The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services that is responsible for regulating and ensuring the safety of food, medicine, medical equipment, animal food, and other products that are ingested or directly applied to people or animals. The agency was founded in 1906 to enforce regulations passed by Congress.

Although this question had the potential to be relatively difficult, it should have been simple, given the answer choices (the odd man out (the CIA) is clearly the correct answer). Remember: there are 15 Cabinet-level agencies (“Departments”): Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Justice. If it’s not one of these listed, it cannot be a Cabinet-level agency (although, don’t forget that the VP is part of the Cabinet). 

If you used the context clues provided, this should have been a fairly simple question. The correct answer is “independent executive agency,” which makes sense given that it reports “directly to the president.” Examples of independent executive agencies include: the CIA, and the Selective Service System.

This is a somewhat difficult question. The correct answer is “regulatory agency.” The question itself gives you the specifics of what a regulatory agency is, but purposefully fails to give you actual examples of regulatory agencies (it would be too easy otherwise!). Examples of regulatory agencies include: the FCC, the NLRB, and the Federal Reserve.

This should have been a relatively easy question. The correct answer is “Government Corporation.” Remember: a corporation is a distinct legal entity wholly and completely separate from its owners and operators. This is important mostly due to concepts like limited liability (which are far beyond the scope of your course). Regardless, the government can form corporations, which are the same as any other corporation except for the ownership structure. Examples include: Amtrak and the USPS.

The president is the correct answer. The president sits at the very top of the bureaucratic hierarchy, and wields enormous influence through executive orders and his cabinet. In addition, the president is able to influence the bureaucracy through his appointment powers. That said, Congress can temper the president’s input through confirmation requirement—that is, the Senate must confirm the appointments.

Max Weber is the German sociologist responsible for creating the 6 characteristics of all bureaucracies. They include: (1) a formal hierarchical structure; (2) management by rules; (3) organization by functional specialty; (4) an in-focused mission; (5) purposely impersonal; and (6) employment based on technical qualifications.

This should have been a relatively simple question. The correct answer is “that everyone is treated the same…” This, of course, is the longer explanation of the fifth Weberian tenet of bureaucracy—“purposely impersonal.” In slightly more detail, this means that bureaucrats treat everyone the same—Bill Gates, a high school janitor, the CEO of Delta Airlines, etc. Everyone is treated the same, regardless of their status. This doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is treated well (think your neighborhood DMV) just that everyone is treated the same.

This should have been a relatively easy question. The correct answer is “technical expertise,” although “political connections” may have been an incredibly tempting answer (and not entirely incorrect). While political connections are (oftentimes) important in bureaucratic appointments, according to Weber’s 6th tenant of bureaucracy, technical expertise is the most important—note that “political connections” are not among the Weberian tenets.

This should have been a relatively simple question. In American Politics, if the position begins with “Secretary,” there’s a fair (nearly certain) chance that the position is a cabinet-level position. That said, the head of the Department of Justice is called the “Attorney General,” yet is still a member of the cabinet. The Vice President, interestingly enough, is also a member of the cabinet. All of these represent top-ranking bureaucrats.