Important MCQs on Public Administration and public policy :
(i) Public administration refers to:
(a) A process
(b) A discipline
(c) A field of study
(d) All of these
Answer: (d)
(ii) The concept of “separation between politics and public administration” was first propounded by:
(a) Aristotle
(b) Woodrow Wilson
(c) Karl Marx
(d) Machiavelli
Answer: (b)
(iii) The famous fourteen principles of organization were given by:
(a) Plato
(b) Henri Fayol
(c) Fredrick Taylor
(d) Max Weber
Answer: (b)
(iv) The author of the famous essay “The Study of Administration” was:
(a) Dwight Waldo
(b) Woodrow Wilson
(c) Fredrick Taylor
(d) Margaret Thatcher
Answer: (b)
(v) Span of control means:
(a) Tenure on a post
(b) Geographical jurisdiction
(c) Power to control others
(d) Number of subordinates under a superior
Answer: (d)
(vi) Job description relates to appointing a suitable person on a job:
(a) True
(b) False
Answer: (b)
(vii) Job specification defines the parameters of the job to be done:
(a) True
(b) False
Answer: (a)
(viii) Proper job analysis is based on:
(a) Job description
(b) Job specification
(c) Both of these
(d) None of these
Answer: (d)
(ix) Bureaucracy refers to:
(a) Red tape
(b) The totality of government officials
(c) A specific set of structural arrangement
(d) All of these
Answer: (d)
(x) The mnemonic POSDCORB for management was introduced by:
(a) James Mooney
(b) Adam Smith
(c) Luther Gulick
(d) None of these
Answer: (c)
(xi) The famous Hawthorne experiments were conducted by:
(a) Elton Mayo
(b) Abraham H. Maslow
(c) Mark Twain (d) None of these
Answer. (a)
(xv) Spoils system refers to:
(a) Management through objectives
(b) Public sector concept of staffing
(c) Awarding jobs to political supporters (d) None of these
Answer: (b)
(xvi) Deficit financing is: (a) Excess revenues
(b) Excess expenditures (c) Both of these
(d) None of these
Answer (b)
(xvii) Performance audit is used as a comparison between: (a) Actual expenditure and booked expenditure
(b) Revenue collected and potential revenue
(c) Activities of an organization with the assigned objectives (d) None of these
Answer (c)
(xviii) A whistle blower in an organization is a person:
(a) Who reveals bad things about his department to the public (b) Who is a good singer
(c) Who is assigned security duties
(d) None of these
Answer: (a)
(xix) The budget cycle is:
(a) The duration for which it is applicable (b) The process through which it has to go (c) The time frame of preparation
(d) None of these
Answer (b)
(xi) In comparison to managers of private organizations, public bureaucrats must:
(a) Spend less time on external environment and more time on internal management (b) Spend more time on external environment and less time on internal management (c) Spend less time on both external environment and internal management
(d) Spend more time on both external environment and internal management
(e) None of these
Answer: (d)
(x) Supervision as a mechanism of control over subordinates has been founded to be:
(a) The most effective mechanism of control (b) As effective as input control
(c) The less effective mechanism of control (d) More effective than behavior control
(e) None of these
Answer: (d)
(xi) According to Weber, the three types of leadership are:
(a) Charismatic, traditional, legal/rational
(b) Titular, controllers, organizers
(c) Institutionalists, specialists, hybrids
(d) Charismatic, institutionalists, specialists (e) None of these
Answer (a)
(xiv) According to humanists approach, the management scientist’s system is incomplete because:
(a) It fails to factor in the variable of environment and instability
(b) It fails to account for the variable of uniquely human qualities such as genius and despair (c) It gives too much emphasis to the variable of uniquely human qualities
(d) It does not consider quantifiable and measureable variables
(e) None of these
Answer (b)
1. Which of the following administrative thinkers has defined administration as “the organization and direction of human and material resources to achieve desired ends” ?
(A) L. D. White
(B) J. M. Pfiffner
(C) J. A. Veig
(D) H. A. Simon
Ans : (B)
2. Which one of the following statements is not correct in respect of New Public Management ?
(A) It has market orientation
(B) It upholds public interest
(C) It advocates managerial autonomy
(D) It focuses on performance appraisal
Ans : (B)
3. ‘Good Governance’ and ‘Participating Civil Society for Development’ were stressed in World Bank Report of—
(A) 1992
(B) 1997
(C) 2000
(D) 2003
Ans : (A)
4. If the administrative authority within a department is vested in a single individual, then that system is known as—
(A) Board
(B) Bureau
(C) Commission
(D) Council
Ans : (B)
5. Globalisation means—
(A) Financial market system is centered in a single state
(B) The growth of a single unified world market
(C) Geographical location of a firm is of utmost importance
(D) Foreign capitalist transactions
Ans : (B)
6. By whom was the ‘Managerial Grid’ developed ?
(A) Blake and White
(B) Blake and Schmidt
(C) Blake and Mouton
(D) Mouton and Shophan
Ans : (C)
7. Who among the following says that public administration includes the operations of only the executive branch of government ?
