POSI CH. 11

Which of the following best explain why a member of Congress is chosen to a party leadership?

1. Ability to work with the other party 2. ability to successfully promote the parties goals within Congress 3. demonstrated leadership ability

What is true about Congressional Committees?

1. They each specialize in a certain area of legislation 2. They make it possible for congress to consider a high volume of bills

Which of the following are true concerning women and minorities who run for congressional office?

1. Women and minorities have a winning percentage that is roughly equal as nonincumbent white males 2. Women and minorities are less likely to run for Congress than white males

citizens from the incumbents's state or district

A constituency is comprised of

open

An ________ rule allows members to propose amendments that are relevant to any section of the bill.

________ is a proposed legislative act that if passed by both chambers of congress and signed by the president becomes law

Bill

To plan strategy and resolve policy issues, party members in Congress typically meet behind closed doors in a session called a party _____________

Caucus

600%

Compared to the 1980s, the cost of running for the house of representatives has risen by more than ____ in 2010.

What is the most powerful leadership positions in the Senate?

Majority Leader

Majority

The party that controls the rules and has the most powerful leadership position in the House is the ______ party.

roll call

The trend toward party unity in Congress can clearly be seen in voting records of members Congress when their votes are officially recorded during a ______ ________ vote.

How do committees and subcommittees serve to decentralize power in Congress?

They allow more members to hold leadership positions

-They perform advisory functions -They are composed of members of both houses

Which of the following are true of joint committees?

The speaker of the house has the right to....

1. Speak first during House debate on legislation 2. choose who may speak on the House floor 3. select the chairperson of the House Rules Committee

When does a bill become a law?

1. When congress overrides a presidential veto 2. When the president signs it

When is congressional oversight exercised vigorously?

1. When members are intending to modify an agency program 2. when members are annoyed with an agency

Reapportionment takes place every ___ years following a census

10

standing

A permanent committee in Congress is known as a ______ committee.

In Congress, disagreement over national policy usually occurs......

Along partisan divides

-members of congress come from different districts and often have conflicting views on national policy -Congress has two chambers, and they are not always in agreement on policy issues

Among the reasons why congress has difficulty taking the lead on broad issues are the facts that

no incumbent is running

An open-seat election is one in which

incumbent moderates

As a result of the increased level of party polarization in the US, which candidates face greater risk of losing primary election?

Seniority System

Choosing committee chairs based on which member has the longest continuous tenure on a standing committee

To end a filibuster, sixty senators must agree to invoke _______ and end the debate

Cloture

Members of Congress are attentive to the concerns of the constituents because constituents......

Determine whether or not they stay in office

Midterm

Elections held in years between presidential elections are called___________ elections

oversight

Ensuring that laws are being administered by the executive branch in the way intended by Congress is an important function and is known as

A committee that is composed of both chambers of Congress is known as a ___________ committee

Joint

Am example of Congress's ________ is when Congress passes legislation that creates incentives for the development of alternative energy sources

Lawmaking Function

The practice in which members of Congress agree to vote for a bill in exchange for their colleagues vote on another bill is called.......

Logrolling

not all policies that are good for the nation as a whole coincide with the needs of their constituency.

Members of Congress may experience conflict between their lawmaking responsibility and their responsibility to represent their constituency because

Domestic Policy

Partisan voting occurs more often when members are voting on ______ issues that involve intense partisan differences.

When congressional district boundaries are redrawn within a state, it is known as......

Redistricting

________ _________ refers to a practice where members of congress respond to constituents individual requests for information or help with a federal benefit or service

Service strategy

Make laws

The framers of the Constitution granted Congress the power to________, the greatest of all powers of government.

act in the spirit of compromise

The framers of the Constitution intend that lawmakers ______, something which has become increasingly difficult in today's partisan Congress.

franking

The privilege of incumbents to send mail to their constituencies at the government's expense is known as ______ privilege.

Why are incumbents at risk when elections are being wage in the context of disruptive issues?

Voters are more likely to believe those in power should be removed from office

-The presidents party usually looses seats -Voter turnout is lower than for presidential elections -There is less media coverage of candidates and issues than a presidential election

Which of the following about midterm elections are true?

