Government Unit 2 Test - Watson

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of cabinet-level departments and regulatory agencies?

(A)

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the US. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate?

(C) House: Has more rules of procedure toguide its lawmaking processSenate: Has authority over the ratification of treaties with other nations

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of reapportionment and redistricting?

A

How do House congressional districts gain their shapes?

A census and the various state legislatures

Which of the following is the best example of legislative oversight?

A hearing is held to investigate misuse of funds.

Which of the following would occur if Congress were to pass legislation and declare a recess, and the president took no action on the bill within ten days of its passage?

A pocket veto

Which of the following statements about Congress is true?

A proposed constitutional amendment must be approved by two-thirds of the delegates in both houses of Congress.

The president's advantage over Congress when it comes to developing legislative initiatives on major policy issues includes all but which of the following?

Ability to veto legislation.

Which of the following arguments does the data in the graph support? HINT: The graph does not provide information on the effectiveness or on the cost of government assistance programs. The graph does not provide information on the relationship between public insurance programs and public assistance programs. In the first two groups, the largest percentage of those who use public assistance programs have done so for more than three years, and in the third group, this is almost the largest percentage. This does seem to support that after a certain amount of time, citizens may become reliant on these services.

Americans who receive public assistance often become reliant on it.

How are Cabinet secretaries chosen?

By the president and then confirmed by the Senate

How are cabinet members chosen?

By the president and then confirmed by the Senate

Which of the following is an accurate comparison between a pardon and a reprieve?

C

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of federal and state judiciaries?

C

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of how the legislative branch and the executive branch can influence the federal courts?

C

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the House of Representatives and the Senate?

C

A federal agency has been accused of not enforcing laws it is charged with enforcing. Which is the most likely action the relevant House committee will first take?

Call for an oversight hearing to understand the problem

Over the course of U.S. history, power over war has shifted from Congress to the president. The main reason for this is

Changes in the world and in technology have changed the nature of threats to national security in a way that has favored presidential action.

Which statement is not true of congressional parties?

Committee chair positions are rotated between the parties.

Some of those who have entered the United States through our immigration system have proven to be threats to our national security. Since 2001, hundreds of persons born abroad have been convicted of terrorism- related crimes in the United States. The unrestricted entry into the United States of nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. I therefore direct that the entry into the United States of nationals of those six countries be suspended for 90 days from the effective date of this order, subject to the limitations, waivers, and exceptions set forth. --President Donald Trump, Executive Order, March 6, 2017 Which type of power did President Trump exert in issuing this executive order?

Constitutional

Which of the following is an accurate comparison between laissez-faire economics and supply-side economics?

D

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of judicial activism and judicial restraint?

D

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the House and Senate?

D

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the constitutional powers of the House of Representatives and the Senate?

D

Which of the following statements about congressional reapportionment and redistricting is true?

Districts must be drawn so that, within a state, every person's vote is roughly equal to every other person's vote.

Which of the following programs is categorized as discretionary spending under the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990?

Education

We find that the licensees of the CBS Network Stations aired program material during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, that violates the federal restrictions regarding the broadcast of indecent material. Based upon our review of the facts and circumstances of this case, Viacom Inc. is liable for a monetary forfeiture in the aggregate amount of $550,000.00, which represents the statutory maximum of $27,500 for each Viacom Station that broadcast the material. --Federal Communications Commission, Notice of Liability, 2004 Which bureaucratic authority is illustrated with this allegation?

Enforcement

Which of the following powers is shared by the House of Representatives and the Senate?

Establishing Federal courts

In Riley v. California (2014), the Supreme Court unanimously held that the warrant-less search of a cell phone was unconstitutional. Which constitutional amendment protects the right violated by the search?

Fourth Amendment

Which of the following is an example of the rally-round-the-flag effect?

George W. Bush's popularity was boosted following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Which of the following cases focused on the right to privacy for all American citizens?

Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade

Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding congressional leaders?

In case of a tie vote in the Senate, the vice president breaks the tie.

Generally, when is a president more likely to get congressional approval of proposed policies?

In foreign affairs, rather than in domestic affairs

Which of the following statements about the House of Representatives and Senate is accurate?

In the House a discharge petition can be used to force a bill out of committee

Which of the following demonstrates why The House Rules Committee is considered one of the most powerful groups in the House of Representatives?

It determines the scheduling of votes and the conditions under which bills are debated and amended.

In what way did the Seventeenth Amendment broaden democracy?

