Bureaucracy Citizens as Owners and Chapter 13 Full Test Bank

AM GOV 2019-2020, 6e (Losco)

Chapter 13 Bureaucracy: Citizens as Owners and Consumers

1) Current student loan debt is

A) about $200 billion.

B) about $400 billion.

C) less than $500 billion.

D) less than $700 billion.

E) over $1 trillion.

2) Under which type of student loan plan does the federal government loan money or guarantee loans to students that are disbursed by colleges?

A) direct government plan only

B) FFEL plan only

C) private loans plan only

D) direct plan and FFEL plan only

E) FFEL plan and private loans plan only

3) What action did the Trump administration take with respect to student loan policy in its first year?

A) It made it harder for students defrauded by for-profit colleges to qualify for federal loan relief.

B) It made it easier for students defrauded by for-profit colleges to qualify for federal loan relief.

C) It initiated a student debt consolidation plan.

D) It expanded the federal government's role in student loans by adding several new classes of loan programs.

E) It placed new restrictions on what types of private companies would be federally authorized to offer student loans.

4) Which of the following statements about the federal bureaucracy is LEAST accurate?

A) When the republic was founded, a large plantation would have required more workers than the federal government's bureaucracy.

B) Recognizing the importance a bureaucracy would acquire, the authors of the Constitution carefully delineated the powers and responsibilities the federal bureaucracy would possess.

C) The size of the federal bureaucracy tends to grow during times of national crisis.

D) The federal bureaucracy tends to increase in size in response to the public's increasing demands for services.

E) In the normal course of history, factors compelling the expansion of the federal bureaucracy have outnumbered factors compelling its diminishment.

5) Which president implemented policies that led to a dramatic reduction in the number of federal employees?

A) Franklin Roosevelt

B) Richard Nixon

C) Ronald Reagan

D) Bill Clinton

E) George W. Bush

6) The bureaucracy of the federal government saw its greatest expansion

A) during the Civil War.

B) during the Progressive Era.

C) during the Great Depression.

D) during the Reagan Revolution.

E) under President Bill Clinton.

7) Which period in American history is most associated with filling positions in the federal bureaucracy primarily with prominent gentlemen?

A) the late eighteenth century

B) the mid-nineteenth century

C) the late nineteenth century

D) the mid-twentieth century

E) the late twentieth century

8) Which president is most associated with a defense of assigning government posts on the basis of patronage instead of competency?

A) George Washington

B) Andrew Jackson

C) James Garfield

D) Franklin Roosevelt

E) Bill Clinton

9) Which period in American history is most associated with the idea that positions in the federal government should be awarded to party faithful as the "spoils" of victory?

A) the late eighteenth century

B) the early nineteenth century

C) the late nineteenth century

D) the mid-twentieth century

E) the late twentieth century

10) Which president was assassinated by a frustrated job seeker?

A) William Henry Harrison

B) Abraham Lincoln

C) James Garfield

D) William McKinley

E) John Kennedy

11) Which period in American history is most associated with a movement to replace patronage with a merit-based civil service system?

A) the late eighteenth century

B) the mid-nineteenth century

C) the late nineteenth century

D) the mid-twentieth century

E) the late twentieth century

12) Where the merit system begun by the Pendleton Act initially only affected 10 percent of federal executive branch employees, it now covers

A) 60 percent.

B) 70 percent.

C) 80 percent.

D) 90 percent.

E) 100 percent.

13) Which period in American history saw the federal civil service adopt its current emphasis on professionalism?

A) the late eighteenth century

B) the mid-nineteenth century

C) the late nineteenth century

D) the mid-twentieth century

E) the late twentieth century

14) Which period in American history is most associated with a movement to run the civil service like a business and treat citizens as consumers?

A) the late eighteenth century

B) the mid-nineteenth century

C) the late nineteenth century

D) the mid-twentieth century

E) the late twentieth century

15) The typical bureaucracy is characterized by all of the following traits EXCEPT

A) a hierarchical structure.

B) a clear chain of command.

