Intense fluxes of keV electrons were observed over large regions of the north polar cap during two periods of magnetospheric quieting following large storms. These fluxes were distinctly field aligned, had energy spectra peaked at both ~100 eV and ~2 keV, and were not observed in the conjugate hemisphere. A search for similar fluxes in the interplanetary medium or the dayside magnetosheath yielded negative results. In one instance the polar cap fluxes were observed for ~40 hours during a period of large-scale expansion of the bow shock. The flux intensity and spectrum varied with observed changes in the bow shock configuration. This and other evidence leads us to suggest that these fluxes were accelerated by a potential barrier located either at the downstream bow shock or within the magnetospheric cavity on field lines intersecting the distended bow shock. The flux intensity and energy spectrum above 1 keV were similar over the polar cap and in the morningside plasma sheet, a finding which suggests that electrons in these regions had a similar source during these events. From the data we infer that the source of the polar cap fluxes was, in general, spatially and temporally uniform and that the structure within the region of their observation was related to processes and field line configurations that are internal to the magnetosphere. Details of the structure of the high-latitude magnetosphere are examined by using the polar cap fluxes as tracer particles. It is found that keV electrons have attenuated access to the postnoon region of closed field lines from high latitudes but are excluded from lower latitudes on the morningside by the prenoon cleft.