Government ch 11

What shift brought the president to a more central role in the legislative process?

National and international forces combined to place greater policy demands on the federal government.

The most powerful leader in the House of Representatives is the

Speaker of the House.

The framers of the Constitution intended that lawmakers ______, something that has become increasingly difficult in today's partisan Congress.

The framers of the Constitution intended that lawmakers ______, something that has become increasingly difficult in today's partisan Congress.

How do committees and subcommittees serve to decentralize power in Congress?

They allow more members to hold leadership positions.

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

True

Members of Congress may experience conflict between their lawmaking responsibility and their responsibility to represent their constituency when

a policy that is good for the nation as a whole does not coincide with the needs of their constituency.

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

budgetary appropriations congressional hearings

Which of the following problems is most likely to jeopardize an incumbent's chances of reelection?

getting caught in a scandal

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

joint

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 positions in the Senate schedules debates on legislation?

majority leader

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.

Redistricting consists of

redrawing congressional district boundaries within a state.

When is congressional oversight exercised vigorously?

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

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

In Congress, disagreement over national policy usually occurs

along partisan divisions.

Select committees are

designed to address a specific issue or problem.

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

lawmaking

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

the majority leader

Positive aspects of party polarization include the fact that

voters can more clearly see and understand party differences.

When does a bill become a law?

when Congress overrides a presidential veto when the president signs it

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

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

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

Which function describes the process by which the legislature checks on the executive branch to make sure it is carrying out the laws in the way Congress intended?

oversight

Incumbents have ______ over challengers.

substantial advantages

Today, in the grips of partisan deadlock, congressional approval ratings are about ______ percent.

20

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

25

If the president chooses to veto a bill,

Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

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 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.

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.

Why is the president usually better suited than Congress to taking the lead on broad national issues?

The president has sole executive authority and thus can decide a course of action without needing the consent of other top executives.

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.

Which of the following are true of joint committees?

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

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.

What is it that holds party lawmakers together?

They have far more in common with each other than they do with lawmakers of the other party.

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.

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

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

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.

Partisan divisions have become more ______ as a result of party polarization.

acute

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

being an incumbent

Which of the following could be considered personal misconduct that might lead to a congressional incumbent losing a bid for reelection?

being involved in a sex scandal engaging in bribery

The U.S. Congress is a(n) Input Field 1 of 1 bicameral unavailable correct _____ legislature with two chambers, the House and the Senate.

bicameral

Most members of Congress are

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

To plan strategy and resolve policy issues, party members in Congress typically meet behind closed doors in a session called a party _____.

caucus

Which of the following is not a direct power of the committee chair?

changes party affiliation at will

Which of the following is a procedural move in the Senate that can end a filibuster?

cloture

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

determine whether or not they stay in office.

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

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

How does the public generally feel about Congress?

dissatisfied

When members of the Senate wish to halt or delay the passage of a bill, a(n) _____ may take place.

filibuster

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

franking

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

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

When a committee or subcommittee holds a(n) _____, they are trying to gather information about a proposed bill.

hearing

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

incumbent.

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

is actively working for them in Congress.

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

jurisdiction over bills in their designated policy area.

In Insecure Majorities, Frances Lee noted that, in the currently closely matched parties, members of Congress are engaged in "______" rather than "governing."

messaging

As political scientist James Sundquist noted, "Congress [is] organized to deal with _____ problems but not with _____ ones."

narrow; broad

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

What is a distributive policy?

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

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.

Which of the following are the functions of Congress?

representation oversight lawmaking

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 _____ -_____ vote.

roll-call

Political scientist John Hibbing advises that the "first thing to being reelected is to stay away from ______."

scandal

In the 2018 midterm elections, how many House and Senate races received money from super PACs?

several dozen

Which of the following terms describes a permanent committee in Congress that has a defined legislative jurisdiction?

standing committee

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

the Rules Committee.

Both political parties in the House have a ______, who acts as a go-between with the leadership and the party members in the House.

whip

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

make laws

In the House, both the full committee and a subcommittee may ______, or propose changes to, a bill.

mark up

Elections held in the years between presidential elections are called ______ elections.

midterm

If a "turf war" erupts as different committees vie for jurisdiction over a bill, who or what decides the committee assignment?

party leaders

Members of Congress give various interests a voice in the legislative process as part of Congress's ______ function.

representative

In the 1980s, before partisan deadlock, congressional approval ratings were about ______ percent.

60

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

Congress's structure makes it easier to

block legislation than enact it.

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

cloture

A(n) _____ rule allows members to propose amendments that are relevant to any section of the bill.

open

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

domestic policy

A(n) _____ is a proposed legislative act that if passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president becomes law.

Bill

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

False

______ 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

What is one reason that incumbents have a fundraising advantage over challengers?

Incumbents have a ready list of potential contributors from past campaigns.

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

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

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 are true concerning women and minorities who run for congressional office?

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

A procedural move in which a member or members of the Senate speak(s) for an unlimited amount of time on the Senate floor in order to prevent a vote on a bill is known as

a filibuster.

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.

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

Why is the Rules Committee considered one of the most important committees in the House?

because it decides the length of debate that will occur on a bill and whether amendments will be allowed

Which of the following are common threats to incumbency?

disruptive issues strong challengers personal misconduct

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

Members of Congress are most indebted to which of the following?

hardcore partisan voters in their state or district the wealthy donors who fund their campaigns

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

lawmaking function

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

majority

An open-seat election is one in which

no incumbent is running.

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 _____ members.

ranking

Choosing committee chairs based on which member has the longest continuous tenure on a standing committee is an example of the _____ system.

seniority

Today, Congress and the president

share legislative power.

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

six years

The Speaker of the House has the right to

speak first during House debate on legislation. choose who may speak on the House floor. select the chairperson of the House Rules Committee.

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

standing

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

What are conference committees?

temporary joint committees that are formed to work out differences

Which of the following methods is most often used to select committee chairs?

the seniority system

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

two, four

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

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

underrepresented