Chapter 12 Test - AP U.S. Government

On February 9, 2016, President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for the 2017 fiscal year. Facing a Republican Congress, many declared the plan "dead on arrival." Among the cited issues was Obama's request for $582.7 billion in discretionary spending for defense, which many Republicans believed was not enough. Which of the following most accurately explains the interaction between the president and the Congress regarding the defense budget?

Congress passes a budget for the entire federal government, including defense, but it must consider the president's proposal because the president may veto the bill.

George Washington limited himself to two terms, and no other president exceeded this until

FDR

Which of the following accurately compares the formal and informal powers of the president?

Formal Power: Acting as commander in chief of the military Informal Power: Signing executive agreements with foreign nations

Which of the following is a correct comparison of formal and informal powers of the president?

Formal Power: Using the veto to block legislation Informal Power: Issuing executive orders to bureaucratic agencies without having to gain approval from Congress

Which of the following is a significant trend in the presidential nominating process over the past three decades?

Increasing importance of presidential primaries rather than state conventions

The data in the graph best illustrate which of the following common criticisms of the electoral college?

Individuals in small-population states have a greater impact on the electoral college than individuals in large-population states.

Which of the following is true of an executive agreement made between a United States President and another head of state?

It does not require Senate approval, but may require congressional allocation of funds for implementation.

Which of the following is true about the pocket veto?

It occurs when the President takes no action on a bill for ten days during which Congress is adjourned.

On July 9, 2018, after the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, President Trump, a Republican, nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Many Democrats in the Senate feared that the appointment of Kavanaugh would swing the Court in a more ideologically conservative direction and attempted to block his nomination. After a heated Senate confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh was eventually confirmed by a 50-48 vote in the Senate. The scenario best highlights which of the following statements about court appointees?

Life tenure for appointed justices alongside the power of judicial review increases the stakes in the confirmation process for nominees to the Supreme Court.

Which of the following is an example of presidential use of informal powers?

President Bill Clinton advocating for public policy reform on his Health Security Express bus

President Lyndon B. Johnson, May 22, 1964 Which of the following explains President Johnson's motivation for the speech in relation to his role as the head of the executive branch?

President Johnson is seeking to use the bully pulpit as a means of promoting his agenda on public education.

Which of the following situations is an example of the president using the bully pulpit as a tool for agenda setting?

President Reagan delivering a televised address urging a reduction in federal taxes

The data in the table illustrate which of the following about United States constitutional government?

Presidential foreign policy can be checked through the legislative power of Congress.

Which of the following best illustrates the point being made in the cartoon above?

Presidents can have an influence on public policy far beyond their terms of office.

What amendment limits presidents to 2 terms?

The 22nd amendment

Which of the following is an example of the executive branch implementing a public policy passed by Congress?

The Department of Health and Human Services determines eligibility requirements for government assistance.

How is a president chosen when none of the candidates receives a majority of the electoral college vote?

The House chooses a new president by a majority vote of its state delegations.

Which of the following best explains why the winner of a presidential election usually claims to have a mandate from voters?

The allocation of electoral votes in the winner-take-all system exaggerates the margin of victory.

A bill is passed to the president for action while Congress is still in session. After ten days he or she has still not approved it. What happens to the bill?

The bill becomes a law because Congress is still in session

Which of the following is the primary reason for the tensions that exist between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government?

The branches have different constituencies with different interests.

Which of the following is a member of the White House Staff?

The national security advisor

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Imperial Presidency, 1973 Which of the following statements is a correct implication of the author's argument?

The perception of multiple crises has led to the growth of an executive branch that is undermining the separation of powers in the government.

Which of the following is a result of the electoral college system?

Candidates focus on the states with the largest populations.

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of checks on the legislative branch and checks on the executive branch?

Check on Legislative Branch: The president may veto bills passed by Congress. Check on Executive Branch: The Senate must confirm judicial nominees.

Which of the following is a type of primary election that requires registration as a party affiliate to vote?

Closed

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Imperial Presidency, 1973 Based on the passage above, which of the following constitutional provisions would the author most likely identify as a solution to the problem of the imperial presidency?

Congress insisting that it declare war prior to the use of international force

The last time a candidate won a majority of the electoral college without winning the popular vote was.

2016

The constitution requires that the president be at least ________ years old.

35

Which of the following statements about trends in presidential approval ratings is supported by information presented in the graph above?

A President's popularity tends to fall during his term in office.

Which of the following stages comes first in the policy-making process?

Agenda setting

In trying to influence legislation, the President is generally more successful than congressional leaders in

using the media to set the policy agenda

Critics of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college are most likely to make which of the following arguments?

The winner-take-all system of the electoral college encourages presidential candidates to focus their time and effort disproportionately on battleground states with larger populations.

Which of the following is an action a president can take to rally public support for the administration's legislative agenda?

Use the State of the Union Address to pressure Congress to pass a bill lowering income taxes.

Which of the following statements is most accurately supported by the data in the table?

While President George W. Bush issued fewer signing statements than President Clinton, his included more objections than President Clinton's.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Imperial Presidency, 1973 Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the text by Schlesinger and The Federalist 70 ?

While Schlesinger views centralization of power in the presidency as dangerous, The Federalist 70 views it as vital to the presidency's effectiveness.

In 2012, after negotiations on a bill in Congress failed, President Obama issued an executive order that protected from deportation individuals illegally brought to the United States as children by their parents. The president took this action because

disagreement between congressional leaders and the president on the issue meant that a compromise on a bill was not likely

Typically, presidential candidates implement their campaign strategies by

focusing on larger, competitive states, because they might tip the balance of the electoral college

In general, Congress is most likely to defer to the President

in the area of foreign policy

The expansion of the executive branch since 1939 has affected the separation of powers by

increasing presidential control over the legislative process

United States v. Nixon held that there is

no unqualified presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process.

If a president has a particular attitude about how a piece of legislation might be implemented, he/she might issue a(n)

signing statement

An important difference between a president and a prime minister is that the latter always has

support from parliament

The usefulness to the President of having cabinet members as political advisers is undermined by the fact that

the loyalties of cabinet members are often divided between loyalty to the President and loyalty to their own executive departments

Which of the following best explains a reason that a president might use a signing statement to express displeasure with a bill as opposed to issuing a veto?

The president may have objections to provisions of a bill but does not want to risk Congress overriding a veto.

Which statement best explains the information in the graphic?

The secretary was confirmed by a party-line vote.

Given the information in the graph, in which of the following states would an individual's vote likely have more influence?

Wyoming

In The Federalist 70, Alexander Hamilton states that "energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government." In this statement, Hamilton is arguing in favor of the need for

a single executive who can respond quickly to crises

The primary function of the White House staff is to

advise the president

The popularly elected president is

an American invention, and our nation is one of a few democracies that have elected presidents.