Tuesday Post

The Subato Reading for tomorrow's quiz will cover pages 352 to 355-Not lot of reading required, eh? A reminder as well to complete the Gideon v. Wainwright reading questions for tomorrow. We may have a discussion on the video/handout. Be prepared to be potentially called on....I may also lecture a bit tomorrow as well...Hasta Manana!

Bureaucracy Free Response Help

If you need help on the Bureaucracy FRQ, check out the Rubric below:

ALSO: Go to the third page of the Bureaucracy notes I printed out for you a couple of days ago. The section on "Influences on Bureaucratic Behavior" and "Controlling the Bureaucracy" has everything you need to answer the question....Good luck! P.S Skip tonight's judiciary reading on Subato. You can start those pages tomorrow night....

Bureaucracy Free Response Rubric:

PART A: 3 Points - One point each will be given for identifying three of the following:

¨ Recruitment and retention

¨ Personal attributes of bureaucrats

¨ Legal constraints

¨ Organizational restraints

¨ Presidential influence

¨ Congressional influence

¨ Interest Groups

¨ Media

¨ Courts

2 Points – One point each will be given for identifying two of the above.

1 Point – One point will be given for identifying one of the above.

PART B: 3 Points – One point each will be given for writing one developed example within each of three of the above categories. Possible answers include:

¨ Recruitment and retention: “good ‘ol boys” network, hard to fire a civil servant, loyalty to agency

¨ Personal attributes: more liberal than general public, activist agencies more liberal than traditional, i.e. FTC, EPA, SEC v Justice, Defense, Treasury

¨ Legal constraints: Hatch Act, Freedom of Information Act, Affirmative Action

¨ Organizational restraints: size, red tape, lack of incentives

¨ Presidential influence: appointment of top-level bureaucrats, firing power, budgets

¨ Congressional influence: funding, confirmation, appropriations, sunset laws

¨ Interest Groups: iron triangles, lobbying, client groups

¨ Media: scrutiny, watchdog role, “whistle blowers”

¨ Courts: injunctions, writs of mandamus

2 Points – One point each for developing two of the above examples within two of the above categories.

1 Point – One point for developing one of the above examples within one of the above categories.

PART C: 2 Points – Establish a position (efficient or inefficient) and support it with evidence (a concrete example)

1 Point – Establish a position

Bureaucracy Free Response Answer

Contrary to the 19th Century Spoils System where civil service employees were hired in exchange for political patronage, today's civil servants are hired based on the merit system. Despite greater professionalism in the today's ranks of federal employees, there are a number of influences (both internal and external) that affect employees' behavior, many contend, for the negative:

A. One major influence on federal employee behavior relates to recruitment and
retention. Many critics of civil service cite the existence of a "good 'ol boys' network which
protects those loyal to the agency. Statistics show that it is very difficult to fire a federal
employee, once that individual has been hired. While civil service tests are meant to ensure
fairness in hiring, critics also cite that promotions are sometimes performed informally
without consideration of testing and other "objective criteria" and is highly inefficient in choosing "the best person" for the job.

B. Another influence on federal employee behavior concerns personal attributes. Statistics
show that federal upper level management positions are often dominated by older, white
males. Minorities are often found in the lower, more clerical ranks of the Civil Service. Since many federal agencies are tasked to assist multi ethnic and multicultural clientele critics are correct to point out that a lack of significant representation in the upper management ranks has a bearing on the work that is accomplished; this can lead to inefficiencies.

C. Thirdly, organizational restraints have an impact on civil service behavior. Given the
sheer size of many federal agencies, a hierarchical structure is often the dominant means of
organization. The hierarchy many contend, is impersonal and leads many to accuse those
working within the structure, lacking sufficient motivation or innovative practices. Additionally, the larger the organization, the larger the amount of "red tape." Many critics say that federal agencies are wrought with overlong procedures and bureaucratic barriers. Instances of overlooked investigations and negligence are often found in the news. These inefficiencies can sometimes have live or death consequences for the agencies' clientele.

Many Americans like to complain about federal agencies and their bureaucratic procedures but largely depend upon the services that these agencies provide. Within any bureaucracy (public or private sector alike), hierarchy and red tape predominate. Federal agencies since they are largely funded with taxpayer dollars are far more convenient for Americans to criticize.

SparkNotes

Happy Saturday, Class. This link: www.sparknotes.com has a cool feature. It allows you to take a diagnostic AP Government test (multiple choice only) and have your test scored. With the test scoring, it will tell you specifically which areas to re-study. You will have to register and the process is fairly straight-forward. As we get towards the end of the class (in April) I think I'll take you to the computer lab (ROP Center) and have you take it, then print out a report for you to "zero in" on your areas for re-study.

Please complete the Subato reading for Chapter 9 (covering pages 334-342). We will have the usual T/F Subato end-of-chapter test on Tuesday.

Please someone respond to this post in the "comments" section so that I know that some of you are receiving this. Otherwise, this blog is pointless to continue writing....

Your AP Government Test Will Have to Be Changed...

Class,

The US Supreme Court ruled historically today on the extent to which private companies can support a political candidate. Their ruling today undoes much of the McCain-Feingold limits on political contributions. Read the article below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/us/politics/22donate.html?hp

Citing the protections under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision reversed limitations on corporate contributions to campaigns. This decision will likely benefit Republican candidates who traditionally ally themselves with Big Business. The AP Exam you take in May will have to be modified to exclude questions on McCain-Feingold or provide an asterisk with an explanation as to today's Supreme Court ruling...

Extra Credit: I will give you 15 extra-credit points if you read the article (and watch the short video) and provide an opinion either pro or con on the Supreme Court's decision citing some of the facts of the situation....

Subato reading for tomorrow, 321-329. That's less than the ten pages I told you to read ahead on....

MLK Holiday

Class. For tomorrow, you should have completed Chapter 8 in Subato (pages 279 to 312). You will take the 40 question True/False quiz. For your inf0, we will spend one more week on the Executive Branch and you will be reading through Chapter 9 in Subato (pages 315 to 344) which continues on with the Executive Branch and includes information on the Federal Bureaucracy.

After your quiz tomorrow, you will watch some video on the Executive Branch which will include a worksheet. This time around when I grade your binders, I will look at every assignment you have been asked to complete and assign points on everything. I will probably collect your binders towards the end of this week (p0ssibly the following Monday depending on your progress throughout the week) to grade assignments. Tomorrow, your binders should be in reasonable order (for ten points). I will do a quick walkaround. Your rewrites (2) are due from the midterm (for 20 points) which you will turn in-no late work will be accepted.

Possibly on Wednesday, I will have you work on the Executive Branch reading (Chapter 12 APGOPO-Unit 4.1)that I handed out to you a week ago answering the five or so questions. During the week there will also probably at least two lectures.

Just thought I would lay things out for you for the week.

Executive Branch

Welcome back class! Tomorrow, we will get back together and have a relatively easy session. We've go to get our synapses back in the game. I am assigning you Chapter 8 in Subato. You should have read pages 279 to 288. There will be our customary quiz for Tuesday on those pages. For the portion on the Executive Branch, we will read Chapters 8 and 9. This portion of the Institutions unit should take about two weeks. Cheers!