Chapter 11: Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests

When is congressional oversight exercised vigorously?

- when members are annoyed with an agency - when members are intending to modify an agency program

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

-Adopting a single policy message -Developing issues

Which of the following are duties of the Speaker of the House?

-Scheduling legislation for floor consideration -Recognizing members who will be allowed to speak on the floor

Which of the following are true of joint committees?

-They are composed of members of both houses. -They perform advisory functions.

Incumbents to the United States Senate are only defeated in ________ of re-election races.

16%

Members of the US House of Representatives are re-elected in __ of races.

92%

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

Cloture

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.

Distributive

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

Joint

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

Jurisdiction

in the house, both the fill committee and a subcommittee may ________ or propose changes to a bill.

Mark up

When there is no incumbent running in an election it is called an ___-___ election and usually sparks heavier spending by two political parties.

Open-Seat

Ensuring that laws are being administered by the executive branch in the way intended by congress is an Important function of Congress and is known as

Oversight

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.

Super PACs

Which of the following is a right of the president pro tempore?

To preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president

Congress is an institution where many interests are represented, which is a strength in a diverse nation, yet Congress is also a place where narrow interests can block Congress from acting even when there's an important national need, which is a weakness.

True

House and Senate committees have the power to make suggestions for changing a bill in a process known as mark up.

True

the framers of the constitution intended that lawmakers _____, something which has become difficult.

act in the spirit of compromise

In congress, disagreement over national policy usually occurs

along partisan divisions

most members of congress are

career politicians who want to stay in congress and put themselves in position for re-election.

how does the public generally feel about congress?

dissatisfied

When major disruptive issues occur incumbents are

more likely to lose

members of the house of rep. typically serve on ___ committees while members of the senate serve on ____

two, four