Module 3
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
