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Question 1

whip

Answer 1

in the House and in the Senate, a high leadership position whose primary duty is to enforce voting discipline in the chambers and conferences

Question 2

trustee model of representation

Answer 2

a model of representation in which representatives feel at liberty to act in the way they believe is best for their constituents

Question 3

surge-and-decline theory

Answer 3

a theory proposing that the surge of stimulation occurring during presidential elections subsides during midterm elections, accounting for the differences we observe in turnouts and results

Question 4

standing committee

Answer 4

a permanent legislative committee that meets regularly

Question 5

Speaker of the House

Answer 5

the presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the leader of the majority party; the Speaker is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president

Question 6

select committee

Answer 6

a small legislative committee created to fulfill a specific purpose and then disbanded; also called an ad hoc, or special, committee

Question 7

representation

Answer 7

an elected leader’s looking out for constituents while carrying out the duties of the office

Question 8

president pro tempore

Answer 8

the senator who acts in the absence of the actual president of the Senate, who is also the vice president of the United States; the president pro tempore is usually the most senior senator of the majority party

Question 9

pork-barrel politics

Answer 9

federal spending intended to benefit a particular district or set of constituents

Question 10

politico model of representation

Answer 10

a model of representation in which members of Congress act as either trustee or delegate, based on rational political calculations about who is best served, the constituency or the nation

Question 11

oversight

Answer 11

the right to review and monitor other bodies such as the executive branch

Question 12

minority leader

Answer 12

the party member who directs the activities of the minority party on the floor of either the House or the Senate

Question 13

majority leader

Answer 13

the leader of the majority party in either the House or Senate; in the House, the majority leader serves under the Speaker of the House, in the Senate, the majority leader is the functional leader and chief spokesperson for the majority party

Question 14

joint committee

Answer 14

a legislative committee consisting of members from both chambers that investigates certain topics but lacks bill referral authority

Question 15

inherent powers

Answer 15

the powers neither enumerated nor implied but assumed to exist as a direct result of the country’s existence

Question 16

implied powers

Answer 16

the powers not specifically detailed in the U.S. Constitution but inferred as necessary to achieve the objectives of the national government

Question 17

filibuster

Answer 17

a parliamentary maneuver used in the Senate to extend debate on a piece of legislation as long as possible, typically with the intended purpose of obstructing or killing it

Question 18

enumerated powers

Answer 18

the powers given explicitly to the federal government by the Constitution to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, raise and support armies, declare war, coin money, and conduct foreign affairs

Question 19

descriptive representation

Answer 19

the extent to which a body of representatives represents the descriptive characteristics of their constituencies, such as class, race, ethnicity, and gender

Question 20

delegate model of representation

Answer 20

a model of representation in which representatives feel compelled to act on the specific stated wishes of their constituents

Question 21

constituency

Answer 21

the body of voters, or constituents, represented by a particular politician

Question 22

conference committee

Answer 22

a special type of joint committee that reconciles different bills passed in the House and Senate so a single bill results

Question 23

collective representation

Answer 23

the relationship between Congress and the United States as a whole, and whether the institution itself represents the American people

Question 24

cloture

Answer 24

a parliamentary process to end a debate in the Senate, as a measure against the filibuster; invoked when three-fifths of senators vote for the motion

Question 25

bill

Answer 25

proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature

Question 26

bicameralism

Answer 26

the political process that results from dividing a legislature into two separate assemblies

Question 27

apportionment

Answer 27

the process by which seats in the House of Representatives are distributed among the fifty states

Question 28

What is the Hatch Act?

Answer 28

As the size of the federal government and its bureaucracy grew following the Great Depression and the Roosevelt reforms, many became increasingly concerned that the Pendleton Act prohibitions on political activities by civil servants were no longer strong enough. As a result of these mounting concerns, Congress passed the Hatch Act of 1939—or the Political Activities Act. The main provision of this legislation prohibits bureaucrats from actively engaging in political campaigns and from using their federal authority via bureaucratic rank to influence the outcomes of nominations and elections.

Question 29

Office of Management and Budget

Answer 29

an office within the Executive Office of the President charged with producing the president’s budget, overseeing its implementation, and overseeing the executive bureaucracy

Question 30

What are the different types of bureaucracy?

Answer 30

These types include cabinet departments, independent regulatory agencies, independent executive agencies, and government corporations.

Question 31

Executive Office of the President

Answer 31

the administrative organization that reports directly to the president and made up of important offices, units, and staff of the current president and headed by the White House chief of staff

Question 32

What is the order of succession for the presidency?

