POLS 101 Quiz #4
If a member of the House of Representatives won his or her first election with 52 percent of the vote and won his or her second election with 75 percent, it would be an example of the
"sophomore surge."
The first woman was elected to Congress in
1917.
In 1972, approximately ________ percent of House members' personal staffs were located in district offices; by 2010, the number had grown to nearly ________ percent.
20; 50
The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been fixed at ________ since ________.
435; 1929
There are ________ states that have taken redistricting power away from state legislatures and given it to independent commissions.
6
In each House district, there are approximately ________ people.
700,000
Approximately ________ percent of the ________ bills introduced in a typical congressional session die in committee.
85; 10,000
Approximately ________ percent of members of Congress have university degrees.
90
Which of the following statements best describes the difference between a congressional hearing and a congressional investigation?
A hearing is held in order to analyze a specific bill that has already been proposed, while an investigation examines a broad problem and concludes with recommendations for a proposed bill.
How can Congress override a president's veto?
A president's veto can be overridden with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
Who were the only two presidents to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives?
Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton
________ have the same status as treaties but do not require U.S. Senate approval.
Executive agreements
________ bills are one of Congress's favorite vehicles for pork-barrel spending.
Highway
Why does the House typically have greater party unity than the Senate?
House leaders have more organizational control over the actions of representatives than Senate leaders.
The first woman to serve in Congress was
Jeanette Rankin.
The first female Speaker of the House was
Nancy Pelosi.
Which of the following statements best describes the representation of women and minorities in the U.S. Congress?
Representation of women and minorities has increased during the past two decades but is not comparable to their proportions in the general population.
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.
How is the Speaker of the House determined?
The elected leader of the majority party in the House is the Speaker.
In the House of Representatives, what is the relationship between the majority leader and the Speaker of the House?
The majority leader is subordinate to the Speaker of the House.
What did the Supreme Court justices declare in Miller v. Johnson (1995)?
The racial composition of a district could not be the predominant factor when redistricting.
A bill's supporters in the House of Representatives generally prefer ________, while opponents generally prefer a(n) ________.
a closed rule; open rule
The impeachment process is
a partisan exercise.
The term whip in discussions of Congress refers to
a party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes.
The kind of representation that takes place when constituents have the power to hire and fire their representatives is called ________ representation.
agency
Which is the best description of the K Street Project?
an attempt to place former Republican staffers in key lobbying positions to help ensure a large flow of corporate donations to the Republican Party
The process of allocating congressional seats among the 50 states is called
apportionment.
The term pork barrel refers to
appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home districts.
Conference committees
are only likely to include members from both political parties when control of Congress is divided.
Congress is a ________ legislature with ________ total members.
bicameral; 535
In the House of Representatives, virtually all the time allotted by the Rules Committee for debate on a given bill is controlled by the
bill's sponsor and its leading opponent.
Under the rules of the U.S. Senate, the introduction of new amendments
can be stopped only by unanimous consent.
A member of the House of Representatives who helps a constituent apply for Social Security benefits is engaging in
casework.
The "nuclear option" refers to a
change to the filibuster rules enacted in 2013 that prevents the filibustering of nominees for positions in the executive branch and the federal courts.
The session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on a bill is called the
committee markup.
The Senate and House Appropriations committees are important because they
decide how much funding various programs will receive and how the money will be spent.
The House Rules Committee is important because it
decides the order in which bills come up for a vote on the House floor and determines the specific rules that govern the length of debate and opportunity for amendments.
A member of Congress who votes for a bill with which he or she disagrees because a majority of his or her constituents favor it is acting as a
delegate.
Who decides which committee assignments members of the House of Representatives receive?
each party's own steering and policy committee
The four joint committees in Congress are
economic, taxation, library, and printing.
Oversight can best be described as the
efforts of Congress to supervise the manner in which its laws are implemented by the executive branch.
Which of the following are methods U.S. senators can use to block or delay debate on a bill?
filibustering, adding amendments to a bill, and placing a hold on a bill
A closed or an open rule refers to congressional provisions regarding
floor debate on a bill.
Organizational reforms instituted by Congress in the 1970s
fragmented power by reducing the power of committee chairs.
The role that the U.S. House of Representatives plays in impeachments can best be compared with that of a
grand jury.
One reason some people support the establishment of term limits in the House and Senate is that it will
increase turnover and get new faces into Congress.
Between 1995 and 2006, the number of congressional earmarks
increased by a factor of 10.
A senator or representative running for re-election is called the
incumbent.
The Hastert rule is a(n)
informal Republican Party rule that the Speaker of the House will not allow any bill to reach the floor unless it has the support of a majority of Republican members of the House.
The jurisdiction of standing committees
is defined by the subject matter of legislation, which often parallels the major cabinet departments or agencies.
