Chapter 11

Which of the following is the most powerful leadership position in the Senate?

Majority leader

The framers of the Constitution granted Congress the power to _____, the greatest of all powers of government.

Make laws

How do committees and subcommittees serve to decentralize power in Congress ?

They allow more members to hold leadership positions

Which of the following are true of joint committees?

They perform advisory functions They are composed of members of both houses

When is congressional oversight exercised vigorously?

When members are annoyed with an agency When members are intending to modify an agency program.

A constituency is comprised of

citizens from the incumbents state or district

Select committees are

designed to address a specific issue or problem

In the House of Representative, debate is limited on the congressional floor by

the Rules Committees

Who has the power to preside over the Senate and vote in case of a tie but otherwise has little real authority in the Senate?

the Vice President of the United States

Gerrymandering is

usually legal

The steps that a bill must pass through in order to become law.

1. A member of the House of Representatives or the Senate formally proposes the bill. 2. The bill is submitted to a committee for consideration. 3. A majority of members in the House and Senate approve the bill. 4. The president signs the bill.

Which of the following best explain why a member of Congress is chosen to a party leadership position?

Ability to work with the other party. Ability to successfully promote the party'd goals within Congress. Demonstrated leadership ability.

The U.S Congress is a ______legislature with two chambers, the House and the Senate.

Bicameral

To end a filibuster, sixty senators must agree to invoke ______ and end the debate.

Cloture

If the president chooses to veto a bill,

Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

Which of the following oversight tools help Congress to ensure that the executive branch is administering the laws properly?

Congressional Hearings Budgetary Appropriations

Which of the following are common threats to incumbency?

Disruptive issues Personal misconduct Strong Challengers

How does the public generally feel about Congress?

Dissatisfied

Most of the bills Congress passes are _______ in nature which means they provide benefits to a particular group in society while spreading the costs across the taxpaying public as a whole.

Distributive

Partisan voting occurs more often when members are voting on _____ issues that involve intense partisan differences.

Domestic Policy

Most congressional bills survive committee scrutiny and are voted upon by the House and Senate.

False

Which of the following problem is most likely to jeopardize an incumbents chances of reelection?

Getting caught in a scandal

Which of the following makes a Senate challenger more likely to be successful?

Having an existing campaign organization. Having access to large sums of money to fund the campaign. Having strong public recognition.

When a committee or subcommittee holds a ______, they are trying to gather information about a proposed bill.

Hearing

An example of Congress's _____ is when Congress passes legislation that creates incentives for the development of alternative energy sources.

Lawmaking function

The Speaker of the House is effectively chosen by the

Majority Party

When there is no incumbent running in an election it is called an ____ -____ election and usually sparks heavier spending by the two political parties.

Open-seat

Ensuring that laws are being administered by the executive branch in the way intended by Congress is an important function of Congress and is known as

Oversight

On major bills, it is increasingly typical for the majority party's leaders to

Shape the bills broad content Direct the floor debate after the bill leaves the committee

Which of the following statements are true of bills that are killed in committee?

They can be brought back to life by a vote of the full House or Senate. Most are poorly conceived or of little interest to anyone. Some bills are not supported by the members who introduced them.

Which of the following statements about congressional committees are true?

They each specialize in a certain area of legislation They make it possible for congress to consider a high volume of bills.

When does a bill become a law?

When Congress overrides a presidential veto When the president signs it

Both political parties in the House have a _____, who acts as a go between with the leadership and the party members in the House.

Whip

In congress, disagreement over national policy usually occurs

along partisan divisions

Members of Congress are attentive to the concerns of the constituents because constituents

determine whether or not they stay in office

Which of the following could be considered personal misconduct that might lead to a Congressional incumbent losing a bid for reelection?

engaging in bribery being involved in a sex scandal

In the large majority of cases, the winner of a congressional campaign is the

incumbent

Donors are more willing to make campaign contributions to

incumbents

When a bill falls into the area in which a committee is authorized to act, that committee is said to have

jurisdiction

The increase in party polarization in congress has led to increased

legislative gridlock

When major disruptive issues occur incumbents are

more likely to lose

To plan strategy and policy issues, party members in Congress typically meet behind closed doors in a session called a

party caucus

A permanent committee in congress is known as a

standing committee

Among the reasons why Congress has difficulty taking the lead on broad issues are the facts that

Congress has two chambers, and they are not always in agreement on policy issues. Members of Congress come from different districts and often have conflicting views on national policy.

The privilege of incumbents to send mail to their constituencies at the government's expense is the ______ privilege.

Franking

Every bill must be approved by both the House and the Senate in ______ _____ before it can be sent to the president.

Identical form

Redistricting can diminish the advantages of being an __________ because the candidate will have a lower name recognition among the districts voters than before the redistricting.

Incumbent

As a results of the increased level of party polarization in the United States, which candidates face greater risk of losing the primary election?

Incumbent moderates

Choosing committee chairs based on which member has the longest continuous tenure on a standing committee is an example of the...

Seniority system

Incumbents have _____ over challengers.

Substantial advantages

The sole purpose of a conference committee is to

reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill

Redistricting consists of

redrawing congressional district boundaries within a state

When an incumbent personally helps constituents solve problems with the federal bureaucracy, its known as

the service strategy

Which of the following is a right of the president pro tempore?

to preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president

Which of the following are the functions of congress?

Representation Lawmaking Oversight

The redrawing of congressional boundaries to benefit a political party is called

Gerrymandering

The difference between amendments that can be offered in the House and Senate to a bill under consideration is that in the

House amendments must directly relate to a bills contents

In the House, both the full committee and a subcommittee may ______, or propose changes to a bill.

Mark up

Elections held in the years between presidential election are called _____ elections.

Midterm

Which of the following are duties of the speaker of the House?

Recognizing members who will be allowed to speak on the floor. Scheduling legislation for floor consideration

Members of Congress give various interest a voice in the legislative process as part of Congress's ____ function.

Representative

The trend toward party unity in Congress can clearly be seen in voting records of members Congress when their votes are officially recorded during a ___ ___ vote.

Roll Call

The emergence of ______ _____, groups that can pour money into a political campaign with few limits, has given challengers a better opportunity to unseat congressional incumbents.

Super PACs

Who helps the Speaker set the party's legislative agenda in the House?

The majority leader

Which of the following about midterm elections are true?

The president's party usually loses seats. There is less media coverage of candidates and issues that in a presidential election. Voter turnout is lower than for presidential elections.

Compared with their percentage of the overall population of the U.S, women and minorities are ____ in congress.

Underrepresented

If a vote in the Senate is tied, the ____________ breaks the tie.

Vice President

Which of the following are true concerning women and minorities who run for congressional office?

Women and minorities have a winning percentage that is roughly the same as non incumbent white males. Women and minorities are less likely to run for Congress than white males

Majority party

the party that controls the rules and has the most powerful leadership position in the House