Compare and contrast spoils-based and merit-based bureaucratic systems.
What will be an ideal response?
The spoils system was based on patronage and involved the president appointing political supporters to federal bureaucratic positions. Often the bureaucrats were not qualified for their positions but held them because of the nineteenth-century mentality that “to the victor go the spoils.” Beginning with the Pendleton Act and later with the Hatch Act, the civil service reforms chipped away at the spoils system. Workers then had to pass civil service exams and be hired on merit. This changed the system from being a patronage-based system to one concentrating on neutral competence. This system has some downsides, one of which is the red tape frequently involved in dealings with the bureaucracy.
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Why does the term "bureaucratic" have a negative connotation?
A) Bureaucracies are an extension of the judicial system. B) Bureaucracies often favor a specific group of people. C) Bureaucracies are large, impersonal and slow. D) Bureaucracies are notoriously corrupt.
Which one of these outcomes does Keynesian economics anticipate when government spending is increased?
a. less private investment b. increased consumption c. higher taxes d. greater deficits
An estimated __________ million people worldwide gathered over a February 2003 weekend to protest the coming U.S.-led invasion of Iraq
a. 2 b. 8 c. 16 d. 32
The ways in which private individuals and NGOs have worked together outside the realm of traditional politics to advance the concepts of human rights and democracy is known as
a. domestic outreach b. international sustainability c. domestic civility d. global civil society e. hierarchical continuity