Unit 8 exam
Name ____________________________
Section One: multiple choice questions (33 points)
1) The main job of federal bureaucrats is to
a. protect the interests of their constituents.
b. advise the president and cabinet on internal matters.
c. implement and regulate government policies.
d. compete with the private sector for monopoly power.
e. act as competition to the private corporations, especially monopolies.
2) Loose and informal relationships that exist among large number of actors who work in broad policy areas are called
a. Independent Regulatory Agencies.
b. Iron Triangles.
c. Issue Networks.
d. Independent Executive Agencies.
e. Office of Homeland Security.
3) The term “full employment” refers to
a. an unemployment rate of 0%, when everyone in the country is working.
b. an unemployment rate of 4-5%, representative of the natural turnover in the job market.
c. the unemployment rate plus the underemployment rate.
d. the unemployment rate plus the people who have given up looking for work.
e. the employment of people in the restaurant and food service industry.
4) Which of the following is responsible for the preparation of executive spending proposals submitted
to Congress?
a. Treasury Department
b. Council of Economic Advisors
c. Federal Trade Commission
d. Department of Commerce
e. Office of Management and Budget
5) Which of the following policies involves more state spending than federal spending?
a. Military policy
b. Social Security
c. Education
d. Medicare
e. Veterans Affairs
6) Cabinet members often do not have a dominant influence on presidential decision-making because
a. cabinet members generally maintain close independent ties to Congress.
b. cabinet members generally only tell the President what he wants to hear.
c. cabinet members are not permitted to disagree publicly with the President.
d. presidential goals often conflict with the institutional goals of individual cabinet level agencies.
e. only half of all cabinet members can be members of the President's party.
7) The largest source of federal revenue is the
a. capital gains tax.
b. property tax.
c. income tax.
d. social security tax.
e. sales tax.
8) When a president tries to control a bureaucratic agency, all of the following methods are available to him EXCEPT
a. appointing the right people to head the agency.
b. reducing the agency’s budget.
c. issuing executive orders to counteract agency policies.
d. recommending to the OMB a reduction of the agency’s following year’s budget.
e. using his office to influence agency direction.
9) An example of progressive taxation in the United States is the
a. alcohol tax.
b. tobacco tax.
c. sales tax.
d. income tax.
e. gasoline tax.
10) Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through
a. rewriting laws and budgets and holding hearings.
b. the use of executive orders and appointments.
c. issuing court rulings that curtails its power.
d. the creation of iron triangles.
e. regularly threatening to abolish it.
11) The basis of appointments to the bureaucracy during most of the 19th century was
a. financial.
b. patronage.
c. technical expertise.
d. congressional power and influence.
e. judicial power and influence.
12) Federal spending for which of the following is determined by laws that lie outside the regular budgetary process?
a. Foreign aid to countries.
b. Regulatory agency funding.
c. Government-subsidized housing programs.
d. Educational assistance programs such as student loans.
e. Entitlement programs such as Social Security.
13) The EPA is an example of
a. an executive department.
b. an independent agency.
c. a government corporation.
d. a Congressional sub-committee.
e. entitlement spending.
14) An advantage that bureaucrats in the federal government have over the president in the policy-making process is that bureaucrats
a. control the budgetary process.
b. have an independence from the president that is guaranteed by the Constitution.
c. find it easier to gather public support than does the president.
d. usually have a continuity of service in the executive branch that the president lacks.
e. usually have better access to the media than does the president.
15) All of the following represent attempts to lower the federal budget deficit EXCEPT
a. making permanent the Bush tax cuts.
b. decreasing the amount of imports Americans purchase every year.
c. decreasing the amount of money spent on entitlement programs.
d. increasing excise taxes on products such as gasoline, tobacco and alcohol.
e. decreasing the amount of discretionary spending Congress engages in every year.
16) Many contemporary politicians have criticized bureaucracies as
a. agencies that aim to make realistic recommendations that may result in lower budgets than the year before.
b. agencies whose main objective is to seek profits.
c. agencies whose major goal is to cut back on their powers.
d. agencies who strive to maximize their budgets and powers.
e. agencies who work too closely with the judiciary.
17) All of the following are examples of independent regulatory agencies EXCEPT the
a. Department of Justice (DOJ).
b. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
c. Federal Reserve Board (FRB).
d. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
e. Federal Election Commission (FEC).
