Introduction to Public Affairs Final Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Public Affairs explores the foundational concepts, principles, and structures of public administration and policy-making in modern societies. Students will examine the roles and responsibilities of government entities, non-profit organizations, and private sector partners in addressing public needs and challenges. The course introduces frameworks for understanding policy development, public management, governance, ethics, and civic engagement, equipping students with essential knowledge to analyze and participate in the public affairs field. Emphasis is placed on contemporary issues, intergovernmental relationships, organizational behavior, and the evolving nature of public service in a democratic context.
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Managing the Public Sector 9th Edition by Grover Starling Available Study Resources on Quizplus
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Chapter 1: The Nature of Public Administration
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Sample Questions
Q1) Any time that one's actions create costs for another without the other person's permission, there is
A)an externality.
B)a moral hazard.
C)a pecuniary cost.
D)a trespass.
E)an estappel.
Answer: A
Q2) David Lilienthal, Paul Appleby, Philip Selznick, and Norton Long all attacked which of the following concepts?
A) scientific management
B) return on assets ( ROA)
C) POSDCORB
D) the politics-administration dichotomy
E) co-optation
Answer: D
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3
Chapter 2: The Political-Legal Environment of Administration
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT a method used by administrators to implement policy?
A)Law enforcement
B)Rule making
C)Oversight
D)Adjudication
E)Distribution of certain benefits and services
Answer: C
Q2) The <i>Federal Register</i> provides
A)a list of all members of Congress and their committee assignments.
B)all statutes of the nation still in force.
C)rules, directives, executive orders, and regulations.
D)the names and affiliations of all registered Washington-based lobbyists.
E)court interpretations of the Administrative Procedures Act.
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Intergovernmental Relations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Moral hazard
A)refers to any behavior under contracts that is risky.
B)refers to any behavior under contracts that is inefficient.
C)refers to any behavior under contracts that is unethical.
D)is most closely associated with voluntary associations.
E)is closely associated with the writings of Paul H.Appleby.
Answer: B
Q2) According to Fisher and Ury, _______________ determine(s) the point at which you are prepared to walk away from the negotiating table.
A) a hard deadline
B) your BATNA
C) a variable sum
D) your NABTA
E) sunk costs
Answer: B
Q3) How do categorical grants differ from block grants?
Answer: not answered
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Chapter 4: Administrative Responsibility and Ethics
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Q1) Which of the following was NOT listed in the text as a pricing strategy a public-sector organization might follow?
A) profit maximization
B) price inversion
C) discriminatory
D) cost-recovery
E) cost plus
Q2) The text suggested market segmentation as a technique to improve which of the following?
A) responsiveness
B) accountability
C) fairness
D) flexibility
E) competence
Q3) Discuss some of the reasons some public officials deceive.
Q4) Discuss the process of ethical analysis.
Q5) Define the public interest.
Q6) Why should an administrator study ethics?
Q7) Discuss how control of administrative behavior is achieved through liability laws.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Planning
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Q1) The first step in strategic management process is to define the mission and desired outcomes.What activities are associated with this step?
I.Produce measure of performance
II.Align activities, core processes, and resources
III.Assess the environment
IV.Involve stakeholders
A)I and II only
B)III and IV only
C)II and III only
D)I, III, and IV only
E)I, II, and IV only
Q2) Which of the following best explains the success of direct government action?
A)Eliminates transaction costs
B)Externalizes transaction costs
C)Third-party government
D)Relatively high media scrutiny
E)The power of eminent domain
Q3) Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the rational planning model.
Q4) Explain the difference between performance measurement and program evaluation.
Q5) What the forecasting methods are available to public administrators?
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Chapter 6: Decision Making
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Q1) A ticket sold at a football stadium is a ticket not sold at a theater.This observation illustrates what concept?
A)What goes around comes around
B)Pecuniary benefits
C)Say's law
D)Exchange theory
E)Substitution effect
Q2) What are the four steps in program evaluation? Discuss some of the difficulties in doing an evaluation of a government program.
Q3) List a few public sector decisions in which a decision tree might be helpful.Why?
Q4) What are some of the biases in human decision making that administrators should be aware of?
Q5) In the drawing on the left, box E is best described as
A)a building block problem.
B)a unique problem.
C)a cosmetic solution.
D)a quick fix.
E)an opportunity.
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Chapter 7: Organizing
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Q1) Which of the following principles states that authority and responsibility should flow in a direct line vertically from the highest level to the lowest level?
