GOVT 2305 - Ch 9-12
When presidents use popular appeals in an attempt to create a mass base of support that will allow them to accomplish their goals, it is referred to as
"going public"
When Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops into Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, it demonstrated that the
president may make unilateral use of the emergency powers to protect states against domestic disorder
While the Constitution does not specify that presidents have the power to remove those they appointed to office from their positions,
presidents have long claimed that the power is implied by those expressed powers they have in the Constitution.
If President Trump were to appoint an individual to fill a vacant position in the Department of Health and Human Services when the Senate was adjourned, it would be an example of a(n)
recess appointment
One way that presidents have expanded their power has been by going public. Another is by
reducing their dependence on Congress by giving themselves independent governing capabilities.
A presidential emergency declaration
remains in force for only one year unless it is renewed by the president.
Congressional leaders form ________ committees when they want to take up an issue that falls between the jurisdiction of existing committees, to highlight an issue, or to investigate a particular problem.
select
Approximately ________ is needed for a candidate to have a reasonable chance of winning a seat in the House of Representatives.
$1 million
Women won the right to vote in
1920
During early national periods of American history, suffrage was generally restricted to White males over the age of
21
The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been fixed at ________ since ________.
435; 1929
527 committees are different from 501(c)(4) organizations because
501(c)(4) organizations do not have to publicly report who their donors are and how much they gave.
"Dark money" comes from
501(c)(4)s.
How many justices currently serve on the Supreme Court?
9
Which of the following statements about women's suffrage is most accurate?
A number of state and territorial governments adopted women's suffrage before the federal government granted women the vote through the Nineteenth Amendment.
Which of the following statements about socioeconomic status and political participation is accurate?
Americans of higher socioeconomic status participate more in politics, including voting.
The Secretary of Education, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of the Interior are all members of the
Cabinet
The ________ is the informal designation for the heads of the major federal government departments.
Cabinet
During the nineteenth century, ________ was America's dominant institution of government.
Congress
One difference between a veto and a pocket veto is that
Congress can override a regular veto but cannot override a pocket veto.
________ is the right of every individual against arbitrary action by national or state governments.
Due process of law
The Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers are both parts of the
Executive Office of the President.
The congressional practice of "ping-ponging" refers to which of the following?
House and Senate leaders send a bill back and forth to reconcile differences between the bills in the two chambers.
The first two states to hold a presidential primary or caucus are
Iowa and New Hampshire.
Which best characterizes the use of oversight powers in Congress in recent years?
It has an increasingly partisan tone.
What is the vesting clause?
It is the part of the Constitution that gives the power to execute laws to the president.
Which statement about White Americans' participation in the 2016 presidential election is accurate?
Most White Americans supported Republican candidates.
The first female Speaker of the House was
Nancy Pelosi.
The ________ is the name given to the group of designated cabinet officials and other military, diplomatic, and intelligence officials who meet regularly with the president to give advice on national security matters.
National Security Council
________ is the only state that does not require voter registration.
North Dakota
Which of the following statements about presidential orders is most accurate?
Only a tiny percentage of presidential orders have ever been rescinded by congressional legislation.
What is the general tendency of a president's approval rating?
Presidents usually start out popular and decline over the next four years.
Which of the following statements best describes the representation of women and minorities in the U.S. Congress?
Representation of women and minorities has increased during the past two decades but is not comparable to their proportions in the general population.
Cabinet members must be approved by the
Senate but are not responsible to the Senate or to Congress at large.
Which of these statements is true?
Several vice presidents have had to take on the presidency after the president has died or resigned.
Over the past several decades, the ________ and the ________ have benefited most from apportionment.
South; West
Which of the following best summarizes the legality of executive privilege?
The Court has acknowledged that the concept is legal, though the president may not be able to claim it in every case.
Which of the following statements about primary elections is most accurate?
The United States is one of the few nations in the world to hold primary elections.
How is the Speaker of the House determined?
The elected leader of the majority party in the House is the Speaker.
In the House of Representatives, what is the relationship between the majority leader and the Speaker of the House?
The majority leader is subordinate to the Speaker of the House.
Which of the following best describes the role of the solicitor general?
The solicitor general is the lawyer who represents the United States before the Supreme Court in cases where the federal government is a party.
Which of the following statements about how voters decide is most accurate?
When voters are satisfied with their economic prospects, they tend to vote for the party in power.
The last time Congress exercised its constitutional power to declare war was during
World War II.
Which best describes a grassroots campaign?
a campaign in a small town for which volunteers knock on people's doors to generate interest for a political candidate
Which of the following would the Supreme Court likely refuse to hear because of "mootness"?
a case involving a student suing a state-run university for discrimination in the admissions process after the student was first rejected but then later admitted to the university
A bill's supporters in the House of Representatives generally prefer ________, while opponents generally prefer a(n) ________.
a closed rule; open rule
A party platform is
a party document that contains the philosophy, principles, and positions of the party.
