MPA Master of Public Administration MCQ 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which procurement method requires a government agency to award a contract to the vendor offering the lowest price that meets all specified requirements?
- Best value procurement
- Sole-source contracting
- Sealed-bid (IFB) procurement (Correct answer)
- Negotiated procurement
Correct answer: Sealed-bid (IFB) procurement
Sealed-bid or Invitation for Bids (IFB) procurement mandates award to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder.
Question 2: In public human resources management, 'broadbanding' refers to:
- Expanding overtime eligibility to more employees
- Consolidating many narrow pay grades into fewer, wider salary bands (Correct answer)
- Broadcasting job openings across multiple platforms
- Requiring broad interdisciplinary training for all managers
Correct answer: Consolidating many narrow pay grades into fewer, wider salary bands
Broadbanding consolidates traditional narrow pay grades into fewer, wider salary ranges to allow more flexible compensation management.
Question 3: Which concept describes the tendency of public bureaus to continually seek budget increases beyond what is needed to achieve their mandated mission?
- Principal-agent problem
- Niskanen's budget-maximizing bureaucrat (Correct answer)
- Bounded rationality
- Regulatory capture
Correct answer: Niskanen's budget-maximizing bureaucrat
William Niskanen's model argues bureaucrats maximize budgets to increase their power, prestige, and job security, leading to oversized agencies.
Question 4: A city council passes an ordinance prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation. Under U.S. federalism, this is an example of:
- Federal mandates
- Preemption
- Dillon's Rule authority
- Local policy innovation (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Local policy innovation
Local governments can enact anti-discrimination protections beyond federal minimums, serving as laboratories of democracy for policy innovation.
Question 5: Which financial statement shows a government's assets, liabilities, and net position at a specific point in time under GASB standards?
- Statement of activities
- Statement of cash flows
- Statement of net position (Correct answer)
- Budget-to-actual comparison
Correct answer: Statement of net position
Under GASB standards, the Statement of Net Position (formerly balance sheet) reports assets, deferred outflows, liabilities, deferred inflows, and net position as of a specific date.
Question 6: The concept of 'representative bureaucracy' holds that public agencies function more effectively and fairly when:
- Managers are elected rather than appointed
- Staff demographics reflect the communities they serve (Correct answer)
- Bureaucrats follow strict hierarchical commands
- Agencies are privatized and subject to market competition
Correct answer: Staff demographics reflect the communities they serve
Representative bureaucracy theory argues that a diverse workforce that mirrors the public it serves leads to more equitable policy implementation and decisions.
Question 7: Which type of intergovernmental grant gives recipient governments the most discretion in how funds are spent?
- Categorical grant
- Project grant
- Block grant (Correct answer)
- Formula grant
Correct answer: Block grant
Block grants provide funds for broad functional areas (like community development) with few strings attached, maximizing recipient discretion.
MPA Master of Public Administration MCQ 3
Which procurement method requires a government agency to award a contract to the vendor offering the lowest price that meets all specified requirements?