PS103 EXAM 2

It takes at least __________ to make a credible challenge in a political campaign to unseat an incumbent in most districts, and in many areas with expensive media markets, the minimum price tag for such a campaign is __________.

$1 million; $2 million

The Great Society saw bureaucratic expansions into which of the following areas?

-Health care for the elderly and poor -Education -Civil rights for minorities

What is a class action lawsuit?

A civil lawsuit brought by a group of individuals

If a plaintiff and defendant settle a case before it goes to trial or a verdict is reached, this is called a

A plea bargain

How is extended debate in the U.S. Senate terminated?

Cloture

The method of oversight whereby members of Congress respond to complaints about the bureaucracy or problems of implementation only as they arise is known as __________ oversight.

Fire Alarm

The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are examples of what?

Independent Agencies

Congress's bicameral structure reflects an attempt to reconcile which competing interests of the early nation?

Large states versus Small states

What is the source of the president's statutory authority?

Laws enacted by Congress

Modern vice presidents are __________ than their predecessors.

More Influential

The spoils system was characterized by placing priority on __________, which was particularly useful to __________.

political loyalty; party organizations

In response to demands for more professionalism in the delivery of government services, Congress enacted ___________ in 1883.

the Pendleton Civil Service Act

Choose all of the following statements about opinion writing that are true.

-If the Chief Justice is in the majority, he or she assigns the person who writes the majority opinion. -If the Chief Justice is not in the majority, the most senior member of the Court in the majority assigns the majority opinion.

Choose all of the following opinions that might be written by someone on the winning side of a Supreme Court case.

-Majority opinion -Concurring opinion

Choose all of the following tasks that bureaucracies routinely do.

-Purchase goods and services for the American government -Develop and enforce regulations that shape choices made by individuals -Deliver services to Americans

Juan goes into his college's advising office to ask a question about a course. Before he can ask that question, he is told he must fill out an advising template. Juan believes this is a bit foolish as he is just there to ask a simple question, but he is told that everyone who wishes to speak with an adviser must have a completed template. This is an example of what? Choose all that apply.

-Standard operating procedure -Red tape

About how many Senate seats are in contest in any given election?

33

Jurisdiction refers to

A Courts area of authority

What is markup as it relates to Congress?

A collaborative process in which the final wording of a bill is determined

Which of the following events is likely to most positively influence a president's popularity?

A national security crisis

A negotiated agreement in a criminal case in which a defendant agrees to tell the court that he or she is guilty in return for the state's agreement to reduce the severity of the criminal charge or prison sentence the defendant is facing is known as a

A plea bargain

What is an executive order?

A proclamation by the president that changes policy without congressional approval

A document explaining the president's interpretation of a new law is referred to as

A signing statement

In Lawrence v. Texas the Supreme Court struck down a law banning sodomy in Texas. This is an example of judicial __________.

Activism

Choose all of the following categories that David Mayhew described as part of Congress's "electoral connection."

Advertising, Credit Claiming, and Position Taking

Recess appointments

Allow the president to bypass Senate confirmation

Who is most likely to submit an amicus curiae brief?

An interest group

What constitutes the president's tactic of "going public"?

Appealing directly to the American people to gain support for his or her programs

The doctrine of stare decisis

Applies only to criminal law

Which one of the following is NOT a way that Congress exerts control over the bureaucracy?

Appointing Important Bureaucrats

Federal Judges

Are appointed for life

The Supreme Court's power of judicial review was established

As a result of Marbury v. Madison.

What the public refers to as gridlock and bickering is often a manifestation of representatives dealing with the dueling demands that they

Be responsible national leaders and responsive to local concerns

What is regulatory capture?

Bureaucrats favor the interests of the groups or corporations they are supposed to regulate at the expense of the general public.

The 15 executive department heads who help the president implement policy make up what office?

Cabinet

Some government agencies have the reputation of being "turkey farms," meaning that

Campaign workers and donors are rewarded for their service by being appointed to these agencies.

Kevin is having trouble with his social security checks arriving on time, so he contacts the office of his member of the House. His representative's office then gets in touch with the Social Security Administration and straightens out the issue for Kevin. This is an example of

Casework

When representatives help constituents interact with government programs or agencies, they are engaging in

Casework

In many parts of the bureaucracy, hiring is done at least in part by how people score on an examination. This is best described as an example of what?

Civil Service Regulations

A(n) __________ is a legal action by which a group of individuals with common interests can file a suit on behalf of everyone who shares that interest.

Class-Action Suit

If needed, differences in House and Senate bills are resolved by

Conference Committee

A high presidential approval rating produces which of the following consequences?