In Congress, the term "whip" refers to
a party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes.
Under the National Popular Vote plan
a state's electoral college votes would go to the candidate who won the national popular vote, not the candidate with a plurality of votes in that specific state.
How can Congress override a president's veto?
a two-thirds vote in both chamber
Most cases reach the Supreme Court through
a writ of certiorari.
The Jim Crow era refers to the period
after Reconstruction and before the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act
Briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court
are written documents in which attorneys explain why the Court should rule in favor of their clients.
Congress is a ________ legislature with ________ total members.
bicameral; 535
The president has the power to appoint which of the following positions?
cabinet secretaries
If a state government makes a formal request that the president deploy federal troops, the president
can refuse to send federal troops at his or her discretion.
Both 527s and 501(c)(4)s
can spend unlimited amounts on political advocacy as long as their efforts are not coordinated with those of any candidate's campaign.
Since 2017, the Senate filibuster
cannot be used against any presidential appointments to the judiciary.
The "nuclear option" refers to a
change to the filibuster rules enacted in 2013 that prevents the filibustering of nominees for positions in the executive branch and the federal courts.
Impeachment offenses are
charged by the House and tried in the Senate, with the Chief Justice presiding and a two-thirds vote needed for conviction.
A provision by the House Rules committee limiting or prohibiting the introduction of amendments during debate is called a
closed rule
In ________, legislators rewrite bills to reflect changes discussed during hearings.
committee markup
When Republicans gather in the House to elect their House leaders every two years, this is called a
conference.
All of the people living in a congressional district are the ________ of their member of Congress.
constituency
Suppose a defendant is convicted at trial but believes that the judge made an error that impacted the decision. She would first ask her case be tried again at ________. If she were to lose at that court, she could still try again, if her argument were accepted, at the ________.
court of appeals; supreme court
The Senate and House Appropriations committees are important because they
decide how much funding various programs will receive and how the moneywill be spent.
The House Rules committee is important because it
decides the order in which bills come up for a vote on the House floor and determinesthe specific rules that govern the length of debate and opportunity for amendments.
Which of the following is least likely to influence the thinking of federal judges?
decisions of state courts
Which sort of representation is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one could correctly represent the other's views?
descriptive
Executive agreements differ from formal treaties in that they
do not have to be approved by two-thirds vote of the Senate.
The campaign funds raised and spent by 501(c)(4) organizations are called "dark money" because
donors and amounts contributed do not have to be made public.
In a roll-call vote,
each legislator's yes or no vote is recorded.
An emergency declaration relating to foreign threats allows the president to
embargo trade, seize foreign assets, and prohibit transactions with whatever foreign nations are involved.
Presidential elections are held in the United States on the first Tuesday of November ________ year(s).
every four
In order to get around the need for Senate approval of treaties, many contemporary presidentshave made use of ________ in foreign affairs.
executive agreements
Imagine that all Republican members of Congress in the House vote to pass a bill to cut taxes. This action is known as a
filibuster
Which of the following are methods U.S. senators can use to block or delay debate on a bill?
filibustering, adding amendments to a bill, and placing a hold on a bill
A closed or an open rule refers to congressional provisions regarding
floor debate on a bill.
Suppose more and more states wish to increase their political influence by holding their nominating processes earlier and earlier. This causes the process for nominating the president to become
front-loaded
The expansion of the Executive Office of the President, the development of regulatory review, and the use of executive orders have been important because they
have given presidents capacity to achieve policy results despite congressional opposition to their legislative agendas.
In modern democracies, courts made up of judges and juries
hear the facts on both sides of a case and apply relevant law or constitutional principle to decide which side has the stronger argument.
The main difference between inherent and implied powers is that
implied powers can be traced to the powers expressed in the actual language of the Constitution while inherent powers derive from national sovereignty.
An overwhelming majority of court cases in the United States are heard
in state courts.
Cases ________ are NOT part of the original jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court.
in which more than $1 million is at stake
One cause of party unity voting in recent Congresses is
increased polarization
A senator or representative running for reelection is called the
incumbent.
The president of the United States is elected
indirectly by the electoral college.
The right of candidates to spend their own money on running for office
is protected absolutely by the Constitution according to the Supreme Court.
The Office of Management and Budget is important because
its personnel assist with overseeing regulatory proposals and preparing the national budget.
If the Supreme Court were to decide to review a case that alleges President Trump's antiterrorism initiatives violated a citizen's civil liberties, the case likely would be an example of
judicial review of executive power.
The Supreme Court explains its decisions in terms of
law and precedent.
