Module 3

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The last time Congress exercised its constitutional power to declare war was in:

1941

In each House district there are approximately ______ people.

700,000

The president's delegated powers come from:

Congress

________ and ________ are the two most common types of civil law cases.

Contracts; torts

Why was it considered shocking when, after the Civil War, Andrew Johnson made a series of speeches seeking public support for his Reconstruction policies?

During the nineteenth century, it was seen as undignified for a president to campaign on his own behalf.

Which of the following statements about signing statements is FALSE?

Ever since Thomas Jefferson's presidency, all presidential signing statements have been recorded and added to the official legislative record.

About 50 percent of incumbents win re-election.

False

Alexander Hamilton proposed another house that would be small, deliberative, and independent from the larger, more democratic house.

False

All executive agreements require the approval of the Senate.

False

Authority given to the president by Congress is called express power.

False

Congress has created a single federal appellate court for each of the fifty states.

False

Dissenting opinions can be signed only by the chief justice or the most senior dissenting justice.

False

Fifty percent of lower federal court cases are accepted for review by the courts of appeals.

False

If a senator stands up and say "I object" when other senators try to move a legislation forward, the senator can ask to speak and must explain the reasons for blocking.

False

Most cases reach the Supreme Court througha writ of mandamus

False

Only the solicitor general is permitted to file amicus curiae briefs in a case involving the Constitution.

False

Over the course of the country's history, each one of the president's constitutional powers has decreased, beyond the Founder's expectations.

False

Since the 1930s, Congress has delegated far less authority to the president than in earlier eras.

False

Since the New Deal, the majority of litigation in the United States is found in federal courts.

False

The Executive Office of the President was established in the administration of Harry Truman.

False

The House of Representatives has 335 members and the Senate has 100 members.

False

The Supreme Court has no discretion over the cases it hears each term.

False

The War Powers Resolution has been obeyed closely by most presidents over the past thirty years.

False

The executive office of the president is run by the vice president.

False

The filibuster is a process that was never allowed in the House of Representatives.

False

The number of seats in Congress changes as the population of the United States changes.

False

The power of impeachment is located entirely in the Senate, as part of its advice and consent powers.

False

The role of the judiciary has gotten narrower and weaker since World War II.

False

The vice president also serves as Speaker of the House of Representatives and breaks tie votes.

False

The Founders expected the executive's veto authority to be used in a limited way. Which one of the following presidents used that power most?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The turning point in American politics toward a president-centered government came about during the administration of:

Franklin Roosevelt

According to _______________ the House of Representatives was the "grand depository of the democratic principle of government."

George Mason

President _______________________ acquired significantly more powers due to the United States being in a state of war.

George W. Bush

Why is the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison important?

In this case, the Court authorized itself to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress.

Which of the following best explains the small number of women in Congress?

Incumbency is a very powerful resource, and most incumbents have been men.

Who has taken advantage of open committee meetings in Congress to put forth their agenda?

Interest groups

Military emergencies, such as World War I, World War II, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have typically led to an expansion of the domestic powers of the executive branch.

Military emergencies, such as World War I, World War II, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have typically led to an expansion of the domestic powers of the executive branch.

The most important and largest agency in the Executive Office of the President is the

Office of Management and Budget.

Which of the following statements concerning the representation of women and minorities in the U.S. Congress is true?

Representation of women and minorities has increased over the past two decades, but is not comparable to their proportions in the general population.

The determination of the time and structure of floor debate on a bill, in the House of Representatives, is up to the:

Rules Committee

Why did many Republicans oppose President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court?

She supported affirmative action.

Which type of representation takes place when representatives have the same racial, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents?

Sociological

The longest filibuster ever recorded, was conducted by

South Carolina Republican Senator Strom Thurmond in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

The ________ is established by the Constitution and cannot be abolished by a congressional law.

Supreme Court

Which of the following best describes a way in which the House differs from the Senate?

The House is more centralized and organized than the Senate.

What is the main function of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

The chief justice presides over the Court's public sessions and private conferences.

The technique of popular mobilization dates back to the presidency of:

Theodore Roosevelt

Anytime a group of 41 or more senators simply threatens a filibuster, the Senate majority leader can refuse to call a vote on the subject to which they object.

True

Congress may overturn a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote by each house.

True

Dissenting opinions are used to express opposition to a Supreme Court outcome or to signal to the losing side that some members of the Court support its position.

True

Earl Warren is known as a judicial activist.

