congress quiz

Which of the following scenarios is an example of the trustee model of representation?

A member of Congress votes to close a popular tax loophole based on the belief that the money would be better spent paying down the national debt.

A committee chair in the House of Representatives is always

A member of the majority party in the chamber

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a member of Congress supporting pork-barrel legislation?

A senator from an agricultural state amending legislation to establish a potato research institute in his or her state

The details of legislation are usually worked out in which of the following settings?

A subcommittee

A first term member of the House of Representatives from North Dakota who wished to maximize opportunities for constituent service would be most likely to seek placement on which of the following committees?

Agriculture

Which of the following identifies the formal procedure for ending a filibuster?

Cloture

Which of the following accurately compares the powers of Congress and the president?

Congress has greater control: budgetary policy President has greater control: Cabinet appointments

A "cloture motion" passed in the Senate does which of the following?

Cuts off debate on a bill

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the rules for debate used by the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate?

Debate is limited in the house and the senate can fillabuster

Which of the following is the most likely consequence of divided government?

Delays in confirmation of federal court nominees

To which of the following congressional committees would a proposal to reform the national income-tax system initially be sent?

House Budget Commities

Which of the following is an accurate description of the powers of the House of Representatives and the Senate?

House initiates all revenue bills and senate confirms presidential appointments

Which of the following are differences between the legislative process in the House of Representatives and that in the Senate?

I, II, and IV only

Which of the following statements about the Senate is true?

Individual senators can exercise substantial influence over the legislative process.

Which of the following committees of the House of Representatives sets the conditions for debate and amendment of most legislation?

Rules

A person claiming that the House can pass legislation with a simple majority, but the Senate is unlikely to pass legislation unless a bill has the support of a 60-vote supermajority is most likely to cite which of the following institutional differences as the cause of this trend?

The House has strict limits on debate, while the Senate allows unlimited debate.

Of the following, which is the most powerful figure in Congress?

The Speaker Of The House

Which of the following is true of the seniority system of Congress in relation to committee leadership and committee staffing?

The chairs of congressional committees tend to be senior members of the body's majority party.

Which of the following best describes gerrymandering?

The party in control of the state legislature draws district boundaries in such a way as to favor its own candidates in subsequent elections.

The voting patterns of members of Congress correlate most strongly with

Their political party affiliation

Which of the following statements about motions for cloture is true?

They are used by senators to end a filibuster and bring a bill to a vote.

Despite concerns raised by her constituents, a member of the House of Representatives votes in favor of a bill, believing that in the long term it is in the best interest of her constituents. This is an example of which of the following models of representation?

Trustee

The congressional system of standing committees is significant because it

fosters the development of expertise by members

"Pork barrel" legislation helps the reelection chances of a member of Congress because such legislation

helps earn the member of Congress a reputation for service to his or her district

The largest source of federal revenue is the

income tax

According to the United States Constitution, all revenue bills must

originate in the House of Representatives

The term "pork barrel" refers to legislation specifically designed to

provide funding for local projects that are intended to benefit constituents

The House Appropriations Committee disagrees with a proposal in the president's annual budget request to increase the number of people eligible for food stamps, consequently leading to the House of Representatives passing a budget that does not increase funding for the program. This ability to check presidential actions is best described as

the power of the purse

Which of the following accurately describes the composition of congressional committees?

Committees are organized by the majority party to maintain control of the policy-making process.

A member of Congress votes in favor of a bill as a result of receiving many letters of support for the bill from constituents. Which form of democratic representation best describes this voting decision?

Delegate

Federal spending for which of the following is determined by laws that lie outside the regular budgetary process?

Entitlement programs such as Social Security

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate?

House of Representatives:The Constitution's framers intended it to reflect the will of the people. Senate: The Constitution's framers designed it to represent the interests of the states.

Which of the following scenarios illustrates Washington's concerns?

Ideological divisions within Congress can lead to partisan gridlock.

The Constitution states that all revenue bills must originate in

The House of Representatives

Which of the following statements about rules of procedure in the House and Senate is correct?

The House operates more by formal rules, while the Senate operates more on informal understandings.

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of procedures in the House of Representatives and procedures in the Senate?

The House: The Rules Committee decides how long debate will be on most bills. The Senate: The minority can use the filibuster to defeat a bill.

If a bill reaches the floor for debate and a member of the minority party opposes the bill, which of the following provides greater leverage to a senator than to a member of the House to block passage of the bill?

The Senate allows for unlimited floor debate that can hold up a vote, while the House has strict limits on debate.

Which of the following situations best illustrates the meaning of divided government in the United States political system?

The majority of senators and the majority of representatives are from one party, but the president is from another.

A new president has been elected after running on a campaign of lowering taxes and reducing spending on discretionary programs but now must work with Congress to ensure legislation passes which achieves those goals. Which of the leaders in the diagram plays the most crucial role in shaping the legislation that the president wants passed?

The speaker of the House

A member of the United States Senate, Jane Smith, personally opposes a bill that calls for a single-payer system of healthcare, in contrast to the majority of her constituency, who are in favor of the legislation. Based on the trustee model of constituent accountability, which of the following actions will Senator Smith most likely take when it is time to vote on the piece of legislation?

Vote against the bill according to her own conscience, which may cause her to lose support among her constituents.

Federal benefits that must be funded by Congress and must be paid to all citizens who meet eligibility criteria are called

individual entitlements

The power of the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives rests on its authority to

place a bill on the legislative calendar, limit time for debate and determine the type of amendments allowed

The role of a conference committee in Congress is to

reconcile differences in bills passed by the House and Senate

Most of the bills introduced in the House and the Senate are then

referred to committee but never sent to the full Congress

Nominations to the Supreme Court must be approved by a

simple majority vote in the senate only

Which of the following types of committee deals with broad areas of public policy and can be found in both houses of Congress?

standing

Most of the work of legislating in Congress takes place in

standing committees

The boundary lines of congressional districts are drawn by

state legislatures

Fiscal policies refer to the government's power to

tax and spend