Exam Two Flashcards
Which of the following terms describes a permanent committee in Congress that has a defined legislative jurisdiction?
Standing Committee
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 ________ vote.
roll-call
The most powerful leader in the House of Representatives is the…
Speaker of the House
If a “turf war” erupts as different committees vie for jurisdiction over a bill, who or what decides the committee assignment?
Party leaders decide the committee assignment.
What holds party lawmakers together?
They have far more in common with each other than they do with lawmakers of the other party.
In order to be a member of the House of Representatives, a person must be _______ years of age.
25
At present there are Blank______ standing committees in the House of Representatives.
20
Members of the House of Representatives typically serve on Blank______ committees, while members of the Senate serve on Blank______.
two; four
What has been one result of the decreasing number of moderates in Congress?
legislative deadlock
When a bill falls into the area in which a committee is authorized to act, that committee is said to have
jurisdiction
If congressional representatives find themselves having to choose between angering voters and donors or angering party leadership by refusing to go along with a vote, which will they likely choose?
angering leadership by voting the way their donors and voters want them to
Choosing committee chairs based on which member has the longest continuous tenure on a standing committee is an example of the ________ system.
seniority
Compared with their percentage of the overall population of the United States, women and minorities are ______ in Congress.
underrepresented
The minority party’s committee and subcommittee leaders are its _______
members.
ranking
What correctly describes the protocol for committee membership?
Most newly elected members of Congress request committee assignments.
Most vacancies occur after elections, either from retirements or incumbent defeats.
A(n) _______ is a proposed legislative act that if passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president becomes law.
bill
The partisan divide in Congress has grown in recent years, to the point where each party has a high level of ______, which is when party members band together on legislation and oppose the other party.
party unity
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
One reason standing committees are powerful is that by law they have ______.
jurisdiction over bills in their designated policy area
On major bills, it is increasingly typical for the majority party’s leaders to:
shape the bill’s broad content
direct the floor debate after the bill leaves the committee
Which of the following methods is most often used to select committee chairs?
the seniority system
The steps that a bill must pass through in order to become law:
- A member of the House of Representatives or the Senate formally proposes the bill.
- The bill is submitted to a committee for consideration.
- A majority of members in the House and Senate approve the bill.
- The president signs the bill.
A limit of ______ exists for how long a Republican member can chair a particular committee.
six years
What are the functions of Congress?
representation
oversight
lawmaking
When a committee or subcommittee holds a(n) _______, they are trying to gather information about a proposed bill.
hearing
In the House of Representatives, a debate is limited on the congressional floor by _______.
the Rules Committee
Whether or not Congress takes the lead in the making of laws usually depends on Blank______.
the type of policy at issue
True or false: After clearing the committee stage, floor debate on a bill is usually led by the majority party’s leadership in the House.
True
The increase in party polarization in Congress has led to increased ______.
policy deadlock
If the president chooses to veto a bill, Blank______.
Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
What oversight tools help Congress to ensure that the executive branch is administering the laws properly?
congressional hearings
budgetary appropriations
Today, Congress and the president ______.
share legislative power
True statements about bills that are killed in committee?
They can be brought back to life by a vote of the full House or Senate.
Some bills are not supported by the members who introduced them.
Most are poorly conceived or of little interest to anyone.
An example of Congress’s ______ occurs when Congress passes legislation that creates incentives for the development of alternative energy sources.
lawmaking function
In Insecure Majorities, Frances Lee noted that, in the currently closely matched parties, members of Congress are engaged in “______” rather than “governing.”
messaging
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 (function)
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 function is the main responsibility of Congress, to which all other functions of Congress are related?
lawmaking
Positive aspects of party polarization include the fact that ______.
voters can more clearly see and understand party differences
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
True or false: The Constitution requires that federal judges be citizens and at least thirty years old.
False
Alexander Hamilton said that of all the branches of government, the Supreme Court was the ______.
weakest
The Supreme Court has…
original and appellate jurisdiction
What is the purpose of the writ of certiorari?
