Chapter 14 Flashcards
Which of the following statements about bureaucracies is False?
Each bureaucratic agency is created by the president
The classic conception of a bureaucracy was advanced by ____, who argued that the bureaucracy was a “rational” way for a modern society to conduct its business.
Max Weber
Weberians view bureaucracies as
Efficient and Necessary
As a whole, permanent federal bureaucracy is
more broadly representative of the American people than the rest of the federal government
The largest federal agency based on dollars spent is the
social security administration
Patronage is a hiring and promotion system based on
knowing the right people
The Pendleton Act established the
federal civil service
The Hatch Act, passed in 1940
Prohibited federal civil service employees from active participation in partisan politics.
Once hired into the federal bureaucracy, a person is assigned a ____rating, which determines one’s salary range
General Schedule
Which of the following is a legitimate criticism of the federal civil service?
Firing incompetents is extremely difficult.
The Plum Book lists
top federal jobs available by presidential appointment
Which cabinet department is charged with overseeing the nation’s national resources?
interior
The real work of a cabinet department is done
in the bureaus
The cabinet department that has the largest budget is the Department of
health and human services
The main job of the federal bureaucrats is to
Implement and regulate governament policies
The General Services Administration and The National Aeronautical and Space Administration are examples of
Independent executive agencies
Amtrak and the United States Postal Service are examples of
Government Corporations
Creating new agencies, developing guidelines, and coordinating resources to achieve a policy goal is called
Implementation
Standard Operation Procedures
Save time and bring uniformity to complex organizations
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
The use of government authority to control or change some practice in the private sector known as
Regulation
Administrative discretion is greatest when
rules do not fit in a case
Executive orders are issued by
the president
Which of the following is NOT a method a president can use to control the bureaucracy
Tinker with an agency’s recommended budget
Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through
rewriting laws budgets and holding hearings
To limit bureaucratic discretion and make its instructions clearer, Congress can
write new and more detailed legislation
An “iron triangle” consists of
A bureaucratic agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee or subcommittee
Issue networks are
a growing participatory force in bureaucratic decision making whose members’ interest in issues is intellectual or emotional rather than material
In 1887, Congress established the firest regulatory agency, the ___, and charged it with regulating the railroads, their prices, and their services to farmers.
Interstate Commerce Commission