True

In Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton wrote that a surprise attack on the United States was the only justification for war by presidential decree.

True

Judicial review over acts of Congress was established by Marbury v. Madison.

True

Many interest groups have used the federal courts to pursue their policy goals.

True

Originally, filibusters took place in both houses of Congress, but the House ended it in 1811.

True

Presidents today are most likely to rely upon the White House Staff for advice.

True

Recent presidents have taken increased advantage of administrative strategies to achieve their goals.

True

The Senate may expel a senator by two- thirds vote.

True

The Senate uses committees for a variety of purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch.

True

The Supreme Court has ruled that race could not be the predominant factor in creating electoral districts.

True

The Supreme Court is established under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.

True

The president's Cabinet is composed of the secretaries of the major departments of the federal government.

True

The president's State of the Union address is mandated by the Constitution.

True

The solicitor general is the lawyer who represents the United States before the Supreme Court in cases where the federal government is a party.

True

The staggering of the terms in the Senate is arranged to ensure that both seats from a given state are never contested in the same general election

True

The written explanation of the Supreme Court's decision in a particular case is known as the argument.

True

Until the election of Barack Obama in 2008, all presidents were white.

True

When Lyndon Johnson assumed the executive office he inherited the ongoing conflicts of his predecesor: The Civil Rights confrontation and the Vietnam War.

True

When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950:

Truman sent American troops to Korea without asking for a declaration of war

Which president, out of twenty one who occupied the office from 1901 to the present, had no previous experience in any branch of government?

Trump

The ______ asserted that the president could send American troops into action abroad only in the event of a declaration of war or other statutory authorization by Congress, or if American troops were attacked or directly endangered.

War Powers Resolution of 1973

As a means of managing the gigantic executive branch, presidents have increasingly come to rely upon the:

White House staff

Which of the following is the most likely to involve administrative law?

a case in which John Smith alleges a regulation promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency is invalid

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

When the Supreme Court refuses to review a lower-court decision, announcing this decision through a brief unsigned opinion, it is called ______ opinion.

a per curiam

A proposal to grant some kind of relief, special privilege, or exemption to the person named in a bill is the definition of __________.

a private bill

In the federal court system, each circuit court of appeals

a range of permanent judgeships depending on the workload of the circuit.

What is the Uniform Commercial Code?

a set of codes states may voluntarily adopt in order to reduce interstate differences in judicial opinions in contract law cases

The filibuster is likely to remain a feature of legislative politics in the United States because:

a sixty-seven vote majority is required to eliminate it

In general, members of the House seek committee assignments that will:

allow them to influence decisions that are of special importance to voters in their districts

A person, agency, or interest group not directly a party to a case but with an interest in its outcome may file a(n) ______ brief.

amicus curiae

Presidential high-level political appointments are

an institutional resource of presidential power.

In most circumstances, a supreme court is best described as a(n) ______ court.

appellate

Impeachment proceedings

are highly political

Congress is a ______ legislature with ______ members.

bicameral; 535

A proposed piece of legislation is called a:

bill

What are the most common private bills proposed in Congress?

bills for permanent visas or citizenship for foreign nationals

The power to declare war is given to whom under the Constitution?

both houses of Congress

The term of a senator is six (6) years

but there are no limits to how many times can a senator run for office and serve if elected.

If cloture passes, the debate

can continue for 30 more hours and then there will be a vote on the actual measure the filibuster is seeking to block.

If a private individual brought a suit against a corporation for breaking a contract, what kind of law would this involve?

civil

In general, the purpose of the congressional whip system is

communications

When justices agree with the ruling of a court majority but not all of its reasoning, they may often write a(n):

concurring opinion

Executive agreements differ from formal treaties in that they:

do not have to be approved by the Senate

In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution

established direct popular election of senators.

The right of due process is best described as the right of:

every person not to be treated arbitrarily by a government official or agency

The U.S. has had ____systems of Presidential Selection.

four

The role the House of Representatives plays in impeachments can best be compared with that of a:

grand jury

The first lady is an important resource for the president in his capacity as:

head of state

If someone is an advocate of judicial restraint, he or she believes:

in looking only at the words of the Constitution in order to understand its meaning

An overwhelming majority of court cases in the United States are heard

in state courts

The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court has:

increased dramatically since 1940

A senator or representative running for re-election is called the:

incumbent

When the president infers powers from the "rights, duties, and obligations" of the presidency, these are called:

inherent powers

In times of crises, presidents have issued executive orders without consulting Congress on the basis of

inherent powers.

