AP Gov 2.12-15 Bureaucracy Quiz

The House Committee on Veterans Affairs, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) work together to achieve policies that benefit veterans.

This is an example of which of the following?

• Corporate lobbies

• Political action committees

• Issue networks

• Iron triangles

Which of the following is a consequence of the merit system in the bureaucracy?

• Greater fragmentation in the bureaucracy

• Greater inefficiency in the bureaucracy

• Greater loyalty to the president’s party in the bureaucracy

• Greater professionalism in the bureaucracy

The Environmental Protection Agency issues a fine to a factory that is not complying with federal regulations on the maximum number of pollutants it can release into the atmosphere.

This is an example of which of the federal bureaucracy’s responsibilities?

• Enforcement

• Congressional oversight

• Testifying before Congress

• Rulemaking

Which of the following is the best example of an issue network?

• A national organization committed to influencing legislation to promote small businesses

• Government and private groups opposed to a proposal to run a pipeline through Native American land

• A Congressional subcommittee on issues facing senior citizens

• An independent executive agency regulating telecommunications

Congress passes a law reducing the amount of violence that children can be exposed to on television.

Which of the following actions can the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) take to implement this measure?

• Write guidelines about how much violence can be depicted during times children are likely to be watching TV

• Lobby Congress to decrease federal funding for TV networks that broadcast violent TV shows

• Refuse to air violent TV shows on their broadcast networks

• Issue an executive order banning the production of violent TV shows

Congress passed the Clean Air Act, which gave the federal government the power to monitor and limit emissions of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. In 2003, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Clean Air Act does not give it the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The EPA’s decision to regulate some emissions but not others is an example of which of the following?

• The discretionary authority that individual bureaucrats and agencies have to make choices about how to implement existing laws

• An iron triangle relationship between bureaucratic agencies, interest groups, and congressional subcommittees to promote a common cause

• Bureaucratic rulemaking authority to write specific regulations in order to enforce laws

• The collaboration between an issue network of experts and stakeholders to create specific policy

Members of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure are concerned over increased accidents on national highways.

Which of the following is an action the committee can take to address the problem?

• Replacing the secretary of the Department of Transportation with a member on the committee

• Confiscating funds from the Department of Transportation until problems are resolved

• Disbanding the Department of Transportation and allocating their responsibilities to other executive departments

• Holding a hearing and subpoenaing high-level officials of the Department of Transportation

Which of the following scenarios would be considered congressional oversight?

• Congress confirms the head of the Environmental Protection Agency in both the House and the Senate

• Congress calls several high-level officials of the Department of Homeland Security to testify on cross-agency communication after September 11th

• Congress gives the Securities and Exchange Commission discretionary authority to implement a bill on regulating Wall Street companies

• Congress passes a bill which the president vetoes; Congress then overrides the presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber

Which of the following scenarios is an example of a bureaucratic agency using its discretionary authority?

• The Environmental Protection Agency decides to enforce the Clean Air Act by imposing fines on companies that knowingly exceed certain pollution standards

• The Department of Veterans Affairs sends officials to testify before a congressional committee

• The Department of Education meets with the American Federation of Teachers to discuss policy implementation

• The Federal Elections Commission publishes a report listing every person who donated more than $200 to a campaign

Based on the data shown in the table, which of the following statements is true?

• Federal employees are more likely than private sector employees to have master’s degrees

• It is necessary to have a bachelor’s degree to become a federal employee

• Private sector employees are more likely to have master’s degrees than bachelor’s degrees

• More federal employees have master’s degrees than bachelor’s degrees