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Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Analyze the bureaucracy’s implementation
options and its effectiveness.
Page Reference: 366
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
84. Subsidized housing for lower-income citizens is an example of __________
policy.
Topic: Defining Public Policy
Learning Objective: LO 12.4: Relate politics and public policy, and differentiate
the three types of public policy.
Page Reference: 372
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
85. A(n) __________ is a special kind of agency whose independence is protected by
Congress so the agency is insulated from congressional and presidential control.
Topic: Understanding the Federal Bureaucracy: Constitutional Origins,
Organizations, and Employees
Learning Objective: LO 12.1: Outline the constitutional roots of the federal
bureaucracy, its organizations, and its employees.
Page Reference: 360
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
86. A redistributive policy is also referred to as a __________ game.
Topic: Defining Public Policy
Learning Objective: LO 12.4: Relate politics and public policy, and differentiate
the three types of public policy.
Page Reference: 372
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
87. When the Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for air pollution, it is
fulfilling the __________ function of the federal bureaucracy.
Topic: The Job of the Federal Bureaucracy
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Analyze the bureaucracy’s implementation
options and its effectiveness.
Page Reference: 365 – 366
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
88. The purpose of the __________ was to prohibit federal employees from engaging
in partisan political activities.
Topic: Understanding the Federal Bureaucracy: Constitutional Origins,
Organizations, and Employees
Learning Objective: LO 12.1: Outline the constitutional roots of the federal
bureaucracy, its organizations, and its employees.
Page Reference: 364
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
89. One consequence of ambiguity in the laws passed by Congress is that government
agencies exercise __________ in the implementation of those laws.
Topic: The Job of the Federal Bureaucracy
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Analyze the bureaucracy’s implementation
options and its effectiveness.
Page Reference: 365
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Difficult
90. One function of __________ is to provide public services that the private sector is
unwilling or unable to do.
Topic: Understanding the Federal Bureaucracy: Constitutional Origins,
Organizations, and Employees
Learning Objective: LO 12.1: Outline the constitutional roots of the federal
bureaucracy, its organizations, and its employees.
Page Reference: 362
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
421
Short Answer Questions
91. How does Congress exercise control over the federal bureaucracy?
1. Note that Congress has significant power over the federal bureaucracy.
2. List and describe the means by which Congress can control agencies
and departments, such as confirming presidential appointees, enacting
budgets, conducting oversight hearings, conducting investigations,
creating or abolishing agencies, transferring agency functions, and
expanding or contracting the discretionary authority of agencies.
Topic: Controlling the Federal Bureaucracy
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Assess presidential and congressional tools for
controlling the federal bureaucracy.
Page Reference: 369
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
92. How does the president exercise control over the federal bureaucracy?
1. Note that the president has significant power over the federal
bureaucracy.
2. List and describe the means by which the president can control agencies
and departments, such as appointing department and agency heads and
subheads, calling cabinet meetings, issuing executive orders, submitting
budget proposals to Congress, and pressuring Congress to create or
abolish agencies.
Topic: Controlling the Federal Bureaucracy
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Assess presidential and congressional tools for
controlling the federal bureaucracy.
Page Reference: 368 – 369
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
93. Distinguish between independent agencies and independent regulatory
commissions. Be sure to provide examples of each.
1. Define independent agencies as units in the executive branch, separate
from a traditional department, that usually work on specific problems and
often go on to become departments in government; an example is the
Veterans Administration, which was independent in 1930 but became a
department in 1989.
2. Define independent regulatory commissions as units in the executive
branch, insulated from political pressure, that make and enforce rules to
protect the public interest; an example is the Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
3. Identify key differences between independent agencies and independent
regulatory commissions, such as the fact that agencies are headed by
single administrators while commissions are governed by groups of
commissioners, and commissions are more independent of presidential
control, since commissioners cannot be removed by the president and they
do not report to the president like administrators in independent agencies
do.
Topic: Understanding the Federal Bureaucracy: Constitutional Origins,
Organizations, and Employees
Learning Objective: LO 12.1: Outline the constitutional roots of the federal
bureaucracy, its organizations, and its employees.
Page Reference: 360 – 362
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
94. How does the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) influence rule-making by
departments and agencies? When was the act passed?
1. Explain that the APA was enacted in 1946 to ensure that federal
agencies do not act capriciously or arbitrarily in the creation of rules and
regulations.
2. Note that the APA outlines steps that agencies must follow when they
issue rules.
3. Identify that all proposed regulations must be published in the Federal
Register so that parties affected by them will have an opportunity to voice
their opinions on them.
Topic: The Job of the Federal Bureaucracy
Learning Objective: LO 12.2: Analyze the bureaucracy’s implementation
options and its effectiveness.