C) formal rules and procedures.

D) individual flexibility.

E) a division of labor.

16) Which of the following is NOT one of the ways in which private bureaucracies differ from public ones?

A) Public bureaucracies serve the entire American people, while private bureaucracies primarily serve their stockholders.

B) Private bureaucracies have fewer bosses to whom they must report.

C) Unlike private bureaucracies, public bureaucracies do not rely on job specialization.

D) Profit-making is not the primary goal of public bureaucracies.

E) The goods produced by public bureaucracies are generally less tangible and easier to take for granted than those produced by private bureaucracies.

17) Which of the following is NOT an example of a bureaucratic pathology?

A) a government agency's drive to expand and increase its responsibilities

B) failure to adapt swiftly when conditions warrant such changes

C) focusing on the task at hand to such an extent that other legitimate citizen concerns are neglected

D) an agency's focus on the interests of the public at large instead of focus on a group it is charged with overseeing or serving

E) a government agency's display of favoritism for the interests of the groups it is supposed to oversee

18) The Social Security Administration was given status as an independent executive agency in 1994 to

A) ensure its administration would not be partisan.

B) increase presidential control. 

C) reduce bureaucratic costs.

D) streamline its management.

E) increase congressional control over its operation.

19) Who was the first president to appoint a woman to his cabinet?

A) Woodrow Wilson

B) Franklin Roosevelt

C) Lyndon Johnson

D) Ronald Reagan

E) Bill Clinton

20) Who was the first president to appoint an African American man to his cabinet?

A) Woodrow Wilson

B) Franklin Roosevelt

C) Lyndon Johnson

D) Ronald Reagan

E) Bill Clinton

21) Which of the following statements about political appointees is LEAST accurate?

A) Although women and minorities are regularly appointed to head less visible departments, prestigious positions such as Secretary of State or secretary of labor remain the exclusive preserve of white men.

B) The president has the power to nominate nearly 3,000 political appointees, most of whom must receive the Senate's approval.

C) Political appointees generally fill positions in which they shape policy, rather than positions in which they put the policy into actual effect.

D) Political appointees are chosen not only on the basis of their managerial skills or expert knowledge, but also for their ideological beliefs and proven loyalty to the president's party.

E) Political appointees usually only hold a position for an average of twenty-four months before moving on to other things.

22) Excluding postal workers and contractors, roughly how many civil servants does the federal bureaucracy currently employ?

A) 85,000

B) over 200,000

C) about 850,000

D) just under 2,000,000

E) 8,500,000

23) Military contractors such as Blackwater USA, which the federal government hires to perform necessary tasks through contracts, are examples of

A) proxy administration.

B) line organizations.

C) government corporations.

D) independent regulatory agencies.

E) government-sponsored enterprise.

24) Which of the following statements about the career civil service is most accurate?

A) Most civil servants are young people from blue-collar backgrounds who work a few years in the government before moving on to the private sector.

B) In order to ensure that the federal government operates as effectively as possible, federal regulations make it easy to fire incompetent civil servants.

C) As government employees, few civil servants have the power to form unions and bargain collectively.

D) Civil servants may neither run for elected office (partisan or nonpartisan) nor contribute to an electoral campaign.

E) Civil servants are paid according to where they rank on a numerical General Schedule rating system.

25) Which of the following statements about the federal bureaucracy's rule-making powers is LEAST accurate?

A) Bureaucratic agencies are often tasked with drafting specific rules to meet general guidelines established by Congress.

B) Bureaucratic agencies must post a notice in the Federal Register before they can put a new rule into effect.

C) The bureaucratic agents who are tasked with drafting many of the rules that put congressional policy into action are not elected by the American people.

D) The public is allowed to submit written proposals to an agency that is drafting new rules.

E) As the federal bureaucracy has expanded over the past fifty years, it has grown more distant from the American people and less willing to give them a voice in rule making.

26) A proposed new rule by a government agency must first be

A) announced on the floor of both houses of Congress.

B) personally approved by the president and appear with the president's signature.