What is the most common occupation among members of Congress before coming to Congress?
lawyer
The president plays a major role early in the lawmaking process though the use of
legislative initiatives
Public funding for use in campaigns in the United States is
limited
Which of the following areas is least related to the official jurisdiction of federal courts?
local ordinances
In addition to nominating a presidential candidate, national party conventions are important because they
make rules concerning delegate selection for future primaries and draft the party's platform.
Gerrymandering refers to the
manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group.
Civil cases involving the citizens of more than one state and in which more than $75,000 is at stake
may be heard in either the federal or the state courts, usually depending on the preference of the plaintiff.
Under current federal campaign finance rules, as long as they do not coordinate with a candidate, a national political party committee
may make unlimited "independent expenditures" supporting its own presidential candidate
Regularly-scheduled Congressional elections that do not coincide with a presidential election are called
midterm elections.
One advantage of seniority in Congress is that it makes it
more likely to get leadership in a committee.
A U.S. senator has a ________-year term.
six
Money contributed directly to a political party to be used for voter registration or party building is called
soft money
The Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office are examples of
staff agencies.
A legislative "hold" is a
stalling tactic used in the U.S. Senate to delay debate on a bill.
The Constitution attempts to restrain the president's use of domestic force by
stating that a state government must request federal troops before the president can deploy them within that state to provide public order.
Conference committees are
temporary, involve members from both houses of Congress, and are charged with reaching a compromise on legislation once it has been passed by both the House and the Senate.
The "sophomore surge" refers to the
tendency for candidates to win a higher percentage of the vote when seeking future terms in office.
In 2019, the Supreme Court made which ruling on gerrymandering?
that it was a political question beyond the reach of the federal judiciary
Race became a major factor in drawing congressional district lines as a result of
the 1982 amendments to the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Which congressional staff agency assesses the economic implications and likely costs of proposed federal programs?
the Congressional Budget Office
Who is a member of the National Security Council?
the Secretary of Defense
The framers gave the power to introduce "money bills" to the House of Representatives but not the Senate because they believed that
the chamber closest to the people should exercise greater authority over taxing and spending
Who is an incumbent?
the current officeholder running for re-election
What is the gender gap?
the difference in support for Republicans and Democrats among men and women
If a man is arrested because his home was searched by police without a legal warrant, he could argue in court that he had been denied
the due process of law.
In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) the Supreme Court ruled that
the government could not restrict independent expenditures by corporations or unions on behalf of candidates or issues.
A writ of habeas corpus declares that
the government must show a legal cause for holding someone in detention.
Congress's tendency in recent years to give executive agencies fewer clear guidelines for implementing laws is the result of
the greater scope and complexity of the tasks that the federal government has undertaken.
The electoral college is
the group of electors who formally select the president and vice president.
What is turnout?
the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote
A signing statement is an announcement
the president makes about his or her interpretation of a congressional enactment he or she is signing into law.
Which of the following is the best definition of redistricting?
the process or redrawing electoral districts every 10 years
When filing an appeal, an appellant usually must show
the trial court made a legal error in deciding the case.
If a president claimed that he possessed the authority to execute acts of Congress according to his own understanding of the law and the nation's interests, he would be operating under the theory of
the unitary executive
A major risk of the delegate model of representation is that
the voices of only a few active and informed constituents will be heard because most people do not pay close attention to every issue.
What is the primary constitutional task of the vice president, besides succeeding the president in case of death, resignation, or incapacitation?
to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate
A certiorari pool describes the
practice by which Supreme Court law clerks work together to evaluate each petition.
A pocket veto is used by the
president
The practice of referring a bill to more than one committee for consideration is called
multiple referral.
In general, presidents
must state the constitutional or statutory basis for their use of executive orders.
Historically, the power of the federal courts was subject to a number of limitations. One such limitation is that courts are "passive" institutions in that they
must wait until a case is brought to them before they can make authoritative decisions.
The powers of Congress have declined dramatically in which of the following areas over the last 50 years?
national defense and the federal budget
One way the majority leader and minority leader in the Senate exert power is through control
of the calendar.
In a typical tort case,
one individual charges that he or she has been injured by another's negligence or malfeasance.
A provision by the House Rules committee that allows debate and the addition of new amendments to a bill is called a(n)
open rule
The written explanation of the Supreme Court's decision in a particular case is known as the
opinion
The 2014 Select Committee on Benghazi is an example of Congress's
oversight powers.
Which of the following are the three most major factors that influence a voter's choice?
partisan loyalty, issues, and the characteristics of candidates
Joint committees are
permanent, but do not have the power to present legislation
In court cases the ________ is the party that brings charges and the ________ is the party accused of a violation of the law.
plaintiff; defendant
When Senator Robert Byrd steered brought federal money to build highways, dams, and government facilities to his state of West Virginia, he was doing which of the following?
pork barreling