Congress is more likely to support the president's programs

The Judiciary Act of 1789

Created a system of federal courts.

What is the function of the Office of Management and Budget?

Creating the president's annual budget proposal to Congress, reviewing proposed rules, and other budget-related tasks

In __________ cases, the government is always the plaintiff.

Criminal

Since the 1960s, the number of marginal seats in Congress has

Decreased Consistently

Marcy lives in a district where her member of the House is the same race and religion as she. Seeing someone in the House who shares her background helps build her trust in the government. This is an example of the argument for what kind of representation?

Descriptive

Officially, state legislatures redraw district boundaries every 10 years to ensure that

Districts are approximately equal in population

Much of what made Congress the "first branch" of national government in the early days of U.S. history are powers grounded in the

Elastic clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article I, §8, clause 18).

________ take place between the executive branch and a foreign government. They can be reversed by subsequent presidents.

Executive Agreements

Proclamations that unilaterally change government policy without subsequent congressional consent are

Executive Orders

The vesting clause of the Constitution states that

Executive power is to be vested in the president of the United States.

The Great Society ______ voting rights and civil rights laws.

Expanded

The president negotiates a free-trade treaty with Colombia. The treaty then goes to the Senate for approval. The Senate cannot force the president to negotiate with a country if the president does not desire to do so. What is this an example of?

First Mover Advantage

James Monroe's "Monroe Doctrine" demonstrates the important role that early presidents played in what area?

Foreign Policy

Which president threatened to pack the Court with justices who would support his policies?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

One of the biggest expansions in presidential power came in the 1930s under whose leadership, especially as part of his New Deal initiatives?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The incumbency advantage specifically refers to incumbent politicians'

Frequency of Re-Election

Which of the following is an example of the "rally 'round the flag" effect?

George W. Bush's high approval ratings following the 9/11 attacks

Attempts to use the redistricting process for political advantage are called

Gerrymandering

The president's attempts to gain support for his programs by appealing directly to the American people is called

Going public

Over the course of American history, presidential power has generally tended to

Grow

Appellate jurisdiction refers to the Court's power to

Hear appeals from lower courts

The burden of proof is __________ in criminal cases than in civil cases.

Higher

If a legislator is elected with less than 55 percent of the vote, he or she is said to

Hold a marginal seat. A marginal seat is any seat where the winner received less than 55 percent of the vote in a two-person race.

The whip system has all of the following functions

Information gathering, Building a party coalition

Which of the following is an example of a member of Congress performing police patrol oversight?

Interviewing senior bureaucratic personnel

How is a Senior Executive Service position different from other bureaucratic positions?

It does not have civil service protections.

Why is promoting descriptive representation valuable in itself?

It encourages trust in the system among various demographic groups

The __________ approach to deciding Supreme Court cases says that justices should attempt to defer to the elected branches of government and not contradict their actions.

Judicial Restraint

As the power of _______ has evolved, it has become a central part of the system of checks and balances.

Judicial Review

When the Supreme Court strikes down a congressional or state law, it engages in

Judicial Review

Urban voters tend to expect what of their representatives?

Less direct contact and more policy explanations

For most people appointed to the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the primary consideration in selecting them is their

Loyalty to the President

Judicial review was established in the case of

Marbury vs. Madison

What is fire alarm oversight in Congress?

Members of Congress respond to complaints about the bureaucracy or problems of implementation only as they arise rather than exercising constant vigilance

The Senate must confirm __________ presidential appointments to federal positions.

Most

The Founders viewed the Senate as the more likely of the two houses to debate and act for

National Interests

Fears about the courts' role as a protector of minority rights are most likely under which judicial selection system?

Non-Partisan election

The Federal Register publishes proposed new regulations before taking effect. This procedure is known as

Notice and Comment

Which group is responsible for monitoring government spending and preparing the president's annual spending proposal?

Office of Management and Budget

The Constitution gives the Supreme Court __________ jurisdiction in cases involving foreign ambassadors and issues in which a state is a party.

Original

Why are presidential pardons sometimes controversial?

Pardons may allow executive branch appointees to pursue the president's objectives with impunity.

What marked a shift in the history of the bureaucracy from the spoils system predominating to the widespread use of the merit system?

Passage of the Pendleton Act in 1883

Congress passes a bill, adjourns, and the president does not respond to the bill. The bill then dies. What is this called?

Pocket Veto

Under the spoils system, what were the highest priorities of the bureaucracy?

Political and party loyalty

Most politicians are likely to describe their representational style as that of a(n)

Politico

Which of the following is closely associated with credit claiming?

Pork-Barrel Policies

In a civil case, what standard of proof is necessary to establish guilt?

