Unit Five Lesson Thirteen Government

An advantage that bureaucrats in the federal government have over the policy-making process is that bureaucrats

• usually have better access to the media than does the president.

• control the budgetary process.

• find it easier to gather public support than does the president.

• usually have a continuity of service in the executive branch that the president lacks.

• have an independence from the president that is guaranteed by the Constitution.

From the standpoint of a federal agency, what is the advantage of an iron triangle?

• It gives the federal agency a direct link to the White House staff.

• It allows federal agencies to receive funding directly from interest groups.

• It gives the agency allies in Congress, as well as in the private sector.

• It prevents Congress from using oversight hearings as a means of cutting agency budgets.

• It provides agency heads with access to the media, so they can publicize their programs.

With respect to prayer in public schools, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that

• the free exercise clause permits teachers to mandate silent prayer

• in school districts in which local authorities can demonstrate that all students belong to a single religion, mandated prayer is permissible

• state-sponsored prayer is permitted by the free exercise clause of the First Amendment

• since educational policy is controlled largely by state governments, the First Amendment does not affect school policy on prayer

• state-sponsored prayer violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service will spend money appropriated by Congress to maintain wildlife refuges. This action is an example of

• an independent expenditure

• the power of the filibuster

• bureaucratic implementation of law

• an unfunded mandate

• congressional oversight of the bureaucracy

Congress is most likely to exert oversight of the executive bureaucracy in which of the following ways?

• Impeaching the head of an executive agency

• Directly selecting the head of an executive agency

• Using the Court to block implementation of proposed regulations

• Controlling an executive agency’s annual budget

• Changing the term length of heads of independent regulatory commissions

A policy that sets emission standards for automobiles is an example of

• fiscal policy

• regulatory policy

• monetary policy

• judicial policy

• distributive policy

Congress tries to control the bureaucracy through

• the use of executive orders and appointments.

• rewriting laws and budgets and holding hearing.

• deregulation.

• regularly threatening to abolish it.

• the creation of iron triangles.

To influence policy making by the federal courts, the president may do all of the following EXCEPT

• encourage the Justice Department to get involved in cases that test certain issues

• take political ideology into account in making judicial appointments

• make public statements about issues that might appear before the courts

• fire and replace federal judges

• take partisanship into account in making judicial appointments

The United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was based on which of the following?

• The Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule

• The Fifth Amendment’s power of eminent domain

• The Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause

• The First Amendment’s right to freedom of expression

• The Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection

Which of the following is true of the relationship between Congress and executive agencies?

• Because the agencies have bureaucratic expertise, Congress delegates “rule-making authority” to them.

• Agencies, once created, work totally independent of Congress.

• Congress creates, staffs, and supervises all executive agencies.

• Because of differing objectives, their relationships are always adversarial.

• The agencies were created by and work under the direction of Congress.