Deck 11: Congress

Question 1

When determining who will chair a committee, the position usually goes to the member of the majority party with the longest service on the committee. This is an example of the norm of reciprocity.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Public approval of Congress is low because most members lack strong links to their constituents, preferring to focus on reelection efforts instead.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The main difference between descriptive and substantive representation has to do with whether the legislator represents constituents from a distance or acts as if the legislator has a mandate to do exactly what she or he wants.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Political parties make the legislative process more fractured and decentralized.

Question 5

Redistricting and apportionment do not influence representation of state interests in the Senate.

Question 6

Before any bill can become a law, the House and Senate must pass identical versions of the bill.

Question 7

Members of Congress behave as if voters pay attention to everything they do, because even the smallest issues can be illuminated during reelection campaigns.

Question 8

A filibuster can only be used in the House, while cloture can only be invoked in the Senate.

Question 9

A bill that made it illegal to catch fish under a certain size would be an example of an earmark.

Question 10

Since incumbency rates are so high, members of Congress who hold a "safe" seat do not worry about the electoral connection to voters.

Question 11

Members of Congress often use casework to connect with people in their districts on a personal level.

Question 12

Members of Congress typically engage in fire alarm oversight.

Question 13

Most of the work done in Congress occurs in standing committees.

Question 14

In early American history, Congress was the first and most important branch. Over time it has become less important than the presidency, largely because the nature of the country's problems has changed.

Question 15

Since the 1960s, the number of legislators elected to the House with less than 55 percent of the vote has been increasing.

Question 16

Legislative districts are gerrymandered because politicians are trying to draw House districts in a way that gives them a political advantage.

Question 17

Senators work in the "Tuesday to Thursday Club."

Question 18

The Federalist Papers made it clear that the Constitution would result in a direct democracy.

Question 19

States can only gain seats in the House of Representatives; they can never lose seats.

Question 20

Party leaders help with campaign financing to give members an incentive to vote the party line on key legislation.

Question 21

Legislators who make public statements demonstrating how they share priorities with the groups in their district are engaged in ________.

A) position taking
C) descriptive representation
B) credit claiming
D) gerrymandering

Question 22

The term substantive representation refers to ________, while the term descriptive representation refers to ________.

A) representing constituents from a distance; having a mandate directly from voters
B) shared traits between members and constituents; members serving constituent interests
C) members serving constituent interests; shared traits between members and constituents
D) having a mandate directly from voters; representing constituents from a distance

Question 23

In Federalist No. 57, James Madison wrote that legislators were to

A) only encompass the common good.
B) only represent their local constituents.
C) follow the president's lead on policy matters.
D) encompass the common good and represent their local constituents.

Question 24

What is descriptive representation?

A) legislators acting as though they have a simple mandate to carry out voter desires
B) shared demographic traits between legislators and constituents
C) legislators acting on behalf of collective, national interests
D) legislators responding differently to constituents on the basis of how salient an issue is to the public

Question 25

Which one of the following is an example of gerrymandering?

A) placing two incumbents of the same party into one district
B) keeping districts roughly equal in size
C) trying to keep a single municipality in a district
D) ensuring that all parts of a district are connected

Question 26

U.S. House members represent about ________ people.

A) 250,000
C) 1,050,000
B) 740,000
D) 3,455,000

Question 27

Generally, Americans

A) approve of the job performance of Congress.
B) would prefer for their elected senators and representatives to stay in Washington, DC, to get their work done.
C) would prefer for their elected senators and representatives to spend more time at home.
D) would prefer for their elected senators and representatives to do less casework.

Question 28

Members of Congress are primarily guided by a desire to ________, while being subject to the constraints of ________.

A) respond to constituent interests; institutional structures
B) represent interest groups demands; campaign finance law
C) pass good policy; having to please voters
D) make money; campaign finance law

Question 29

Which one of the following is an example of Professor David Mayhew's phenomenon of credit claiming?

A) a legislator marching in a local parade
B) a legislator releasing a position paper on an issue of interest to constituents
C) a legislator explaining her or his role in securing funds for a local highway
D) a legislator running a campaign advertisement

Question 30

The popular election of U.S. senators began in ________.

A) 1789
C) 1913
B) 1845
D) 1944

Question 31

Because of the ________, only ________ of the Senate is up for reelection in every even-numbered year.

A) two-year term; one-third
C) six-year term; one-third
B) six-year term; one-half
D) four-year term; one-third

Question 32

Substantive representation

A) focuses on demographics.
C) focuses on public policy issues.
B) focuses on appearances.
D) focuses on political charisma.

Question 33

What have the Supreme Court justices determined about race and the redistricting process?

A) It cannot play any role in the redistricting process.
B) It must be the top priority in the redistricting process.
C) It may be a factor but may not be the predominant factor in the redistricting process.
D) It can only be used as a factor in the redistricting process in states in the South.

Question 34

The process of determining how many House districts each state gets is known as ________, while the process of determining how those districts look within the states is called ________.