Answer 32

Vacancy of both
presidency and vice
presidency?
– Speaker of the House
* Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
– President Pro Tempore of
the Senate
* Patty Murray (D-WA)
– Secretary of State
* Anthony Blinken
– Secretary of the Treasury
* Janet Yellen
– Other members of cabinet
in order that their
departments were created

Question 33

What was political patronage? What were the advantages of party patronage?

Answer 33

Political patronage is the use of state resources to reward individuals for their political support. government would work far more efficiently if the key federal posts were occupied by those already supportive of the president and his policies. Patronage had the advantage of putting political loyalty to work by making the government quite responsive to the electorate and keeping election turnout robust because so much was at stake.

Question 34

How long can a president serve in office? Which constitutional amendment
establishes the length of the presidential term?

Answer 34

of 22nd
Amendment
* Two (2) four year terms
* One (1) four-year term if VP completes more than
two years of previous president’s term

Question 35

executive privilege

Answer 35

the president’s right to withhold information from Congress, the judiciary, or the public

Question 36

House Whips

Answer 36

Majority Whip Minority Whip
Tom Emmer (R-MN) James Clyburn (D-SC)
Whips assist leaders in keeping track of party members and
pressuring them to vote the party line

Question 37

How can a sitting president be removed from office?

Answer 37

Impeachment and Removal
 Impeachment is like a criminal
indictment.
 The House of Representatives brings
charges of impeachment by a simple
majority vote (218/435).
 The Senate holds a trial and can remove
an official from office following a two-
thirds vote (67/100).

Question 38

What is the executive office of the president? Which organizations does it include?

Answer 38

The Executive Office of the President comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agencies, such as the White House Office, the National Security Council, and the Office of Management and Budget.

Question 39

What are the constitutional qualifications for the office of the president?

Answer 39

Natural-born citizens
At least 35 years old
U.S. resident for 14 years

Question 40

. What is the function of committees in Congress? What types of committees in the
House and Senate might members serve on?

Answer 40

The two chambers must divide their work based on specialization. Congress does this through the committee system. Specialized committees (or subcommittees) in both the House and the Senate are where bills originate and most of the work that sets the congressional agenda takes place. Committees There are well over two hundred committees, subcommittees, select committees, and joint committees in the Congress. The core committees are called standing committees.
floor. The second type is the joint committee. Joint committee members are appointed from both the House and the Senate, and are charged with exploring a few key issues, such as the economy and taxation. only. A conference committee is used to reconcile different bills passed in both the House and the Senate. The conference committees are appointed on an ad hoc basis as necessary when a bill passes the House and Senate in different forms.

Question 41

What is the history of bureaucracy in the United States?

Answer 41

During the post-Jacksonian era of the nineteenth century, the common charge against the bureaucracy was that it was overly political and corrupt. This changed in the 1880s as the United States began to create a modern civil service. The civil service grew once again in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration as he expanded government programs to combat the effects of the Great Depression. The most recent criticisms of the federal bureaucracy, notably under Ronald Reagan, emerged following the second great expansion of the federal government under Lyndon B Johnson in the 1960s.

Question 42

executive agreement

Answer 42

an international agreement between the president and another country made by the executive branch and without formal consent by the Senate

Question 43

How many presidents have been impeached? How many presidents have been
impeached, convicted and removed from office?

Answer 43

Presidents to face impeachment?
– Andrew Johnson
– Richard Nixon
– William “Bill” Clinton
– Donald Trump

Question 44

bureaucrats

Answer 44

the civil servants or political appointees who fill nonelected positions in government and make up the bureaucracy

Question 45

signing statement

Answer 45

a statement a president issues with the intent to influence the way a specific bill the president signs should be enforced

Question 46

executive order

Answer 46

a rule or order issued by the president without the cooperation of Congress and having the force of law

Question 47

negotiated rulemaking

Answer 47

a rulemaking process in which neutral advisors convene a committee of those who have vested interests in the proposed rules and help the committee reach a consensus on them

Question 48

House Majority Leader

Answer 48

Steve Scalise (R-LA)
– Primary asst to the Speaker
of the House
– Helps to formulate the
party’s legislative program
– Tries to persuade
committee leaders to
support the aims of the
party
– Helps to arrange legislative
schedule
– Elected by members of the
majority part

Question 49

How many cabinet positions were there in George Washington’s administration? What were
they? What developments contributed to the growth of the bureaucracy?