Preponderance of the evidence

Since the founding of the nation, what has been the trend in presidential power?

Presidential power has greatly expanded since the time of George Washington

What are legal precedents?

Prior cases whose principles are used by judges as the basis for their decision in a present case

Congressman Ramsey votes for a farming bill that Congressman Walcott cares about in exchange for Congressman Walcott voting for a housing bill that Congressman Ramsey supports. This is an example of what norm?

Reciprocity

The distributive theory of congressional committees is most closely related to the __________ norm, while the informational theory of congressional committees is most closely related to the __________ norm.

Reciprocity; Specialization

Many critics of the modern bureaucracy cite the abundance of __________, which refers to the unnecessarily complex procedures that lower-level bureaucrats must follow when implementing policies, regardless of whether they are applicable to the situation at hand.

Red Tape

While not universally true, a president's approval rating is likely to be highest when?

Right after the initial election

Which of the following is a cabinet position that is subject to Senate approval?

Secretary of Defense

Which body has the authority to give "consent" to a president's appointments such as an ambassador or judge?

Senate

A result of the "permanent campaign" is that

Senators are less insulated from electoral forces than previously

What does the franking privilege allow representatives to do?

Send mail at no cost

Choose all of the following that are norms of how Congress functions.

Specialization, Universalism, Seniority

At the outset of a case, judges determine whether the person filing the case has a legitimate basis for bringing it; this is called

Standing

Laws enacted by Congress provide the president with __________ authority.

Statutory

Executive agreements

Take place between the executive branch and a foreign government and can be reversed by subsequent presidents.

What do we call laws that prevent politicians from serving more than a certain number of years in a given elected position?

Term limits

Bilbo is arrested for theft. He is charged by the courts and the case goes to trial. In this example, Bilbo is the

The Defendant

What is an example of an independent agency?

The Federal Reserve

Which of the following statements about the presidential impeachment process is true?

The House votes to impeach the president, and the Senate conducts a trial to decide if the president should be removed from office.

Basic details about the federal court system, such as the creation of district courts and the size of the Supreme Court, are found in what document?

The Judiciary Act of 1789

After the Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education, who enforced the controversial decision?

The President

Which house of Congress did the Founders envision as being the more responsible one, with the greater concern about national, rather than local, interests?

The Senate

How has the Supreme Court's case load changed over time?

The Supreme Court hears fewer cases now than it did 40 years ago.

Congress may change all of the following except

The Supreme Court's original jurisdiction

Many bureaucratic failings can be explained by

The complexity of the tasks the bureaucracy undertakes.

Choose all of the following correct paths that a bill can take in becoming a law.

The following two answers are correct: Subcommittee -> Floor -> Conference Committee -> President Floor -> Conference Committee -> Floor -> Veto. Remember that once a bill goes to the president, it will not go back to conference committee.

What trend has allowed the president to assume a more central policy-making role?

The increasing importance of national security issues

What does the term standing refer to?

The legitimate justification for bringing a civil case to court

What is the purpose of the president's using the veto as threat?

The president can influence the legislative process in Congress.

The interaction between the president, who needs something done, and a bureaucrat, who is responsible for carrying out the president's orders, is called

The principal-agent game

Which of the following is a major goal for all staffers of the Executive Office of the President in his first term?

The re-election goals of the president

It has been argued that the size of the federal bureaucracy can be attributed to

The tendency for bureaucrats to be budget maximizers.

The term "bully pulpit" was first associated with which President?

Theodore Roosevelt

Which president expanded use of the spoils system as the federal government began to perform more tasks?

Thomas Jefferson

Choose all of the following reasons given in the text for why a president might use a signing statement.

To influence the way the bureaucracy implements the law To counter congressional interpretation of the law To guide court interpretations in the event of a legal challenge

Most members of Congress lack policy expertise. Why do bureaucrats respond to political pressures from Congress?

To protect their budgets, bureaucrats will be responsive to political pressures from Congress.

How many presidents have been impeached by the House?

Two- Andrew Jackson and Bill Clinton

The American Congress has how many houses?

Two- Senate and House of Representatives

Madison saw the relatively short two-year House term as a means of accomplishing what?

Tying representatives to public sentiment

Which of the following is a common strategy for preventing bureaucratic drift?

Using standardized procedures in the monitoring of agency behavior

What was the name of the legislation that required presidents to seek congressional approval for major military operations around the world?

War Powers Resolution

The complexity of the tasks the bureaucracy undertakes explains

Why Americans are frustrated with government in general.

Which of the following is the most common path that a case takes to get to the Supreme Court?

Writ of certiorari