Government Chp 10: Congress

In which ways is the House Ways and Means Committee ( a standing committee) comparable to the join committee that deals with taxation?

- Both have chairpersons usually chosen based on seniority - They are both permanent committees.

Which of the following statements about congress's oversight capacity are accurate?

- Congressional committees may investigate a program and choose to change or eliminate it. - Most hearing are concerned with a specific bill

Which statements regarding multiple referral are true?

- Multiple referral increases the power of the leadership. - Multiple referral is more common in the U.S. house than the U.S. Senate. - Complex bills that concern many different issues may be assigned to different standing committees.

What advantages do omnibus appropriations bills provide?

- Omnibus appropriation bills combine small appropriations bills into a single large package, which is often easier to pass. - Omnibus appropriation bills allow the party leaders to establish their own priorities.

Which of the following statements about the nature of party unity in voting are accurate.

- Party unity is generally based on members sharing ideological preferences. - Party unity has been higher in the twenty-first century than it was in the 1970's and 1980s

Both gerrymandering and redistricting involved the redrawing of election districts. ________ is the broader term, and may or may not happen with any one group's advantage in mind. _____ definitely involves redrawing district lines to give unfair advantage to one group or another.

- Redistricting - Gerrymandering

____ votes provide a record of individual members' support or opposition to a proposal. If at least 50 percent of one party takes a position and at least 50 percent of the other party takes the opposite position, then it is considered a ______ vote.

- Roll-call - party unity

Why is party unity voting in the House typically higher than party unity voting in the Senate?

- Senate party leadership does not have as much influence over its members as does House leadership. - The house party leadership has control over access to the floor, but Senate party leadership does not.

Which of the following would be examples of pork barrel appropriations?

- Senator Rodriguez secures funding for a new convention center in her state's biggest city. - Congressman Garfield secures funding for a state park's new Garfield Interpretive Center.

Which of the following is an example of a staff agency?

- The Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides Congress with a report on how the $2 trillion in funding from the CARES Act to combat COVID-19 has been spent and its effects.

Rep. Stevens has sponsored a bill for universal background checks for the purchase of all firearms. Stevens is a party leader and views gun control as a top priority for the majority party. What type of rule-open or closed-would the following members of Congress prefer as they take up the bill.?

- The National Rifle Association has gotten Rep. Davis to present an amendment that exempts gun shows from the requirement. - Rep. Jones is testifying before the Rules Committee because she would like to offer an amendment that exempts individuals who participate in the TSA pre-check clearance program from background checks.

What makes the House Rules Committee so unique?

- The Rules Committee focuses on procedural, rather than substantive, matters. - The Rules Committee does not process proposed legislation into official bills. - There is no counterpart committee in the Senate.

Which statements about the power to provide "advice and consent" are accurate?

- The rejection rate is lower when the same party controls the Senate and White House. - The Senate rarely rejects the president's treaties and appointments

in the House, Democrats have a caucus, and Republicans have a conference. These two names both refer to which of the following?

- a gathering every two years to elect their House leaders.

Who among the following would be considered the incumbent?

- a senator seeking reelection - a congressman trying to win an eight term in office

A _____ is a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate. After deliberation, it can be sent to _____ committee markup to incorporate changes discussed during hearing or deliberation. Or it can be simply allowed to die, as ____ proposed laws do.

- bill - committee markup - most

How can interest groups influence Congress?

- by providing sample legislation to members of Congress - by keeping "scorecards" to rate how faithfully members of Congress vote on particular issues.

At the beginning of each new session of Congress, the House republican ______ gathers to elect their leaders, and the House Democratic _________ elects officers and plans its strategy. The ___________, which serves as the chief presiding office, is then elected by the full membership of the House with voting typically going along party lines.

- conference - caucus - Speaker of the House

What is incumbency?

- holding the political office for which one is running

How does the presidential veto influence legislation?