It is an order from a higher court for a lower court to submit a record of a case to the higher court.
The written brief in a court case ______.
is an argument by a party to the case as to why its position should be upheld by the court
They serve until they die or retire voluntarily.
They are appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The only way to remove them is through impeachment.
Federal Judges
Alexander Hamilton said that the power of the Supreme Court rested on the power of ______.
judgment—the reasonableness and fairness of its actions
Members of the Supreme Court are called ______.
justices
When four Supreme Court justices agree to request a record of the case from a lower court, the court issues a ______.
writ of certiorari
What are issued by the Supreme Court after hearing a case?
one or more opinions
a decision
During a Supreme Court hearing, who presents oral arguments?
the attorneys for each side
Members of the Supreme Court who disagree with the decision of the Court’s majority have the option of writing a ______.
dissenting opinion
The Constitution establishes the Supreme Court. Which entity is empowered by the Constitution to establish the lower federal courts?
Congress
According to Alexander Hamilton’s argument in Federalist No. 78, the best way to ensure that the federal courts exercise their power reasonably and fairly is to ______.
appoint federal judges for life
Which of the following statements correctly describe U.S. district courts?
They are the chief trial courts of the federal court system.
They are the only federal courts where cases are decided by a jury.
The Supreme Court receives most of its cases through which jurisdiction?
appellate
True or false: The Supreme Court’s decision gives the legal basis for the Court’s ruling.
False.
When a majority of the Supreme Court justices agree on a decision but not the legal reasoning behind it, the Court issues a ______, which is the opinion having the most justices in support of it.
plurality opinion
True or false: The Constitution requires that federal judges be citizens and at least thirty years old.
False
Which type of federal court hears criminal cases?
district courts
Which of the following federal court levels does not have original jurisdiction?
courts of appeals
A Supreme Court ______ explains the justices’ legal basis for their decision.
opinion
What happens during the writing of a Supreme Court opinion?
The justice assigned to write the opinion will continue to speak with the other justices while preparing the opinion.
Each of the 50 states structures and maintains its own ______.
court system
The only type of federal court that features two sides presenting a case to a jury for a verdict is ______.
a district court
Eleven of the thirteen federal appellate courts cover specific geographic regions, which are called ______.
circuits
majority opinion
issued when all or most of the justices agree on the legal basis of a decision
plurality opinion
issued when some justices agree on the majority’s decision but disagree with the legal basis for it
concurring opinion
issued by a justice in the majority when that justice disagrees with all or part of the majority’s reasoning
dissenting opinion
issued by one or more justices on the losing side to explain their reasoning
per curiam opinion
issued as an unsigned decision for the Court as a whole
The “federal court myth” is the inaccurate belief that ______.
state courts play a role subordinate to federal courts
Which of the following is not part of the Missouri Plan for selecting state-level judges?
The political parties nominate judicial candidates to run for office.
What usually is the best indicator of how individual Supreme Court justices will vote in cases where the Court issues a divided decision?
the justices’ political backgrounds
They are the chief trial courts of the federal court system.
They are the only federal courts where cases are decided by a jury.
U.S. district courts
Which of the following circuit courts has jurisdiction over appeals involving patents and international trade?
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Supreme Court nominations in recent years have been ______ in the Senate.
bitterly contested
To whom or what does the president typically delegate the task of identifying nominees to lower-court positions?
the deputy attorney general
The type of state law that involves issues such as shoplifting, murder, and rape is known as ______ law.
criminal
The Constitution specifies that all federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, shall be Blank______.
appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate
Approximately what percentage of Donald Trump’s judicial appointees were minority-group members?
fewer than 10 percent
Which type of federal court hears criminal cases?
district courts
Federal courts address which two types of laws?
administrative and federal statutory law
True or false: Less than 4 percent of presidential nominees to the Supreme Court have been rejected by the Senate on grounds of judicial qualification, legal views, personal ethics, or partisanship.
