Unit 5: Bureaucracy

Question 1

What is the Federal bureaucracy?

Answer 1

All departments, agencies, commissions, and staffs that help enforce the law.

Question 2

Why has the size and scope of the Federal bureaucracy grown?

Answer 2

Government efforts to regulate the economy, the New Deal, the Great Society, and the War on Terror.

Question 3

What was the spoils system?

Answer 3

Political parties giving government jobs to supporters.

Question 4

What is patronage?

Answer 4

The practice of handing out favors.

Question 5

When did the spoils system end?

Answer 5

1883, with the Pendleton Act.

Question 6

What is the merit system?

Answer 6

A system that gives jobs based on competitive examinations.

Question 7

What did the 1939 Hatch Act do?

Answer 7

Severely limited the political activities of bureaucrats.

Question 8

What did the 1993 Federal Employees Political Activities Act do?

Answer 8

Loosened the restrictions on political activities of bureaucrats.

Question 9

How many Cabinet Departments are there currently?

Answer 9

15.

Question 10

Who heads the Cabinet Departments?

Answer 10

Secretaries, except for Justice.

Question 11

What do Secretaries do?

Answer 11

Oversee the department, establish policies, help the President make decisions, and enforce the law.

Question 12

Who supports the Secretaries?

Answer 12

Deputy or undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, and large support staffs.

Question 13

How are departments subdivided?

Answer 13

Into bureaus, divisions, sections, and other sub-units.

Question 14

What are clientele agencies?

Answer 14

Departments or sub-units designed to serve specific interest groups.

Question 15

What are government corporations?

Answer 15

Government-run businesses that charge for services.

Question 16

Why are government corporations created?

Answer 16

To fill needs that are not profitable or provide services at low rates.

Question 17

What are examples of independent executive agencies?

Answer 17

CIA, NASA, EPA.

Question 18

What distinguishes independent executive agencies?

Answer 18

Their functions place them outside the Cabinet structure.

Question 19

What are independent regulatory commissions?

Answer 19

Agencies that regulate specific industries or economic sectors.

Question 20

What is the purpose of independent regulatory agencies?

Answer 20

To be run by policy experts and free of political pressures.

Question 21

How are commissioners appointed to independent regulatory agencies?

Answer 21

By the President and confirmed by the Senate for long, staggered terms.

Question 22

What are examples of independent regulatory agencies?

Answer 22

Federal Reserve Board, FCC, Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

Question 23

What are Iron Triangles?

Answer 23

Impenetrable relationships between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and specialized Congressional committees.

Question 24

What is Administrative Discretion?

Answer 24

An agency’s power to implement policies as they see fit.

Question 25

What is Implementation?

Answer 25

The enforcement of laws by bureaucratic agencies.

Question 26

What is Bureaucratic Discretion?

Answer 26

Individual-level implementation by agencies.

Question 27

What is Rule-making?

Answer 27

The process by which agencies create regulations with the force of law.

Question 28

When do regulations take effect?

Answer 28

Regulations take effect after 30 days, allowing for public input.

Question 29

What was the ruling in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984)?

Answer 29

States must comply with reasonable regulations, even if not explicitly mentioned in laws.

Question 30

What is Administrative Adjudication?

Answer 30

Agencies can hold hearings and resolve disputes for law violators.

Question 31

How are disputes resolved in Administrative Adjudication?

Answer 31

Through less formal and punitive hearings compared to criminal courts.

Question 32

Can Administrative Adjudication rulings be appealed?

Answer 32

Yes, they can be appealed to Federal courts.

Question 33

What is the relationship between Bureaucracy and the Economy?

Answer 33

Bureaucracy plays a role in fiscal and monetary policy.

Question 34

What is Fiscal Policy?

Answer 34

The use of taxes, spending, and borrowing to manage the economy.

Question 35

Who passes tax laws and new spending and borrowing measures?

Answer 35

Congress passes tax laws and new spending and borrowing measures.

Question 36

Who signs or vetoes tax and spending measures?

Answer 36

The President signs or vetoes tax and spending measures.

Question 37

What is Monetary Policy?

Answer 37

The use of interest rates to control inflation.

Question 38

How does the Federal Reserve Board regulate the money supply?

Answer 38

By setting bank reserve requirements and charging interest on banks that borrow to meet them.

Question 39

What is the purpose of regulating the money supply?

Answer 39

To control inflation caused by excessive money circulation.

Question 40

What is the role of the Federal Reserve in setting rates?

Answer 40

To balance inflation and economic growth.

Question 41

What happens if the Federal Reserve fails to promote job creation?

Answer 41

Recession occurs.

Question 42

What is the objective of setting rates by the Federal Reserve?

Answer 42

To curb inflation and allow economic growth.

Question 43

What is the consequence of setting rates too high?

Answer 43

Inflation is curbed but economic growth is hindered.

Question 44

What is the consequence of setting rates too low?

Answer 44

Economic growth is promoted but inflation may rise.

Question 45

What is bureaucratic accountability?

Answer 45

The mechanisms by which the executive, congressional, and judicial branches control and oversee bureaucratic agencies.

Question 46

What is executive control in bureaucratic accountability?

Answer 46

The ways in which the President exercises control over bureaucratic agencies, such as issuing executive orders and firing agency heads.

Question 47

What are executive orders?

Answer 47

Rules and regulations issued by Presidents to executive agencies, which have the same effect as laws.

Question 48

How can the President exercise control over bureaucratic agencies?

Answer 48

By issuing executive orders and firing agency heads.

Question 49

What is congressional control in bureaucratic accountability?

Answer 49

The ways in which Congress exercises control over bureaucratic agencies, such as cutting their budgets and holding oversight hearings.

Question 50

What is 'the power of the purse'?

Answer 50

The ability of Congress to cut agencies' budgets as a means of control.

Question 51

How can Congress exercise control over bureaucratic agencies?

Answer 51

By cutting their budgets, abolishing or reorganizing agencies, holding oversight hearings, passing 'sunset' legislation, conducting financial audits, and engaging in casework.

Question 52

What are oversight hearings?

Answer 52

Investigations conducted by Congress regarding bureaucratic acts.

Question 53

What is 'sunset' legislation?

Answer 53

Legislation that creates bureaucratic agencies that cease to exist on a specified day unless Congress votes to continue them.

Question 54

What are financial audits conducted by the CBO and GAO?

Answer 54

Audits conducted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the General Accounting Office (GAO) to assess the financial activities of bureaucratic agencies.

Question 55

What is casework done by Congressional staff?

Answer 55

Assistance provided by Congressional staff to constituents who have issues with bureaucratic agencies.

Question 56

What is the 'iron triangle'?

Answer 56

The close relationship and communication between Congressional staff, bureaucrats, and interest groups.

Question 57

What is congressional review in bureaucratic accountability?

Answer 57

The power of Congress to disapprove newly announced executive-agency regulations within 60 days.

Question 58

What is judicial control in bureaucratic accountability?

Answer 58

The ways in which the judiciary exercises control over bureaucratic agencies, such as issuing court orders/injunctions and making decisions based on litigation.

Question 59

How can the judiciary exercise control over bureaucratic agencies?

Answer 59

By issuing court orders/injunctions to temporarily halt bureaucratic acts and making decisions based on litigation brought by injured parties.

Question 60

Why does the bureaucracy make policy?

Answer 60

Because agencies have specialized expertise, allow other branches to shift blame, are more efficient, and it is time-consuming for other branches.