Question 1

The ratio of federal employees to the total United States workforce has gone up in the last half-century.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 2

Which of the following is not a major role of bureaucracy?

Accepted Answer

A)  implementing laws 
B)  enforcing laws 
C)  issuing rules 
D)  promoting the public welfare 
E)  passing laws

Question 3

The first regulatory agency was the ______,created by Congress in ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  U.S. Post Office; 1791 
B)  Interstate Commerce Commission; 1887 
C)  Federal Communications Commission; 1934 
D)  Environmental Protection Agency; 1970 
E)  Federal Trade Commission; 1914

Question 4

Which of the following is the most constitutionally essential way to make the bureaucracy responsible?

Accepted Answer

A)  more efficient executive management 
B)  further devolution 
C)  congressional oversight 
D)  more administrative courts 
E)  more government regulation

Question 5

The most visible indication of oversight is the:

Accepted Answer

A)  use of a unanimous Supreme Court opinion by the lower federal courts to generate public support for a particular policy 
B)  use of the nullification power by the states to declare an act of the federal government unconstitutional 
C)  use of public hearings before congressional committees and subcommittees 
D)  budget deficit 
E)  using the Congressional Budget Office to report on how much particular legislation is going to cost the American taxpayer

Question 6

Which statement about regulatory agencies is correct?

Accepted Answer

A)  Since the 1990s, approximately ten new regulatory agencies have been created by Congress. 
B)  No new regulatory programs have been established since the 1970s. 
C)  The last new regulatory agency was created in 2010. 
D)  In 1996, the last federal regulatory agency was terminated by Congress. 
E)  Since the 1960s all new regulatory agencies are placed outside existing departments and are not responsible to the president.

Question 7

What has been one of the greatest difficulties in establishing the new Department of Homeland Security?

Accepted Answer

A)  combining many different bureaucratic cultures into a single operation 
B)  finding a competent and willing department secretary 
C)  getting congressional approval for the new department 
D)  defending against the three challenges to the constitutionality of the department 
E)  getting the American people to take seriously the color-coded terrorism warning levels

Question 8

What is the origin of most federal bureaus?

Accepted Answer

A)  Congress passes laws creating and funding most federal bureaus. 
B)  The Cabinet secretaries create most federal bureaus out of administrative necessity and convenience. 
C)  Most federal bureaus are created by executive agreement. 
D)  Most federal bureaus are created by the Constitution's Article II powers. 
E)  Most federal bureaus are created by executive order of the president.

Question 9

Which of the following agencies was abolished following the creation of the Department of Homeland Security?

Accepted Answer

A)  the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
B)  the Coast Guard 
C)  the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
D)  the National Security Agency 
E)  the Central Intelligence Agency

Question 10

Which president was most concerned with managing and reorganizing the executive bureaucracy?

Accepted Answer

A)  Richard Nixon 
B)  Jimmy Carter 
C)  Ronald Reagan 
D)  Bill Clinton 
E)  Woodrow Wilson

Question 11

At its peak in ______,the federal bureaucracy had ______ employees,not including military personnel.

Accepted Answer

A)  1936; 6 million 
B)  1968; 3 million 
C)  1982; 1 million 
D)  1996; 8 million 
E)  1994; 2 million

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a clientele agency?

Accepted Answer

A)  the Internal Revenue Service 
B)  the Department of Veterans Affairs 
C)  the Department of Education 
D)  the Social Security Administration 
E)  the Department of Agriculture

Question 13

Which of the following is an independent agency?

Accepted Answer

A)  U.S. Postal Service 
B)  Department of Agriculture 
C)  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 
D)  Environmental Protection Agency (EP
A)  
E)  Forest Service

Question 14

The Freedom of Information Act is designed to:

Accepted Answer

A)  lead to quicker filing of habeas corpus petitions 
B)  make more national security documents available to the public 
C)  prevent inefficiency and waste in government management 
D)  expand the freedom of speech granted to government employees 
E)  allow the government to acquire any information about a person to aid in a government investigation

Question 15

Which of the following statements about the Federal Reserve System (the Fed)is correct?

Accepted Answer

A)  The Fed was established by George Washington and Alexander Hamilton in 1793. 
B)  Congress created the Fed in 1913. 
C)  The Fed was established in 1933, during the famous "Hundred Days" of the New Deal. 
D)  Richard Nixon established the Fed in 1969 as an attempt to gain more White House control over monetary policy. 
E)  The Fed was established by Herbert Hoover as a weak attempt at warding off the Great Depression.

Question 16

The National Park Service is:

Accepted Answer

A)  part of the Department of the Interior 
B)  part of the Department of Agriculture 
C)  part of the Department of Energy 
D)  an independent agency 
E)  a government corporation

Question 17

Which of the following statements best describes how recent administrations have approached the issue of bureaucratic reform?

Accepted Answer

A)  Republican administrations have aimed to make the existing bureaucracy work more effectively, while Democratic administrations have sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies. 
B)  Democratic administrations have aimed to make the existing bureaucracy work more effectively, while Republican administrations have sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies. 
C)  Both Democratic and Republican administrations have rejected the idea of reducing bureaucracy and have aimed to make existing bureaucracy work more effectively. 
D)  Both Democratic and Republican administrations have given up on trying to make the existing bureaucracy function more effectively and, instead, sought to reduce bureaucracy by contracting out government work to private companies. 
E)  Both Democrats and Republicans have avoided any attempts to reform government bureaucracy.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about the merit system is NOT true?

Accepted Answer

A)  Every member and official of a government agency has been appointed as a part of the merit system. 
B)  The merit system establishes competitive exams for jobs. 
C)  The merit system gives bureaucrats job protection. 
D)  The merit system in federal employment was originated in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. 
E)  The merit system stipulates that appointees to public office must be qualified for the job to which they are appointed.

Question 19

Which of the following agencies' primary task is NOT the strengthening of the economy?

Accepted Answer

A)  Transportation 
B)  Commerce 
C)  Internal Revenue Service 
D)  Interior 
E)  Energy

Question 20

Which statement is the definition of privatization?

Accepted Answer

A)  a way to shrink the federal budget by selling government services or property in the private sector 
B)  a way to reduce government costs by relocating government programs to private groups or corporations 
C)  a way to reduce big government by doing without some of the programs it once provided 
D)  a way to increase the government's role by purchasing private companies. 
E)  a way to reduce government costs by lowering the amount of benefits paid out to private citizens.

Exam 11: Bureaucracy