Deck 12: Congress

Question 1

Following the 2012 elections, there were ________ women serving in the U.S. Senate.

A) 5
B) 20
C) 33
D) 45

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which sort of representation is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one could correctly represent the other's views?

A) agency representation
B) sociological representation
C) trustee representation
D) delegate representation

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What is the most common occupation among members of Congress before coming to Congress?

A) business executive
B) lobbyist
C) college professor
D) lawyer

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The first woman to serve in Congress was ________.

A) Susan B. Anthony
B) Eleanor Roosevelt
C) Jeanette Rankin
D) Nancy Pelosi

Question 5

The process of allocating congressional seats among the 50 states is called ________.

A) redistricting
B) gerrymandering
C) redlining
D) apportionment

Question 6

In 1972, approximately ________ percent of House members' personal staff were located in district offices; by 2010, the number had grown to nearly ________ percent.

A) 0; 100
B) 20; 50
C) 33; 75
D) 45; 67

Question 7

Approximately ________ percent of members of Congress have university degrees.

A) 33
B) 50
C) 75
D) 90

Question 8

A U.S. senator has a ________-year term.

A) two
B) four
C) six
D) eight

Question 9

Following the 2006 elections, ________ became Speaker of the House.

A) Dennis Hastert
B) Newt Gingrich
C) Nancy Pelosi
D) John Boehner

Question 10

The first woman was elected to Congress in ________.

A) 1790
B) 1865
C) 1892
D) 1917

Question 11

Which of the following typically affects an individual's decision to run for elected office?

A) the strength of the individual's connections with interest groups and the national party organization
B) the individual's ability to meet the age and citizenship duration requirements
C) the individual's ability to raise money for his or her campaign
D) All of these are correct.

Question 12

Under the original Constitution, senators

A) served four-year terms.
B) were appointed by state legislatures.
C) were selected by the federal judiciary.
D) could serve only two terms.

Question 13

The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been fixed at ________ since ________.

A) 100; 1790
B) 100; 1929
C) 435; 1929
D) 435; 1959

Question 14

Gerrymandering refers to the

A) manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group.
B) practice whereby legislators trade their support or opposition on one bill to get the support of another legislator on a different bill.
C) investigations of the executive branch by members of Congress.
D) tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down.

Question 15

In each House district, there are approximately ________ people.

A) 250,000
B) 700,000
C) 1,300,000
D) 2,500,000

Question 16

During the past several decades, the ________ and the ________ have benefited most from apportionment.

A) Northeast; Midwest
B) Northeast; South
C) South; Midwest
D) South; West

Question 17

The "sophomore surge" refers to the

A) fact that many members of Congress lose their re-election campaigns after their second term in office.
B) tendency for college students to intern with their local members of Congress during the summer between their sophomore and junior years in college.
C) fact that most members of Congress leave office after serving only two years.
D) tendency for candidates to win a higher percentage of the vote when seeking future terms in office.

Question 18

A senator or representative running for re-election is called the ________.

A) constituent
B) incumbent
C) trustee
D) delegate

Question 19

In recent years, about ________ percent of U.S. House incumbents win re-election.

A) 50
B) 66
C) 80
D) 95

Question 20

Congress is a ________ legislature with ________ members.

A) unicameral; 342
B) bicameral; 535
C) bicameral; 100
D) bicameral; 275

Question 21

A number of states have responded to concerns about partisan gerrymandering by

A) banning redistricting.
B) taking redistricting power away from their state legislature and giving it to independent commissions.
C) taking redistricting power away from independent commissions and giving it to their state legislature.
D) taking redistricting power away from independent commissions and giving it to their state governor.

Question 22

________ bills are one of Congress's favorite vehicles for pork-barrel spending.

A) Education
B) Veteran's affairs
C) Health care
D) Highway

Question 23

Which of the following best describes a way in which the House differs from the Senate?

A) The House is more centralized and organized than the Senate.
B) The House is a looser and more deliberative body than the Senate.
C) The members of the House are much less specialized than the members of the Senate.
D) The House has a much greater level of turnover in its membership than the Senate.

Question 24

The most common private bills proposed in Congress are those

A) giving individuals or corporations tax relief.
B) for permanent visas or citizenship for foreign nationals.
C) for defense contracts in a representative's district.
D) that declare certain foreign nationals as enemies of the United States.

Question 25

The so-called bridge to nowhere was important because it became a symbol of

A) the problems with Congress's lack of racial diversity.
B) the Supreme Court's increasing willingness to overturn acts of Congress.
C) wasteful congressional spending through earmarks.
D) the federal government's ability to effectively respond to infrastructure problems.