(A) L. D. White and Luther Gulick
(B) L. D. White
(C) Luther Gulick
(D) W. F. Willoughby
Ans : (C)
8. The concept of the ‘zone of indifference’ is associated with—
(A) Decision-Making
(B) Leadership
(C) Authority
(D) Motivation
Ans : (C)
9. Who has analysed the leadership in terms of ‘circular response’ ?
(A) C. I. Barnard
(B) M. P. Follett
(C) Millet
(D) Taylor
Ans : (B)
10. Simon proposed a new concept of administration based on the methodology of—
(A) Decision-making
(B) Bounded rationality
(C) Logical positivism
(D) Satisfying
Ans : (C)He gave the concept of Bounded rationality but methodology was logical positivism..
11. Who wrote the book ‘Towards A New Public Administration : The Minnowbrook Perspective’ ?
(A) Frank Marini
(B) Dwight Waldo
(C) C. J. Charlesworth
(D) J. M. Pfiffner
Ans : (A)
12. Who rejected the principles of administration as ‘myths’ and ‘proverbs’ ?
(A) W. F. Willoughby
(B) Herbert Simon
(C) Chester Barnard
(D) L. D. White
Ans : (B)
13. The classical theory of administration is also known as the—
(A) Historical theory
(B) Mechanistic theory
(C) Locational theory
(D) Human Relations theory
Ans : (B)
14. How many principles of organization were propounded by Henry Fayol ?
(A) 10
(B) 14
(C) 5
(D) 9
Ans : (B)
15. Simon was positively influenced by ideas of—
(A) Terry
(B) Barnard
(C) L. D. White
(D) Henry Fayol
Ans : (B)
16. Negative motivation is based on—
(A) Fear
(B) Reward
(C) Money
(D) Status
Ans : (A)
17. ‘Job loading’ means—
(A) Shifting of an employee from one job to another
(B) Deliberate upgrading of responsibility, scope and challenge
(C) Making the job more interesting
(D) None of the above
Ans : (B)
18. The theory of ‘Prismatic Society’ in Public Administration is based on—
(A) Study of public services in developed and developing countries
(B) Institutional comparision of public administration in developed countries
(C) Structural-functional analysis of public administration in developing countries
(D) Historical studies of public administration in different societies
Ans : (C)
19. Who among the following is an odd thinker ?
(A) Taylor
(B) Maslow
(C) Herzberg
(D) Likert
Ans : (A)
20. Which of the following is not included in ‘hygiene’ factors in the Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation ?
(A) Salary
(B) Working conditions
(C) Company’s policy
(D) Responsibility
Ans : (D)
21. The ‘Gang-Plank’ refers to—
(A) Discipline
(B) Initiative
(C) Equity
(D) Level jumping
Ans : (D)
22. The history of evolution of the Public Administration is generally divided into—
(A) Three phases
(B) Four phases
(C) Five phases
(D) Six phases
Ans : (C)
23. Henry Fayol’s General theory of Administration is applicable at—
(A) Policy management level
(B) Top management level
(C) Middle management level
(D) Workshop management level
Ans : (B)
24. F. W. Taylor, the founding father of Scientific Management movement propounded the theory which was conceived to be a scientific methodology of—
(A) Careful observation
(B) Measurement
(C) Generalisation
(D) All of these
Ans : (D)
25. In which of the following are public and private administrations not common ?
(A) Filing
(B) Managerial techniques
(C) Scope and complexity
(D) Accounting
Ans : (C)
26. Bureaucracy that is committed to the programmes of the political party in power is called—
(A) Depoliticised bureaucracy
(B) Semi-politicised bureaucracy
(C) Committed bureaucracy
(D) Fully politicised bureaucracy
Ans : (C)
27. The principle of ‘span of control’ means—
(A) An employee should receive orders from one superior only
(B) The number of subordinate employees that an administrator can effectively direct
(C) The control or supervision of the superior over the subordinate
(D) The number of people being controlled
Ans : (B)
