Deck 7: Congress

Question 1

______ refers to a congressional committee's monitoring of the executive branch and of government agencies to ensure they are acting as Congress intends.

A) A congressional witch hunt
B) A markup
C) Congressional oversight
D) Committee interference with executive prerogative
E) One of the enumerated powers of Congress

Answer 1

C

Question 2

During the constitutional process of removing a president from office,______.

A) the Senate impeaches and the House removes the president from office
B) the two houses convene in joint session for all impeachment votes
C) the House impeaches and the Senate removes the president from office
D) representatives of the media are prohibited from entering the legislature's chambers
E) either chamber can impeach, but then the Supreme Court must decide if the president is to be removed from office

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The textbook identifies all of the following as types of representation EXCEPT this:

A) policy representation
B) allocative representation
C) casework
D) symbolic representation
E) authoritative representation

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Many of the efforts by states to create majority-minority districts ______.

A) did not produce the desired effect of electing more minority members
B) are disliked by both Republicans and Democrats
C) have been held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
D) were massively expanded in the 1990s
E) have greatly increased the number of minority members of the Senate

Question 5

The founders created the congressional decision-making process to be ______.

A) speedy
B) responsive to the president
C) slow and deliberative
D) strictly controlled by elites
E) totally responsive to public opinion

Question 6

The number of representatives with voting privileges in the House of Representatives ______.

A) is currently set at 435 members
B) will expand to 500 members in the future
C) changes every ten years following the census
D) was frozen by the Twenty-Sixth Amendment
E) remained at 325 members until 2000

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT one of the checks and balances that Congress can use in relation to the executive branch?

A) the power to approve treaties
B) the power to approve presidential appointments to the federal courts
C) the power to override a presidential veto by a two-thirds majority vote
D) the power of impeachment
E) the power to declare executive orders unconstitutional

Question 8

The two major roles of members of Congress are ______.

A) agenda setting and lawmaking
B) policy making and agenda setting
C) representation and lawmaking
D) constituency service and budget approval
E) budget approval and policy making

Question 9

Congress is ______.

A) more likely to engage in vigorous oversight when the presidency and Congress are controlled by the same party
B) more likely to engage in oversight when the public is not interested in the work of an agency
C) less likely to engage in oversight when the presidency and Congress are controlled by the same party
D) less likely to engage in oversight in an election year
E) more likely to engage in oversight in an election year

Question 10

Redrawing congressional district boundaries to favor a particular group or party is known as ______.

A) reapportionment
B) redistricting
C) gerrymandering
D) franking
E) malapportionment

Question 11

It is hard to get rid of the filibuster because ______.

A) it would require a constitutional amendment
B) both Republicans and Democrats want the opportunity to use it when they are in the minority
C) the president would veto legislation eliminating the filibuster
D) the public favors keeping it
E) the Supreme Court has ruled that the parliamentary procedure to eliminate it is unconstitutional

Question 12

The process of redrawing congressional districts to match population shifts in states with more than one representative is called ______.

A) restructuring
B) franking the membership
C) redistricting
D) gerrymandering
E) reapportionment

Question 13

The textbook suggests that weak congressional oversight was a factor in the ______.

A) attacks of September 11, 2001
B) decision to begin the war in Iraq
C) slow response of the government to Hurricane Katrina
D) increasing budget deficit
E) BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Question 14

The Supreme Court has ruled that House districts ______.

A) need not be changed if a state has not gained or lost seats since the previous census
B) may not be gerrymandered to benefit one political party
C) may not be gerrymandered to protect incumbent members of Congress
D) may not be gerrymandered to take race into account
E) must adhere to the "one person, one vote" standard

Question 15

Congress can influence the judiciary through all of the following EXCEPT this:

A) reducing the salaries of judges
B) amending the Constitution
C) the process of approving judicial appointments
D) the power to create lower courts
E) defining court jurisdiction

Question 16

All of the following powers can be exercised only by the Senate EXCEPT this one:

A) conducting a trial of a president on impeachment charges
B) approving treaties
C) confirming presidential appointments to the Supreme Court
D) declaring war
E) confirming presidential appointments to top positions in the executive branch of government

Question 17

The job of confirming presidential appointments belongs to the ______.

A) judiciary
B) cabinet
C) House of Representatives
D) Senate
E) Congress as a whole

Question 18

The Senate shares with the president the power to ______.

A) approve members of the Supreme Court
B) declare war
C) impeach executive branch officials
D) approve constitutional amendments
E) declare laws unconstitutional

Question 19

The reallocation of congressional seats among the states every ten years,following the census,is known as ______.

A) malapportionment
B) reapportionment
C) gerrymandering
D) franking
E) redistricting

Question 20

The major differences between the House and the Senate include all of the following EXCEPT this:

A) the length of their terms
B) the size of the institutions
C) the method of determining their constituencies
D) their role in the impeachment process
E) their power in the legislative process

Question 21

It is generally more difficult to win the nomination of your party but easier to win the general election when ______.