Question 26

In 2011,

A) the House of Representatives dramatically increased the number of earmarks in their spending bills, while the Senate dramatically decreased the number of earmarks in their spending bills.
B) the Senate dramatically increased the number of earmarks in their spending bills, while the House of Representatives dramatically decreased the number of earmarks in their spending bills.
C) both the House of Representatives and the Senate dramatically increased the number of earmarks in their spending bills.
D) the House and the Senate agreed to a two-year moratorium on earmarks in spending bills.

Question 27

Between 1995 and 2006, the number of congressional earmarks

A) remained the same.
B) dropped to nearly zero.
C) nearly doubled.
D) increased by a factor of 10.

Question 28

There are ________ states that have taken redistricting power away from state legislatures and given it to independent commissions.

A) 0
B) 6
C) 21
D) 33

Question 29

What did the Supreme Court justices declare in Miller v. Johnson (1995)?

A) Districts could not be drawn to favor the incumbent candidate.
B) The racial composition of a district could not be the predominant factor when redistricting.
C) It was not unconstitutional for states to use an unelected, nonpartisan committee to redistrict.
D) The use of computer technologies to draw districts that will favor one party over another is unconstitutional.

Question 30

Pork-barrel legislation

A) funds specific projects and their location within a particular congressional district.
B) gives agricultural subsidies within a region.
C) awards special privileges to a person named in the bill.
D) orders state governments to implement a program without providing funding for doing so.

Question 31

The term pork barrel refers to

A) any piece of legislation that changes the number of agricultural subsidies provided to farmers by the federal government.
B) the collective set of laws that regulate America's meat exports.
C) bills that grant a special privilege to a person named in the bill.
D) appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home districts.

Question 32

After the 2014 election, the Republican Party controlled

A) both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
B) the House of Representatives but not the Senate.
C) the Senate but not the House of Representatives.
D) neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate.

Question 33

The frequency with which they must seek re-election makes members of the U.S. House of Representatives

A) more responsive to the needs of the elites in the states they represent.
B) less responsive to the needs of the elites in the states they represent.
C) less responsive to the needs of local interest groups in the districts they represent.
D) more responsive to the needs of local interest groups in the districts they represent.

Question 34

One reason some people support the establishment of term limits in the House and Senate is that it will

A) decrease the power and influence of interest groups.
B) decrease turnover in Congress and lead to more experienced legislators.
C) increase turnover and get new faces into Congress.
D) limit the power and influence of the judiciary.

Question 35

Senators' longer terms of office, and larger, more heterogeneous constituencies makes them more

A) attuned to the needs of groups and interests organized on a city or countywide basis.
B) likely to consider new ideas and better able to act as the agents for groups and interests organized on a statewide or national basis.
C) likely to serve existing interests than to bring together new coalitions of interests.
D) likely to spend their time thinking about and running for re-election.

Question 36

Race became a major factor in drawing congressional district lines as a result of

A) Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
B) Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
C) the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder.
D) the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Question 37

Republican House member Randy "Duke" Cunningham was

A) sent to jail in 2005 for accepting bribes by companies hoping to receive earmarks in return.
B) the primary supporter of a bill that would have prohibited the use of earmarks in Congress.
C) the initiator of a lawsuit heard by the Supreme Court about the constitutionality of earmarks.
D) the first member of Congress to propose that representatives publish a list of all earmark requests on a single website.

Question 38

One reason why redistricting is controversial is that

A) those charged with drawing districts use sophisticated computer technologies to come up with the most favorable district boundaries.
B) incumbents never lose when districts are redrawn.
C) it is unclear whether districts have to be drawn in such a way that each district includes roughly the same number of people.
D) interest groups and PACs exert a great deal of influence over the specific shape of each district.

Question 39

The Supreme Court has ruled that

A) reapportionment can only take place in a state once every 20 years.
B) reapportionment can only take place in a state once every 40 years.
C) state governments must give voters final approval over any congressional district lines that are drawn by a state legislature.
D) state governments can use independent commissions rather than state legislatures to draw congressional district lines.

Question 40

Which of the following statements best describes the representation of women and minorities in the U.S. Congress?

A) Representation of women and minorities has decreased by one-third since the 1970s.
B) Representation of women and minorities has increased during the past two decades, but is not comparable to their proportions in the general population.
C) Women are underrepresented in Congress, but there is a disproportionate representation of minorities in Congress.
D) Since the mid-1990s, the number of women and minorities in Congress roughly reflects their proportions in the general population.

Question 41

Who has the most real power in the Senate?

A) the president of the Senate
B) the majority and minority leaders
C) the Senate president pro tempore
D) the chair of the Rules Committee

Question 42

Congressional staff members' responsibilities include

A) negotiating with lobbyists.
B) drafting legislative proposals.
C) handling constituent requests.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 43

Who decides which committee assignments members of the House of Representatives receive?

