Chapter Fifteen: The Bureaucracy - Practice Questions Flashcards
(14 cards)
During George Washington’s administration, there were ___ cabinet positions.
a) four
b) five
c) six
d) seven
a) four
The “spoils system” allocated political appointments on the basis of ___.
a) merit
b) background
c) party loyalty
d) specialized education
c) party loyalty
Two recent periods of large-scale bureaucratic expansion were ___.
a) the 1930s and the 1960s
b) the 1920s and the 1980s
c) the 1910s and the 1990s
d) the 1930s and the 1950s
a) the 1930s and the 1960s
Briefly explain the underlying reason for the emergence of the spoils system.
The Civil Service Commission was created by the ___.
a) Pendleton Act of 1883
b) Lloyd-La Follette Act of 1912
c) Hatch Act of 1939
d) Political Activities Act of 1939
a) Pendleton Act of 1883
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 created the Office of Personnel Management and the ___.
a) Civil Service Commission
b) Merit System Protection Board
c) spoils system
d) General Schedule
b) Merit Systems Protection Board
Briefly explain the benefits and drawbacks of a merit system.
Describe the ideal bureaucracy according to Max Weber.
a) an apolitical, hierarchal organized agency
b) an organization that competes with other bureaucracies for funding
c) a wasteful, poorly organized agency
d) an agency that shows clear electoral responsiveness
a) an apolitical, hierarchically organized agency
What model of bureaucracy best accounts for the way bureaucracies tend to push Congress for more funding each year?
a) the Weberian model
b) the acquisitive model
c) the monopolistic model
d) the ideal model
b) the acquisitive model
An example of a government corporation is ___.
a) NASA
b) the State Department
c) Amtrak
d) the CIA
NASA
Briefly explain why the government might create a government corporation.
The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 helps citizens exercise oversight over the bureaucracy by ___.
a) empowering Congress
b) opening government records to citizen scrutiny
c) requiring annual evaluations by the president
d) forcing agencies to hold public meetings
b) opening government records to citizen scrutiny
When reformers speak of bureaucratic privatization, they mean all of the following processes except ___.
a) diverstiture
b) government grants
c) whistleblowing
d) third-party financing
b) government grants
Briefly explain the advantages of negotiated rulemaking.
neutral advisors known as concenors put together a committee of those who have vested interests in the proposed rule, then set about devising procedures for reaching a consensus on the proposed rules
- Negotiated rulemaking is a process to propose a solution, detailing how particular federal polices, regulations, and/or programs will be implemented in the agencies.