It gave citizens greater impact on lawmaking in the us. Senate.

Which of the following is true about the officers of the House of Representatives?

It is the responsibility of the party whip to keep track of vote counts and pressure members to vote with the party.

Why does a judge swear to discharge his duties agreeably to the Constitution of the United States, if that Constitution forms no rule for his government? If it is closed upon him, and cannot be inspected by him? If such be the real state of things, this is worse than solemn mockery. To prescribe, or take this oath, becomes equally a crime. It is also not entirely unworthy of observation that, in declaring what shall be the supreme law of the land, the Constitution itself is first mentioned; and not the laws of the United States generally, but those only which shall he made in in pursuance of the Constitution, have that rank. Thus, the particular phraseology of the Constitution of the United States confirms and strengthens the principle, supposed to be essential to all written constitutions, that a law repugnant to the Constitution is void; and that courts, as well as other departments, are bound by that instrument. -John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1801--1835) It can be inferred from this passage that Marshall was arguing for which legal doctrine?

Judicial review

Which of the following statements is true about U.S. budget deficits?

Large budget deficits make the U.S. government more financially dependent on foreign investors.

With which statement would a Seventeenth Amendment supporter agree?

Legislatures should be representative bodies.

Average age of Members, 112th to 115th Congress Which of the following is an accurate conclusion based on the data in the table above?

Levels of reelection in both the House and Senate are high.

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court first claim the implied power of judicial review?

Marbury v. Madison

Which of the following is a fair criticism of the federal bureaucracy?

Overlapping bureaucratic authority can cause wasteful spending and duplication.

Which of the following actions may Congress take to limit the president's power?

Override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote

Legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts is referred to as

Pork barrel

Which of the following was a likely consequence of the trend illustrated in the graph?

President Bush's political party lost the 2008 presidential election.

Which of the following accounts for the fact that the power and prestige of the presidency have grown since 1932?

President's increased visibility, due to the development of mass media

The Gideon and Miranda cases all concerned which of the following issues?

Rights of the accused

Which of the following best defines the term judicial activism?

Rulings based on the assumption that judges can make policy as well as interpret it

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court established which of the following principles? Circle Answer

Separation of students by race, even in equally good schools, is unconstitutional

The attorney general is the head of which of the following entities?

The Department of Justice

Which of the following sequences accurately follows the impeachment and removal process as outlined in the Constitution?

The House accuses an official; the Senate judges and decides whether to remove the official.

We have before us one of the most important duties of Congress, and that is to decide whether or not we will be involved in war. I think it is inexcusable that the debate over whether we involve the country in another country's civil war, would be debated as part of a spending bill, and not as part of an independent, free-standing bill. It goes against the history of the country. -Senator Rand Paul Speech, September 18, 2014 Which of the following statements best summarizes this excerpt from Senator Paul's speech?

The US. Senate should decide on war-like action on its merits, not along with other legislation.

We have before us one of the most important duties of Congress, and that is to decide whether or not we will be involved in war. I think it is inexcusable that the debate over whether we involve the country in another country's civil war, would be debated as part of a spending bill, and not as part of an independent, free-standing bill. It goes against the history of the country. -Senator Rand Paul Speech, September 18, 2014 -Senator Rand Paul, Speech, September 18, 2014 Which foreign policy reality might limit what the Senate can do in this scenario?

The War Powers Act gives the president freedom to act with the military for a limited time.

The powers of the Commander-in-Chief have been expanded by all of the following except

The War Powers Act.

What is the primary reason committees in the House are more influential than they are in the Senate?

The difference in size between the two chambers means that more work is done on the floor in the Senate and more work is done in committees in the House.

A police officer searched a person's car on a slight suspicion, and happened to find the person possessed an illegal gun. The person never consented to a search, nor did the officer obtain a warrant. Which of the following might prevent the gun from being introduced as evidence in a trial?

The exclusionary rule

We have before us one of the most important duties of Congress, and that is to decide whether or not we will be involved in war. I think it is inexcusable that the debate over whether we involve the country in another country's civil war, would be debated as part of a spending bill, and not as part of an independent, free-standing bill. It goes against the history of the country. -Senator Rand Paul Speech, September 18, 2014 Which power of Congress is Senator Paul probably most concerned about based on this passage?

The expressed power to declare war

Which of the following best exemplifies congressional oversight?

The head of the EPA is forced to testify in front of a congressional committee

What does it mean to be the swing justice on the Supreme Court?

