QUESTION 2

1. The Senior Executive Service consists of
2. administrators who were appointed to their posts because of their connections to the political party in power.
3. presidential appointees to executive posts requiring special technical expertise.
4. higher level career administrators within the federal merit system.
5. federal service retirees who return for limited terms of service where their experience is in demand.

QUESTION 3

1. The merit system of public employment originated in the U.S.
2. with the earliest appointments of qualified employees by President Washington.
3. with the Pendleton Act of 1883.
4. with the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
5. gradually during the early 20th century, led by several states and only instituted at the federal level in 1962.

QUESTION 4

1. Employment of middle- and lower-level public workers on the basis of patronage rather than merit
2. is practiced today to only a limited and informal degree.
3. was ended at the federal level but remains in wide use in most state and local governments.
4. was outlawed for all governments by the Pendleton Act of 1883 and subsequent court decisions.
5. is widely practiced in the Postal Service and other agencies that are not covered by the General Schedule.

QUESTION 5

1. In most public employment situations today, affirmative action that favors historically disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and gender groups
2. has been outlawed at the federal level by several Supreme Court decisions.
3. is practiced through flexible hiring criteria but not through the use of numerical quotas.
4. has had widespread discriminatory impact on "majority group" job applicants.
5. has largely endedbecause most public agencies have achieved racial and gender balance.

12.5 points

QUESTION 6

1. Employee unions and professional organizations in public employment
2. have many members, particularly at the state and local levels.
3. are banned at the federal level but exist in some states where laws permit.
4. typically enroll only workers in the skilled trades.
5. are no longer politically active due to membership declines at all levels of government.

12.5 points

QUESTION 7

1. New systems for managing public employees have begun to appear in
2. most state governments.
3. the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
4. several large cities such as New York and Chicago.
5. the Homeland Security Department.