-having an existing campaign organization -having access to large sums of money to fun campaign -having strong public recognition

Which of the following makes a senate challenger more likely to be successful?

Majority leader

Which of the following positions in the Senate schedules debates on legislation?

because it decides the length of debate that will occur on a bill and weather amendments will be allowed

Why is the Rules Committee considered one of the most important committees in the house?

Pork Barrel projects show constituents that their representative...

is actively working for them in congress

hearing

when a committee or subcommittee holds a ____, they are trying to gather information about a proposed bill.

filibuster

when members of the senate wish to halt to delay the passage of a bill, a _______ may take place

-being involved in a sex scandal -engaging in bribery

which of the following could be considered personal misconduct that might lead to a Congressional incumbent losing a bid for re-election?

Many congressional districts and some states are lopsidedly democratic or republican

which of the following is a major reason incumbent s are reelected?

the majority leader

who helps the speaker set the party's legislative agenda in the house?

The difference between amendments that can be offered in the House and Senate to a bill under consideration is that the...

House amendments must directly relate to a bills contents

Every bill must be approved by both the House and the Senate in ____________ form before it can be sent to the president

Identical

Vice President

If a vote in the Senate is tied, the ____ ____ breaks the tie.

-30 -9

In order to member os the Senate, a person must be ____ years of age and a citizen for at least ___ years

mark up

In the House, both the full committee and a subcommittee may ______, or propose changes to, a bill.

Sole purpose of a conference committee

Reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of a bill

bicameral

The U.S. Congress is a ___________ legislature with two chambers, the House and the Senate.

Incumbents

___________ typically benefit from gerrymandering because the majority party ensures that there are enough of the party's voters in the incumbents district to ensure their reelection

Functions of Congress

1. Lawmaking 2. Representation 3. Oversight

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

Most likely to jeopardize an incumbents chances of reelection

Getting caught in a scandal

jurisdiction over bills in their designated policy area

One reason why standing committees are powerful is that they have by law

The redrawing of congressional boundaries to benefit a political party is called....

Gerrymandering

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

dissatisfied

how does the public generally feel about congress?

When there is no incumbent running in an election it is called an _________ - _________ election and usually sparks heavier spending by the two political parties

open-seat

redistricting consists of....

redrawing congressional district boundaries within a state

Speaker of the House

the most powerful leader in the Hosue of Representatives is the

One reason why standing committees are powerful is that they have by law......

Jurisdiction over bills in their designated policy area

Steps a bill must pass to become a 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

What oversight tools help Congress to ensure that the Executive branch is administering the laws properly?

1. Congressional hearings 2. Budgetary appropriations

Which of the following is a right of the president pro tempore?

To preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president

Incumbents have a ready list of potential contributors from past campaigns

What is one reason why incumbents have a fundraising advantage over challengers?

lawmaking

Which function is the main responsibility of congress , which all other functions of congress are related to?

Which of the following are common threats to Incumbency?

1. Disruptive issues 2. personal misconduct 3. strong challengers

Which of the following are duties of the speaker of the house?

1. Scheduling legislation for floor consideration 2. Recognizing members who will be allowed to speak on floor

In terms of the budget to hire office staff......

1. Senators receive varying amounts of money, depending on the population of their state 2. House members receive identical amounts of money

Which of the following statements are true of bills that are killed in committee?

1. They can be brought back to life by a vote of the full house or senate 2. most are poorly conceived or of little interest to anyone 3. some bills are not supported by the members who introduced them

president pro tempore

Historically, which senate position has been hoary in nature?

Most of the bills Congress are _________ in nature which means they provide benefits to a particular group in society while spreading the costs across the taxpaying public as a whole

Distributive

constituency

Members of congress usually serve on a congressional committees that concentrate on policy areas that affect the members'

92%

Members of the US House of Representatives are re-elected in _____ of races

-direct the floor debate after the bill leaves the committee -shape the bills broad content

On major bills, it is increasingly typical for the majority party's leaders to