MPA Master of Public Administration MCQ 4 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883, federal employment decisions must primarily be based on:
- Political loyalty to the president
- Merit and competitive examination (Correct answer)
- Seniority within the agency
- Congressional recommendation
Correct answer: Merit and competitive examination
The Pendleton Act established the merit system for federal hiring, replacing the spoils system with competitive examinations.
Question 2: In network governance theory, what is the PRIMARY challenge that distinguishes managing public networks from managing single organizations?
- Limited access to technology
- Absence of hierarchical authority to compel compliance (Correct answer)
- Inability to measure performance
- Excess of financial resources
Correct answer: Absence of hierarchical authority to compel compliance
Network managers lack formal authority over partner organizations and must rely on negotiation, facilitation, and trust to achieve collective goals.
Question 3: Which economic concept explains why individuals overuse shared public resources, leading to their degradation or depletion?
- Externality
- Tragedy of the commons (Correct answer)
- Public goods problem
- Adverse selection
Correct answer: Tragedy of the commons
Garrett Hardin's tragedy of the commons describes how rational self-interest leads individuals to overuse shared resources until they are destroyed.
Question 4: A state health department wants to reduce opioid overdose deaths. Which policy tool is classified as a 'capacity-building' instrument?
- Imposing criminal penalties for drug possession
- Providing grants for local treatment center training (Correct answer)
- Banning over-the-counter sale of syringes
- Mandating prescriber reporting to a state database
Correct answer: Providing grants for local treatment center training
Capacity-building instruments provide resources, training, and infrastructure to enable target groups to achieve desired outcomes rather than commanding or prohibiting behavior.
Question 5: Which form of program evaluation assesses whether a program is being implemented as designed?
- Summative evaluation
- Impact evaluation
- Process evaluation (Correct answer)
- Cost-effectiveness analysis
Correct answer: Process evaluation
Process (or implementation) evaluation examines fidelity to program designâwhether activities are being carried out as plannedârather than measuring outcomes.
Question 6: The 'hollowing out of the state' thesis in public administration refers to:
- Reducing the physical footprint of government office buildings
- The transfer of government functions to markets, NGOs, and supranational bodies (Correct answer)
- Eliminating middle management layers in bureaucracies
- Moving policy authority from elected officials to career civil servants
Correct answer: The transfer of government functions to markets, NGOs, and supranational bodies
This thesis describes how privatization, contracting out, and devolution to NGOs and international organizations erode the core capacity of the central state.
Question 7: Under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which exemption allows agencies to withhold information that would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy?
- Exemption 1 (classified national security information)
- Exemption 3 (information prohibited by statute)
- Exemption 6 (personal privacy) (Correct answer)
- Exemption 5 (inter-agency deliberative process)
Correct answer: Exemption 6 (personal privacy)
FOIA Exemption 6 protects personnel and medical files and similar records where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
MPA Master of Public Administration MCQ 4
According to the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883, federal employment decisions must primarily be based on: