You must answer one question of your choice from the two questions in each part. You have ONE HOUR to answer the question you choose. Plan out your response and pace yourself so that you can answer all parts of the question in the allotted time.

 

Part IV: Fiscal Policy Questions (For students in MPA Program only; IG-MPA students answer IVA)

  1. As of mid-October 1998, no Federal budget was in place. Congress blamed the President for this lack of action; the President blamed Congress. Obviously, both the Executive and Legislative branches of government have a role in the budget process. Please discuss how the executive-legislative relationship in the federal budget making process has evolved as a result of major budget acts including, but not necessarily limited to: The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921; the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974; the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act); and the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (BEA).

In your response, make sure to discuss how each of the above-named acts has changed the executive-legislative relationship in the federal budget making process. Conclude with your analysis of why Presidential-Legislative gridlock occurs again and again (1996, 1998) despite reforms designed to smooth the budget process.

  1. Although the next presidential election is two years from now, a number of potential candidates are already starting to campaign. One of the major issues the candidates will be addressing is the federal income tax system. Some think the federal income tax should be replaced with a national sales tax. Proponents of the change say a national sales tax would be easier to administer and would not discourage investment. However, opponents of the change believe that the national sales tax would only benefit upper income taxpayers and not poor and middle-income taxpayers. How would you evaluate the proposed change from the federal income tax to a national sales tax? Please use the following criteria in your evaluation.

Equity (both vertical and horizontal)

Administrative ease

Political implications

Economic impact

Revenue adequacy (including stability).

In your response, be sure to define each of the criteria and clearly state how each of the two taxes differ with respect to each criteria.

 

You must answer one question of your choice from the two questions in each part. You have ONE HOUR to answer the question you choose. Plan out your response and pace yourself so that you can answer all parts of the question in the allotted time.

 

Part IVA: Accounting, Auditing, Inspection and Oversight (For MPA-IG Students ONLY)

1. You have been hired as a consultant to the mayors of three small cities (A,B,C) in your region. Each city contracts with a local accounting firm for an annual regular audit. In the current fiscal year each city began to receive federal assistance for a particular program, namely, residential counseling for substance abusers. City A receives $20,000; City B receives $75,000; City C receives $175,000. The regulations for the federal assistance require, under certain conditions, a "single" audit, which would be in addition to the annual regular audit each city conducts. All three mayors believe that a single audit is not worth the additional cost over a regular audit. The mayors have asked you, as their consultant, to analyze the single audit requirement in general, and as it applies to each city.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a single audit. In addition, identify and discuss the items that should be included in the regular audit reports of government programs that would not be required in the audit report of a for-profit organization. Finally, with specific reference to EACH city, identify whether a single audit must be performed and explain why this is the case.

 

2. One of the first federal Inspectors General to write a book about her experiences is Mary Schiavo. Schiavo, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) from 1993 through early 1997 devoted much of her investigative energy to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA, beset by weak management and a lackadaisical approach to regulation, made negative headlines with everything from bizarre management training practices to doing little about airlines, such as Valu-Jet, that were accidents waiting to happen. Taking the FAA (and her DOT bosses) to task on Valu-Jet was one of Schiavo's last official acts, after which she resigned her post and wrote FLYING SAFE, FLYING BLIND (Avon Books, 1997).

Analyze Schiavo's actions as DOT's Inspector General with respect to the FAA. Did Schiavo carry out her duties in accordance with the Inspectors General Act of 1978? By expanding her investigations of the FAA in the face of resistant FAA administrators and detached DOT administrators did Schiavo go beyond the legal authority of her office? Did she go beyond what was personally prudent and/or protective of her IG office and staff?

NOTE: A student answering this question needs to know about Schiavo's actions relative to the FAA. You can find out about the Schiavo-FAA saga through library periodicals, or on the Web (try "Schiavo FAA Airline Safety" as a search), or through her book..

You must answer one question of your choice from the two questions in each part. You have ONE HOUR to answer the question you choose. Plan out your response and pace yourself so that you can answer all parts of the question in the allotted time.

Part V: Research Methods Questions (For students in all programs)

1. Recently, there have been a number of reports issued by various research groups addressing the issue of the impact of smaller class size on student performance. Some of the studies have concluded that there is no relationship; others have concluded that students who are placed in classes with fewer students perform better than those who are placed in larger classes. Assume that you have been asked to conduct additional research on this issue.

  1. State your hypothesis
  2. Identify the unit of analysis.
  3. Delineate your dependent and independent variables and some illustrative control variables.

D. Conceptualize and operationalize your dependent, independent, and control variables.

E. Discuss your sampling method.

F. Discuss your research method, i.e. whether you are going to use experimentation, survey research, field research or existing data, or a combination of any of these approaches. Tell why you have selected this method.
  1. Discuss your data analysis techniques.
  2. Identify ethical, political, or other problems you envision in implementing your suggested research design.

