Deck 7: Managing the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: The National Security Council System

Question 1

According to President Dwight Eisenhower, what takes place at the top of the policy hill?

A) options are considered and decisions are made
B) information is gathered and weighed
C) decisions are implemented and monitored
D) evaluation and problem identification

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Presidents set goals and promote policies that reflect ______.

A) the agenda of Congress
B) their agenda
C) the agenda of the American public
D) the agenda of their international allies

Answer 2

B

Question 3

According to Richard Neustadt (1960), unless the president is willing and able to make hard choices, he or she is more likely to act as a ______ than a leader.

A) secretary
B) pawn
C) clerk
D) follower

Answer 3

C

Question 4

When presidents rely on cabinet government as their principal means of managing the bureaucracy, they often allow the ______ to act as the lead agency.

A) Department of State
B) Department of Defense
C) Department of Homeland Security
D) Department of Justice

Question 5

Which of the following presidents embraced the State Department-centered approach?

A) President Bush
B) President Reagan
C) President Obama
D) President Trump

Question 6

In which of the following approaches is staff more likely to be responsive to the president?

A) State Department-centered approach
B) Bush-Scowcroft approach
C) White House-centered NSC system approach
D) White House-centered approach

Question 7

Today, the National Security Council is ______.

A) an advisory body
B) a decision making council
C) a pro forma ceremonial part of the NSC system
D) the most important council in the bureaucracy

Question 8

The NSC was created for which of the following purposes?

A) to advise the president
B) to centralize the intelligence community
C) to collect and analyze data
D) to ensure that the homeland remains secure

Question 9

The original statutory members of the NSC included ______.

A) the secretary of homeland security
B) the secretary of state
C) the vice president
D) the head of the Marines

Question 10

Which of the following individuals was added to the NSC after the Congress amended the National Security Act in 1949?

A) the secretary of defense
B) the secretary of the Navy
C) the chairman of the National Security Resource Board
D) the vice president

Question 11

The purpose of the National Security Act was to ______ the national security process.

A) centralize
B) decentralize
C) rationalize
D) sensitize

Question 12

President Roosevelt was known for relying on an ad hoc ______ style.

A) managerial
B) personal
C) activist
D) undisciplined

Question 13

The NSC-68 memorandum provide the justification of the policy of ______.

A) containment
B) detente
C) perestroika
D) glasnost

Question 14

The role of the national security adviser was thrust into prominence during the ______ administration.

A) Eisenhower
B) Nixon
C) Truman
D) Reagan

Question 15

Under which of the following presidents was the NSC used as an advisory body with a staff to support their reliance on cabinet secretaries and their departments?

A) Nixon
B) Johnson
C) Truman
D) Kennedy

Question 16

Under President ______, the NSC Council was eclipsed, and the traditional role of the cabinet was challenged by the rise of the national security advisor and staff.

A) Nixon
B) Eisenhower
C) Truman
D) Kennedy

Question 17

In which of the following administrations did the national security advisor and staff became ascendant in the policymaking process?

A) Nixon
B) Eisenhower
C) Truman
D) Kennedy

Question 18

During the 1950s, the ______ remained the chief foreign policy spokesperson and advisor to the president.

A) secretary of defense
B) secretary of state
C) vice president
D) national security advisor

Question 19

The NSC staff tripled in size and became the major vehicle for coordinating the information and advice provided to the president by the national security departments and agencies during the ______.

A) Nixon administration
B) Johnson administration
C) Truman administration
D) Eisenhower administration

Question 20

The NSC began to decline as an advisory body beginning with the ______ administration.

A) Truman
B) Eisenhower
C) Kennedy
D) Nixon

Question 21

President Kennedy's management style was considered ______.

A) managerial
B) personal
C) adversarial
D) undisciplined

Question 22

Which of the following president's management strategy was to use the White House to control or circumvent the bureaucracy?

A) President Truman
B) President Eisenhower
C) President Kennedy
D) President Nixon

Question 23

According to the authors, President Nixon was very distrustful of the ______.

A) legislature
B) American public
C) bureaucracy
D) policymaking process

Question 24

President Nixon was more likely to ______.

A) attend every meeting
B) consider the opinions of the entire NSC
C) consult with every advisory and agency head
D) consider the products of the committees by himself

Question 25

What was typically included in national security study memoranda (NSSM)?

A) the issues to be addressed
B) the items to place on the foreign policy agenda
C) instructions on the policy implementation
D) the recommendations for the president

Question 26

The national security decision memoranda (NSDM) would include which of the following?

A) the issue to be addressed
B) the agencies involved
C) the presented deadlines for agency submission of policy recommendations
D) the instructions for the policy's implementation

Question 27

What symbolized Henry Kissinger's power?

A) his knowledge of foreign policy
B) his movement from the basement of the White House to an office on the main floor
C) his salary increases
D) his relationship with the other NSC members

Question 28

Under Henry Kissinger, the policy process became ______.

A) centralized
B) chaotic
C) simple
D) decentralized

Question 29

Which of the following was established to develop policy at the secretarial level on issues for which one department had been designated as the lead agency by the president?

A) the NSC Deputes Committee (DC)
B) the NSC Principals Committee (PC)
C) the Special Coordinating Committee (SCC)
D) the Policy Review Committee (PRC)

Question 30

The ______ was established to deal with cross-cutting issues, such as arms control and crisis management.

A) the NSC Deputes Committee (DC)
B) the NSC Principals Committee (PC)
C) the Special Coordinating Committee (SCC)
D) the Policy Review Committee (PRC)

Question 31

Who was at the bottom of President H. W. Bush's three-tiered formal interagency policy process?

A) the deputy national security advisor
B) the Principals Committee
C) the Deputies Committee
D) the interagency working groups

Question 32

The working group committees did most of the work to ______ policy at a higher-level consideration.

A) implement
B) evaluate
C) analyze
D) formulate

Question 33

Which of the following committees served as the White House-led center for considering all national security questions?

A) working group
B) principals committee
C) deputies committee
D) policy review committee

Question 34

Which of the following committees reviewed all work from the coordinating committees?

A) working group
B) principals committee
C) deputies committee
D) policy review committee

Question 35

Which of the following presidents created the National Economic Council, modeled after the NSC?

A) President Bush
B) President Clinton
C) President Obama
D) President H. W. Bush

Question 36

Which of the following presidents deviated from the consensus approach?

A) President Obama
B) President Clinton
C) President Bush
D) President Trump

Question 37

According to the authors, Donald Rumsfeld favored ______.

A) nationalism
B) collectivism
C) pragmatism
D) realism

Question 38

Initially, President Bush adopted a/an ______ style.

A) managerial
B) adversarial
C) personal
D) CEO

Question 39

The NSC under President Obama reflected more ______.

A) change
B) assertiveness
C) continuity
D) pragmatism

Question 40

According to the authors, President Trump's style can be considered ______.

A) structured
B) undisciplined
C) personal
D) managerial

Question 41

The president's beliefs and worldview set the general direction and foreign policy orientation for the administration.

Question 42

The national security advisor is often regarded as the single most important appointment the president makes.

Question 43

The president has come to rely increasingly on a White House-centered foreign policy process managed by the national security advisor and staff.

Question 44

The NSC was originally intended to be the major institution involved in managing the foreign policy bureaucracy.

Question 45

The NSC exists for presidential management.

Question 46

Explain the policy hill.

Question 47

What key choices do presidents have when organizing the policymaking process?

Question 48

Explain the significance of NSC-68.

Question 49

How did President Kennedy respond to the Bay of Pigs fiasco?

Question 50

How has there been both continuity and change in the overall making of US foreign policy?