MPA Master of Public Administration 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which concept describes the tendency of regulatory agencies over time to align their interests with those of the industries they regulate?
- Regulatory capture (Correct answer)
- Bureaucratic drift
- Moral hazard
- Adverse selection
Correct answer: Regulatory capture
Regulatory capture occurs when an agency prioritizes the interests of the regulated industry over the public interest it was created to serve.
Question 2: According to the Hatch Act, most federal employees are prohibited from doing which of the following while on duty?
- Joining a professional association
- Engaging in partisan political activities (Correct answer)
- Applying for a promotion within their agency
- Filing a whistleblower complaint
Correct answer: Engaging in partisan political activities
The Hatch Act restricts federal and some state and local employees from engaging in partisan political activities, such as campaigning for candidates, while on duty.
Question 3: Which principle holds that government decisions should be made at the lowest level of government capable of effectively addressing the issue?
- Supremacy clause
- Subsidiarity (Correct answer)
- Pre-emption doctrine
- Dual federalism
Correct answer: Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity favors decentralized decision-making, reserving matters for the smallest or most local competent authority unless higher-level action is necessary.
Question 4: A local government that issues revenue bonds to finance a new water treatment plant is relying on which repayment source?
- General property tax revenues
- State intergovernmental transfers
- User fees and charges from the facility (Correct answer)
- Federal block grants
Correct answer: User fees and charges from the facility
Revenue bonds are repaid solely from income generated by the financed project (e.g., water utility fees), unlike general obligation bonds backed by taxing authority.
Question 5: In public human resources management, 'position classification' refers to which administrative practice?
- Grouping employees by years of seniority for layoff decisions
- Categorizing jobs into grades based on duties, responsibilities, and qualifications (Correct answer)
- Assigning employees to specific geographic regions
- Ranking applicants based on oral interview scores
Correct answer: Categorizing jobs into grades based on duties, responsibilities, and qualifications
Position classification creates a systematic scheme that groups positions with similar duties and required qualifications into the same pay grade or class.
Question 6: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives citizens the right to do which of the following?
- Vote in federal agency advisory committee elections
- Request access to federal agency records (Correct answer)
- Override agency rulemaking decisions through petition
- File direct complaints with the U.S. Supreme Court
Correct answer: Request access to federal agency records
FOIA (1966) establishes a presumption of government openness by giving the public the right to request and receive federal agency records, subject to nine exemptions.
Question 7: Which approach to public policy analysis uses market-based concepts such as externalities, public goods, and information asymmetry to identify situations that justify government intervention?
- Political feasibility analysis
- Market failure framework (Correct answer)
- Incremental policy analysis
- Normative ethics framework
Correct answer: Market failure framework
The market failure framework identifies conditions — externalities, public goods, monopoly, information problems — where markets do not allocate resources efficiently, providing a rationale for public action.
MPA Master of Public Administration 5
Which concept describes the tendency of regulatory agencies over time to align their interests with those of the industries they regulate?