A)Scalar principle
B)Line and staff principle
C)Systems structure
D)Division of labor
E)Mosaic
Q2) What do organization charts show? What are their limitations?
Q3) What is the root problem of government according to the Report of the National Performance Review and the many studies that preceeded?
Q4) According to Peter Drucker, four factors -- futurity, reversibility, impact, and rarity -are helpful in
A) determining where a decision belongs
B) re-examining the final organizational form
C) determining what are the key activities in an organization
D) deciding whether an organization is mechanistic or organic
E) providing the rationale for reorganization
Q5) What are some of the reasons that governments reorganize?
Q6) How does a matrix organization operate.What are its strengths and weaknesses?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Leading
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Q1) Research on communication suggests all the following EXCEPT
A)consistency of messages by leaders is crucial.
B)style influences the effectiveness of managers.
C)memorable messages tend to he brief.
D)those who state their opinion early in a discussion are better able to have their opinion accepted than those who state their opinion in the middle.
E)stationery and signatures have more impact than electronic mail and faxes.
Q2) What was one of the two major ways presented in the text by which top management can approach the challenge of organizational change?
A) stakeholder analysis
B) values-based leadership
C) organizational development
D) social contract
E) internal network building
Q3) What leadership traits do you consider most important.Why?
Q4) "In contrast to Frederick Taylor, who saw workers responding primarily to economic incentives, Barnard recognized complexities of human motivations." Discuss.
Q5) Explained the significance of the Hawthorne studies.
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Chapter 9: Implementation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Compare and contrast the following three scheduling models: Gantt chart, CPM, and PERT.
Q2) What are the strengths and weaknesses of a management-by-objectives system?
Q3) What are the lessons of the case study "Friendly Fire" for every organization?
Q4) Which of the following statements about management by objectives (MBO) is INCORRECT?
A) A disadvantage of MBO is that managers are frequently reluctant to give feedback.
B) MBO is a process whereby superior and subordinate managers of an organization jointly identify its common goals
C) Organizations that effectively use MBO are 44.6% more productive than those that don't.
D) MBO can cause employees to neglect important unmeasurable parts of their jobs.
E) MBO can reduce the amount of paperwork within an organization.
Q5) What is compliance management?
Q6) "Much of what public sector organizations do involves case management." Explain.
Q7) What is Total Quality Management?
Q8) What is privatization?
Q9) Explain how government uses the franchise arrangement to deliver services
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Human Resources Management
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Q1) General William Creech as head of the Tactical Air Command was widely cited as a prime example of
A)a leader who surrounded himself with outstanding people and then delegated as much authority as possible.
B)a "new school" manager.
C)an "old school" manager.
D)a symbolic manager.
E)a knowledge manager.
Q2) The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 did all the following EXCEPT
A)split the Civil Service Commission into two units.
B)prohibit state employees from suing their employers in either state or federal courts.
C)establish an independent federal labor relations authority.
D)create a separate personnel system for the highest-ranking civil service officials.
E)restate and elaborate the merit principle.
Q3) Traces the development of public personnel management in the United States from "government by a gentleman" to "government by shared power."
Q4) What is an assessment center?
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Chapter 11: Public Financial Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss the various proposals to reform federal taxation.
Q2) Describe the four basic phases out the federal budget cycle.
Q3) Type B tax is
A)estate, inheritance, and gift taxes.
B)sales tax.
C)user charges.
D)corporate income tax.
E)personal income tax.
Q4) Currently, the total federal debt as percentage of GDP is about
A) 10
B) 20
C) 40
D) 80
E) 160
Q5) Type A tax is
A)property tax.
B)sales tax.
C)user charges.
D)corporate income tax.
E)personal income tax.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Information Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) To help nontechnical managers avoid information (IT) mistakes, Ross and Weill identify six decisions for which those managers should take responsibility.Explain what those decisions involve.
Q2) With which of the following points would expert presenters be most likely to DISAGREE?
A) Provide handouts after the presentation.
B) For variety and excitement, used several fonts, music clips, videos, and animation.
C) Do not place your agency logo in a corner of each slide.
D) Tell a story with each slide.
E) Treat your bullet points as headlines.
Q3) Explain data mining.
Q4) The table above shows the essence of a formal reporting system used by
A)the U.S.Army in its after-action reports.
B)Texaco's visualization center.
C)Microsoft's senior management.
D)the British civil service in India.
E)New Zealand's Ministry of Treasury.
Q5) How can public administrator avoid letting bad public relations destroy good programs?
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