Ch 11 Smartbook

True or False: The Senate majority leader's position is more powerful than that of the House Speaker.

False

What occurs after a conference committee reconciles differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill?

The bill goes back to both chambers for a vote.

The privilege of incumbents sending mail to their constituencies at the government's expense is known as the

franking privilege

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.

Which function is the main responsibility of Congress, to which all other functions of Congress are related?

lawmaking

What is a distributive policy?

one that confers a benefit on a particular group while spreading the cost across the taxpaying public

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. roll call

party unity

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

the Rules Committee.

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

the majority leader

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

the service strategy.

In order to be a member of the House of Representatives, a person must be ______ years of age.

25

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.

Blank 1: super or super pacs Blank 2: PACs, pac, pacs, PAC, or PAC's

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.

______ 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

How has the importance of local issues changed in Congress as party polarization has taken hold?

Local issues are less important.

Which of the following correctly describes protocol for committee membership?

Most vacancies occur after elections, either from retirements or incumbent defeats. Most newly elected members of Congress request committee assignments.

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.

Who established the standard for the proper approach to Congress's representative function?

No one; it has been debated since the founding.

Which of the following statements about midterm elections are generally true?

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

The text uses the immigration issue as an example of a national issue on which Republican and Democratic lawmakers cannot agree. What is the sticking point?

The two parties have different solutions to the same problem.

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.

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.

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.

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

True or false: House committees have the power to make suggestions for changing a bill in a process known as mark up.

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.

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

Women and minorities are less likely to run for Congress than white males. There are more women than there are minorities in Congress.

In 2012, Senator Richard Lugar, a six-term incumbent, was beaten in the GOP primary by conservative Richard Mourdock, who portrayed Lugar as

a moderate Washington insider.

Which of the following are activities that typically take place in a party caucus?

adopting a single policy message developing issues

If congressional representatives finds themselves having to choose between angering voters and donors or angering party leadership by refusing to go along with a vote, which will they likely choose?

angering leadership by voting the way their donors and voters want them to

Most members of Congress are

career politicians who want to stay in Congress and put themselves in position for reelection.

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

cloture

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

determine whether or not they stay in office.

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.

distrubutive

Partisan voting is most apparent when members are voting on major ______ issues.

domestic policy

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

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

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

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

Donors are more willing to make campaign contributions to

incumbents

Congressional elections usually favor

incumbents.

A committee that is composed of members of both chambers of Congress is known as a ______ committee.

joint

One reason why standing committees are powerful is that they have by law

jurisdiction over bills in their designated policy area.

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

jurisdiction.

Which of the following are the functions of Congress?

lawmaking oversight representation

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

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

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

majority party.

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

make laws

When major disruptive issues occur incumbents are

more likely to lose

What term describes the situation in which Republican and Democratic lawmakers vote in the same way as their fellow partisans, regardless of constituency differences?

nationalization

If the Rules Committee places a "closed rule" on a piece of legislation, ______ amendments are permitted.

no

An open-seat election is one in which

no incumbent is running.

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

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.

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

ranking members

When congressional district boundaries are redrawn within a state, it is known as

redistricting

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

Today, Congress and the president

share legislative power.

A limit of ______ exists for how long a Republican member can chair a particular committee.

six

A permanent committee in Congress is known as a(n)

standing committee

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

Members of the House of Representatives typically serve on ______ committees, while members of the Senate serve on ______.

two; four

Compared with their percentage of the overall population of the United States, women and minorities are ______ in Congress.

underrepresented

Before 1900, service in Congress

was not usually a career for most of its members.

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.

Which of the following is a major reason why incumbents are reelected?

Many congressional districts and some states are lopsidedly Democratic or Republican.

Select committees are

designed to address a specific issue or problem.

____ is a proposed legislative act that if passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president becomes

A bill

In order to become a member of the Senate, a person must be at least ___ years of age and have been a citizen for at least ___ years.

Blank 1: 30 or thirty Blank 2: 9 or nine

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

incumbent

Who is more likely to vote in a primary election?

strong partisans

The U.S. Congress is a(n)

bicameral legislature with two chambers, the House and the Senate.

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

budgetary appropriations congressional hearings

True or false: Most congressional bills survive committee scrutiny and are voted upon by the House and Senate.

false

The purpose of pork barrel projects is to show constituents that their representative

is actively working for them in Congress.

The increase in party polarization in Congress has led to increased

policy deadlock.

True or false: It is more common for House incumbents than Senate incumbents to face challengers in the form of prominent local politicians.

False

The most powerful leader in the House of Representatives is the

Speaker of the House.

Which of the following are common threats to incumbency?

strong challengers disruptive issues personal misconduct

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

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

lawmaking function

The House and the Senate each elect ______ to lead their party's efforts in the chamber.

party leaders

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.

Which of the following strongly and positively affects a congressional candidate's ability to raise money and win an election?

being an incumbent

______ rule allows members to propose amendments that are relevant to any section of the bill.

open

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.

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

roll call vote

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

shape the bill's broad content. direct the floor debate after the bill leaves the committee.

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