False
Presidents typically nominate people to lower-court judgeships ______.
who are members of their political party
Federal courts usually do not intervene into state court matters unless a ______ issue or law is involved.
federal
Judges might not be able to use legal precedents if their cases ______.
fall in between competing precedents
have significant differences from precedents
compared with Republican presidents, Democratic presidents have appointed Blank______ to the federal bench.
more women
more minorities
True or false: Studies by political scientists have shown that Supreme Court justices tend to vote according to their political attitudes.
True
Laws made by acts of Congress or state legislatures are called ______.
statutory laws
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 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
Federal judges play a role in the creation of law and public policy because
the Constitution can be interpreted in a number of ways.
Which interest group regularly files cases seeking to protect individual rights?
ACLU
Which of the following statements concerning the political orientation of Supreme Court justices is correct?
Republican appointees are more likely than Democratic appointees to side with law enforcement officials instead of with the criminally accused.
The ______ of a case refer(s) to the circumstances of a legal dispute or offense.
facts
Presidents can influence the courts by ______.
choosing how much to enforce court decisions
influencing the cases that come before courts
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
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 precedents and defer to elected officials.
Statutory laws are created by which branch of government?
legislative
The doctrine of judicial restraint implies that it is the duty of judges to
apply the law.
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
How does public opinion affect Supreme Court decisions?
The Court considers public opinion so as not to create outright defiance of its decisions.
The Supreme Court is less responsive to public opinion than elected government officials are.
Amicus curiae briefs have what impact on the American legal system?
They help the court to understand how interested parties feel about the case in question.
True or false: The line between proper and improper judicial decision-making is very clear.
False
Judicial review is a term that refers to the power the Supreme Court has to ______.
invalidate a law or action on constitutional grounds
According to the doctrine of judicial restraint, judges should ______.
generally defer to the policy decisions made by elected officials
In his book Electing Justices, Richard Davis likens Supreme Court appointments in the era of party polarization to ______.
political campaigns
Which of the following statements accurately describes the challenge faced by the judiciary in interpreting the Constitution?
The Constitution is silent concerning the approach that judges should take in deciding cases where the law is not completely clear.
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.
A key to understanding the power of the presidency is a recognition that presidential power ______.
depends on the occupant of the office
Through the use of administrative powers, the president can ______.
decide how laws will be implemented
True or false: Today, nearly every foreign policy initiative originates with Congress.
False
Members of Congress cannot claim to be the leader of the United States because they ______.
share power with other members of Congress
are elected from different areas and not nationally
Under which of the following presidents did the greatest expansion of presidential authority take place?
Franklin Roosevelt
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.
Most of America’s recent wars have been waged on the basis of a ______.
presidential directive
In his role as chief diplomat, the president ______.
negotiates treaties with other nations
appoints ambassadors
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
Compared to the powers of the presidency that George Washington assumed in 1789, the powers of the presidency that Joe Biden assumed in 2021 are ______.
considerably more powerful
Why was President Hoover slow to respond to the Great Depression?
He claimed he lacked the constitutional authority to take strong action.
By which name does the text describe past presidencies?
the imperial presidency
the imperiled presidency
the heroic presidency
Through the use of administrative powers, the president can ______.
decide how laws will be implemented
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
The president shapes and administers the nation’s foreign policy while acting in the role of ______.
chief diplomat
Since the 1790s, the power of the presidency has evolved owing to the ______.
increased involvement of the presidency in a range of policy areas
Under which of the following presidents did the greatest expansion of presidential authority take place?
Franklin Roosevelt
The duties of each vice president are _____.
determined by the particular president with whom he or she serves
Which cabinet member can be described as a close advisor to the president in most administrations?
Secretary of State
The office within the Executive Office of the President that works most closely with the president in developing policy and communicating the president’s agenda is known as the ______.
White House Office
What are potential problems presidents can have in controlling low-level appointees?
Many of them are politically inexperienced.
They can become closer to the agency in which they work than to the president.
In his role as chief diplomat, the president ______.
appoints ambassadors
negotiates treaties with other nations
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.
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
Which of the following statements about the vice president of the United States are true?
The vice president holds a separate elective office from that of the president.