A) the Speaker of the House
B) each party's own steering and policy committee
C) the president for members of his own party, and either the House majority or minority leader for opposition members
D) each party's whip

Question 44

Congressional leaders form ________ committees when they want to take up an issue that falls between the jurisdiction of existing committees, to highlight an issue, or to investigate a particular problem.

A) conference
B) joint
C) select
D) standing

Question 45

How is the Speaker of the House determined?

A) The vice president of the United States is also Speaker of the House.
B) The representative with the longest tenure in the House is the Speaker of the House.
C) The elected leader of the majority party in the House is the Speaker.
D) The president selects the Speaker of the House from the majority party in the House.

Question 46

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was unique among joint committees because it

A) included members of both the House and the Senate.
B) had the power to write and report legislation.
C) was created as a permanent committee.
D) only included members of the House of Representatives.

Question 47

A formal structure of Congress that exemplifies the need to divide the labor of legislation is the

A) establishment of party whips.
B) establishment of standing committees.
C) strict control over floor time in Congress.
D) establishment of minority and majority leaders.

Question 48

The Senate Watergate Committee of 1973 is an example of a ________ committee.

A) conference
B) joint
C) select
D) standing

Question 49

What does the House Ways and Means Committee have jurisdiction over?

A) taxes, trade, and entitlement programs
B) foreign relations and national security
C) rules governing debate on the floor and committee assignments
D) highways and waterways

Question 50

Which agencies in Congress are designed to oversee administrative agencies and evaluate presidential proposals?

A) committee
B) oversight
C) staff
D) review

Question 51

The House Rules Committee is important because it

A) is placed in charge of selecting the Speaker of the House.
B) decides the order in which bills come up for a vote on the House floor and determines the specific rules that govern the length of debate and opportunity for amendments.
C) reviews all applications regarding the formation of select committees.
D) determines the jurisdiction of every congressional standing committee.

Question 52

The president pro tempore of the Senate is usually

A) the minority party leader with the greatest seniority.
B) the minority party leader with the least seniority.
C) selected directly by the president.
D) the majority party member with the greatest seniority.

Question 53

A congressional caucus is a(n)

A) formal substructure of congressional parties oriented toward fund-raising.
B) unofficial group of representatives or senators sharing similar interests or opinions.
C) formal committee that has the power to propose and write legislation.
D) vote by members of the House to determine who the Speaker of the House will be.

Question 54

The four joint committees in Congress are

A) economic, taxation, library, and printing.
B) foreign affairs, welfare, currency, and trade.
C) globalization, human rights, employment, and citizenship.
D) justice, agriculture, education, and technology.

Question 55

The term whip in discussions of Congress refers to

A) a punishment party leaders give when a member of Congress does not vote with the rest of his or her party.
B) a Senate rule that allows 60 senators to immediately end another senator's filibuster.
C) the majority party leader's chief of staff.
D) a party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes

Question 56

The Tea Party caucus refers to a group of

A) conservative Republicans in the House and the Senate who seek to advance patriotism and a greater appreciation of American history.
B) conservative Republicans in the House and the Senate who seek to advance antispending policies.
C) liberal Democrats in the House and the Senate who seek to advance antispending policies.
D) liberal Democrats in the House and the Senate who seek to advance patriotism and a greater appreciation of American history.

Question 57

The jurisdiction of standing committees

A) is related to a specific geographic region.
B) is defined by the subject matter of legislation, which often parallels the major cabinet departments or agencies.
C) is determined by the different political parties.
D) often overlaps with the jurisdiction of select committees.

Question 58

Congressional organization is influenced by which of the following?

A) parliamentary rules of the House and Senate
B) political parties
C) the committee system
D) All of these are correct

Question 59

Which three factors related to the American electoral system affect who is elected to office in this country and what they do once they get there?

A) party affiliation, family connections, and the substance of issues raised during a campaign
B) who decides to run for office, incumbency, and the drawing of district lines
C) incumbency, franking, and party affiliation
D) military service, professional connections, and religious beliefs

Question 60

In the House of Representatives, what is the relationship between the majority leader and the Speaker of the House?

A) The majority leader is subordinate to the Speaker of the House.
B) They are the same office.
C) The majority leader is superior in formal powers to the Speaker of the House.
D) The majority leader has the same powers as the Speaker of the House but is a different office.

Question 61

Astroturf lobbying refers to the practice whereby

A) a special interest group simulating a grassroots movement works with well-organized campaigns and petitions.
B) members of Congress are influenced by large campaign donations.
C) lobbyists begin to specialize, with narrow areas of professional expertise.
D) a special interest group pretends to represent the public interest.

Question 62

What is cloture?

A) the ability of a senator to speak for as long as he or she wishes to prevent action from being taken on legislation that he or she opposes
B) the process by which three-fifths of the Senate can end a filibuster
C) the rule that allows one house of Congress to circumvent the other during the legislative process
D) a lawsuit filed by a member of the Senate against a member of the House or vice versa

Question 63

In the House of Representatives, virtually all the time allotted by the Rules Committee for debate on a given bill is controlled by the

A) majority leader and the minority leader.
B) bill's sponsor and its leading opponent.
C) whip.
D) Rules Committee chairperson.