C) published in the Federal Register.

D) approved by the Congressional Budget Office.

E) appear in the twenty newspapers with the largest daily circulation.

27) The two oldest cabinet departments are the Departments of State and

A) the Treasury.

B) the Interior.

C) Agriculture.

D) Commerce.

E) Transportation.

28) The most recent cabinet department is the Department of

A) Housing and Urban Development.

B) Veteran Affairs.

C) Homeland Security.

D) Transportation.

E) Energy.

29) Because they report directly to the president, the cabinet departments are classified as

A) proxy administration.

B) line organizations.

C) government corporations.

D) independent regulatory agencies.

E) government-sponsored enterprise.

30) The SEC and FCC are examples of

A) proxy administration.

B) line organizations.

C) government corporations.

D) independent regulatory agencies.

E) government-sponsored enterprise.

31) The Postal Service, which was created by Congress and which retains all profits rather than distributing them among shareholders, is an example of

A) a proxy administration.

B) a line organization.

C) a government corporation.

D) an independent regulatory agency.

E) a government-sponsored enterprise.

32) What is the largest government corporation?

A) Post Office

B) TVA

C) Amtrak

D) EX-IM Bank

E) FDIC

33) All of the following are examples of independent executive agencies EXCEPT

A) the CIA.

B) the National Science Foundation.

C) the U.S. Postal Service.

D) NASA.

E) the Social Security Administration.

34) Which of the following is NOT an example of an independent regulatory agency?

A) National Labor Relations Board

B) Federal Reserve System Board of Governors

C) Social Security Administration

D) Environmental Protection Agency

E) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

35) All of the following are examples of government corporations EXCEPT

A) the FBI.

B) the TVA.

C) Amtrak.

D) the EX-IM Bank.

E) the FDIC.

36) Government-sponsored enterprises are primarily responsible to

A) the Office of Management and Budget.

B) shareholders.

C) Congress.

D) the Executive Office of the President.

E) the electorate.

37) Which of the following statements about external support for federal bureaucracies is LEAST accurate?

A) Federal agencies try to cultivate cordial relations with the president.

B) As elements of the executive branch, federal agencies have no need to maintain a good relationship with Congress.

C) Federal agencies must be wary of the media, because their tendency to report negative stories might harm the agencies' standing.

D) Federal agencies find it important to maintain good relations with the constituency they are supposed to oversee or regulate.

E) Federal agencies have found that they can wield more power if they maintain a favorable public image.

38) Which of the following statements about the power wielded by federal bureaucracies is LEAST accurate?

A) Lawmakers are often dependent on the technical expertise of federal bureaucrats.

B) Because of their arcane knowledge, bureaucrats are often given wide latitude in fleshing out the details of laws.

C) The long tenure enjoyed by most civil servants increases political officials' dependence on them.

D) Bureaucratic leaders cultivate the personal commitment of their employees in order to make their departments more effective.

E) The most effective check on the power of civil servants is presidential appointees, who serve as their bosses and who can easily fire them if they do not follow the president's ideological dictates.

39) The 2013 federal government shutdown

A) had little impact on most government bureaucracies.

B) was blamed by the public primarily on Republicans.

C) led to a significant increase in private-sector employment.

D) lasted less than a week.

E) All of these answers are correct.

40) The Supreme Court has ruled that the power of Congress to legislate implies the power to

A) merge one or more agencies together.

B) apply or remove merit appointment status to an agency's employees.

C) remove agency leaders.

D) disband agencies.

E) conduct investigations of agencies.

41) Which federal agency was accused of creating a "culture of coziness" between senior agency officials and those they were charged with regulating?

A) TSA

B) FCC

C) FAA

D) BIA

E) NSF

42) Congressional checks on federal bureaucracies include all of the following powers EXCEPT for the ability to

A) add sunset provisions to laws.

B) appoint and fire agency heads.

C) veto certain bureaucratic interpretations of a given law.

D) cut an agency's budget.

E) conduct investigations into an agency's performance.