28. Which of the following is not a function of staff agency ?
(A) Planning
(B) Advising
(C) Consultation
(D) Achieving goals
Ans : (D)
29. Which of the following is not a staff agency in India ?
(A) Cabinet Secretariat
(B) Cabinet Committees
(C) Planning Commission
(D) Economic Affairs Department
Ans : (D)
30. In hierarchy, the term ‘scalar’ means—
(A) Step
(B) Ladder
(C) Position
(D) Process
Ans : (B)
31. The 4Ps theory of departmentalization as advocated by Luther Gulick are—
(A) Purpose, process, plan, place
(B) Place, person, programme, process
(C) Purpose, process, place, programme
(D) Purpose, process, person, place
Ans : (D)
32. One who tells one’s supervisor anything detrimental to an associate is called—
(A) A squealer
(B) A rate buster
(C) A chiseller
(D) None of these
Ans : (A)
33. According to Urwick, where the work is of a more simple and routine nature, the span of control varies from—
(A) 9 to 12
(B) 8 to 12
(C) 7 to 9
(D) 10 to 12
Ans : (B)
34. Delegation of authority by a Sales Manger to his saleman is an example of—
(A) Upward delegation
(B) Sideward delegation
(C) Downward delegation
(D) None of these
Ans : (C)
35. A virtual organisation is—
(A) One which has profit as the major goal
(B) One in which leadership always tends to fulfil psychological needs of the subordinates
(C) A small, core organization that outsources major busi-ness functions
(D) One which has concern of the employees as its top priority
Ans : (C)
36. The most effective means of citizen’s control over administration is—
(A) Election
(B) Pressure Groups
(C) Advisory Committees
(D) Public Opinion
Ans : (A)
37. The Santhanam Committee on prevention of corruption was appointed in—
(A) 1961
(B) 1964
(C) 1963
(D) 1962
Ans : (D)
38. The first country in the world to introduce the right to information was—
(A) Norway
(B) USA
(C) Sweden
(D) Finland
Ans : (C)
39. What is meant by the Doctrine of State Immunity ?
(A) The State is immune to being sued
(B) The State can be sued but not in the national courts
(C) The State cannot be sued in its own court without its consent
(D) None of the above
Ans : (A)
40. ‘Habeas Corpus’ literally means—
(A) To have the body of
(B) To command
(C) To prohibit
(D) None of the above
Ans : (A)
41. The system of ‘Rule of Law’ was propounded by—
(A) A. V. Dicey
(B) Lowell
(C) W. F. Willoughby
(D) H. Finer
Ans : (A)
42. Who says that “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” ?
(A) L. D. White
(B) Lord Beveridge
(C) Lord Acton
(D) Josiah Stamp
Ans : (C)
43. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament in India consists of—
(A) 15 members
(B) 22 members
(C) 25 members
(D) 30 members
Ans : (B)
44. If a public servant imposes upon the citizens duties and obligations which are not required by law, it
can lead to—
(A) Error of law
(B) Abuse of power
(C) Error of authority
(D) Error of fact finding
Ans : (B)
45. Of which of the following administrative systems is the absence of judicial review a feature ?
1. USA
2. UK
3. France
4. India
(A) 3
(B) 2 and 3
(C) 1 and 3
(D) 2
Ans : (B)
46. The present constitution of the USA was adopted in—
(A) 1786
(B) 1778
(C) 1787
(D) 1789
Ans : (C)
47. ‘Grand Corps’ in French Civil Service stands for—
(A) Senior level of specialist administrators
(B) Senior level of generalist administrators
(C) Senior level of generalistcum-specialist administra-tors
(D) Senior level of defence administrators
Ans : (C)
48. In France, the term of the President is—
(A) Four years
(B) Five years
(C) Six years
(D) Seven years
Ans : (D)
49. In England, the Cabinet must resign from office as soon as it loses the confidence of—
(A) The King or the Queen
(B) The House of Commons
(C) The House of Lords
(D) All of these
Ans : (B)
50. Under their service rules, the British Civil servants—
(A) Are required to be neutral in politics
(B) Can be partisan
(C) Can be partly neutral and partly partian
(D) Can pursue active party politics
Ans : (A)
67. The civil service was defined as “professional body of officials, permanent, paid and skilled” by—
(A) Herman Finer
(B) O. G. Stahl
(C) Felix Nigro
(D) E. N. Gladden
Ans : (A)
68. A new All India Service can be created by—
(A) An amendment of the constitution
(B) An executive order
(C) A resolution under Article 312 of the Constitution
(D) A statute
Ans : (C)
69. The British concept of Civil Service neutrality is laid down by—
(A) Fulton Committee
(B) Assheton Committee
(C) Masterman Committee
(D) Northcote-Trevelyn Committee
Ans : (C)
70. The ‘spoils system’ in the USA began during the period of—
(A) Jefferson
(B) Jackson
(C) Washington
(D) Adams
Ans : (B)
71. Promotion in Civil Services indicates—
(A) Such changes in the situation which indicate difficult work and more important responsibility
(B) Change in the place of work
(C) Transfer of work from field to Headquarters
(D) Always an increase in pay
Ans : (A)