- members of Congress are less likely to pass bills the president object to. - members of Congress may adjust the bill to suit the president's prefrences.

Which of the following activities are performed by congressional staff?

- organizing hearings -negotiating with lobbyists - developing policy proposals - drafting legislation

Which of the following are major reasons for why Congress has become more politically polarized in recent years?

- population clustering - mobilization of conservative interest groups

What is a staff agency responsible for?

- providing resources and expertise to Congress that is independent of the executive branch.

Congressional __________ committees were tasked with investigating Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, and the Benghazi scandal.

- select

The process of apportionment occurs every __ years and may grant additional seats to those states with __. The process of redistricting is controlled by the majority party in the __. The process of __ occurs as part of redistricting and may intentionally give power to a specific political or demographic group.

- ten - population growth - gerrymandering

What does it mean for a member of Congress to represent her constituents as a trustee?

- the representative votes based on what she thinks is best for her constituency.

The 2018 midterm election experienced relatively high turnout compared to previous midterm elections. However, some groups participated more than others. The gender breakdown of the electorate was fairly even, with women comprising a slightly higher proportion of the electorate. Older voters, particularly those over the age of 45, voted at a high level, comprising 65 percent of the electorate. Higher income voters (those earning $100,000 or more) were overrepresented in the electorate relative to their composition in the population by 26 percent. Finally, there were also significant differences across racial and ethnic groups. White voters had the largest gap between their portion in the population and representation in the electorate.

- women - 65 percent - Higher - 26 percent - White

Most programs are subject to oversight at least once very _____ during hearings on _____.

- year - appropriations

Which of the following are external sources of influence on congressional policies?

-interest-group coalitions - constituency concerns

A congressional race features incumbent Sarah Stewart, a progressive African American female who previously worked as a nurse, and John Tucker, a conservative White male who previously was in the marine corps. Identify whether the examples describe descriptive representation or substantive representation.

1. Bob, a conservative White male who previously served in the military, is primarily interested in supporting Tucker because he believes that Tucker can identify with his experiences. 2.Mia feels that government does not really work for her as an African American woman, so she intends to support Sarah Stewart because of their shared experience as women of color.

Party unity votes reached a 60-year high in 2010 in the ________. The years after 1990 were characterized by a much greater degree of ____ than were the years prior.

1. Senate 2. partisan polarization

Which statements are accurate regarding the leadership positions in the Senate and House?

1. The House has more party leadership positions than does the Senate. 2. The minority party leader in the Senate generally has more power than the minority party leader in the House. 3. The majority leader in the Senate holds a higher position of power than does the majority leader in the House.

Put these steps of the impeachment process in order from first to last.

1. The house of representatives impeaches a federal official. 2. The Senate holds a trial related to the impeachment 3. The Senate votes to convict a federal official. 4. The federal official is removed from office.

In either chamber, after a bill passes committee, it goes to _______. Later, after a Hearings Committee markup, in the House it goes to the ______, and in the Senate it goes to the _______.

1. subcommittee 2. Rules Committee 3. majority leader

How many chambers or houses does a bicameral legislature have?

2

What is the advantage of the president using a pocket veto versus regular veto?

Because it occurs after Congress has adjourned, Congress cannot override the veto.

Match each committee type to the appropriate description(s).

Conference Committee: - Members appointed by the Speaker of the House and the presiding office of the Senate Standing Committee - source of the most important congressional policy making Joint Committee - contains four permanent committees that cannot report legislation Standing Committee - typically match the issue focus of executive branch agency.

label each action as an example of either the trustee or delegate model of representation.

Delegate: - A representative is petitioned by a vocal minority of her constituents to vote in a certain way; though the majority opinion in the district is unknown, the representative votes as that minority wants. - A representative is aware that most of his constituents support rules allowing school vouchers; he votes for those rules despite his own reservations. Trustee: - A representative pays fairly little attention to polling or to the requests of constituents and votes in accordance to his own personal preferences on most bills. - Although she knows it will be very unpopular at home, a representative votes to close a defense industry factory in her district.