The vice president typically forms part of the presidential team.
The vice president is assigned different roles by the president.
During his presidency, Donald Trump’s many tweets, campaign-style rallies, and social media advertising were all part of his use of a _____ strategy.
permanent campaign
Which of the following are duties of the Secretary of State?
protecting U.S. citizens abroad
providing advice to the president on foreign policy
participating in international conferences
overseeing the diplomatic corps
Which of these presidential appointees are the most difficult for the president to control?
directors of federal departments and agencies
The president shapes and administers the nation’s foreign policy while acting in the role of ______.
chief diplomat
What is the danger of modern presidents’ relentless pursuit of public support?
It can lead them to pursue policies with immediate advantages rather than long-term benefits.
The ability to command attention via the bully pulpit serves primarily to ______.
focus the public and media on issues the president cares about
Who works together to achieve legislative goals?
the president
the Congress
The blurring of the line between campaigning and governing has come to be known as the _____.
permanent campaign
Which of the following correctly describes the role of the cabinet in the modern presidency?
Members are important figures in an administration.
It is made up of the heads of the executive departments.
Members are selected by the president, subject to Senate confirmation.
Since the Truman administration, the number of bureaucratic agencies has more than ______.
doubled
Executive order
A directive that implements or interprets a law passed by Congress.
Executive agreement
Formal agreements made with foreign nations that are legally binding.
More than half of post-World War II presidents have left office with an approval rating of ______.
less than 50 percent
Political scientist Richard Neustadt contended that an effective president is successful in using ______.
“the power to persuade”
The importance of an advertising style of governing emerged when candidates began to build their campaigns around ______?
the media
polling
rallies
Disagreement with Congress on Reconstruction policies led to the impeachment of ______ and almost led to his removal from office.
Andrew Johnson
In 2020, when President Trump directed the production of ventilators and other medical supplies in response to the COVID-19 crisis, he did so by issuing an ______.
executive order
After Vietnam, Congress sought to limit the ability of presidents to commit the United States to war by passing the
War Powers Act
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
In relation to Congress, the president’s power is ______.
limited by the willingness of Congress to act on the president’s agenda
more effective in setting the national agenda
Among presidents remembered for rising to challenges (benefiting from circumstance) while in office are ______.
Ronald Reagan
Franklin Roosevelt
Lyndon Johnson
The beginning of a new presidential administration, which is often characterized by higher levels of public approval, is known as a ______.
honeymoon period
Which chamber of Congress has the power to try and remove the president from office once the president has been impeached (placed on trial)?
senate
Which of the following documents revealed that President Lyndon Johnson had presented a falsely optimistic picture of the Vietnam War?
the Pentagon Papers
President Ronald Reagan was viewed as ______.
more powerful than President Jimmy Carter
Which of the following circumstances help to create a powerful president?
a major national problem
a decisive election victory
When, during a term of office, should the president expect to experience the highest level of public approval?
early in a new presidents administration.
When foreign countries look to the United States for leadership, they direct their attention to the ______.
president
Disagreement with Congress on Reconstruction policies led to the impeachment of ______ and almost led to his removal from office.
Andrew Johnson
the War Powers Act
requires the president to inform Congress within forty-eight hours of the reasons for military action.
The scenario in which the president belongs to the same political party that controls the House and Senate is called ______.
unified government
Which of the following are considered criteria that the average American uses to evaluate presidential leadership?
whether the president prioritizes many of the same issues that concern much of the public
whether the president is a strong leader unafraid to exercise power and to communicate a vision for the nation
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
In general, presidents have more power to act on their own in which policy area?
foreign policy
Who was the only U.S. president to resign from office?
Richard Nixon
Presidents are most able to get Congress to pass policy initiatives when ______.
their party controls both houses of Congress
Which of the following describe the irony of the presidency?
Presidents get too much credit when things go right.
Presidents get too much blame when things go poorly.
The scenario in which the president belongs to one political party while the opposition party has majority control of at least one chamber of Congress is known as ______.
divided government
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
