GOV TEST 11/2
as a primary role for a member of congress, the delegate role is to
carry out the needs of the constituents
The elections for Senate seats are staggered so that _____.
every two years a third of the Senate is up for election.
the senate has the power to issue articles of impeachment against the president.
false
There is concern that allowing funds from Social Security to be privately invested will:
leave beneficiaries at the mercy of an unstable system
Congress has all of the following powers BUT:
to rule a law unconstitutional
Pork barrel spending has been.....
...criticized for putting narrow interests ahead of those of the nation's voters.
The most important power of Congress is...
...its ability to pass laws in areas of national policy.
Which of the following makes a correct comparison between the contents of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the original United States Constitution (1787)?
Declaration of Independence: All men created equal United States Constitution: Supremacy Clause
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution?
Declaration of Independence: reflects basic American political culture; The Constitution: creates the framework for national government
Chief Justice Roberts wrote that gerrymandering is 'incompatible with democratic principles' but partisan gerrymandering was a 'political question beyond the reach of the federal courts'. Why? (which is the best answer)
Elections are run by states and the federal government does not have the authority in this particular matter
Which part of the legislature is meant to be 'close to the people and their wishes'?
House of Representatives
Which of the following pairs has a correct comparison between the House of Representatives and the Senate?
House of Reps: serve two year term; senate: seventeenth amendment allowed for direct election by citizens.
For someone to be considered a candidate for the United States Senate, he or she must
I) be at least 30 years old. II) have at least nine years of citizenship. III) residency in the state a senator represents at time of election.
How does the process of a bill becoming a law differ if it is introduced in the House compared to if it is introduced in the Senate?
If a bill is introduced in the House, it must be presented to the Rules committee before it can move to the floor for consideration.
When writing in the Federalist Papers, _____ wrote that a bicameral government was security for the people.
James Madison
Why did the economy fail to thrive under the Articles of Confederation?
States hindered commerce by imposing trade restrictions on one another.
According to the map, which state is predicted to gain the most seats in the House of Representatives?
Texas
The House of Representatives: members have to be at least 25 years old; The Senate: represent specific districts based on population
The House of Representatives: two-year term; The Senate: six-year term
Suppose the president has nominated someone for a vacancy on the Supreme Court, but a senator in the opposing party does not approve of the president's choice. What can that senator do to change the situation?
The senator may vote against the president's chosen nominee during the confirmation hearing.
What was the main function of the Three-Fifths Compromise?
To count an enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of calculating a state's representation.
What is the main function of a select committee?
To investigate specifics related to a scandal or to handle a crisis within the federal government
Donald Trump is the only president ever to be impeached twice in the house.
True
Being _____ is a requirement to run for a seat in the House of Representatives.
a U.S. citizen for seven years
In 1957, Senator Thurmond from South Carolina talked for more than 24 hours. This prevented a vote on the Civil Rights Act. Senator Thurmond used
a filibuster
When a bill is sent to a committee, one of the first things done by the committee is to hear testimony about the bill and revise the bill. This is called
a markup session
a divided government happens when:
a president and one or both chambers of Congress are split between parties
Which type of state would have been in favor of the proposed Virginia Plan?
a state with a relatively large population
What happens after articles of impeachment have been successfully passed in the House of Representatives?
a trial is held in the senate to convict or acquit the accused official
The Senate has the authority to confirm nominees to the executive branch using its role of:
advice and consent.
An argument that supports the reinstatement of earmarks in Congress is that earmarks
allow Congress to better advocate for their constituency.
The main function of "leadership" political action committees is to
allow congressional leaders to help candidates running for congress
In 1970, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was created in order to:
assist the president with setting national spending priorities
The most visible part of the legislative process is voting; however, much goes on in the background including:
bill sponsorship
The framers believed that by creating a _____ term for the House of Representatives, it would make representatives more accountable to voters.
brief
After the Vietnam War, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution to prevent the president from committing the U.S. to a military conflict without the consent of Congress. Which constitutional principle was this law based on?
checks and balances
Suppose a new bill has been introduced that would make changes to existing education policies and roll back the federal government's involvement in public education. Which type of committee should be established to work out the differences between the House version of the bill and the Senate version of the bill?
conference committee
The Senate has powers that are separate from the House of Representatives. These include:
confirming nominees to the federal judiciary.
Which body of government has the authority to introduce bills?
congress
An average American citizen most likely to get a bill introduced in Congress that would require public schools to provide before- and after-school daycare by
contacting their representatives and pressuring them to introduce such legislation
Congress has been granted many powers; all of these are true except:
convict federal officials of a crime.
The House of Representatives has separate powers from the Senate including:
creating bills to raise revenue.