The chances that an incumbent wins re-election

is very high, reaching as high as 98 percent of House members and 90 percent of Senators.

The Office of Management and Budget is important because:

its personnel are an integral part of virtually every conceivable presidential responsibility, such as overseeing regulatory proposals, reporting on agency activities, and preparing the national budget

Though used at times by justices on both sides of the partisan divide, which judicial philosophy posits that the Court should go beyond the words of the Constitution or a statute to consider the broader societal implications of its decisions?

judicial activism

According to your textbook, reforms enacted in the 1970s to make Congress more accessible have made Congress

less effective and more susceptible to special interests.

The State of the Union address is:

mandated by the Constitution

The larger, more heterogeneous constituencies and longer terms of senators means that they are:

more likely to consider "new ideas" and are better able to act as the agents for groups and interests organized on a statewide or national basis

Compared to the House, the leadership of the Senate has __________ over floor debates.

much less control

How many justices currently serve on the Supreme Court?

nine

If a defendant is found not guilty in a criminal case, the government is

not entitled to appeal the verdict.

In a typical tort case,

one individual charges that he or she has been injured by another's negligence or malfeasance.

Constituency service is so important that:

party leaders will not ask any member to vote in a way that conflicts with the interests or opinions of the member's district

The powers and resources available to government officials that are used to favor supporters are called:

patronage

A ____________ veto can occur when the president is presented a bill during the last ten days of a legislative session and ____________ be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress.

pocket; cannot

A " certiorari pool" describes the:

practice by which Supreme Court law clerks work together to evaluate each petition

Prior cases whose principles are used by judges to decide current cases are called:

precedents

In a committee markup, members of Congress

rewrite legislation to incorporate changes discussed during the hearings on a bill.

In addition to pressuring members of Congress to vote a certain way on a bill, interest groups also have substantial influence in:

setting the legislative agenda

The president pro tempore

shall be the member of the political party with the largest representation in the house

The Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office are examples of ______________, which are designed to provide the legislative branch with resources and expertise independent of the executive branch.

staff agencies

The doctrine of ______ requires courts to follow authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case.

stare decisis

Until 1913,

state legislatures were responsible for electing United States senators.

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the United States Supreme Court held that the District of Columbia's handgun ban was an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment. In writing the majority opinion, the late Justice Antonin Scalia looked predominantly to the words of the Second Amendment of the Constitution in interpreting its meaning. This judicial philosophy can be described as

strict construction

When Congress delegates power to the executive branch, it:

substantially enhances the importance of the presidency

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

Most members of the House attempt to stay on good terms with the Speaker of the House because:

the Speaker possesses the power of recognition

Cases between two or more states are originally heard by:

the Supreme Court

Cases such as Loving v. Virginia and Griswold v. Connecticut illustrate that:

the Supreme Court has the authority to overturn state statutes that contravene rights and privileges guaranteed under the Constitution

Although the Constitution reserves several powers exclusively to the Senate, there are three powers which the Senate shares with the House of Representatives, one of those power is

the appointment of a Vice President in case a vacancy occurs.

What was known as the "court packing" plan?

the attempt by Franklin Roosevelt to add sympathetic justices to the Supreme Court in order to get New Deal laws upheld as constitutional

Which of the following actions was NOT the result of an executive order?

the entrance into the United Nations

The need to divide the labor of legislation is best exemplified in what formal structure of Congress?

the establishment of standing committees

The Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers are both parts of:

the executive office of the president

A writ of habeas corpus declares that:

the government must show a legal cause for holding someone in detention

Who has the most real power in the Senate?

the majority and minority leaders

When Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops into Little Rock High School in 1957, it demonstrated that:

the president may make unilateral use of the emergency powers to protect states against domestic disorder

Cloture is:

the process by which three-fifths (60 senators) of the Senate can end a filibuster

The power of the Supreme Court to review state actions and legislation comes from:

the supremacy clause of Article VI

The "sophomore surge" refers to:

the tendency for candidates to win a higher percentage of the vote when seeking future terms in office

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 substantial capacity to achieve significant policy results despite congressional opposition to their legislative agendas

Under normal rules of oral argument, each lawyer has ______ to present his or her case before the Supreme Court.

thirty minutes

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

What did the framers mean to accomplish by indirect election of the president?

to make the president responsible to state and national legislatures

The first court to hear a criminal case involving a violation of state law is called a(n) ________ court.

trial

What is required for Congress to override a presidential veto?

two-thirds of both houses of Congress


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