A) the seat is open
B) an incumbent of your party is running for reelection
C) an incumbent of the other party is running for reelection
D) a president of your party is very unpopular
E) a president of the opposition party is very popular

Question 22

In general,what has the greatest effect on the midterm losses suffered by the president's party?

A) the economy and the president's standing in the world
B) how aggressively the Supreme Court has ruled against or for the president's positions
C) whether the president's party controls Congress
D) whether or not the president campaigns for reelection
E) the president's standing with the public and the state of the economy

Question 23

Partisan gerrymandering is the process in a particular state legislature whereby the majority party ______.

A) draws districts to maximize the number of House seats the party can win
B) promotes candidates who will most likely vote Republican
C) favors candidates who believe in a patriarchy
D) tries to keep the opposition party from voting
E) tries to win an election by getting young people to vote

Question 24

All of the following conclusions concerning the effects of descriptive representation are true EXCEPT this one:

A) The poor suffer in the distribution of goods and services because they are badly underrepresented.
B) African Americans and women have gained symbolically from greater representation in Congress.
C) African Americans and women have clearly gained substantively from greater representation in Congress.
D) The primary effect of descriptive representation appears to be to bring neglected perspectives to the legislative process.
E) Partisan identification is often more important than race or gender in determining the policy positions a representative will support.

Question 25

When deciding whether to run for a seat in Congress,strategic politicians will ask all of the following questions EXCEPT this one:

A) Will this seat lead to the presidency?
B) Is this the right district or state for me?
C) What is the strategic situation in the district?
D) Do I have access to the funds necessary to run a vigorous campaign?
E) How are the national tides running?

Question 26

The major source of power for the Senate majority leader is ______.

A) control over the choice of committee chairs
B) the strict party discipline expected of members in floor voting
C) the ability to put holds on legislation favored by individual members
D) the control of filibusters
E) influence over the scheduling of legislation for floor consideration

Question 27

It has been increasingly difficult for the parties to work together in Congress in recent years because of ______.

A) the decreasing willingness of members to follow their party leaders
B) an increasing number of members who refuse to identify with either party
C) increasing hostility toward presidential leadership
D) the public's decreasing attention to the actions of Congress
E) increasing party polarization and hyperpartisanship

Question 28

All of the following statements concerning Hispanic representation in Congress are true EXCEPT this one:

A) They are even more underrepresented than African Americans.
B) They do not vote as solidly for one party as do African Americans.
C) In recent years, they have been more likely to vote for the Republican Party.
D) Both parties have tried to win the Hispanic vote.
E) The issue of immigration has had an important effect on the Hispanic vote.

Question 29

______ are important in Congress because they organize the chambers.

A) Presidents
B) Senior staff
C) Parties
D) Standing committees
E) Lobbyists

Question 30

Which of the following statements concerning power in Congress is NOT true?

A) The Speaker of the House has become more powerful in the past thirty years.
B) Committee chairs have become weaker in the past thirty years.
C) The Senate majority leader is much less powerful than the speaker of the House.
D) The Speaker's office gained power when the Republicans took control of the House in 1994.
E) Increasing bipartisanship has weakened the power of committee chairs.

Question 31

According to the textbook,______ gerrymandering is highly controversial.

A) partisan
B) incumbent
C) geographic
D) racial
E) gender-based

Question 32

All of the following statements concerning political parties in Congress are true EXCEPT this one:

A) Parties are important because Congress is organized along party lines.
B) Parties are important because they are the mechanism for member advancement.
C) Parties punish members who do not vote with the party position on important issues.
D) The parties stand for very different positions on major issues.
E) The tendency for a majority of Democrats to vote on the opposite side of a majority of Republicans has been increasing for many years.

Question 33

All of the following statements concerning congressional committee chairs are true EXCEPT this one:

A) Committee chairs have lost some of their power in the past thirty years.
B) Committee chairs serve at the pleasure of the party caucus and party leaders.
C) Throughout most of the twentieth century, the seniority system controlled the selection of committee chairs.
D) The use of the seniority system means that the member of the majority party with the longest service on the committee is selected as the chair.
E) Seniority is now irrelevant for the selection of committee chairs.

Question 34

The primary responsibility for gathering information,taking testimony,and revising legislation in Congress falls to ______.

A) the Committee of the Whole
B) the Rules Committee
C) the majority party leadership
D) the members as a whole meeting on the floor
E) standing committees

Question 35

Strategic politicians are ______.