The role of trustee means that the member of Congress must make:
decisions based on knowledge and judgement
the purpose of the house rules committee is to
determine when a bill is debated and voted on
Suppose Congress presents a bill to the president that would limit the rights of Americans to speak freely. The president vetoes the bill and upon reconsideration, the bill fails in a vote to override the veto. In this case, the bill
dies and does not become law
To force a bill out of committee, a member of the House can file a
discharge petition
defense spending is considered
discretionary spending
Presidents and Congress also practice discretionary spending, which is:
done on items that the president and congress feel is important
Logrolling was made obsolete in 2011 when the Republican controlled House of Representatives outlawed:
earmarking legislation.
Suppose a senator has proposed a budget measure that would direct money to his district for the purpose of improving parks. This would be an example of
earmarks or pork barrel spending.
Substantive representation is when a member of Congress:
focuses on the interests and policies important to their constituents
In addition to apportionment, which of the following processes impact congressional districts?
gerrymandering
Juan would like to run for the Senate; he is twenty-eight years old, he became a naturalized citizen at sixteen, and is a resident in his state. He is unable to run for Senate because:
he has to be thirty years old.
A Republican member of the House of Representatives who is responsible for the opposition strategy and coordinating party activity in a Democrat-controlled House would be known as the
house minority leader
A check by the legislative branch on the executive branch is the process of
impeachment
If a federal judge is caught lying under oath, this is grounds for:
impeachment
With each budget deficit, the United States has to borrow money, which:
increases the national debt
Constituents who are interested in policy can often struggle to:
keep up with all policy issues
Suppose a member of the House of Representatives has spent the past week discussing upcoming legislation with other members of the House and has been working hard to convince members to vote in favor of the legislation. This person would most likely be the
majority whip
The different structures and term lengths of the House and Senate
make the policymaking process more deliberate and slower
_ is an example of a program that the Social Security Act of 1935 created.
old age insurance
many members of Congress tend to be
older than the electorate
Special committee meetings held after government failings during Hurricane Katrina were part of which Congressional authority?
oversight
Legislation used to direct specific funds into projects within certain districts or states is referred to as:
pork barrel legislation.
Which of the following makes a correct comparison between the foreign policy powers of Congress and those of the president?
president: appoint ambassadors. congress: declare war
Shaw v. Reno (1993) was about the North Carolina Twelfth Congressional District. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the district was
racially gerrymandered and therefore unconstitutional
Shays's Rebellion prompted the framers to include which of the following in the enumerated powers of Congress?
raise and support an army
In 2017 Dale Schulze said "___________________ is a moment of opportunity for the ruling party"
reapportionment
the politico role requires members of congress to
reconcile the needs of constituents and the needs of the party
A solution to the problem of Social Security funding is:
reducing benefits to current beneficiaries
After a bill has been introduced in either the House or the Senate, it will be
referred to a committee
Voters can affect how a representative will vote on a bill, but so can the:
representative's political party
The supreme court's decision in Baker v Carr
required congressional districts to have roughly the same number of constituents.
Which of the following Presidents have not been brought up for impeachment?
richard nixon
You represent your state in the United States House of Representatives. Your bill, HR435, is introduced, referred to committee, and passed out of committee. The next step in the process is to set a debate time and place it on the House calendar. To help your bill's chances for passage, you might consider logrolling with the chair of which committee?
rules committee
Which elected representative from Congress has the larger constituency?
senator
The House and Senate appropriations committees are responsible for:
setting the budgets for the departments, agencies, and bureaus within the government
Which of the following is a responsibility of Congress?
setting the federal budget
which of the following is a responsibility of congress?
setting the federal budget
What was the most significant contradiction within the Constitution?
slavery was permitted in a document based on human liberty
Gridlock happens in Congress when legislation is:
slowed or stalled
An example of an entitlement program is:
social security
The Agriculture Committee in the House is a permanent committee that develops legislation regarding agriculture, food, and rural development. The Agriculture Committee is an example of which type of committee?
standing committee
When the federal government spends less than it earns, it is called a budget ___________________________.
surplus
How does the style of representation in the House of Representatives differ from representation in the Senate?
the representation in the senate is the same for each state regardless of population, while the number of representatives in the house of reps depends on a states population
How does the position of the Speaker of the House compare to the Senate majority leader?
the speaker of the house has more power than the senate majority leader
Many legal challenges have been made to the arrest and detainment of suspected terrorists because they often are not told why they are being held. Which constitutional protection are these legal challenges based on?
the writ of habeas corpus
Logrolling is defined as:
trading of votes on legislation by members of Congress to get their earmarks passed into legislation.
The Framers of the Constitution made a complicated legislative process that results in most bills failing. They did this because they did not
want laws to be passed based on the populace's temporary desires
