MPA Master of Public Administration MCQ 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which budget format links government expenditures directly to measurable program outcomes?
- Line-item budget
- Performance-based budget (Correct answer)
- Incremental budget
- Capital budget
Correct answer: Performance-based budget
Performance-based budgeting ties appropriations to specific outputs or outcomes rather than input categories.
Question 2: The 'street-level bureaucracy' concept, developed by Michael Lipsky, argues that policy is ultimately shaped by:
- Legislative committees
- Senior agency executives
- Frontline public workers (Correct answer)
- Federal appellate courts
Correct answer: Frontline public workers
Lipsky argued that frontline workers (teachers, police, social workers) exercise discretion that effectively makes policy during implementation.
Question 3: In the U.S. federal system, which doctrine holds that federal law supersedes conflicting state law?
- Devolution
- Preemption (Correct answer)
- Nullification
- Federalism
Correct answer: Preemption
The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution establishes federal preemption, making valid federal law the supreme law of the land.
Question 4: Which theory of organizational motivation emphasizes hygiene factors (salary, working conditions) as separate from true motivators (achievement, recognition)?
- Maslow's hierarchy
- Herzberg's two-factor theory (Correct answer)
- McGregor's Theory X/Y
- Expectancy theory
Correct answer: Herzberg's two-factor theory
Herzberg distinguished hygiene factors that prevent dissatisfaction from motivators that drive job satisfaction and performance.
Question 5: A government agency uses cost-benefit analysis to evaluate a new highway project. Which cost category is MOST likely to be underestimated?
- Construction material costs
- Environmental externalities (Correct answer)
- Labor wages
- Land acquisition costs
Correct answer: Environmental externalities
Environmental externalities like pollution, habitat loss, and noise impacts are often difficult to quantify and are systematically underestimated in public project analyses.
Question 6: Which administrative law principle requires agencies to provide notice of proposed rules and allow public comment before finalizing them?
- Stare decisis
- Habeas corpus
- Notice-and-comment rulemaking (Correct answer)
- Judicial review
Correct answer: Notice-and-comment rulemaking
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 mandates notice-and-comment rulemaking for most federal agency regulations.
Question 7: The 'garbage can model' of organizational decision-making, proposed by Cohen, March, and Olsen, is best characterized by:
- Rational optimization of clear goals
- Sequential analysis of alternatives
- Random coupling of problems, solutions, and participants (Correct answer)
- Top-down hierarchical planning
Correct answer: Random coupling of problems, solutions, and participants
The garbage can model describes organized anarchies where problems, solutions, participants, and choice opportunities mix unpredictably to produce decisions.
MPA Master of Public Administration MCQ 2
Which budget format links government expenditures directly to measurable program outcomes?