A) politically inexperienced nonincumbents who challenge incumbents only when their party controls the presidency
B) politically experienced nonincumbents who rationally and carefully weigh key considerations before they decide to run for Congress
C) politically inexperienced nonincumbents who base their appeals on a strategic issue rather than personal image
D) politically experienced incumbents who avoid using their incumbency advantages for fear of an electoral backlash
E) politically experienced nonincumbents who choose not to raise significant campaign funds for fear of an electoral backlash

Question 36

Leaders in Congress obtain their power from ______.

A) the Constitution
B) seniority
C) the members
D) the president
E) the Supreme Court

Question 37

Most of the hard work of considering legislative alternatives and drafting legislation occurs ______.

A) at the discretion of the executive branch
B) within congressional standing committees
C) only after the Supreme Court reviews it
D) on the floor of both chambers
E) strictly among the parties' leadership

Question 38

According to the textbook,what has happened to the coattail effect in recent years?

A) It has been ignored by mainstream political scientists.
B) It has decreased in importance due to declining party ties.
C) It has become completely nonexistent because of declining party ties.
D) It has remained roughly as powerful as before.
E) It has become more pronounced because of increasing party ties.

Question 39

The greatest importance of standing committees is that they ______.

A) permit the leadership to control the legislative process
B) control the influence of lobbyists on the legislative process
C) increase congressional power by allowing detailed analysis and modification of legislation
D) give the president more power in the legislative process than he or she would have otherwise
E) give the courts a record from which to study congressional intent

Question 40

Which of the following is the extremely powerful congressional committee that determines when debate on a bill will take place?

A) the House Government Reform Committee
B) the House Ways and Means Committee
C) the House Rules Committee
D) the House Appropriations Committee
E) the House Administration Committee

Question 41

Congress finds it difficult to make policy that solves national problems because ______.

A) constituents reward them for taking care of their individual interests
B) they are in debt to special interests
C) government is inefficient
D) they are too interested in scoring political points
E) they do not want the president to get credit for solving problems

Question 42

A representative who sought power within the House would likely want a seat on ______.

A) a select committee
B) as many joint committees as possible
C) the Standards of Official Conduct Committee
D) as many conference committees as possible
E) the Rules Committee

Question 43

The two most important functions of Congress are ______ and ______.

A) representation and national lawmaking.
B) delegation and campaigning.
C) voting and policy discussion.
D) congressional hearings and speeches.

Question 44

The Vietnam War and Watergate affected Congress by ______.

A) causing Congress to take steps to increase its independence from the information sources of the executive branch
B) causing Congress to reduce its dependence on information sources outside of the executive branch
C) causing Congress to increase the power of committee chairs to strengthen the institution
D) causing Congress to reduce the power of the leadership
E) reducing party line votes in Congress

Question 45

The influence of interest groups on roll-call voting decisions by members of Congress is ______.

A) much less than is usually thought
B) greater than any other factor
C) more important than party affiliation
D) more important than constituency influences
E) more important than the cues of other members

Question 46

______ refers to a congressional committee's monitoring of the executive branch and of government agencies to ensure they are acting as Congress intends.

A) Congressional over watch
B) Congressional oversight
C) Congressional foresight
D) Congressional viewpoint

Question 47

Most bills introduced in Congress ______.

A) die by inaction at the committee stage
B) are voted down on the floor of the House or the Senate
C) are bottled up in the House Rules Committee
D) pass through both the House and the Senate
E) pass one chamber but not the other

Question 48

According to the textbook,why does Congress have to be unified and motivated in order to pass legislation?

A) The parties are too strong, which leads to more delays and compromise.
B) The president has no ability to affect the agenda of Congress.
C) This approach puts more emphasis on representation.
D) The founders designed the legislative process to have many possible disruptions and stagnations.
E) The current set of politicians in Washington has failed the system.

Question 49

The public dislikes Congress for all of the following reasons EXCEPT this one:

A) Members run for Congress by running against it.
B) Media coverage has become more negative in recent decades.
C) The public has more information concerning how much money is spent in congressional elections.
D) The public perceives the legislative process as involving constant bickering and partisanship.
E) There has been an increase in corruption among members of Congress in recent years.

Question 50

Policy entrepreneurship is defined as the ______.

A) rare instances in which members of Congress change committees in midcareer
B) creation of coalitions that support pork barrel legislation
C) practice among legislators of becoming expert leaders in specific policy areas
D) legislative norm by which members of Congress swap votes
E) members of Congress who are puppets of their constituents and interest group donors

Question 51

If Americans wanted Congress to quit creating pork barrel projects (also known as earmarks),they would have to ______.

A) insist that their individual representatives be more responsive to local needs
B) pay closer attention to what their representatives are doing in Congress
C) reward their representatives more for engaging in national lawmaking and less for acts of representation
D) give more money to congressional campaigns
E) give more support to incumbents

Question 52

The founders created the congressional decision-making process to be ______.

