American Government

The goals or objectives of a bureaucracy are called ______ _________

The most distinguishing characteristic of bureaucracies is that only they are responsible for ________ public policies.

Civil servants contribute to the stability of governments by virtue of their capacity to meet political demands through their long _______ and _______.

One of the most important determinants of what purposes deserve Cabinet status is __________ ____________.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Peace Corps are examples of ________ agencies.

The practice of making appointment to government jobs on the basis of party loyalty is called the  _________ ________.

Clerical and administrative personnel within the competitive service are classified in  ________ _______ with 15 grades.

______ has the ultimate responsibility for teh creation and abolition of agencies.

To temper executive discretion and even halt an executive initiative, Congress created the _____ __________

Often justified as a safeguard against abuse, bureaucracies have been criticized for wrapping their work in endless amounts of  ________ _____________

In American government the term bureaucrat generally refers to any individual who works in the executive branch of the government.

Almost ninety percent of all bureaucrats work outside of Washington, D.C.

Independent agencies are outside executive departments, and their heads a cannot be fired by the president.

Government corporations have remained loosely tied to the regular appropriations process much like other types of bureaucracies.

According to the Hatch Act, civil servants are banned from participation in partisan political activity.

The Senior Executive Service has become a highly prestigious and respected group of senior civil servants, much like those in Great Britain.

Salaries for public officials are usually equal or above the compensation rates for equivalent position in the private sector.

Nearly every bureaucratic unit has the strong support of some interest group

When laws are vague or ambiguous, bureaucratic discretion is inevitable.

Since the nation's founding, the most explosive growth in government has occurred in the ___
A.   Congress and its staff
B.   development and evolution of bureaucracies
C.   presidency and the president's personal staff
D.   number of courts and judges

According to Max Weber, an ideal bureaucracy consists of  ____
A.   expertise
B.   impersonal rules
C.   a hierarchical division of labor
D.   all the above

Most federal bureaucrats _____.
A.   are employed as clerks and office workers
B.   are involved in the execution of public policies
C.   receive enormous media attention
D.   live and work in the Washington D.C. area

Which of the following are part of the president's cabinet?
A.   the heads of the units in the Executive office of the President
B.   the heads of the executive departments
C.   the president's personal and closest advisors
D.   all of the above

Which of the executive departments had the largest budget in 2010?
A.   Department of State
B.   Department of Health and Human Resources
C.   Department of Treasury
D.   Department of Defense

Why are independent agencies called independent?
A.   They are outside the regular appropriations process.
B.   They are located outside of the executive departments.
C.   They are not influenced by interest groups.
D.   The president can not hire or fire their heads.

Which of the following is true of independent regulatory commissioners?
A.   They were intended to be experts, insulated from partisan politics
B.   They have fixed terms, often longer than the president's.
C.   They can be removed only for causes specified in the statutory law.
D.   All of the above.

An example of a government corporation is the ______.
A.   Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
B.   Interstate Commerce Commission
C.   Small Business Administraion
D.   all of the above.

Government employment during the administration of George Washington was characterized by ________.
A.   political spoils
B.   integrity and honor
C.   corruption
D.   lack of respect and prestige

Merit as a condition of government employment was established by the ___________.
A.   Pendleton Act
B.   Civil Service Reform Act
C.   Merit Systems Protection Act
D.   Hatch Act

Which of the following is true of the Hatch Act?
A.   It extablished the Senior Executive Service.
B.   It provided incentives for high-quality work by civil servants.
C.   It established merit as a condition of government employment.
D.   It banned civil servants from participation in partisan politics.

The Civil Service Act Reform of 1978 ______.
A.   created a General Schedule to classify civil servants according to a 15 grades based on experience and qualifications.
B. has gone beyond expectations in establishing a prestigious and respected civil service
C.   banned civil servants from participation in partisan politics
D. provided protections for individuals who report waste or fraud in the bureaucracy.

One of the tools the president has to make bureaucrats more responsive is the power to ______.
A.   propose cuts pr increases in the budgets of bureaucracies
B.   create or abolish agencies
C.   investigate bureaucratic power
D.   all of the above

Each of the following is a means by which Congress can shape bureaucratic behavior except _______.
A.   investigate bureaucratic behavior
B.   appoint high level administrators to departments and agencies
C.   create or abolish agencies
D.   shape the amount and purpose of money bureaucrats spend

The legislative veto________.
A.   is used to delegate discretionary authority to the president.
B.   allows the president to invalidate congressional laws affecting the bureaucracy
C.   was upheld in Immigration and Naturalization Service V. Chadha
D.   continues to be written into some statutes

Which of the following applies to interest groups?
A.   They sometimes have a proprietary interest in specific agencies
B.   They may compete as they press their claims on the same bureaucratic unit.
C. They utilize the media, courts, and Congress to press claims on bureaucracies
D. all the above.

The group with the most passive role in controlling the political environment of bureaucracies is _______.
A.   the courts
B.   Congress
C.   the presidency
D.   interest groups

What is the most common way courts affect bureaucracies?
A.   They ensure procedural fairness in bureaucracies.
B.   They declare congressional and presidential actions unconstitutional.
C.   They create or abolish bureaucratic agencies.
D.   They discern the congressional intent behind vague or ambiguous legislation.

What is the most serious criticism of bureaucrats?
A.   They affect public policies and play an unintended political role.
B.   They do work that duplicates or conflicts with other bureaucrat's work.
C.   They wrap their work in unnecessary amounts of red tape.
D.   They waste and defraud public resources.