Deck 12: Congress

Question 1

Because of the elastic clause, Congress exercises a ________ scope of authority.

A) broad
B) reasonable
C) limited
D) restricted
E) tenuous

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements about reapportionment is NOT accurate?

A) It redraws the congressional district boundaries within the state.
B) It is a reallocation of seats in the House of Representatives.
C) It is based on the federal census.
D) It can diminish the advantage of incumbency.
E) It may cause a state to gain or lose congressional representatives.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which eighteenth-century political theorist espoused the trustee model of political representation, in which congressional members follow their own conscience when deciding issue positions?

A) Edmund Burke
B) Baron de Montesquieu
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
E) Voltaire

Answer 3

A

Question 4

How often does reapportionment and redistricting of seats occur in the House of Representatives?

A) every 2 years
B) every 4 years
C) every 6 years
D) every 10 years
E) every 12 years

Question 5

When creating the Congress, the founders of the United States strove to create a legislature that could check the power of the

A) president.
B) Supreme Court.
C) military.
D) federal bureaucracy.
E) federal courts.

Question 6

Which of the following best describes the makeup of the legislature in the United States?

A) unicameral
B) parliamentary
C) bicameral
D) executive
E) unichamber

Question 7

How often are House members elected?

A) every two years, in even-numbered years
B) every two years, in odd-numbered years
C) every three years, in even-numbered years
D) every three years, in odd-numbered years
E) every four years, in even-numbered years

Question 8

Which of the following is/are a source of congressional power and authority?

A) the Constitution
B) Supreme Court decisions
C) the media
D) the people
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 9

Which of these factors makes it more likely that incumbents will prevail in congressional elections?

A) stronger name recognition
B) easier access to media
C) the privilege of franking, or sending mail free of charge
D) larger campaign contributions
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 10

In 2010, how much did it cost, on average, to make a successful bid for the U.S. Senate?

A) $174,000
B) $560,000
C) $1.1 million
D) $5.6 million
E) $8.3 million

Question 11

The most precise way to describe attempts by state legislatures to address racial imbalance in the House of Representatives is

A) by reapportionment.
B) by redistricting.
C) through the creation of majority-minority districts.
D) through the creation of minority-majority districts.
E) through gerrymandering.

Question 12

Under Supreme Court jurisprudence, the drawing of legislative district boundaries for the purpose of benefitting an incumbent, political party, or another group is unconstitutional

A) whenever it is applied.
B) when it is clearly partisan.
C) when it creates a majority-minority district.
D) when it eliminates the minority party's influence in the district.
E) when it eliminates the minority party's influence statewide.

Question 13

Within the instructed delegate model, elected representatives act

A) according to their conscience at all times.
B) mostly according to their conscience, and occasionally in line with constituents.
C) equally according to conscience and in line with constituents.
D) in line with constituents, unless constituents' views contradict representatives' personal views.
E) in line with constituents, even if those views contradict representatives' personal views.

Question 14

Which of the following was an important consideration during the shaping of congressional functions?

A) interventionist government
B) checks and balances
C) the consolidation of powers
D) creation of a confederal system
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 15

Which of these powers is/are granted to Congress by the Constitution?

A) to borrow money and regulate currency
B) taxation, spending, and establishment of tariffs
C) administration of post offices
D) punishing illegal acts on the high seas
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 16

Which branch of government was specifically created to closely represent the people's views?

A) Senate
B) House of Representatives
C) Supreme Court
D) president
E) president of the Senate

Question 17

Because of the constitutional duties of the Senate, in which of the following policy sectors do many members of the Senate specialize?

A) health care policy
B) energy policy
C) agriculture policy
D) revenue policy
E) foreign policy

Question 18

Of the following, which would be the most important determinant in a successful congressional campaign?

