Chapter 11 Gov
In terms of the budget to hire office staff,
-House members receive identical amounts of money. -Senators receive varying amounts of money, depending on the population of their state.
In order to be a member of the House of Representatives, a person must be ______ years of age.
25
A limit of ______ exists for how long a Republican member can chair a particular committee.
6
In the 1980s, before partisan deadlock, congressional approval ratings were about ______ percent.
60
A ___________is a proposed legislative act that if passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president becomes law.
Bill
True or false: It is more common for House incumbents than Senate incumbents to face challengers in the form of prominent local politicians.
False
What is one reason that incumbents have a fundraising advantage over challengers?
Incumbents have a ready list of potential contributors from past campaigns
A committee that is composed of members of both chambers of Congress is known as a ______ committee.
Joint
What shift brought the president to a more central role in the legislative process?
National and international forces combined to place greater policy demands on the federal government.
The most powerful leader in the House of Representatives is the
Speaker of the House.
Reapportionment takes place every years _________ following a census.
TEN
Why is the president usually better suited than Congress to taking the lead on broad national issues?
The president has sole executive authority and thus can decide a course of action without needing the consent of other top executives.
How do committees and subcommittees serve to decentralize power in Congress?
They allow more members to hold leadership positions.
Which of the following is true of bills that emerge from committee with the full support of the committee members?
They are typically passed by an overwhelming majority.
True or false: Congress is an institution in which many interests are represented, which is a strength in a diverse nation; yet Congress is also a place in which narrow interests can block Congress from acting even when there's an important national need, which is a weakness.
True
Why are incumbents at risk when elections are being waged in the context of disruptive issues?
Voters are more likely to believe those in power should be removed from office.
Why is the Rules Committee considered one of the most important committees in the House?
because it decides the length of debate that will occur on a bill and whether amendments will be allowed
Which of the following oversight tools help Congress to ensure that the executive branch is administering the laws properly?
budgetary appropriations congressional hearings
How does the public generally feel about Congress?
dissatisfied
The redrawing of congressional boundaries to benefit a political party is called
gerrymandering.
Which of the following problems is most likely to jeopardize an incumbent's chances of reelection?
getting caught in a scandal
When a committee or subcommittee holds a(n) ______________they are trying to gather information about a proposed bill.
hearing
As a result of the increased level of party polarization in the United States, which candidates face greater risk of losing the primary election
incumbent moderates
Which of the following is the most powerful party leadership position in the Senate?
majority leader
Which of the following positions in the Senate schedules debates on legislation?
majority leader
When major disruptive issues occur incumbents are
more likely to lose
If the Rules Committee places a "closed rule" on a piece of legislation, ______ amendments are permitted.
no
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 .
oversite
A vote where most members of one political party vote one way while most members of the other party vote the other way is categorized as a ______ unity vote.
party
If a "turf war" erupts as different committees vie for jurisdiction over a bill, who or what decides the committee assignment?
party leaders
The House and the Senate each elect ______ to lead their party's efforts in the chamber
party leaders
The sole purpose of a conference committee is to
reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill.
A permanent committee in Congress is known as
standing
Who is more likely to vote in a primary election?
strong partisans
What are conference committees?
temporary joint committees that are formed to work out differences
Members of Congress are most indebted to which of the following?
-the wealthy donors who fund their campaigns -hardcore partisan voters in their state or district
At present there are ______ standing committees in the House of Representatives.
20
Today, in the grips of partisan deadlock, congressional approval ratings are about ______ percent.
20
If the president chooses to veto a bill,
Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
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 bill's contents.
How has the importance of local issues changed in Congress as party polarization has taken hold?
Local issues are less important.
jurisdiction over bills in their designated policy area
Most newly elected members of Congress request committee assignments Most vacancies occur after elections, either from retirements or incumbent defeats
Which of the following describes the power of Congress relative to the other branches of government?
No executive agency or lower court can exist without congressional authorization
Which of the following describes the power of Congress relative to the other branches of government?
No executive agency or lower court can exist without congressional authorization.
______ refers to a practice whereby members of Congress respond to constituents' individual requests for information or help with a federal benefit or service.
Service strategy
Why do Republican and Democratic lawmakers generally have different perspectives on national issues?
Their parties differ politically Their parties differ philosophically
What is it that holds party lawmakers together?
They have far more in common with each other than they do with lawmakers of the other party.
Polls indicate that voters' opinions of Donald Trump's performance had what effect in the 2018 midterms?
Those who were discontented with Trump helped Democrats retake control of the House.
