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As discussed in the text and in lecture, members of Congress face a strong incentive to oppose legislation that negatively affects their districts even if it is for the national good due to A. electoral incentives B. the attitudes of their party and president. C. they feel that their voters are more important and deserving than those in other states D differences in their representation in the electoral college |
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The most important power of congress is a. to use the franking privilege b. to enact pork barrel projects c. the power of the purse d. to oversee governmental agencies |
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| c. the power of the purse |
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The house and senate combined have ____ members. a. 455 b. 355 c. 435 d. 535 |
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As discussed in the text, the Speaker is A. a constitutional officer. B. the leader of the majority party in the House. C. elected on a party-line vote. D. all of the above |
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In the U.S. Congress, parties a. are the principle organizing force. b. opwerate in a similar fashion to those in other parliaments. c. have no influence d. have few formal roles |
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In the case of a tie vote in the senate, the deciding vote is cast by the a. vice president b. president pro-tempore c. speaker of the house d. majority whip. |
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The senate tradition of unlimited debate is called the a. cloture b. censure c. consent agreement d. filibuster |
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As discused in text and in lecture, congress does its business a. through its committees b. by acclimation. c. on the floor of the house and senate d. by unamimous consent |
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| a. through its committees |
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As discussed in lecture, most legislation ___ in committee. a. survives b. becomes law c. dies d. is not considered |
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A committee with fixed membership and jurisdiction that presists from one Congress to the next is called a ____ committee. a. permanent b. select c. standing d. conference |
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As discussed in text and in lecture, the most important committees in the House include A. Rules, Ways and Means, and Appropriations B. Agriculture, Energy, and Intelligence C. Finance, Budget and Foreign Affairs D. Commerice, Foreign Affairs, and Armed Services |
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| A. Rules, Ways and Means, and Appropriations |
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The process by which members of Congress implicitly trade votes is called a. congressional exchange b. log-rolling c. selection b. vote swapping. |
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Congress consists of two houses or chambers. Therefore, it is a. bilateral b. bicentenial c. bicameral d. multilateral |
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The authorization process is only one step in law making. There is a parallel porcess that must also be accomplished before money can be spent. This is called the ___. a. executive process. b. implementation process. c. appropriations process. d. bureaucratic process. |
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c. appropriations process. |
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The majority of Congressional powers are found in ___. a. Article 1, Section 8 b. Article 1, Section 9 c. Article 1, Section 7 d. Article 2, Section 1 |
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The clause that allows congress to expand its powers beyong this specifically listed in the Consitution is the ___. A. Necessary and Proper Clause B. The Ways and Means Clause C. The Santa Clause D. The Due Process Clause |
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| A. Necessary and Proper Clause |
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As discussed in lecture, if a president veteos a law, a. congress may override it with a two-thirds vote b. the senate may override with a simple majority c. the house may override with a simple majority d. the law dies |
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Definition
a. congress may override it with a two-thirds vote |
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as discussed in lecture, if congress enacts a law, the president hsa ten days to act. if congress adjourns within that ten days and the president does not sign the law, the law dies. This is called a(n) A. pocket veto B. death warrant C. inactive veto D. administrative veto |
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The scandal involving the Nixon administration's efforts to illegally obtain information on the democrats' campaign strategy is called a. the nixon scandal b. whitewater c. watergate d. filegate |
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when the presidency is controlled by one party and congress is controlled by another, it is called a. divided goverment b. multiparty government c. bicameralism d. all of the above |
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presidential elections are held in a. december b. november c. october d. january |
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the presidency is created in article ___ of the constitution. a. II b. I C. III D. IV |
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Compared to the legislative article, the executive article of the constitution is ___. a. briefer and somewhat vague b. longer and somewhat more detailed c. better organized d. misplaced |
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a. briefer and somewhat vague |
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As discussed in lecture, the modern presidency dates from the ____ administration a. franklin roosevelt b. lincoln c. kennedy d. reagan |
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As discussed in lecture, unlike their predicessors, Modern presidents are distinguished by which of the following characteristics? a. they seek to enact a legislative agenda b. they are held responsilbe for the state of the nation c. they seek to govern through the rule making authority of the bureaucracy. d. all of the above |
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As discussed in text and in lecture, the greatest growth in bureaucracy has come in a. private contractors hired to perform government functions b. the federal government c. state and local governments d. newly-established federal governments |
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Definition
c. state and local governments |
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In order for large numbers of people to work efficiently toward a common end in a coordinated manner, it is necessary for a bureaucracy to have a. subjective standards b. limited funding c. standard operating procedures d. administrative discretion |
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Definition
d. administrative discretion |
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the practice of hiring government workers on the basis of party loyalty was known as a. the spoils system b. jacksonian politics c. the pendleton system d. political packaging |
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As discussed in the text and in lecture, in 1939, the congress passed a law prohibiting federal employees from active political campaigning and solicitation. this law was called the a. smith act b. hatch act c. taft-hartley act d. pendleton act |