Which statement about the committee deliberation of a bill is accurate?

Floor action on bills cannot proceed without deliberation by the committee that has jurisdiction

The following figure presents demographic data on Congress over time. Identify which demographic group is presented in each of the four trend lines in the figure by dragging each group name to its correct line in the figure.

Green - Women Orange - African Americans Blue - Latinos Red - Asian Pacific Islander

Contrast the roles that the House and Senate play in the impeachment and conviction process by matching each chamber to its correct roles.

House: 1. charges an individual with "treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and Misdemeanors" 2. initiates the impeachment process involves a vote requiring a simple majority Senate: 1. convicts or acquits the individual charged 2. involves a vote requiring a two-thirds majority

Candidates Jones and Smith are competitors in the 2020 election. They have developed very different playbooks for targeting voters. Candidate Jones intends to focus primarily on the least-likely voter groups (i.e., those that were a low proportion of the electorate given their proportion of the population). Candidate Smith has adopted a much more conventional strategy, targeting those groups that had high turnout in the previous election. Based on their campaign playbooks, identify the groups that each candidate would most likely target their campaign messages.

Jones: - Latino voters - younger voters (ages 18-29) - low-income voters (under $30,000 income) Smith: - older voters (age 65+) - high-income voters - white voters

Which statement best describes the relationship between how members of Congress vote and the preferences of their constituencies?

Most member try to anticipate their constitutes' policy views.

Which groups were overrepresented in the electorate given their percentages in the population, and which were underrepresented relative to their proportion of the population?

Overrepresented: - White Underrepresented: - Latino - Asian - Black

Match each terms to its definition.

Redistricting: - the process of redrawing congressional or state legislative districts in a state to account for population shifts within the state. Apportionment: - the process occurring after the census that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states gerrymandering: - the apportionment of voters into districts in a manner that provides an unfair advantage to one group over another.

The ____ alone has the right to approve or deny the president's appointments of ________. Approval for theses nominees requires ______-

Senate federal judges a simple majority

Match each of the following procedural steps to its appropriate chamber, indicating whether it occurs exclusively in the House, the Senate, or both.

Senate Only: - filibuster - cloture vote House Only: - processing by Rules Committee House and Senate: - undergoes debate in subcommittee - bill dies in committee

Match each congressional leadership role with its duties.

Speaker of the House: - chief presiding officer and leader of the majority party of the House of representatives Majority Leader: - the elected leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives or the Senate. Whip: -party member responsible for coordinating legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes. Minority Leader: - the elected leader of the minority party in the House or Senate

The process of apportionment occurs every __ years and may grant additional seats to those states with __. The process of redistricting is controlled by the majority party in the __. The process of __ occurs as part of redistricting and may intentionally give power to a specific political or demographic group.

Ten Population growth gerrymandering

How does the leadership's control of floor debate in the House differ from the leadership's control of floor debate in the Senate?

The House minority leader on a committee could decide to grant a member only 30 minutes to speak on the bill. In the Senate, the leadership could not limit the speaker's time to 30 minutes.

How has impeachment been influenced by constitutional language in U.S. history?

The vague "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" clause has allowed the process to be used for political reasons.

How are each congressional party's leaders chosen?

They are selected by the party's members.

A bill may only be formally proposed by a member of Congress.

True

What is pork barreling?

appropriations made for local projects that might not be needed but help politicians win reelection

How many senators are needed to carry out the each of the following actions?

pass a bill = 51 invoke cloture = 60 overturn presidential veto = 67

Congress passes a new tax bill with only five days left in the session. The president has no intention of signing it and lets it quietly die on his desk, without Congress having a chance to override the president's decisions. This is an example of a(n)

pocket veto.

What does it mean for a member of Congress to represent her constituents as a delegate?

the representative votes according to the preferences of her constituency.