18) The idea that bureaucracy should be apolitical and completely merit based is known as the
a. Weberian model.
b. acquisitive model.
c. inquisitive model.
d. monopolistic model.
e. supermodel.
19) Fiscal policies refer to the government’s power to
a. regulate specific industries.
b. tax and spend.
c. reapportion congressional seats.
d. control the supply of money.
e. enforce treaties.
20) Entitlement programs are
a. federal programs that provide benefits to people that meet eligibility criteria set by law.
b. federal programs that states can receive if they qualify by law.
c. federal programs deemed constitutional and mandatory by the Supreme Court
d. all government programs designed to ensure minorities get equal protection under the law.
e. annual appropriation bills passed by Congress and sent to the president for passage
21) Which of the following institutions is given the constitutional power of appropriations?
a. The Office of Management and Budget
b. The President
c. Congress
d. Executive departments
e. Congressional Budget Office
22) The three points of an iron triangle include
a. an independent agency, a state, and a member of Congress.
b. an administrative agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee.
c. a cabinet department, an interest group, and the House majority leader.
d. a regulatory commission, a corporation, and the White House Office.
e. the Executive Office of the President, an interest group, and a Senate committee.
23) All of the following are ways to limit the number of imported goods that Americans buy EXCEPT
a. trade embargos.
b. cutting the income tax.
c. quotas.
d. tariffs.
e. subsidies for American industries.
24) When attempting to deal with rising inflation, the Federal Reserve will probably respond with
a. Keynesian spending.
b. tighter monetary policy.
c. looser monetary policy.
d. quotas.
e. tariffs.
25) When attempting to deal with the beginning of a recession, Congress will probably respond with
a. Keynesian spending.
b. tighter monetary policy.
c. looser monetary policy.
d. quotas.
e. tariffs.
26) One of the measures of inflation in the United States is
a. subsidies.
b. iron triangles.
c. quotas.
d. the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
e. the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
27) Whistleblowers in the United States are usually not protected when they expose
a. excessive discretionary spending.
b. corruption in the government.
c. inefficiency in the bureaucracy.
d. classified military information.
e. federal employee fraud.
28) All of the following have been proposed as solutions to Social Security funding EXCEPT
a. eliminating the Social Security tax.
b. eliminating the cap on the Social Security tax.
c. repaying money borrowed by the federal government.
d. raising the age people are eligible for benefits.
e. privatization of Social Security.
29) All of the following are cabinet level executive departments EXCEPT
a. Housing and Urban Development.
b. Health and Human Services.
c. Transportation Security Administration.
d. Veterans Affairs.
e. Interior.
30) The Pendleton Act of 1883 was an effort to
a. protect government whistleblowers.
b. establish the Department of Agriculture.
c. establish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
d. change the Department of War to the Department of Defense.
e. end the spoils system.
31) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are examples of
a. independent executive agencies.
b. independent regulatory agencies.
c. executive departments.
d. government corporations.
e. entitlement programs.
32) Members of Congress likely did not raise taxes in order to pay for the Iraq War because it might have
a. caused inflation.
b. been perceived as a regressive form of taxation.
c. affected our balance of trade.
d. raised the national debt.
e. prevented them from getting re-elected.
33) The largest percentage of discretionary spending authorized by Congress each year goes to the
Department of
a. Commerce.
b. Defense.
c. Homeland Security.
d. Energy.
e. Education.
Part 2: Free Response Question (12 points)
34) The federal bureaucracy as part of the executive branch exercises substantial independence in implementing governmental policies and programs. Most workers in the federal bureaucracy are civil-service employees who are organized under a merit system.
(a) Describe one key characteristic of the merit system.
(b) For each of the following, describe one factor that contributes to bureaucratic independence.
• The structure of the federal bureaucracy
• The complexity of public policy problems
(c) For each of the following, explain one check it has on the bureaucracy.
• Congress
• The courts
39) In recent decades, entitlement programs have constituted a substantial portion of the United States federal budget. Social Security is the largest entitlement program in the United States. From the information in the chart below and your knowledge of United States government and politics, perform the following tasks.
a. Define entitlement program.
b. What is the primary source of revenue for the Social Security program?
c. Identify one threat to the future of the Social Security program should the trends depicted in the chart below continue.
d. Describe one demographic trend that threatens the future of the Social Security program AND explain how it is responsible for the threat that you identified in.
e. Explain how any one of the trends in the chart below would change if the age of eligibility for Social Security were raised.