2. The Division of the Fire Department responsible for inspecting compliance with building codes has developed an incentive program to improve the quality and reliability of inspections. The experimental program has been in effect for a period of six months, and now the agency has decided to evaluate the program. The program is highly selective, and permits certain higher-performing inspectors to receive incentive bonuses in return for greater productivity and responsibility, greater job reassignment and transfer flexibility within the agency, and more intensive training and work appraisal. Inspectors voluntarily participate and may voluntarily withdraw from the program. During the experimental period, the agency also implemented a new computer-based office automation system and eliminated a significant number of less productive inspection positions.

To evaluate the program, the monthly productivity of program participants when the program starts will be compared to the monthly productivity of program participants after the program has been in operation for six months. Productivity levels of inspectors within the program will be compared to productivity levels of inspectors with comparable assignments who are not participating in the program. An attitude questionnaire about productivity will be administered to participants before acceptance into the program, and after 6 months of participation.

Question: For each of the following research method defects:

history,

maturation,

differential selection, and

experimental mortality

a) explain the defect in general, b) give an example of the defect from the evaluation plan, and c) explain how the example could invalidate possible evaluation findings. Then, d) design an alternative evaluation plan that solves these defects by using an experimental design.

 

You must answer one question of your choice from the two questions in each part. You have ONE HOUR to answer the question you choose. Plan out your response and pace yourself so that you can answer all parts of the question in the allotted time.

 

Part VI: Policy Analysis (For students in all programs.)

1. Policy analysts in the public sector face a daunting task in defining policy issues so that they become addressable problems. In the process of problem definition, analysts must deal with:

  1. Agency executives and/or legislators who are sponsoring the policy analysis.
  2. Interest groups and influential individuals associated with the policy area.
  3. Legislative histories and agency experiences that provide background for the policy issue
  4. Obtaining and digesting available, relevant, and analyzable data on the policy issue
  5. Recasting information from all these sources into a problem definition that:
    1. Allows for a range of alternative solutions acceptable to decision-makers
    2. Allows for the development of criteria against which the alternative solutions can be measured
    3. Allows available data to be analyzed in relation to these criteria in a way that shows meaningful distinctions among the alternatives.

Pick ONE of the policy issues below and describe how you would proceed, step by step as outlined above (from a through e3), in converting that issue into an addressable problem.

Issue: The spread of AIDS in low-income, predominantly minority populations

Issue: The decades-long decline in reading and math scores in the New York City school system

Issue: Women assaulted or killed by abusive spouses/domestic partners despite protective court orders

 

2. Mayor Giuliani is proposing that a new Yankee Stadium be built in Manhattan, near the Hudson River between 34th and 42nd Streets. This policy proposal has been controversial, to say the least.

Things started when Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, dissatisfied with his Bronx stadium, threatened to move the team to New Jersey. The Mayor then endorsed a billion dollar Manhattan stadium, and produced economic analyses showing long-term benefits the new stadium would produce for the city. Bronx Borough President Ferrer immediately pointed out the economic losses the Bronx would incur if the Yankees moved, and later produced a "new, improved Bronx Yankee Stadium complex" proposal which he supported by analyses showing significant long-term economic benefits. West Side Manhattan residents, a politically active group, were aghast at a Yankee Stadium mega-project in their neighborhood. Bronxites were outraged at the proposal. Mets fans in Brooklyn and Queens wondered about their new stadium.

The City Council, under the leadership of gubernatorial candidate Peter Vallone, made the Manhattan stadium proposal a ballot question in November's election. The Mayor countered with a "City Charter Reform" ballot question which, according to law, knocks all other questions off the ballot.

This saga is ongoing. A judge struck down the Mayor's ballot question, ruling the Charter question was a sham to knock out the stadium question. Giuliani appealed. The appellate court agreed with the Mayor. So did the New York Court of Appeals by not entertaining the case. So, the Yankee Stadium question is off the ballot again. Now, Vallone is trying to get the United States Department of Justice to intervene on the grounds that New Yorkers have been unconstitutionally denied the right to vote on the stadium. Whether or not New Yorkers get to vote on a Manhattan stadium, the issue is not likely to go away.

You are to answer this question as a policy analyst working for Governor Pataki. He wants to fully understand the issues, as they stood on October 31, 1998 (Halloween), before taking a position. Prepare a three part report for the Governor. The first part of your report must assess existing economic rationales for and against moving Yankee Stadium from the Bronx to Manhattan. The second part of the report must list the short-term and long-term legal hurdles facing the Manhattan stadium proposal. The third part of the report must analyze the political costs and benefits to the Governor if he endorses the Manhattan Stadium proposal. Conclude your report by advising the governor whether he should endorse the Manhattan Stadium, giving the economic and/or legal and/or political reasons you think the Governor should used to justify his stand.