureaucrat?

an assistant secretary in the Department of Transportation

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

slippage is likely to occur between policy decisions and performance.

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

Bureaucrats are often fired for using too much administrative discretion.

The diffusion of responsibility within the bureaucracy

makes the coordination of policies both time-consuming and difficult.

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

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

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

was successfully implemented thanks to its clear goal, its clear methods to achieve the goal, and its lack of bureaucratic fragmentation.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was successful for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

it was universally supported.

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

regulation.

Which of the following statements about government regulation in America is accurate?

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

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

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

Until 1887, the federal government

had almost no regulatory policies.

The Supreme Court case of Munn v. Illinois (1877)

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

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.

guidelines

Whatever strategy Congress permits a regulatory agency to use, all regulation contains the
following elements EXCEPT

an incentive system to maximize performance by those regulated.

All regulations contain each of the following elements EXCEPT

presidential oversight and control of enforcement

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

grants power to regulatory agencies to develop guidelines and enforce compliance.

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

deregulation.

Deregulation has resulted, at least in part, in each of the following EXCEPT

the proliferation of government agencies.

Which of the following is NOT an accusation made against the regulatory system?

Excessive regulation contributed to the savings and loan industry disaster of the 1980s.

Each of the following is a criticism of regulation EXCEPT that it

lowers prices.

Most of the government is composed of

bureaucrats.

Executive orders are issued by

the president.

Which of the following is NOT a method a president can use to control the bureaucracy?

rewrite statutes to make instructions clearer as to how policies are intended

Which of the following statements about Congress and the bureaucracy is FALSE?

Congress has found it easy to control the bureaucracy.

Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through each of the following EXCEPT

issuing congressional orders.

Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through

rewriting laws and budgets and holding hearings.

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

write new and more detailed legislation.

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

they have also become more fragmented.

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

ʺiron triangles.ʺ

An ʺiron triangleʺ is also referred to as

a subgovernment.

An ʺiron triangleʺ consists of

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

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

ʺiron triangleʺ

ʺIron trianglesʺ face challenges from a growing number of

issue networks.

Issue networks are

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

Subgovernments promote

decentralized and fragmented policymaking.

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

an issue network.

Which of the following is NOT an area in which an ʺiron triangleʺ has controlled federal policy
over the past several decades?

environmental policy

Which of the following is NOT true about ʺiron trianglesʺ?

They are indestructible.

ʺIron trianglesʺ are composed of

bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees.

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

Interstate Commerce Commission

Which of the following statements about bureaucracies and the scope of government is
FALSE?

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