The justice who sits in the ideological middle of the Court

First, is the question of whether Congress has directly spoken to the question at issue. If the intent of Congress is clear that is the end of the matter. The court, as well as the agency, must serve the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress. If, however, the court determines Congress has not directly addressed the question at issue, the Court does not simply impose its own construction on the statute. Rather if the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the Court is whether the agency's answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute. -Justice John Paul Stevens, Majority Opinion, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984) Those who disagree with the above Supreme Court's opinion would point to which facts?

The lawmaking process becomes less democratic when bureaucratic agencies can regulate beyond their defined jurisdiction.

Which of the following is specifically mentioned in the US. Constitution?

The national census

International events, particularly crises, have which of the following impacts on support for the president?

The popularity of the president will temporarily increase

The Imperial Presidency refers to

The power of the President beyond that which the framers intended

Which of the following may the president do to limit the power of Congress?

The president can veto a congressional bill that has passed the House and Senate.

A Republican president has nominated a federal judge for an opening on a US. court. A number of senators have declared they are not supportive of the nominee, including many senators within the president's own party, which holds only a simple majority of the Senate seats. No Democrats support the candidate. Which of the following scenarios will likely occur?

The president will withdraw the nomination or the nominee will withdraw.

If there are such things as political axioms, the propriety of the judicial power of a government being coextensive with its legislative, may be ranked among the number. The mere necessity of uniformity in the interpretation of the national laws, decides the question. Thirteen independent courts of final jurisdiction over the same causes, arising upon the same laws, is a hydra in government, from which nothing but contradiction and confusion can proceed. -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 80, 1788 Which of the following statements best summarizes Hamilton's argument?

The proposed federal courts and the Supreme Court will provide national consistency in law.

What conclusion can you draw from the patterns of change represented in the table?

The size of the federal bureaucracy is fairly stable.

Which of the following generally results when the Senate and House of Representatives pass different versions of the same bill?

The two legislative bodies form a conference committee

Which of the following statements about cabinet departments is true?

Their members sometimes do not share the president's goals.

Which statement about executive orders is not true?

They refer to orders that presidents give to members of the Cabinet.

A case that expanded the concept of symbolic speech to include wearing armbands in protest was

Tinker v. Des Moines

Which of the following situations is an example of logrolling?

Two congressmen agreeing to vote on each other's bills

In 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act requiring the Secretary of Transportation to withhold 5 percent of federal highway funds from states that did not adopt a 21-year-old minimum drinking age. South Dakota, a state that permitted persons 19 years of age to purchase alcohol, challenged the law, arguing that regulation of alcohol sales is an exclusive power of state government. The Supreme Court held that the threat of withholding funds as an inducement to comply with a federally promoted policy is constitutional. The Court stated: The Constitution empowers Congress to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States." Incident to this power, Congress may attach conditions on the receipt of federal funds, and has repeatedly employed the power "to further broad policy objectives by conditioning receipt of federal moneys upon compliance by the recipient with federal statutory and administrative directives." ... Here Congress has offered relatively mild encouragement to the States to enact higher minimum drinking ages than they would otherwise choose. But the enactment of such laws remains the prerogative of the States not merely in theory but in fact. Even if Congress might lack the power to impose a national minimum drinking age directly, we conclude that encouragement to state action found in 158 is a valid use of the spending power. - South Dakota v. Dole (1987) Majority Opinion In which of the following court cases did the Supreme Court decide a case in the opposite manner by upholding the rights of states in balancing power between the national and state governments?

U.S. v. Lopez

Who is the official head of the Senate?

Vice president of the United States

A Congress member and several other sponsors are ready to introduce a bill into the legislative process. The bill is designed to reduce tax rates on people with lower incomes. In which committee will these House members introduce their bill?

Ways and Means Committee

If legislation passes in the House and Senate but each version is different, the conflicting bills are sent to

a conference committee for review and compromise

In the House, a stalled bill can be extracted from a committee and brought to the floor by means of

a discharge petition.

A writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court orders

a lower court to send up the record of a case for review.

The biggest category of federal expenditures is spending for

aid to the elderly and the poor.

The Constitution says Congress has the power to coin money. This is an example of

an enumerated power

The Supreme Court is most likely to grant a hearing when a case involves

an issue that is being decided inconsistently by the lower appellate courts.

A pocket veto differs from a regular presidential veto in that the pocket veto

applies only when the Congress is not in session.