A) the candidate's policy specialization
B) the candidate's personal wealth
C) the candidate's party affiliation
D) the candidate's prior experience
E) the candidate's incumbency

Question 19

The practice of redrawing electoral boundaries for political advantage is known as

A) majority-minority district formation.
B) gerrymandering.
C) reapportionment.
D) redistricting.
E) casework.

Question 20

Which constitutional amendment shifted the power to elect senators from state legislators to popular elections?

A) Fifteenth
B) Sixteenth
C) Seventeenth
D) Eighteenth
E) Nineteenth

Question 21

Identify the correct chronological sequence of subcommittee procedures in Congress.

A) hearings, markup, agency review, report
B) hearings, agency review, markup, report
C) agency review, markup, hearings, report
D) agency review, hearings, markup, report
E) markup, agency review, hearings, report

Question 22

What has been the result of the recent moratorium on pork barrel projects?

A) not effective, with only a small reduction in such projects
B) somewhat effective, with a reduction in about half of such projects
C) not effective, because legislators have been extremely successful in circumventing the moratorium
D) not effective, because of problems caused by large loopholes
E) effective, with a large decrease in the amount of dollars spent on such projects

Question 23

What process replaced the practice of joint referral, which had allowed bills to be referred for consideration to two House committees simultaneously, after it was abolished in 1995 by the 104^th Congress?

A) placement in the hopper
B) transfer to the standing committee
C) assignment to a select committee
D) referral to the lead committee
E) allocation to the joint committee

Question 24

What type of bills are commonly used as a means for legislators to appropriate funds to special projects within their congressional districts?

A) health and human services bills
B) veterans administration funding bills
C) transportation bills
D) communications bills
E) energy bills

Question 25

Committees that include members of both chambers of Congress are known as

A) lead committees.
B) subcommittees.
C) select committees.
D) standing committees.
E) joint committees.

Question 26

Appropriations of funds by congressional legislators for projects in their districts are known as

A) pork barrel projects.
B) earmarks.
C) preferred bills.
D) block grants.
E) categorical block grants.

Question 27

Most representatives in Congress employ ________ in their approach to governance.

A) the trustee model
B) mostly the trustee model
C) a combination of the trustee model and delegate model
D) mostly the instructed delegate model
E) the instructed delegate model

Question 28

In what way have congressional legislators sought to circumvent a recent moratorium on earmarks?

A) gerrymandering
B) pork barreling
C) delegating
D) lettermarking
E) caseworking

Question 29

Advisory committees, like the specially created House committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that held hearings on the issue of climate change, are examples of

A) lead committees.
B) subcommittees.
C) select committees.
D) standing committees.
E) joint committees.

Question 30

All of the following are tools that Congress uses to "check" the executive branch EXCEPT

A) congressional hearings.
B) budgetary appropriations.
C) legislative veto.
D) congressional investigations.
E) confirmation hearings.

Question 31

________ is the process by which Congress "checks" the executive branch to ensure that laws are being administered in keeping with legislators' intentions.

A) Supervision
B) Oversight
C) Engagement
D) Regulation
E) Casework

Question 32

The wooden box into which House members insert proposed bills is known as the

A) matchbox.
B) hopper.
C) earmark.
D) jumper.
E) casket.

Question 33

Which former senator and vice president warned of the constituent service dilemma?

A) Dick Cheney
B) Al Gore
C) Walter Mondale
D) Harry Truman
E) Richard Nixon

Question 34

In what way does the House of Representatives determine the terms of debate and the scope of amendments that will be allowed on a bill?

A) through the Rules Committee
B) by unanimous consent
C) through cloture
D) by joint committee
E) through markup

Question 35

When a member of Congress advocates on behalf of a constituent who has an issue with a bureaucratic agency, he or she is playing the role of

A) legislator.
B) caseworker.
C) ombudsperson.
D) trustee.
E) instructed delegate.

Question 36

Identify the correct chronological order of a legislative bill's passage.

