PADM FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
100% CORRECT ANSWERS 2024/2025
Define public administration - ANSWERSgovernment in action, including bureaucratic agencies and
everything that they do (assisting politicians, implementing and evaluating programs, delivering goods
and services to the public).
Why is public admin so hard to define? - ANSWERSit is very broad, it is very complex, and there is no
agreement amongst scholars about what it really is.
Identify Stillman's six characteristics of public administration. - ANSWERSHistorically associated with the
executive branch,
Involves the formulation and implementation of public policies and the management of the programs
that result from those policies (more than implementation),
Involves the solving of a considerable range of societal problems (very complex problems),
A field that is fundamentally different from private administration (context),
Involves the production of public goods and services (public education, public health), and
Rooted in law with purpose and authority to act (no public bureaucracy is created without Congress
creating it)
What do Smith and Licari mean by public administration as a process? As an organization? As politics? -
ANSWERSPOSDCORB are basic management functions of public, private, and non-profit organizations,
AS A PROCESS. Public administration occurs within a bureaucratic organization, characteristics include
hierarchy, division of labor, rules and regulations, professionalism, AS AN ORGANIZATION. Politics are
inherent in the context that bureaucrats work in, AS POLITICS.
What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy? Who was the first person to study bureaucracy? -
ANSWERSMax Weber was the first person to study bureaucracy. The characteristics of a bureaucracy
include hierarchy, division of labor, formal rules, record-keeping, and professionalism.
Explain the politics/administration dichotomy. Does it represent the relationship between politics
(politicians) and bureaucracy today? Why or why not? - ANSWERSThe politics and administration
, dichotomy is a theory that politics and administration should remain separate, but it does not represent
the relationship between politics and bureaucracy today. Bureaucrats do a lot more than just implement,
they help politicians create policy, and politicians can impact implementation through oversight.
Satisfaction with federal agencies over time (late 1980s, late 1990s, 2010, and 2018) - ANSWERSonce we
hit 2010, there was a large drop off in public opinion on all federal agencies (likely due to recession), in
2018, we see an increase in public opinion due to flourishing economy
Satisfaction with specific agencies versus bureaucracy as a whole - ANSWERSpeople rate FDA and EPA
very high but rate bureaucracy as a whole low
Variation of satisfaction among bureaucratic agencies - ANSWERSthe IRS will never be popular with the
American public because no one likes paying taxes
Public opinion regarding careers in government bureaucracy - ANSWERShighly approved, likely due to
the high stability and benefits of government jobs
What is the bureaucratic paradox? - ANSWERSNegative feelings about bureaucracy but asking for more
bureaucracy, it's necessary but people aren't fans of bureaucracy in general.
How representative is bureaucracy compared to our political institutions? - ANSWERSBureaucracy looks
like us a lot more than the elected officials. More diversity.
How are government agencies different from private sector organizations? - ANSWERSContext, funding
(taxes), political interests, missions
How are government agencies similar to private organizations? Does this similarity matter? -
ANSWERSBoard of directors, provide services, POSDCORB. This similarity does matter, but it is not fair to
compare private and public sectors just because they have similarities.
Identify and explain the factors that have contributed to the growth of American bureaucracy. -
ANSWERSGrowth of the USA, Social Movements (Industrial Revolution), Believe that vulnerable groups
of people must be taken care of, Role of the US globally, More complex problems arising in a modern
society
