Political science test 2
Which of these communication strategies have presidents used to promote their agenda to the general public?
"fireside chats" on the radio televised press conferences posts on social media
In order to become a member of the Senate, a person must be at least And been a citizen for at least
-30 years old -9 years
Statements that are true of bills that are killed in committee
-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. -Some bills are not supported by the members who introduced them.
Put in order the following steps that a bill must pass through in order to become law. (Place the first step at the top and the last step at the bottom.)
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.
Members of the House of Representatives typically serve on___ committees, while members of the Senate serve on___
2 and 4
At present there are--- standing committees in the House of Representatives.
20
Which interest group reqularly files cases seeking to protect individual rights?
ACLU
The doctrine of judicial restraint implies that it is the duty of judges to
Applying the law
Which of the following are duties of the Speaker of the House?
Choosing leadership of the House Rules Committee Recognizing members who will be allowed to speak on the floor
Which of the following circuit courts has jurisdiction over appeals involving patents and international trade?
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
True or false: Lower courts in the federal system are rigidly bound to follow Supreme Court precedents in their decisions
False
For which of the following reasons is the president better suited to oversee government activity and develop comprehensive public policy?
Final authority rests with a single individual. The president is able to direct the actions of federal agencies
Why was President Hoover slow to respond to the Great Depression?
He claimed he lacked the constitutional authority to take strong action
Overall, what effect has the exercise of judicial review had on the balance of power between levels of government and the branches of government in the United States?
It has increased the power of the federal government. It has increased the power of the courts by creating new powers
Which two of the following are aspects of the dual nature of Congress?
It has the responsibility to make laws for the country as a whole. Its members have a duty to serve people in their states or individual districts.
Which of the following statements about the War Powers Act are true?
It requires the president to inform Congress within forty-eight hours of the reasons for military action.
Why is blatant partisanship not really a factor in lower-court decisions?
Judges value their independence as officers of a separate branch of the government. Most lower-court cases are clear-cut, with little leeway in judges' interpretation of the law.
Which of the following is a major reason why incumbents are reelected?
Many congressional districts and some states are lopsidedly Democratic or Republican.
Why is blatant partisanship not really a factor in lower-court decisions?
Most lower-court cases are clear-cut, with little leeway in judges' interpretation of the law. Judges value their independence as officers of a separate branch of the government.
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.
The plan strategy and resolve policy issues ,party members in congress typically meet behind closed doors in a session called
Party Caucus
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
Party unity vote
When foreign countries look to the United States for leadership, they direct their attention to the
President
The White House Office consists of the Office of the Counsel to the President, the Communications Office, and the Office of the
Press secretary
Who was the only U.S. president to resign from office?
Richard Nixon
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
Roll call
Which cabinet member can be described as a close advisor to the president in most administrations?
Secretary of State
Today, Congress and the president
Share legislative power
The most powerful leader in the House of Representatives is the
Speaker of the house
A permanent committee in congress that has a defined legislative jurisdiction is a
Standing Committee
Why is it impossible to firmly settle the argument over judicial restraint and activism?
The Constitution offers no specific method of decision making.
What unique and vital power does the chief justice enjoy once the Supreme Court has reached a decision in a case?
The chief justice chooses who writes the Court's opinion, provided the chief justice is a member of the majority.
Which of the following descriptions of the U.S. presidency are true?
The degree of leadership the president can exert largely depends on circumstances It operates in a system of divided powers. The formal powers of the presidency are modest.
Who helps the Speaker set the party's legislative agenda in the House?
The majority leader
Which of the following statements about federal judges are true?
The only way to remove them is through impeachment. They serve until they die or retire voluntarily. They are appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
Which of the following documents revealed that President Lyndon Johnson had presented a falsely optimistic picture of the Vietnam War?
The pentagon papers
Which statement is true regarding decisions made by the federal courts of appeals?
The vast majority of their decisions are final, in that the Supreme Court accepts only a small fraction of appeals.
Which of the following statements about the vice president of the United States are true?
The vice president is assigned different roles by the president. The vice president typically forms part of the presidential team. The vice president holds a separate elective office from that of the president.
What describes how 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.
Interest groups that rely on a judicial strategy to advance their cause are careful in which of the following ways?
They choose cases that have a chance of success. They choose courts with judges who are likely to be sympathetic.
The theories of judicial restraint and judicial activism differ in what way?
They differ in how much their adherents believe judges should follow precedent and defer to elected officials.
What holds party lawmakers together?
They have far more in common with each other than they do with lawmakers of the other party.
Amicus curie briefs have what impact on the American legal system?
They help the court to understand how interested parties feel about the case in question.
Your Answer ( correct Amicus curie briefs have what impact on the American legal system?
They help the court to understand how interested parties feel about the case in question.
Alexander Hamilton said that of all the branches of government, the Supreme Court was the
Weakest
The next step for a federal case on appeal from a U.S. district court is that it travels to
a U.S. court of appeals
Which of the following are issued by the Supreme Court after hearing a case?
a decision one or more opinions
Which of the following circumstances help to create a powerful president?
a decisive election victory a major national problem
Following oral argument, the Supreme Court justices meet in complete privacy and secrecy to discuss and vote on the case. This meeting of the justices is called
a judicial conference
The Constitution specifies that all federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, shall be
appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate
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
Why are future Supreme Court nominees unlikely to be rejected by the Senate?
because the use of the filibuster has been abolished for Supreme Court nominations
Your Answer (& incorrect Why are future Supreme Court nominees unlikely to be rejected by the Senate?
because the use of the filibuster has been abolished for Supreme Court nominations
The U.S. Congress is a --- legislature with two chambers, the House and the Senate.
bicameral
Presidents can influence the courts by
choosing how much to enforce court decisions influencing the cases that come before courts
facts of a case refer(s) to the
circumstances of a legal dispute or offense.