What is the MOST common occupation among members of Congress before coming to Congress?
lawyer
Senators' longer terms of office, and larger, more heterogeneous constituencies makes them more
likely to consider new ideas and better able to act as the agents for groups and interests organized on a statewide or national basis.
A senator who agrees to vote for a tax-cut bill with which he or she disagrees in order to receive another senator's vote on a climate change bill that he or she has proposed is engaged in
logrolling.
The Senate's constitutional power of advice and consent extends to the president's power to
make treaties with foreign nations.
The frequency with which they must seek re-election makes members of the U.S. House of Representatives
more responsive to the needs of local interest groups in the districts they represent.
Compared to the rest of American history, recent congresses have been ________ polarized and ________ productive in terms of passing laws.
more; less
Leadership PACs are
organizations that members of Congress use to raise funds that they then distribute to other members of their party running for election.
The 2014 Select Committee on Benghazi is an example of Congress's ________ powers.
oversight
The ________ is/are responsible for communicating the leader's wishes to members in Congress.
party whips
Joint committees are ________ have the power to present legislation.
permanent but do not
A ________ veto occurs when Congress adjourns during a 10-day period after presenting the president with a bill and he or she takes no action.
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.
A filibuster allows members of the Senate to
prevent a vote on a bill by speaking continuously on the floor.
A bill proposed in Congress that grants citizenship to a specifically named individual from a foreign country would be an example of a(n)
private bill.
A ________ specifies general rules and categories of behavior, people, and institutions, while a ________ bill grants a relief, special privilege, or exemption to a particular individual.
public bill; private
Many interest groups produce "scorecards" that
rate how members of Congress vote on issues of importance to that group.
The House of Representatives and the Senate come closest to providing sociological representation on which of the following characteristics?
religion
The delegate model of representation requires that
representatives remain in constant touch with constituents and that constituents follow each policy issue very closely.
Presidents are
required by law to inform Congress of any executive agreement within 60 days of its having been reached.
Congressional leaders form ________ committees when they want to take up an issue that falls between the jurisdiction of existing committees, to highlight an issue, or to investigate a particular problem.
select
The 2015 House of Representatives committee that held hearings to investigate Hillary Clinton's use of private email services during her tenure as secretary of state is an example of a ________ committee.
select
Republican House member Randy "Duke" Cunningham was
sent to jail in 2005 for accepting bribes by companies hoping to receive earmarks in return.
A U.S. senator has a ________-year term
six
If a legislative body was composed of 15 percent Latinos and 70 percent males in a state whose residents were 35 percent Latino and 50 percent male, the legislative body could be said to lack ________ representation.
sociological
Which sort of representation is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one could correctly represent the other's views?
sociological
Which agencies in Congress are designed to oversee administrative agencies and evaluate presidential proposals?
staff
The Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office are examples of
staff agencies.
A legislative "hold" is a
stalling tactic used in the U.S. Senate to delay debate on a bill.
The Supreme Court has ruled that
state governments can use independent commissions rather than state legislatures to draw congressional district lines.
A number of states have responded to concerns about partisan gerrymandering by
taking redistricting power away from their state legislature and giving it to independent commissions.
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.
The "sophomore surge" refers to the
tendency for candidates to win a higher percentage of the vote when seeking future terms in office.
Race became a major factor in drawing congressional district lines as a result of
the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Which congressional staff agency assesses the economic implications and likely costs of proposed federal programs?
the Congressional Budget Office
In 2011
the House and the Senate agreed to a two-year moratorium on earmarks in spending bills.
The framers gave the power to introduce "money bills" to the House of Representatives but not the Senate because they believed that
the chamber closest to the people should exercise greater authority over taxing and spending.
Who has the MOST real power in the Senate?
the majority and minority leaders
The president pro tempore of the Senate is usually
the majority party member with the greatest seniority.
In addition to gerrymandering, a major reason why so many members of Congress are elected from "safe" districts is
the natural geographic clustering of people who share a political ideology.
A major risk of the delegate model of representation is that
the voices of only a few active and informed constituents will be heard because most people do not pay close attention to every issue.
The congressional practice of "ping pong" occurs when
there is a divided Congress and the House and Senate exchange amendments in order to reach agreement on the final version of a bill.
A member of Congress who feels only loosely constrained by the policy preferences of his or her constituents and empowered to make the decisions he or she thinks best is acting as a
trustee.
A congressional caucus is a(n)
unofficial group of representatives or senators sharing similar interests or opinions.
The filibuster
was rarely used throughout most of American history but has become a frequently used tactic in the U.S. Senate during the last 20 years.
The so-called bridge to nowhere was important because it became a symbol of
wasteful congressional spending through earmarks.
Under the original Constitution, senators
were appointed by state legislatures.
Which three factors related to the American electoral system affect who is elected to office in this country and what they do once they get there?
who decides to run for office, incumbency, and the drawing of district lines