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

Question 35

In Federalist 57, James Madison

A) asserted that the United States should be a direct democracy.
B) made it clear that most policy decisions should be decided by the people.
C) made it clear that the United States would be a representative democracy.
D) asserted that all members of the U.S. House and Senate should have the same terms of office.

Question 36

An example of the ________ model of representation is a situation in which a legislator acts as though she or he has an electoral mandate on salient issues but looks after broader interests on complex issues.

A) descriptive
C) balanced
B) politico
D) substantive

Question 37

Voting based on the trustee model can harm a Congress member's political career because

A) it can go against the national interest.
B) it can lose support for the member among party leaders.
C) it can go against the views of constituents back home.
D) it forces members to spend too much time fund-raising.

Question 38

In the 2010 midterm elections,

A) the Democrats picked up seats in both chambers of Congress.
B) the Republicans made the largest gains in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1948.
C) a majority of incumbents in the U.S. House of Representatives were defeated for reelection.
D) the Democrats had historic gains in the U.S. Senate going back to 1966.

Question 39

The elastic clause in Article I of the Constitution created a situation in which Congress

A) took a lead role in the early American constitutional system.
B) was limited in its powers.
C) had a small set of specific powers that guided its actions in early America.
D) is no longer relevant in the policy-making process.

Question 40

Why did the framers of the Constitution believe that the Senate would be more responsive to national interests than the House?

A) All states were equally represented.
B) Senators were indirectly elected and served longer terms.
C) Senators were popularly elected.
D) All bills would originate in the Senate.

Question 41

What is an argument in favor of earmarks?

A) They provide consensus among both parties on federal spending priorities.
B) They secure the passage of larger bills.
C) They are distributed equally among the states.
D) They are the only source of funding for local infrastructure projects.

Question 42

________ was the first woman in U.S. history to serve as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A) Kirsten Gillibrand
C) Nancy Pelosi
B) Debbie Wasserman-Schultz
D) Geraldine Ferraro

Question 43

A ________ committee is created temporarily to deal with a specific policy topic, while a ________ committee is created to resolve differences between U.S. House and U.S. Senate versions of the same bill.

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

Question 44

Which one of the following is not a party position in the U.S. House of Representatives?

A) majority whip
C) minority leader
B) speaker
D) president pro tempore

Question 45

Since the 1970s, party unity in the legislature has ________.

A) fluctuated wildly
C) decreased
B) stayed the same
D) increased

Question 46

The process of drawing legislative districts for political advantage is called ________.

A) representation
C) redistricting
B) gerrymandering
D) bicameralism

Question 47

The president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate is________.

A) the vice president
B) the majority leader
C) the minority leader
D) usually held by the most senior member of the majority party

Question 48

There is a persistent ________ gap between approval ratings for individual members of Congress and for the institution as a whole.

A) 5 to 10 percent
C) 30 to 40 percent
B) 20 to 25 percent
D) 60 to 70 percent

Question 49

A key part of an incumbent's success is the incumbent's home style, which is developed by

A) spending more time in their district than in Washington.
B) using the ability to send free mail to constituents to tout the incumbent's accomplishments.
C) helping constituents navigate the federal bureaucracy.
D) using campaign funds to ward off potential challengers.

Question 50

The manner in which members of the House relate to their districts is called ________.

A) the incumbency advantage
C) casework
B) descriptive representation
D) their home style

Question 51

Effective home style helps to explain the rise of ________.

A) filibustering
C) gerrymandering
B) the incumbent advantage
D) the whip system

Question 52

Which one of the following statements is accurate?

A) The U.S. Senate leaders have more power than their counterparts in the U.S. House of Representatives.
B) Individual members of the U.S. House of Representatives wield more power than their counterparts in the U.S. Senate.
C) Individual members of the U.S. Senate wield more power than their counterparts in the U.S. House of Representatives.
D) The president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate wields a good deal of political power.

Question 53

What is it called when Congress is unable to pass important legislation because of partisan conflict?

A) gridlock
C) gerrymandering
B) whipping
D) filibustering

Question 54

Which one of the following statements best characterizes public attitudes toward Congress?

A) Americans like their own legislators but not Congress.
B) Americans like Congress better than they like the president.
C) Americans look to Congress first in times of crisis.
D) Americans trust members of Congress to work together in the best interests of the nation.

Question 55

Which one of the following is a power that party leaders in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate can use to influence the legislative process?

A) forcing members of the party to cast ballots in a particular way
B) the ability to control the timing of when bills come up for a vote
C) control over who can run for office under the party label
D) the ability to influence the redistricting process

Question 56

What is the minimum amount a challenger for a House seat must be able to spend to unseat an incumbent?

A) $50,000
C) $1 million
B) $300,000
D) $50 million

Question 57

Legislators spreading benefits as widely as possible is called ________; trading their support on a bill for someone's support on a different bill is an example of ________.

A) specialization; universalism
C) universalism; logrolling
B) reciprocity; specialization
D) specialization; logrolling

Question 58

Which one of the following statements is accurate?