72. Which of the following is not an All India Service ?
(A) Indian Foreign Service
(B) Indian Administrative Service
(C) Indian Forest Service
(D) Indian Police Service
Ans : (A)
73. The Union Public Service Commission of India has been established under the—
(A) Article 315
(B) Article 320
(C) Article 325
(D) Article 335
Ans : (A)
74. Which of the following reports deals with the relations between the specialists and generalists ?
(A) Haldane Committee Report
(B) Sarkaria Commission Report
(C) Fulton Committee Report
(D) Kothari Committee Report
Ans : (C)
75. Reservation for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the services has been provided in the
Indian Constitution under—
(A) Article 315
(B) Article 335
(C) Article 365
(D) Article 375
Ans : (B)
Which theory stipulates that citizens are self-interested actors whose decisions fulfill their own needs and wants
A: Economic Theory of Democracy
B: Managerial Theory
C: Rational Choice Theory
D: Pluralism Theory
Answer: C
When a relevant minister holds a news conference to announce the government’s intent to introduce a new policy, what is it known as
A: Decision-making
B: Policy Evaluation
C: Policy Implementation
D: Policy Change
Answer: C
During which part of the public policy cycle does the government explore potential policy responses
A: Agenda Setting
B: Policy Formulation
C: Policy Implementation
D: Decision- Making
Answer: B
Which of the following characteristics is NOT part of Weber’s model of a functioning government
A: There are rules within civil society.
B: Government must employ skilled experts.
C: Skilled experts do not necessarily have to operate within an organized hierarchy.
D: People must be treated equally.
Answer: C
Which of the following is not a feature of good governance
A: Accountability
B: Transparency
C: Nepotism
D: Rule of law
Answer: C
Which of the following violates the principle of Utility of Command
A: Bureaucratic Organization
B: Functional Organization
C: Manufacturing Organization
D: Product Organization
Answer: B
Which of the following will not be considered as a formal organization
A: A Hospital
B: A University
C: A Group of Friends
D: A Service Industry
Answer: C
The process of transmitting the idea or thought into meaningful symbols is called
A: Decoding
B: Feedback
C: Reception
D: Encoding
Answer: D
Which one of the following is the foundation of modern Human Resource
A: Specialization
B: Compensation
C: Job Analysis
D: Job Evaluation
Answer: A
System. Theory is associated with the work of following
A: Leonard While
B: Mary Parker Follet
C: Talcott Parsons
D: F.W. Taylor
Answer: C
One choice theory is economic explanation of
A: Religion
B: Islam
C: Political decision making
D: Psychology
Answer: D
Entropy is a law of nature in which all forms of organizations move towards
A: Disorganization and Death
B: Rebirth and Emergency
C: Growth and Continuity
D: Continuous Improvement
Answer: A
Legal-rational authority” is a core concept of
A: Public Choice Theory
B: Theory of Emergency
C: Maslows Theory of Motivation
D: Theory of Bureaucracy
Answer: D
McGregor’s name is most commonly associated with one of the following
A: Bureaucratic Theory
B: Theory X and theory Y
C: Scientific Management
D: Human Relations
Answer: B
Which of the following is an essential component of a formal organization
A: Decentralization
B: Formal Structure
C: Power
D: Centralization
Answer: C
Which of the following is one of the features of bureaucracy conceived by Max Weber
A: Authority
B: Hierarchy
C: Publicness
D: Civil society
Answer: B
Which of the following is not of the core values of public administration
A: Equity
B: Efficiency
C: Effectiveness
D: Bureaucracy
Answer: D
The author of The Function of the Executive is
A: F. W. Taylor
B: Chester Bernard
C: Mary Parker Follet
D: Henry Fayol
Answer: B
The concept of “bounded rationality” was given by
A: Wax Weber
B: F. W. Riggs
C: Herbert Simon
D: Abraham Maslow
Answer: C
Public Administration may be defined as
A: Management of industry
B: Management of Property
C: Administration of Public
D: Administrative Capacity
Answer: C