The type of state law that involves such issues as business disputes or divorces is known as
civil law
The Constitution establishes the Supreme Court. Which entity is empowered by the Constitution to establish the lower federal courts?
congress
Each of the 50 states structures and maintains its own
court system
A key to understanding the power of the presidency is a recognition that presidential power
depends on the occupant of the office
The Supreme Court, recognizing public opinion in the Brown v. Board of Education case, required local school systems to
desegregate "with all deliberate speed" instead of immediately
The duties of each vice president are
determined by the particular president with whom he or she serves
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.
Which type of federal court hears criminal cases?
district courts
Since the Truman administration, the number of bureaucratic agencies has more than
doubled
Identify the checks on judicial power that are available to Congress.
exercising its authority to confirm Supreme Court justices rewriting legislation it feels the judiciary has misinterpreted
Among the reasons that presidents are less powerful than many Americans assume is that they
face uncontrollable circumstances that can hurt their ability to lead ultimately derive their power from the American public itself
True or false: An executive agreement made by the president with another country has the same force of law as a formal treaty and cannot be rescinded.
false
True or false: The line between proper and improper judicial decision making is very clear.
false
Federal courts address which two types of laws?
federal statutory law administrative laws
Approximately what percentage of Donald Trump's judicial appointees were minority-group members?
fewer than 10 percent
The ability to command attention via the bully pulpit serves primarily to
focus the public and media on issues the president cares about
Hearings are an effective way for committees to
gather information
According to the doctrine of judicial restraint, judges should
generally defer to the policy decisions made by elected officials
The beginning of a new presidential administration, which is often characterized by higher levels of public approval, is known as a
honeymoon period
Chief Justice John Roberts has observed that the Supreme Court
is not a political branch of government, and the public has to accept its decisions
Alexander Hamilton said that the power of the Supreme Court rested on the power of
judgment-the reasonableness and fairness of its actions
When a bill falls into the area in which a committee is authorized to act ,that committee is said to have
jurisdiction
occurs when Congress passes legislation that creates incentives for the development of alternative energy sources
lawmaking function
The nominating process for the Supreme Court places high importance on which of the following aspects of a potential Supreme Court nominee?
legal credentials political philosophy
Statutory laws are created by which branch of government?
legislative
More than half of post-World War Il presidents have left office with an approval rating of
less than 50 percent
Compared with Republican presidents, Democratic presidents have appointed_____ to the federal bench
more women more minorities
In his role as chief diplomat, the president
negotiates treaties with other nations appoints ambassadors
Until Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed in 1981,:
no woman had served on the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court tends to hear cases
of substantial legal significance
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
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
The blurring of the line between campaigning and governing has come to be known as the
permanent campaign
The increase in party polarization in Congress has led to increased
policy deadlock
The sole purpose of a conference committee is to
reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill
Presidents might not succeed in achieving certain goals if Congress does not provide the necessary funding for them. This illustrates the government's
separation of powers
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?
speak first during House debate on legislation choose who may speak on the House floor select the chairperson of the House Rules Committee
The "federal court myth" is the inaccurate belief that
state courts play a role subordinate to federal courts
The structure of the state court systems is defined by
state law
Incumbents have_____over challengers.
substantial advantages
Federal judges play a role in the creation of law and public policy because
the Constitution can be interpreted in a number of ways.
In the House of Representatives, debate is limited on the congressional floor by
the Rules Committee
Which of the following is the part of the Executive Office of the President that consists of the president's closest direct personal advisers?
the White House Office
Recent Supreme Court appointees have come overwhelmingly from what background?
the appellate courts
To whom or what does the president typically delegate the task of identifying nominees to lower-court positions?
the deputy attorney general
Political scientist Richard Neustadt contended that an effective president is successful in using
the power to persuade
Who works together to achieve legislative goals?
the president the Congress
Andrew Jackson was the first president to forcefully assert the idea that.
the president rather than Congress should take the lead on national policy issues
To what does political scientist Hugh Heclo's term the illusion of presidential government refer?
the public's belief that the president actually runs the entire government in the United States
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
Presidents are most able to get Congress to pass policy initiatives when
their party controls both houses of Congress
Presidents are likely to be successful and powerful if
they face special circumstances that call for their leadership
When the justices meet following oral arguments in a case, why are the proceedings secret?
to allow the justices to speak freely to give the justices the opportunity to change their minds
True or false: House committees have the power to make suggestions for changing a bill in a process known as mark up.
true
Compared with their percentage of the overall population of the United States, women and minorities are
underrepresented in congress
The scenario in which the president belongs to the same political party that controls the House and Senate is called
unified government
When is congressional oversight exercised vigorously?
when members are annoyed with an agency when members are intending to modify an agency program.
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
When four Supreme Court justices agree to request a record of the case from a lower court, the court issues a
writ of certiorari