Which of the following options would be a tool available to the president to ensure that an independent agency is effectively carrying out its mandate?

appoint the head of the agency

Select committees in the House and Senate

are temporary committees which investigate for the purpose of furthering legislation.

Presidents' constitutional authority in the area of domestic policy includes:

authority to execute the laws

Iron triangles are made up of which of the following?

bureaucratic agencies, congressional committees, and interest groups

The president wishes to influence the legislative process. Which of the following actions can he legally perform?

call special sessions of Congress

Which of the following types of committees is formed in order to create a compromise version of bill?

conference committee

When the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, the differences are resolved by a

conference committee.

In Mapp v. Ohio, the exclusionary rule was extended to include

criminal proceedings in the states.

All of the following are examples of entitlement programs EXCEPT

defense contracts.

A senator realizes a vote on an immigration bill is coming up. The senator examines public opinion polls on the issue and carefully reads his inbox for constituents' views on the issue. He votes accordingly. This senator is following which model of representation?

delegate

The House Rules Committee is an important part of the legislative process because it

determines the terms and conditions of debate when a bill goes to the House floor

Congress, not the president, has the constitutional power to control the judicial branch by

determining the size of the Supreme Court

Presidential executive privilege

does not apply in a criminal investigation.

Which of the following principles protects a citizen from imprisonment without the government taking certain prescribed steps?

due process

The ability of a President to keep national security conversations that take place in the Oval Office confidential is

executive privilege

Congressional oversight refers to the power of Congress to

exercise some control over executive agencies

Recess appointments can be used by Presidents to

fill federal judicial vacancies without Senate consent.

In Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court ruled that Circle Answer

flag burning, although offensive, cannot be prohibited.

Gideon v. Wainwright required the states to

furnish attorneys for poor defendants in felony cases.

The War Powers Act

has never been tested in court because the issue is not justiciable.

Which of the following is not a consequence of the higher level of party polarization in the U.S. Congress?

higher likelihood that members of Congress will support the president's policy initiatives

Since the passage of the War Powers Act, presidents have

ignored its requirements

Much of the increase in federal expenditures since 1960 has been caused by

increases in entitlement programs

The largest contribution to federal revenue comes from

individual income taxes.

A discharge petition is rarely used in the House of Representatives because

it is a challenge to majority leadership and informal rules of behavior

A Supreme Court judge expresses the desire to change public policy and alter judicial precedent. Which of the following terms describes this action?

judicial activism

If a judge believes that she should ONLY strike down laws that clearly violate the Constitution, she likely believes in which of the following?

judicial restraint

Practice in Congress whereby Representative A promises to vote for Representative B's legislation, provided B supports A's legislation:

logrolling

Executive agreements

omit Congress as a player in foreign policy decisions

After a presidential veto of a bill, Congress may

override the president's veto with a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress

Voting patterns of members of Congress correlate MOST strongly with

political party affiliation

A judicial decision that establishes a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature sets a

precedent

Most U.S. military conflicts since World War II have taken place through

presidential authorization

Impoundment was a technique used by presidents to

prevent the Congress from busting the budget by refusing to spend appropriated funds.

After a national census has been taken, changes in population distribution cause the changing of congressional seats among the states. This effect is called

reapportionment

An important tool Congress uses to influence the bureaucracy is

requiring agency heads to routinely appear before congressional committees.

In Schenck v. United States (1919), the Supreme Court ruled that

speech could be restricted when the nation's security is at stake.

An example of a discretionary item in the federal budget is

spending on national parks

The 2013 government shutdown that resulted from the inability of Congress to reach agreement on the federal budget was caused by:

starkly opposing views of Republicans and Democrats on issues of taxing and spending.

The institution which declares war in the United States is

the Congress

What was intended to give Congress a greater voice in the introduction of American troops into hostilities?

the War Powers Resolution

What happens after a president vetoes a bill?

the bill is returned to Congress and they have the opportunity to override the veto

All of the following are formal powers of the president EXCEPT

the line item veto.

In initiating broad legislative proposals, the president enjoys all of the following advantages over Congress EXCEPT

the president is granted more authority by the Constitution in the area of lawmaking.

Bureaucracies are often criticized as being undemocratic because

they are not directly accountable to the people.

How might a presidential nominee to the Supreme Court have trouble being confirmed?

when a president's party affiliation is in the minority in the Senate

Which factor best explains a president's legislative success with Congress?

whether the president's party has a congressional majority

Which factor best explains the president's success with Congress?

whether the president's party has a congressional majority