Question 64

A closed or an open rule refers to congressional provisions regarding

A) whether deliberations are closed or open to the general public.
B) assignment to powerful committees.
C) whether lobbyists are allowed inside Congress.
D) floor debate on a bill.

Question 65

The ________ is/are responsible for communicating the leader's wishes to members in Congress.

A) Speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tempore
B) party whips
C) party caucuses
D) Ways and Means Committee

Question 66

How can congressional party leaders secure the unity and cooperation of their members?

A) through committee assignments
B) by providing access to the floor
C) through the whip system
D) All of these are correct

Question 67

The framers gave the power to introduce "money bills" to the House of Representatives but not the Senate because they believed that

A) the Senate was too small in size to make good decisions about taxing and spending.
B) the chamber closest to the people should exercise greater authority over taxing and spending.
C) every state should not have equal influence over taxing and spending decisions.
D) taxing and spending were not important issues and the Senate should focus its attention on the country's most pressing problems.

Question 68

The filibuster

A) has never been a frequently used tactic in the U.S. Senate.
B) was rarely used throughout most of American history, but has become a frequently used tactic in the U.S. Senate during the last 20 years.
C) was a frequently used tactic in the U.S. Senate throughout most of American history, but has almost never been used during the last 20 years.
D) has always been a frequently used tactic in the U.S. Senate.

Question 69

Organizational reforms instituted by Congress in the 1970s

A) fragmented power by reducing the power of committee chairs.
B) centralized power into the hands of party leaders.
C) sped up legislation by reducing the number of committees to which a bill was referred.
D) reduced the scrutiny of the media by closing hearings to the public.

Question 70

Which is the best description of the K Street Project?

A) an attempt to place former Republican staffers in key lobbying positions to help ensure a large flow of corporate donations to the Republican Party
B) an attempt by Democrats to place party loyalists in key positions in the administrative agencies that line K Street in Washington, D.C.
C) orchestrated by the Federalist Society, it has the goal of placing conservatives on the federal courts.
D) a bipartisan movement to get the offices of congressional staffers expanded beyond Capitol Hill to K Street.

Question 71

The session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on a bill is called the

A) logrolling stage.
B) oversight phase.
C) roll call vote.
D) committee markup.

Question 72

The Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office are examples of ________.

A) staff agencies
B) caucuses
C) select committees
D) conference committees

Question 73

A ________ veto occurs when Congress adjourns during a 10-day period after presenting the president with a bill and he or she takes no action.

A) procrastination
B) pocket
C) silent
D) line-item

Question 74

Conference committees are

A) permanent and involve members from both the House and the Senate.
B) temporary and are created to take up an issue that falls between the jurisdiction of existing committees, to highlight an issue, or to investigate a particular problem.
C) permanent and have the power to write and propose legislation.
D) temporary, involve members from both houses of Congress, and are charged with reaching a compromise on legislation once it has been passed by both the House and the Senate.

Question 75

Approximately ________ percent of the ________ bills introduced in a typical congressional session die in committee.

A) 50; 1,000
B) 85; 1,000
C) 50; 10,000
D) 85; 10,000

Question 76

A legislative "hold" is a

A) stalling tactic used in the U.S. House of Representatives to delay debate on a bill.
B) stalling tactic used in the U.S. Senate to delay debate on a bill.
C) way for bills to pass without approval by the House of Representatives.
D) way for bills to pass without approval by the Senate.

Question 77

A filibuster allows members of the Senate to

A) refer a bill to multiple committees.
B) avoid a conference committee.
C) prevent a vote on a bill by speaking continuously on the floor.
D) add amendments to any bill at any time.

Question 78

How can Congress override a president's veto?

A) A president's veto can be overridden with a two-thirds vote in either chamber.
B) A president's veto can be overridden with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
C) A president's veto can be overridden with a simple majority vote in both chambers.
D) A president's veto cannot be overridden, according to the U.S. Constitution.

Question 79

The "the nuclear option" refers to a

A) proposal to extend the use of the filibuster to the House of Representatives.
B) constitutional amendment to eliminate senatorial approval of nominees for positions in the executive branch and the federal courts.
C) policy of restructuring Congress in a way that would eliminate the committee system.
D) change to the filibuster rules enacted in 2013 that prevents the filibustering of nominees for positions in the executive branch and the federal courts.

Question 80

A bill's supporters in the House of Representatives generally prefer ________, while opponents generally prefer ________.

A) an open rule; a closed rule
B) a closed rule; an open rule
C) cloture; a filibuster
D) a committee markup; a closed rule