Public administration concepts and key issues

¶ … value of the traditional managerial approach to public administration?

Accountability

Economy

Effectiveness

Providing for political representation in public administration

Which of the following best describes "externalities"?

They are profits

They are always in the public interests

They are costs absorbed by the manufacturers of products

They are created by economic activities but not accounted for in market transactions

The judiciary's power to dispense with the harsh application of law is known as:

Adjudication

Equal protection

Equity

Constitution:

Comprehensively provides for federal and state administration

Comprehensively provides for federal administration

c. Contains no provisions for public administration

None of the above

Which of the following is not associated with the traditional managerial approach to public administration?

a. Max Weber

b. Paul Appleby

c. Woodrow Wilson

d. Frederick Taylor

6. Public Administration resembles private management in that:

a. It is profit-seeking

b. It regulates the public at large

c. It provides services

d. None of the above

7. The legal approach to public administration is derived from

a. Administrative law

b. Judicialization of public administration

c. Constitutional law

d. All of the above

8. Which of the following is not generally considered a feature of bureaucratic organizations?

a. Specialization

b. Impersonality

c. Hierarchy

d. Adjudication

9. The Administrative Procedure Act (1946) was passed to:

a. Give agencies greater access to judicial review

b. Regulate rulemaking, adjudication, enforcement, and transparency

c. Force agencies to establish advisory committees

d. None of the above

10. The constitutional separation of powers:

a. Prevents the courts from influencing public administration

b. Places Congress outside of the realm of public administration

c. Gives the President authority to create the national budget

d. None of the above

11. In recent years the federal judiciary has held that:

a. Most public employees are absolutely liable for everything they do

b. Public employees may be liable for exercising legislative vetoes

c. Public employees are absolutely immune from civil suits

d. Public employees have qualified immunity from civil suits

12. Congressional oversight is:

a. Failure to pay attention to policy details

b. A check on public administrative activity

c. Making sure that agencies follow presidential directives

d. Assuring that federal agencies will have as much funding as they require

13. James Q. Wilson points to regulatory activity as:

a. A source of administrative growth in the United States

b. A source of administrative decline in the United States

c. Having no relevance to public administration in the United States

d. Having no relevance to politics in the United States

14. The number of subordinates directly reporting to a superior is referred to as:

a. Dual federalism

b. The span of control

c. Administrative decentralization

d. None of the above

15. constitutional basis for the concept of state sovereignty is:

a. The establishment of the House of Representatives

b. The Ninth Amendment

c. The Tenth Amendment

d. The Fourteenth Amendment

16. Administrative decentralization in the U.S.:

a. Is the same as federalism

b. Allows local government to do whatever they want

c. Helps increase the "span of control"

d. None of the above

17. The Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause:

a. Is of importance to interstate relations

b. Is of no importance to interstate relations

c. Helps decrease the "span of control"

d. None of the above

18. Federalism promotes:

a. National unity

b. Administrative simplification

c. Administrative centralization

d. Political representation

19. Pluralism within the federal bureaucracy promotes:

a. Representation

b. Delay and fragmentation

c. Overlapping missions

d. All of the above

20. According to Max Weber, bureaucracy's "special virtue" was its

a. Rationality

b. Power

c. Ability to take on new tasks

d. Dehumanization

21. The Human Relations approach seeks to:

a. Advertise the positive aspects of organizations

b. Pay workers according to their individual output

c. Satisfy worker's social needs

d. Restrict output so there will be more work to go around

22. The Hawthorne studies purported to show that:

a. Workers adapted to adversity

b. Productivity was related to social factors

c. Physical factors were irrelevant in terms of productivity

d. None of the above

23. "Theory X" assumes that workers are:

a. Lacking in ambition

b. Too well paid

c. Highly motivated

d. None of the above

24. Abraham Maslow is best known for:

a. Scientific Management

b. Organizational Hierarchy

c. His critique of Max Weber

d. None of the above

25. Of the choices below, which needs occupy the highest position in Maslow's hierarchy?

a. Self-esteem

b. Safety

c. Social

d. Physiological

Q26. Essay

A frequent problem for government agencies today is the combination of declining financial resources and an increased need for services. Congress may make political capital out of the need to cut the 'fat' from government and reduce the national debt, but agencies are still subject to demands that they serve their functions. The recent recession has seen a sharp drop in available funds through taxes and increased demand for social services for the unemployed.

When administrative agencies are not watchful, it is very easy for their purpose to be lost, and the focus to shift to processes rather than to results. "Public sector safety professionals must be relevant, results-oriented and purpose driven" (Fanning n.d). The most important focus of the agency must be on extending entitlement benefits to the populations that need to be served, not simply to support the continued existence of the program. The initial instinct of the bureaucracy may be to preserve itself and to preserve jobs, but the fact is that personnel downsizing is necessary. The agency must 'do more with less.'

Creative administrative thinking is required. The agency must work with local and state entities to 'pick up the slack' in terms of providing services and funding, given the federal mandate to reduce staffing. One example of a creative way to use small amounts of money in an effective way is manifested in Oakland, California. "The Family Independence Initiative, a nonprofit...Its purpose is to encourage low-income families to form small groups and help each other figure out how to get ahead. The families meet monthly and keep journals, charting their progress on income, savings, education -- all the signposts of a successful life. For this, each family gets a laptop computer and an average monthly stipend of $160. The key is that the families also get to set their own goals" (Fessler 2012:2). The program is inexpensive and requires little manpower to run and has also been proven effective in helping participants out of poverty.

Although the agency is a federal program, working with states and local entities that better understand the populations' needs can result in improved services, when a program is tailored to the needs of the community in a very specific fashion. For example, in some communities, the reasons for unemployment may be rooted in the fact that the community was hard-hit by the recession in critical economic sectors. This is the case in Oregon, where the logging industry experienced setbacks due to the fallout in the construction industry from the burst of the housing bubble. Retraining for jobs with better immediate prospects can be critical in such instances. In other communities, such as inner cities, there may be critical shortages of jobs and under-education due to longstanding cultural and economic factors that are not directly related to the national economy. General job training and life skills programs may be more appropriate. Such flexibility and the need for dialogue with the community served requires government bureaucracy to overcome its rule-bound nature, and focus more on objectives rather than upon conforming to standard operating procedures (Rosenbloom 144).