A) introduction, committee review, conference committee reconciliation, House and Senate approval, presidential approval
B) introduction, conference committee reconciliation, committee review, House and Senate approval, presidential approval
C) introduction, committee review, House and Senate approval, conference committee reconciliation, presidential approval
D) committee review, introduction, conference committee reconciliation, House and Senate approval, presidential approval
E) introduction, conference committee reconciliation, House and Senate approval, committee review, presidential approval

Question 37

Permanent committees with a defined legislative jurisdiction are known as

A) lead committees.
B) subcommittees.
C) select committees.
D) standing committees.
E) joint committees.

Question 38

In many congressional districts, particularly urban areas, House members' constituencies tend to have fairly ________ positions on many issues.

A) unified
B) similar
C) different
D) diverse
E) conflicted

Question 39

A special form of representation, personal aid to a constituent or group of constituents, is known as

A) private billing.
B) pork.
C) bringing home the bacon.
D) earmarks.
E) casework.

Question 40

How many House members' signatures are necessary to execute a discharge petition, where a bill is extracted from committee for full House consideration?

A) a majority
B) three-fifths
C) two-thirds
D) three-quarters
E) absolute majority

Question 41

What is a filibuster, and when is it applied?

Question 42

Outline the process of casework as a form of congressional representation.

Question 43

The reciprocal practice of trading votes, or ________, is widely used in Congress.

A) earmarking
B) filibustering
C) cloture
D) log-rolling
E) markup

Question 44

Using computer-driven mapmaking technology, most congressional seats are configured to ensure a "safe seat". This tends to increase congressional

A) earmarks.
B) independence.
C) partisanship.
D) casework.
E) lettermarking.

Question 45

In an attempt to block the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the former Republican senator from South Carolina Strom Thurmond spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes on the Senate floor. This set the record for the Senate's longest

A) cloture.
B) filibuster.
C) consent agreement.
D) discharge petition.
E) markup.

Question 46

Which of the following wields the most influence in congressional decision making?

A) the president
B) the Speaker of the House
C) the constituency
D) interest groups
E) congressional staff

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT required for an effective presidential pocket veto?

A) The bill was passed at end of the legislative session.
B) The president does not sign the bill.
C) The president has waited 10 days.
D) Congress has adjourned.
E) The president sends a message to Congress explaining why the bill should not become law.

Question 48

Which of the following leaders acts as a go-between with the leadership and the majority party members in the House?

A) House majority leader
B) Speaker of the House
C) House majority whip
D) House minority leader
E) House minority whip

Question 49

Define gerrymandering, and discuss its use in congressional redistricting.

Question 50

Discuss the framers' differing visions for the roles of the House and the Senate.

Question 51

Identify the advantages of incumbency in congressional elections.

Question 52

Which of the following statements about members of Congress is most accurate?

A) Latino representation in Congress is proportional to their percentage of the population.
B) African Americans are more likely to be elected to the Senate.
C) Congress is less diverse today than at any other point in history.
D) The composition of Congress closely resembles the leadership of other realms, like the corporate world and academia.
E) Congress is not demographically representative of the American public.

Question 53

In what position in the line of presidential succession is the Speaker of the House?

A) second
B) third
C) fourth
D) fifth
E) sixth

Question 54

Who is the constitutional president of the Senate?

A) vice president
B) president pro tempore
C) Senate majority leader
D) Senate majority whip
E) Senate minority leader

Question 55

What is the attentive public, and what is its impact on congressional politics?

Question 56

Which of the following leaders is responsible for developing party strategy, working with minority party leadership, and encouraging unity among majority party legislators?

A) House majority leader
B) Speaker of the House
C) House majority whip
D) House minority leader
E) House minority whip

Question 57

Identify the types of tools employed by Congress to fulfill its oversight functions.

Question 58

Outline the five sequential features of the congressional legislative process, or how a bill becomes law.

Question 59

Compare and contrast the trustee and instructed delegate models of representation.

Question 60

Explain the role and functions of congressional subcommittees.