A) rapid-fire.
B) neither fast nor slow.
C) expedient.
D) slow and deliberative.

Question 53

When different versions of the same bill pass in the House and the Senate,______.

A) the chamber that considered the bill originally should take the lead in resolving the differences
B) it dies immediately, and both chambers must start over
C) a conference committee is formed to bridge the gap between the bills
D) the president appoints a mediator to negotiate an acceptable compromise
E) it is sent back to each chamber for reconsideration

Question 54

All of the following contribute to congressional independence and power in the legislative process EXCEPT this:

A) the division of power between the House and the Senate
B) congressional committees
C) the Congressional Budget Office
D) congressional staff
E) the Congressional Research Service

Question 55

In recent years,the filibuster has ______.

A) been used much less frequently than in the past
B) become more likely to be used by bipartisan groups of opponents of civil rights legislation
C) become a tactic regularly used by the minority party to block proposals of the majority party
D) become a tactic regularly used by the majority party to block proposals of the minority party
E) become a much weaker tactic because of recent reforms instituted by the Senate

Question 56

According to the text,the congressional process is slow and involves a great deal of bickering and arguing because ______.

A) politics breeds competitiveness
B) each side is more interested in partisan advantage than in solving the nation's problems
C) politics draws self-interested men and women
D) media coverage causes members to posture and behave in partisan ways to play to their constituents
E) democracy is a messy process that involves bargaining and compromise

Question 57

Congress makes use of __________ to increase its independence from the executive branch of government.

A) the Legislative Budget Board
B) conference committees
C) the Government Accountability Office
D) the Joint Authorization Task Force
E) the congressional chief of staff

Question 58

It is so difficult for Congress to pass laws because ______.

A) a bill can be defeated at many points in the process
B) of the sheer size of the institution
C) of the rivalry that exists between the House and the Senate
D) of the lack of legislative leadership demonstrated by recent presidents
E) passing a bill is costly

Question 59

The legislative agenda is influenced strongly by all of the following EXCEPT this:

A) the policy proposals of newly elected presidents
B) well-publicized events that bring a problem to national attention
C) the ability of presidents to get the attention of the press and the public for their policy proposals
D) a member's willingness to invest time and resources in pushing a proposal
E) lobbyist demands

Question 60

Citizens view Congress with ______.

A) increasing approval
B) increasing support for Congress as a whole but with growing disapproval for individual representatives and senators
C) increasing disapproval
D) approval only during election seasons
E) disapproval only during election seasons

Question 61

The reallocation of congressional seats among the states every ten years,following the census,is known as ______.

A) reapportionment
B) proportioning
C) gerrymandering
D) elections

Question 62

Congress can override a presidential veto if a two-thirds majority of both houses vote to do so.

Question 63

Define racial gerrymandering,and explain its current legal status.

Question 64

The Senate shares with ______ the power to approve members of the Supreme Court.

A) the populace
B) the House
C) the Fed
D) the president

Question 65

Define the term hyperpartisanship,and discuss why it has become more prevalent in modern American politics.

Question 66

Strategic voters are politically experienced nonincumbents who rationally and carefully weigh key issues.

Question 67

According to the textbook,racial gerrymandering is highly controversial.

Question 68

The slate of proposals and issues that members of Congress think is worthwhile to consider and act on is called the _______.

Question 69

The process of redrawing congressional districts to match population shifts in states with more than one representative is called redistricting.

Question 70

The job of confirming presidential appointments belongs to the ______.

A) populace
B) House
C) Senate
D) president

Question 71

Redrawing congressional district boundaries to favor a particular group or party is known as jerry-rigging.

Question 72

The number of representatives with voting privileges in the House of Representatives is currently set at ______ members.

A) 538
B) 100
C) 435
D) 50

Question 73

As a leader,the majority leader of the Senate has much ______ power than the Speaker of the House.

Question 74

Partisan gerrymandering is the process in a particular state legislature whereby the majority party draws districts to maximize the number of House seats the party can win.

Question 75

What are some of the factors that affect a candidate's chances of winning a congressional race?

Question 76

Explain the role of the parties in Congress.How does party leadership differ between the two chambers and why? Explain recent trends in party leadership strength over time as well as the reasons for changing strength.

Question 77

In recent years,roll-call votes have become a tactic regularly used by the minority party to block proposals of the majority party.

Question 78

After the census every ten years,House seats are ______ to ensure that districts maintain population equality.

A) reapportioned among the states
B) voted on
C) traded between states
D) removed

Question 79

Discuss the committee system in Congress.What functions does the committee system perform? What are the types of committees,and how do they differ? What is the role of the chair,and how has the selection and power of the chair changed over the years? How are members chosen for committees,and how do they decide the committees on which they wish to serve?

Question 80

______ are important in Congress because they organize the chambers.