Oxford University Press | Online Resource Centre

Choose your answers from a-d by clicking the radio button next to each choice and then press 'Submit' to get your score.

Question 1

Which of the following best describes the term 'club government'?

a) The tendency of members of both politicians and civil servants to socialise together in the gentleman's clubs of London

b) A Marxist critique of British government focusing on the shared assumptions generated by the tendency of members of the British political elite to be male, white and public school educated

c) The relatively closer and less conflictual relationship enjoyed between Conservative ministers and civil servants in contrast to that between Labour ministers and officials

d) The complex and secretive interactions between politicians and civil servants relying on trust, shared assumptions and a common view of themselves as representing a metropolitan elite

Question 2

Which one of the following statements is CORRECT in reference to Cabinet committees?

a) The number of Cabinet committees is limited by an Act of Parliament

b) All Cabinet committees are chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister

c) Cabinet committees now handle a significant amount of government business.

d) In keeping with the secretive nature of the British system of government the composition and terms of reference of Cabinet committees is never disclosed

Question 3

Which of the following best identifies the substance of the term 'joined-up government'?

a) An attempt to provide a central source of frank information and policy expertise for members of the Cabinet

b) An attempt to vertically integrate the local, regional, national and supra-national institutions in a system of multi-level governance

c) An approach to government which seeks to transcend departmental remits and co-ordinate the development and implementation of policies

d) An approach to policy formulation which considers potential policies not only in terms of their potential impact but considers also how these might be best presented to the public using media outlets

Question 4

What of the following provides the most accurate definition of the term 'departmentalism'?

a) A tendency of ministers to dismiss the advice provided by civil servants in their department in preference for the advice provided by their special advisers

b) A tendency of ministers to conspire with their ministerial colleagues in other departments to counter the power of the principal civil servants in their own departments

c) A tendency to focus on departmental objectives to the detriment of the collective aims and objectives of the government as a whole

d) A tendency of post-war Prime Ministers to frequently re-organise the system of government by creating new departments, merge and abolish established departments

Question 5

Approximately how many special advisers were to be found in Whitehall in 2003?

a) 30

b) 55

c) 80

d) 210

Question 6

The problems associated with the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991 can most plausibly be understood as a product of which of the following tendencies in the British policy process?

a) A tendency towards 'departmentalism'

b) A tendency of ministers to pursue policies which are ideological in inspiration

c) A tendency for the department to press policies on the minister

d) A tendency to 'make policy on the hoof'

Question 7

Which of the policy roles of ministers advanced by Marsh, Richards and Smith is being outlined in the quotation below?
"A minister whose role and impact within a department is relatively marginal and whose main function is to legitimise or rubber stamp departmental policy".

a) An agenda setter

b) A policy initiator

c) A policy selector

d) A policy legitimator

Question 8

Which of the following has been a unique concern of Gordon Brown during his period as Chancellor of the Exchequer?

a) He has undertaken the most radical distribution of wealth from rich to poor undertaken by any post-war Chancellor

b) He has sought to repudiate the historical reputation of Labour Chancellors for poor economic management

c) He has offered the most direct challenge to the orthodox views of Treasury civil servants in the post-war period

d) He is the first Chancellor who has been concerned with macro-economic stability

Question 9

Which of the following statements accurately identifies a key change in the role of the Treasury in the last quarter of a century?

a) It has become a much smaller department with much of its functions now undertaken by the Department of Trade and Industry

b) The Treasury has become more pro-active and interventionist in relation to the policies pursued by other departments

c) The Treasury has become increasingly led by the requirements of other Whitehall departments

d) The Treasury has found it increasingly difficult to keep departments to their spending targets

Question 10

Which one of the following statements best and most accurately summarises the changes in the relationships between ministers and civil servants over the last quarter of a century?

a) The Senior Civil Service has become de-layered and departments have tended to become more isolated and autonomous in the development of policy

b) Departments face much closer scrutiny by the Treasury and as a consequence civil servants have become much more valued when developing policy

c) Ministers have become more pro-active and involved in policy making, they have become more critical of, and less reliant upon, the policy advice of civil servants

d) The policy arena has become more diverse and crowded with the detailed policy work once performed by civil servants being increasingly undertaken by special advisers

Oxford University Press, Online Resource Centre, Chapter 12.

Chapter 12

Instructions

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10