CH 11 Homework
Partisan voting is most apparent when members are voting on major ______ issues.
domestic policy
Put in order the following steps that a bill must pass through in order to become law.
1. A member of the House of Representatives or the Senate formally proposes the bill. 2. The bill is submitted to a committee for consideration. 3. A majority of members in the House and Senate approve the bill. 4. The president signs the bill.
At present there are ______ standing committees in the House of Representatives.
20
In order to be a member of the House of Representatives, a person must be ______ years of age.
25
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 correctly describe protocol for committee membership?
Most newly elected members of Congress request committee assignments. Most vacancies occur after elections, either from retirements or incumbent defeats.
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.
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.
Which of the following are duties of the Speaker of the House?
Recognizing members who will be allowed to speak on the floor Choosing leadership of the House Rules Committee
Which of the following statements are true of bills that are killed in committee?
Some bills are not supported by the members who introduced them. They can be brought back to life by a vote of the full House or Senate. Most are poorly conceived or of little interest to anyone.
How do committees and subcommittees serve to decentralize power in Congress?
They allow more members to hold leadership positions.
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.
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
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
The framers of the Constitution intended that lawmakers ______, something that has become increasingly difficult in today's partisan Congress.
act in the spirit of compromise
If congressional representatives find 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
Congress's structure makes it easier to
block legislation than enact it.
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
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 ____.
congressional oversight
True or false: Most congressional bills survive committee scrutiny and are voted upon by the House and Senate.
false
Which of the following oversight tools help Congress to ensure that the executive branch is administering the laws properly?
funding review congressional hearings
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
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
When a bill falls into the area in which a committee is authorized to act, that committee is said to have ______.
jurisdiction
Which function is the main responsibility of Congress, to which all other functions of Congress are related?
lawmaking
The framers of the Constitution granted Congress the power to ______, the greatest of all powers of government.
make laws
In Insecure Majorities, Frances Lee noted that, in the currently closely matched parties, members of Congress are engaged in "______" rather than "governing."
messaging
Elections held in the years between presidential elections are called ______ elections.
midterm
A(n) ____ rule allows members to propose amendments that are relevant to any section of the bill.
open
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
Which of the following are the functions of Congress?
oversight lawmaking representation
A vote where most members of one political party vote one way while most members of the other party vote the other way is categorized as a ______ unity vote.
party
If a "turf war" erupts as different committees vie for jurisdiction over a bill, who or what decides the committee assignment?
party leaders
The House and the Senate each elect ______ to lead their party's efforts in the chamber.
party leaders
The partisan divide in Congress has grown in recent years and each party engages in ______, which is when party members band together on legislation and oppose the other party.
party unity
The increase in party polarization in Congress has led to increased ______.
policy deadlock
The term that describes the minority party's committee and subcommittee leaders is ____ members.
ranking
Members of Congress give various interests to a voice in the legislative process as part of Congress's ______ function.
representative
Choosing committee chairs based on which member has the longest continuous tenure on a standing committee is an example of the ____ system.
seniority
In the 2018 midterm elections, how many House and Senate races received money from super PACs?
several dozen
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 do which of the following? (Choose every correct answer.)
speak first during House debate on legislation select the chairperson of the House Rules Committee choose who may speak on the House floor
A permanent committee in Congress is known as a(n) ____ committee.
standing
Which of the following terms describes a permanent committee in Congress that has a defined legislative jurisdiction?
standing committee
Incumbents have ______ over challengers.
substantial advantages
In the House of Representatives, debate is limited on the congressional floor by ______.
the Rules Committee
Which of the following is a legislative power the president does NOT possess?
the power to sign only part of a bill into law
Which of the following methods is most often used to select committee chairs?
the seniority system
Whether or not Congress takes the lead in the making of laws usually depends on ______.
the type of policy at issue
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
Positive aspects of party polarization include the fact that ______.
voters can more clearly see and understand party differences
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
In the House, the minority leader is assisted by a minority
whip