43) What did the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 create?

A) the Senior Executive Service

B) the Office of Management and Budget

C) the Executive Office of the President

D) the Department of the Interior

E) the merit system of civil service hiring

44) Which of the following statements about the Senior Executive Service is LEAST accurate?

A) It was established to give federal agencies greater freedom from the presidency.

B) It is staffed by persons who specialize in managing public agencies.

C) Instead of working their entire careers at one agency, senior executives may be transferred to another agency where their skills are needed more.

D) Members of the SES currently fill most of the top managerial positions in the federal bureaucracy.

E) There are over 6,000 members of the SES in the government today.

45) The Executive Office of the President allows the president to

A) submit bureaucratic reorganization plans to Congress.

B) establish new federal agencies at the president's discretion.

C) dissolve federal agencies at the president's discretion.

D) fire civil servants without cause in order to make room for political appointees.

E) bypass a given agency in order to facilitate policy implementation.

46) Which of the following statements about presidents and the federal bureaucracy is LEAST accurate?

A) The president has the power to appoint some minor executive branch officials without approval by the Senate.

B) The president has the sole power to fire political appointees.

C) The president has the sole power to fire heads of independent regulatory commissions.

D) The president cannot fire the vast majority of bureaucrats, who hold protected civil service jobs.

E) Presidents who appoint officials primarily based on loyalty sometimes find that such appointments cause more harm than good.

47) The president's Office of Management and Budget has the power to do all of the following EXCEPT

A) assign budget limits to federal agencies.

B) remove unpopular heads of independent regulatory agencies.

C) review requests for budgetary changes.

D) block an agency's legislative proposal from reaching Congress.

E) block an agency from issuing a major rule.

48) Which of the following is true of the courts' control over the federal bureaucracy?

A) The courts tend to oppose the actions of the bureaucrats when a lawsuit is filed.

B) Their control is more direct than that held by the legislature.

C) Their control is more direct than the control held by the executive.

D) They can intervene only if an aggrieved party files a lawsuit against an administrative agency.

E) They can intervene if the president asks them to review the practices of a particular agency.

49) Which of the following statements about whistle-blowing is most accurate?

A) It is a common practice and one of the most consistent checks on executive abuse.

B) While whistle-blowing is a theoretical possibility, there are no instances of it in American history.

C) Congress has offered financial rewards to whistle-blowers in some instances.

D) Most civil servants view whistle-blowing as an excellent career move that will help them jump several GS grades.

E) In order to maintain smoothly-functioning bureaucracies, Congress has made most instances of whistle-blowing illegal.

50) Describe America's federal bureaucracy and how it has developed throughout its history. What major changes has it undergone? What internal and external factors produced these changes? How does the character of the federal bureaucracy at a given time reflect the character of the American public and its political ideas of the same time?

51) Is there a defense to be made for arrangements like the spoils system, which might seem self-evidently ill-advised to modern eyes?

52) German sociologist Max Weber developed the five principles of a competent and efficient bureaucracy. What are these five principles and how do they contribute to a competent and efficient bureaucracy?

53) Describe the general characteristics of a bureaucracy. What are the strengths and weaknesses of a bureaucratic structure? What are the pathologies to which bureaucracies are prone? Is there a feasible way to avoid these pathologies, or are they intrinsic to the nature of bureaucracies?

54) How do public bureaucracies differ from private ones? Would the government function better, as many have suggested, if it was run more like a private bureaucracy?

55) Discuss bureaucracies and accountability. How democratic is the federal bureaucracy? Why are federal bureaucrats so hard to remove from office? What measures have been adopted in recent years to make bureaucracies more receptive to the will of the people?

56) Discuss the people who work within federal bureaucracies. What distinguishes civil servants from political appointees? What are the respective duties of these two types of federal workers? Who has the most influence and power, civil servants or political appointees?

57) Describe the different types of executive agencies and explain their powers and limitations.

58) How do Congress, the president, and the public curb the powers of federal agencies? How do those agencies try to avoid or overcome those limitations?