American Government 10.4 Bureaucratic Organization
Drill: Spoils System & Civil Service
Spoils system: the practice of elected politicians rewarding their followers with go jobs
Civil Service: the practice of government employment on the basis of open, competitive examinations and merit.
Objective:
Student will review the inefficiencies that grew because many government jobs required experts, but most federal workers could not experts at their jobs; corruption grew because workers used their jobs for personal gain, buying and selling jobs or doing special favors for interest groups
1. Government jobs are attractive because of the many benefits they offer
2. Federal workers get from 13 to 26 days of paid vacation every year
3. They have extensive health insurance plans and 13 days of sick leave every year.
4. They may retire at age 55.
5. Government workers who retire after 30 years get half pay for the rest of their lives.
6. Civil service workers have job security.
1. D 11. C
2. G 12. A
3. A 13. B
4. I 14. C
5. J 15. A
6. C 16. D
7. B 17. B
8. F 18. A
9. H 19. C
10. E 20. D
Summary: 1. The Bobby Kennedy law is intended to prevent a repetition of the situation in 1961 when President John Kennedy appointed his brother Robert as attorney general of the United States. This law prohibits a president from giving a government job to a family member. Jobs in high office should be awarded on merits, not on family.
2. During the Cold War from the mid-1940s to the 1980s, the United States and the Soviet Union never fought each other directly. Each country did, however, develop new weapons to defend itself.
Homework:
Merit System: jobs should only go to qualified workers
Hatch Act: limited the extent to which federal government employees could become involved in elections
American Government 10.4 Bureaucratic Organization
Match each item in Column A with the items in Column B. Write the correct letters in the blanks.
Column A____1. foreign policy
____2. National Park Service
____3. independent agency
____4. helps disabled students
____5. protects security of United States
____6. government jobs for a politician’s followers
____7. keeps federal civil service politically neutral
____8. list of jobs
____9. cabinet department employees
____10. Congress’s major power over bureaucracy / Column B
A. NASA
B. Hatch Act
C. spoils system
D. Department of State
E. power of the purse
F. plum book
G. Department of the Interior
H. liaison officers
I. Department of Education
J. Department of Defense
____11. Civil servants who work for the federal government are known as
A. procurement specialists. C. bureaucrats.
B. executive workers. D. whistleblowers.
____12. Offices of ambassadors in foreign countries are called
A. embassies. C. bureaucracies.
B. cabinet offices. D. foreign White Houses.
____13. To reduce the power of regulatory agencies is to
A. participate in the iron triangle. C. benefit the spoils system.
B. deregulate. D. use procurement tactics.
____14. Businesses the federal government runs are called
A. bureaucrat management systems. C. government corporations.
B. civil service companies. D. regulatory commissions.
____15. This department helps protect public lands.
A. Department of the Interior C. Department of Defense
B. Department of Commerce D. Department of Energy
____16. This created the civil service system.
A. spoils system C. Civil Service Commission
B. deregulation D. Pendelton Act
____17. Citizens who report wrongdoings by federal agencies are called
A. deregulators. C. civil servants.
B. whistleblowers. D. bureaucrats.
____18. Congress streamlined federal purchasing by repealing 300 laws that had made this complicated.
A. procurement C. deregulation
B. injunctions D. the spoils system
____19. From the Cold War came this humanitarian effort.
A. Habitat for Humanity C. Peace Corps
B. Red Cross D. Vista
____20. When agencies, congressional committees, and client groups work together it is called
A. liaison officers. C. injunction.
B. civil service. D. an iron triangle.
Summary
1. How did the Bobby Kennedy law originate, and why was it necessary?
2. How did the Cold War contribute to the growth of the federal bureaucracy?