Page Reference: 366
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
423
95. What did President Obama mean when he said the British Petroleum oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico was due to the “cozy relationship” between a federal agency
and the oil industry? What steps did the president take to avoid such disasters in
the future?
1. Explain that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) within the
Department of the Interior was responsible for implementing federal laws
regulating oil and gas drilling and for setting safety standards for offshore
drilling, but it granted permits that allowed the oil industry to extract as
much oil as possible, which led to BP rushing to start pumping oil too
soon.
2. Identify how Obama overhauled the MMS by breaking it into two new
agencies, one for assuring safety and the other for granting permits;
accepted the resignation of the political appointee heading MMS and gave
the U.S. Coast Guard authority to supervise BP’s efforts to stop the spill;
appointed a special commission to investigate the disaster; and promised a
new era of accountability in government oversight of the oil industry.
Topic: Introduction
Learning Objective: Introduction
Page Reference: 356 – 357
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
96. What factors might contribute to inefficiencies within the federal bureaucracy?
1. Note that the federal bureaucracy is commonly perceived as inefficient
and that public confidence in the performance of the executive branch has
been generally declining through the past 15 years.
2. Identify factors that contribute to inefficiency, such as the complexity,
duplication, and overlapping authority among federal agencies resulting in
layers of red tape; personnel systems that are out of date; the slow and
complex presidential appointments process; and the fact that many civil
servants believe their pay and promotions are based more on favoritism
than performance.
Topic: Controlling the Federal Bureaucracy
Learning Objective: L.O. 12.3 Assess presidential and congressional tools for
controlling the federal bureaucracy.
Page Reference: 369 – 370
Skill Level: Analyze It
424
Difficulty Level: Difficult
97. What is the issue-attention cycle? How has it affected public policy on global
warming? Provide examples.
1. Define the issue-attention cycle as the movement of public opinion from
interest and enthusiasm in public policies to address a problem to a decline
in interest and enthusiasm when there are competing concerns or the
public begins to realize the costs involved in a solution to the problem.
2. Identify that public opinion on global warming has waned in recent
years as problems with the economy have taken precedence.
3. Detail how the costs of solutions have discouraged interest from the
public; for instance, the new restrictions on carbon emissions from power
plants approved in 2012 may help global warming but may also increase
the cost of electricity and further weaken the economy.
Topic: The Public Policy Process
Learning Objective: LO 12.5: Outline the key steps in making public policy, and
assess the different types of policy.
Page Reference: 375 – 376
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
98. How much has diversity increased in the federal workforce in the last 50 years?
How diverse is the workforce now? How might the federal bureaucracy increase
its diversity?
1. Describe how the federal bureaucracy has changed from the 1950s,
when most employees were white and most female employees were in
lower-level positions, to 2013, when the number of women and minorities
in the federal workforce reached an all-time high.
2. Note that today women make up almost half of the federal workforce
and minorities about one-third; however, in spite of the increases in
numbers, women and minorities are not equally represented in all
departments and agencies, and they are not represented at all levels of the
bureaucracy (e.g., they hold barely 15 percent of the top jobs).
3. Identify that one way to increase diversity throughout the departments
would be to recruit more women into the military and technical
departments, and a way to increase diversity at all levels would be to
increase training and mentoring programs to move both women and
minorities into professional and management positions.
425
Topic: Understanding the Federal Bureaucracy: Constitutional Origins,
Organizations, and Employees
Learning Objective: LO 12.1: Outline the constitutional roots of the federal
bureaucracy, its organizations, and its employees.
Page Reference: 363
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
99. Discuss the limitations on presidential control of the federal bureaucracy.
1. Explain that while the president has significant influence on the federal
bureaucracy, that influence is not unlimited.
2. Note the various ways that Congress can check the president’s influence
on the bureaucracy, such as choosing not to confirm presidential
nominees, or by modifying or rejecting the president’s budget proposal.
3. Note that the civil service system leaves most hiring and firing of
federal employees out of the hands of the president, and that agencies
themselves do not always follow the objectives of the president.
Topic: Controlling the Federal Bureaucracy
Learning Objective: LO 12.3: Assess presidential and congressional tools for
controlling the federal bureaucracy.
Page Reference: 368 – 369
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
100. What are the benefits and drawbacks of the rule-making requirements specified in
the Administrative Procedure Act?
1. Explain that the APA outlines steps that agencies must follow when they
issue rules.
2. Summarize the steps required by the APA: first, a rule is drafted;
second, the proposed regulation is published in the Federal Register; third,
a comment period is held to allow all parties affected by the regulation to
make their opinions known to the agency; fourth, the regulation is
finalized.
3. Explain one or more benefits of the APA, including guaranteed
opportunities for public participation and decreased criticism of some
rules.
4. Explain one or more drawbacks of the APA, including the long,
cumbersome process.
426