Answer 49

Under President George Washington, the bureaucracy remained small enough to accomplish only the necessary tasks at hand.3 Washington’s tenure saw the creation of the Department of State to oversee international issues, the Department of the Treasury to control coinage, and the Department of War to administer the armed forces. The employees within these three departments, in addition to the growing postal service, constituted the major portion of the federal bureaucracy for the first three decades of the republic (Figure 15.2). Two developments, however, contributed to the growth of the bureaucracy well beyond these humble beginnings.

The first development was the rise of centralized party politics in the 1820s. This was the beginning of the spoils system, in which political appointments were transformed into political patronage doled out by the president on the basis of party loyalty. The second development was industrialization, which in the late nineteenth century significantly increased both the population and economic size of the United States.

Question 50

cabinet

Answer 50

a group of advisors to the president, consisting of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch who head the fifteen executive departments

Question 51

impeachment

Answer 51

the act of charging a government official with serious wrongdoing, which in some cases may lead to the removal of that official from office

Question 52

How can a sitting president be removed from office

Answer 52

. Impeachment is the act of charging a government official with serious wrongdoing; the Constitution calls this wrongdoing high crimes and misdemeanors. The method the framers designed required two steps and both chambers of the Congress. First, the House of Representatives could impeach the president by a simple majority vote. In the second step, the Senate could remove the president from office by a two-thirds majority, with the chief justice of the Supreme Court presiding over the trial. Upon conviction and removal of the president, if that occurred, the vice president would become president.

Question 53

What was the Pendleton Act? What event led to its passage? What is a merit system?

Answer 53

As the negative aspects of political patronage continued to infect bureaucracy in the late nineteenth century, calls for civil service reform grew louder. Those supporting the patronage system held that their positions were well earned; those who condemned it argued that federal legislation was needed to ensure jobs were awarded on the basis of merit. Eventually, after President James Garfield had been assassinated by a disappointed office seeker (Figure 15.4), Congress responded to cries for reform with the Pendleton Act, also called the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. The act established the Civil Service Commission, a centralized agency charged with ensuring that the federal government’s selection, retention, and promotion practices were based on open,

competitive examinations in a merit system The passage of this law sparked a period of social activism and political reform that continued well into the twentieth century.

Question 54

Senate President Pro Tempore

Answer 54

Patty Murray (D-WA)
– Honorific position
granted to senior senator
of majority party
– May preside over the
Senate in the absence of
the vice president, but
job is usually left to
junior senator

Question 55

king caucus

Answer 55

an informal meeting held in the nineteenth century, sometimes called a congressional caucus, made up of legislators in the Congress who met to decide on presidential nominees for their respective parties

Question 56

What is the constitutional design of the presidency and how has the power of the office grown?

Answer 56

The Constitution that emerged from the deliberations in Philadelphia treated the powers of the presidency in concise fashion. The president was to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States, negotiate treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, and receive representatives of foreign nations (Figure 12.4). Charged to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” the president was given broad power to pardon those convicted of federal offenses, except for officials removed through the impeachment process.9 The chief executive would present to Congress information about the state of the union; call Congress into session when needed; veto legislation if necessary, although a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress could override that veto; and make recommendations for legislation and policy as well as call on the heads of various departments to make reports and offer opinions.

Question 57

What is the classic legislative process and how has that changed over the last few decades?

Answer 57

The traditional process by which a bill becomes a law is called the classic legislative process. First, legislation must be drafted. Theoretically, anyone can do this. Much successful legislation has been initially drafted by someone who is not a member of Congress, such as a think tank or advocacy group, or the president. However, Congress is under no obligation to read or introduce this legislation, and only a bill introduced by a member of Congress can hope to become law. Even the president must rely on legislators to introduce that president’s legislative agenda.

An important characteristic feature of modern legislating is the greatly expanded power and influence of the party leadership over the control of bills. One reason for this change was the heightened partisanship that stretches back to the 1980s and is still with us today. With such high political stakes, the party leadership is reluctant to simply allow the committees to work things out on their own. In the House, the leadership uses special rules to guide bills through the legislative process and toward a particular outcome. Uncommon just a few decades ago, these now widely used rules restrict debate and options, and are designed to focus the attention of members.

Question 58

How do Congress, the president, citizens, and the bureaucracy itself exercise oversight of
bureaucratic policymaking?

Answer 58

the Government Accountability Office (GAO).34 The GAO is an agency that provides Congress, its committees, and the heads of the executive agencies with auditing, evaluation, and investigative services. It is designed to operate in a fact-based and nonpartisan manner to deliver important oversight information where and when it is needed. The GAO’s role is to produce reports, mostly at the insistence of Congress.

Apart from Congress, the president also executes oversight over the extensive federal bureaucracy through a number of different avenues. Most directly, the president controls the bureaucracies by appointing the heads of the fifteen cabinet departments and of many independent executive agencies, such as the CIA, the EPA, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These cabinet and agency appointments go through the Senate for confirmation.