A) The Democratic Party has become less cohesive than it was during the 1970s.
B) Southern Democrats have started to vote more like northern Democrats.
C) There are more moderates in the Republican Party today than during the 1970s.
D) The support for the Republican Party in the South was higher in the 1960s than it is today.

Question 59

________ tend to be policy specialists.

A) Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
B) Members of the U.S. Senate
C) The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and majority leader of the U.S. Senate
D) The party whips in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate

Question 60

Incumbency safety has ________ in the past two decades.

A) stayed the same
C) decreased
B) increased
D) fluctuated wildly

Question 61

Conference committees are typically staffed by

A) members of the U.S. House of Representatives only.
B) members of the U.S. Senate only.
C) by party leaders in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
D) standing committee members that worked on the bill in question from both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Question 62

Constant congressional vigilance in overseeing the executive bureaucracy is known as ________.

A) fire alarm oversight
C) ombudsmen oversight
B) police patrol oversight
D) conventional oversight

Question 63

The process by which bills are rewritten and amended in a committee is known as ________.

A) multiple referral
C) floor action
B) a markup
D) a conference committee vote

Question 64

The members of the Nutrition Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee meet to determine the final language of a bill on regulations affecting the quality of food in the United States. This process is an example of ________.

A) multiple referral
C) a filibuster
B) a markup
D) a veto

Question 65

Which one of the following lists is correctly ordered?

A) Member introduces a bill; one chamber takes floor action; conference committee version is approved.
B) Conference committee approves a bill; member introduces bill; one chamber takes floor action.
C) Member introduces a bill; conference committee version is approved; one chamber takes floor action.
D) Member introduces a bill; president signs/vetoes bill; conference committee version is approved.

Question 66

Which one of the following is not a deviation from the standard path of the lawmaking process?

A) summit meetings
B) use of conference committees
C) major bills bypassing the committee process via discharge petitions
D) omnibus legislation

Question 67

What is a pocket veto?

A) a way for the U.S. House speaker to prevent a bill from making it to the floor
B) a ruling by the Supreme Court justices that finds an act of Congress unconstitutional
C) the automatic death of a bill if the president does not sign it in the last ten days of a session
D) the ability of the vice president to stop a bill from passing in the U.S. Senate

Question 68

When members of Congress wait until there is a crisis before taking action in addressing problems in the bureaucracy, they are engaged in ________.

A) fire alarm oversight
C) advice and consent oversight
B) judicial oversight
D) police patrol oversight

Question 69

Which one of the following is not a way for Congress to engage in oversight of the bureaucracy?

A) holding hearings
B) conducting investigations
C) interviewing members of the bureaucracy
D) suspending rules

Question 70

Which theory of legislative politics holds that members of Congress will join committees that best serve the interests of their district and that committee members will support each other's legislation?

A) partisan theory
C) informational theory
B) distributive theory
D) democratic theory

Question 71

Eighty to ninety percent of all bills introduced in Congress

A) eventually become law.
C) die during the committee phase.
B) die during the floor debate.
D) die right after the bill is introduced.

Question 72

The proliferation of subcommittees in Congress occurred in the ________.

A) 1890s
C) 1970s
B) 1930s
D) 2000s

Question 73

Why is the filibuster an important legislative strategy for the minority party?

A) It forces every member of the Senate to speak about the bill.
B) It gives the majority party time to change key provisions in the bill before the vote.
C) It allows the minority party to stop legislation with as few as 50 votes.
D) It allows the minority party to stop legislation with as few as 41 votes.

Question 74

A vote of cloture requires approval by ________ senators.

A) 50
C) 60
B) 51
D) 67

Question 75

When a bill comes to the floor of the U.S. House under ________, it cannot be amended.

A) a unanimous consent agreement
C) closed rules
B) open rules
D) suspension of the rules

Question 76

Which aspect of the committee system does not support members' reelection prospects?

A) The division of labor allows for policy specialization.
B) Party leaders can raise money to funnel to other legislators.
C) Legislators can more easily claim credit for particular policy areas.
D) Members can become experts in an area and use that in gaining funding for their district.

Question 77

What is a filibuster?

A) a vote in the Senate to end debate on a bill
B) agreements by legislators to limit debate on a bill
C) a senator's attempt to kill a bill by continuing to speak in order to prevent a vote
D) the process used to prevent amendments in the House

Question 78

A vote of ________ will limit the amount of time spent debating a bill in the U.S. Senate.

A) filibuster
C) suspension of the rules
B) closed rules
D) cloture

Question 79

________ provides "advice and consent" on presidential appointments and approval of treaties.

A) The U.S. House of Representatives
C) The U.S. Department of Justice
B) The U.S. Senate
D) The U.S. Attorney General

Question 80

Which one of the following statements is accurate regarding congressional staff?

A) The size of personal and committee staff in Congress exploded in the 1970s and 1980s.
B) The size of personal and committee staff in Congress exploded in the early twenty-first century.
C) The size of personal and committee staff has been constant since World War II.
D) The size of personal and committee staff had declined a great deal since the Vietnam War.