A procedural move in which a member or members of the Senate speak(s) for an unlimited amount of time on the Senate floor in order to prevent a vote on a bill is known as
a filibuster
The framers of the Constitution intended that lawmakers ______, something that has become increasingly difficult in today's partisan Congress.
act in the spirit of compromise
Partisan divisions have become more ______ as a result of party polarization.
acute
In Congress, disagreement over national policy usually occurs
along partisan divisions
Which of the following strongly and positively affects a congressional candidate's ability to raise money and win an election?
being an incumbent
Most members of Congress are
career politicians who want to stay in Congress and put themselves in position for reelection
To plan strategy and resolve policy issues, party members in Congress typically meet behind closed doors in a session called a party
caucus
Which of the following is not a direct power of the committee chair?
changes party affiliation at will
A constituency is comprised of
citizens from the incumbent's state or district.
Which of the following is a procedural move in the Senate that can end a filibuster?
cloture
Members of Congress usually serve on congressional committees that concentrate on policy areas that affect the members'
constituency.
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
If the majority of the members of the House of Representatives are Republican, then every committee and subcommittee in the House will
have a majority of Republican members
When members of the Senate wish to halt or delay the passage of a bill, a __________________ may take place
ilibuster
Congressional elections usually favor
incumbents
Donors are more willing to make campaign contributions to
incumbents
______ typically benefit from gerrymandering because the majority party ensures that there are enough of the party's voters in the district to ensure reelection
incumbents
The purpose of pork barrel projects is to show constituents that their representative
is actively working for them in Congress
When a bill falls into the area in which a committee is authorized to act, that committee is said to have
jurisdiction
One reason why standing committees are powerful is that they have by law
jurisdiction over bills in their designated policy area
In the House, both the full committee and a subcommittee may ______, or propose changes to, a bill.
mark up
In Insecure Majorities, Frances Lee noted that, in the currently closely matched parties, members of Congress are engaged in "______" rather than "governing."
messaging
What is a distributive policy?
one that confers a benefit on a particular group while spreading the cost across the taxpaying public
The president is usually better suited to take the lead on national issues because
presidents tend to have a national perspective
The term that describes the minority party's committee and subcommittee leaders is____________members
ranking
Redistricting consists of
redrawing congressional district boundaries within a state
Members of Congress give various interests a voice in the legislative process as part of Congress's ______ function.
representative
In the 2018 midterm elections, how many House and Senate races received money from super PACs?
several dozen
Which of the following terms describes a permanent committee in Congress that has a defined legislative jurisdiction?
standing committee
Incumbents have ______ over challengers.
substantial advantages
Which of the following is a legislative power the president does NOT possess?
the power to sign only part of a bill into law
Which of the following methods is most often used to select committee chairs?
the seniority system
The 2014 North Carolina Senate race (Hagan vs. Tillis) was one of the most extensive campaigns in Senate history, with more than $75 million spent. What portion of that money came from super PACs?
two-thirds
Compared with their percentage of the overall population of the United States, women and minorities are ______ in Congress.
underrepresented
Positive aspects of party polarization include the fact that
voters can more clearly see and understand party differences
Before 1900, service in Congress
was not usually a career for most of its members
When is congressional oversight exercised vigorously?
when members are intending to modify an agency program. when members are annoyed with an agency
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.
Who established the standard for the proper approach to Congress's representative function?
No one; it has been debated since the founding
The practice in which members of Congress agree to vote for a bill in exchange for their colleague's vote on another bill is called
logrolling
The process of determining how many House seats each state is allowed as a result of population change since the last census is known as
reapportionment.
Which of the following are duties of the Speaker of the House?
-Recognizing members who will be allowed to speak on the floor -Choosing leadership of the House Rules Committee
Which of the following statements about midterm elections are generally true?
-There is less media coverage of candidates and issues than in a presidential election. -The president's party usually loses seats. -Voter turnout is lower than for presidential elections.
An example of Congress's ______ is when Congress passes legislation that creates incentives for the development of alternative energy sources.
lawmaking function
The partisan divide in Congress has grown in recent years and each party engages in ______, which is when party members band together on legislation and oppose the other party.
party unity
The increase in party polarization in Congress has led to increased
policy deadlock.
Going into the 2018 election, the Democratic Party was able to field an unusually strong set of candidates because
polls showed that voters were trending toward the Democrats.
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
Which of the following makes a challenger to a Senate incumbent more likely to be successful?
-having access to large sums of money to fund the campaign -having an existing campaign organization -having strong public recognition
True or false: House committees have the power to make suggestions for changing a bill in a process known as mark up.
True
Which of the following are common threats to incumbency?
-personal misconduct -strong challengers -disruptive issues
When congressional district boundaries are redrawn within a state, it is known as
redistricting
Which of the following statements about congressional committees are true?
They make it possible for Congress to consider a high volume of bills They each specialize in a certain area of legislation
True or false: After clearing the committee stage, floor debate on a bill is usually led by the majority party's leadership in the House.
True
Which function is the main responsibility of Congress, to which all other functions of Congress are related?
lawmaking
Today, Congress and the president
share legislative power.