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formally, the civil service (federual bureaucracy) is responsible to a. the cabinet b. the president c. the vice president d. congress |
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the bureau designed to develop the federal budget and to coordinate agency budget requests is currently called the a. office of management and budget b. budget department c. congressional budget office d. general accounting office |
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Definition
a. office of management and budget |
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an example of an independent regulatory agency would be a. department of motor vehicles b. health and human services c. the federal trade commission d. the congressional budget office |
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c. the federal trade commission |
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congress has a large amount of influence over the bureaucracy because of a. legislative oversight b. the budget process c. the confirmation process d. all of the above |
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as discussed in the text, the traditional practice of allowing senators, if of the same party of the president, to basically veto appointments within their own states is called a. senatorial privilege b. senatorial veto c. senatorial courtesy d. partisanship |
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congress often directs that agencies spend money in ways consisten with conressional preferences by making portions of the budget subject to a(n) a. mandate b. earmark c. regulation d. dictate |
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as discussed in text and in lecture, the connections among agencies, interest groups, and congressional committees are often called a. interagency triads b. strategy triads c. bermuda triangles d. iron triangles |
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as discussed in text and in lecture, in recent years, the number of people working for the federal government, as a percentage of the workforce, has a. remained the same b. risen dramatically c. declined d. risen |
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the power of the courts to declare null and void laws of congress and of state legislatures that they find unconstitutional is called a. stare decisis b. judicial activism c. statutory interpretation d. judicial review |
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as discussed in lecture, the chief justice of the supreme court at the time of marbury v. madison (1803) was a. roger b. taney b. john marshall c. james madison d. william howard taft |
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as discussed in the text, the supreme court decision that declared the missouri compromise unconstitutional in 1820 was a. taney v. missouri b. dred scott v. sandford c. marbury v. madison d. milligan v. adams |
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b. dred scott v. sandford |
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all federal judges hold lifetime apointments following a. nomination by the president and confirmation by congress b. appoinment by the president c. appointment by the state government d. nomination by the president and confirmation by the senate |
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a. nomination by the president and confirmation by congress |
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federal district courts are organized into how many appealate courts? a. 11 b. 15 c. 12 d. 13 |
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each year the supreme court decides about ___ cases. a. 50-90 b. 200-250 c. 275-300 d. 100-140 |
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the principle that all court decisions should be consistent with precedents is called a. habeas corpus b. certiorari c. stare decists d. mandamus |
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as discussed in the text and in lecture, most cases get to the supreme court through a. writ of certiorari (rule of four) b. judicial review c. original jurisdiction d. automatic right of appeal |
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Definition
a. writ of certiorari (rule of four) |
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the are ___ justices on the supreme court a. 9 b. 11 c. 7 d. 6 |
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a brief submitted by an interested group or individual that is not a party to the case is called a(n) a. amicus curiae brief b. writ of certiorari c. plenary brief d. writ of mandamus |
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the government official responsible for presenting cases before the courts for teh presidential administration is the a. procurator general b. prosecuting attorney c. solicitor general d. attorney general |
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Recall your reading of "behind the noisy clashes: 2 chambers that don't understand each other." According to the article, what is the primary reason the House of Representatives is more efficient than the senate? (i.e. in the language of the article, why does the house "expedite" and senate "obstruct"?) a. the house is a rules based chamber that gives little power to the minority party, while the senate is more informal, and the minority party has more power b. the house deals with simpler legislation than the senate, and is thus more efficient c. the house is smaller than the senate, allowing it to more quickly come to agreement and pass legislation d. house members are typically more eager to pass legislation than senators because of their closer ties to the constituencies |
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Definition
a. the house is a rules based chamber that gives little power to the minority party, while the senate is more informal, and the minority party has more power |
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Recall your reading of James Q. Wilson's "Bureaucracy and the Public Interest." which of the following is not an explanation espoused by wilson for the failure of bureaucracies to perform their tasks well? (i.e. recall the examples of inefficiencies in armies, prisons, and schools in the early part of the article.) a. the administrators of organizations often behave irrationally or are simply incompetent b. the organizations often have poorly defined missions or face multiple constraints in achieving their missions. c. organizations often come under intense pressure from outside interests that inhibit their ability to achieve objectives efficiently. d. standard operating procedures and history make it difficult for organizations to cope with changing circumstances and new challenges. |
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a. the administrators of organizations often behave irrationally or are simply incompetent |
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As discussed in the text, bureaucracies are designed to be a. inefficient and irrational b. slow and cumbersome c efficient and rational d. quick and responsive |
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as discussed in lecture, most federal suits are initially filed in federal district courts, of which there are a. 50 b. 100 c. 94 d. 75 |
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recall your reading of richard a. posner's "The case against strict constructionism." posner argues against strict judicial constructionism on the grounds that ___. a. it is not possible to separate constitutional questions about the "public good" from questions about private rights. b. laws are themselves enacted without knowledge about the circumstances under which they will have to be applied, necessitating judicial interpretation. c. article III of the constitution requires judicial interpretation of the law. D. A & B |
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