The other important channel through which the office of the president conducts oversight over the federal bureaucracy is the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).36 The primary responsibility of the OMB is to produce the president’s annual budget for the country.

Question 59

What are the constitutional qualifications for the office of the president?

Answer 59

Requirements—the chief executive must be at least thirty-five years old and a “natural born” citizen of the United States (or a citizen at the time of the Constitution’s adoption) who has been an inhabitant of the United States for at least fourteen years.

Question 60

How do presidents (and first ladies) communicate with the people?

Answer 60

Despite the obvious fact that the president is the head of state, the U.S. Constitution actually empowers the occupant of the White House with very little authority. Apart from the president’s war powers, the office holder’s real advantage is the ability to speak to the nation with one voice. Technological changes in the twentieth century have greatly expanded the power of the presidential bully pulpit. The twentieth century also saw a string of more public first ladies. Women like Eleanor Roosevelt and Lady Bird Johnson greatly expanded the power of the first lady’s role, although first ladies who have undertaken more nontraditional roles have encountered significant criticism.

Question 61

How many presidents have been impeached? How many presidents have been
impeached, convicted and removed from office?

Answer 61

Four presidents have faced impeachment proceedings in the House; none has been both impeached by the House and removed by the Senate. Looking across the span of U.S. history, impeachment of a president remains a rare event indeed and removal has never occurred.

Question 62

pay schedule

Answer 62

a chart that shows salary ranges for different levels of positions vertically and for different ranks of seniority horizontally

Question 63

Who was the first female Speaker of the House?

Answer 63

Nancy Pelosi

Question 64

What is the executive office of the president? Which organizations does it include?

Answer 64

the administrative organization that reports directly to the president and made up of important offices, units, and staff of the current president and headed by the White House chief of staff. adviser). The Executive Office of the President, created by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), contains a number of advisory bodies, including the Council of Economic Advisers, the National Security Council, the OMB, and the Office of the Vice President.

Question 65

Which powers are reserved solely to the U. S. House of Representatives?

Answer 65

selects the president if no candidate receives a
majority of votes in the Electoral College.
* brings charges of impeachment against the
president, vice president or other civil officer of the
United States

Question 66

going public

Answer 66

a term for when the president delivers a major television address in the hope that public pressure will result in legislators supporting the president on a major piece of legislation

Question 67

red tape

Answer 67

the mechanisms, procedures, and rules that must be followed to get something done

Question 68

line-item veto

Answer 68

a power created through law in 1996 and overturned by the Supreme Court in 1998 that allowed the president to veto specific aspects of bills passed by Congress while signing into law what remained

Question 69

In addition to pay, what are the “perks” associated with being a member of Congress?

Answer 69

– Automatic cost-of-living salary increases
– Travel allowance to cover regular trips home
– Travel for free abroad on official business
– Free long-distance telephone use
– Free postage for official correspondence

Question 70

What was the spoils system? With which president was it most closely associated?

Answer 70

a system that rewards political loyalties or party support during elections with bureaucratic appointments after victory. Under President Andrew Jackson, many thousands of party loyalists filled the ranks of the bureaucratic offices around the country.

Question 71

civil servants

Answer 71

the individuals who fill nonelected positions in government

Question 72

What is apportionment? What is redistricting? How often do they take place?

Answer 72

• Apportionment is the allocation of House seats
  to the states after each ten-year census.
• Redistricting is the drawing of legislative district
  boundary lines following each ten-year census

Question 73

What are the different ways that members of Congress represent their constituents?

Answer 73

Some representatives follow the delegate model of representation, acting on the expressed wishes of their constituents, whereas others take a trustee model approach, acting on what they believe is in their constituents’ best interests. However, most representatives combine the two approaches and apply each as political circumstances demand. The standard method by which representatives have shown their fidelity to their constituents,

Representation can also be considered in other ways. Descriptive representation is the level at which Congress reflects the nation’s constituents in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. Collective representation is the extent to which the institutional body of Congress represents the population as a whole. Despite

Question 74

Which officials does the president have the power to nominate? Which government
branch must ratify the president’s nominees?

Answer 74

Finally, the president’s job included nominating federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, as well as other federal officials, and making appointments to fill military and diplomatic posts. The number of judicial appointments and nominations of other federal officials is great. In recent decades, two-term presidents have nominated well over three hundred federal judges while in office. Moreover, new presidents nominate close to five hundred top officials to their Executive Office of the President, key agencies (such as the Department of Justice), and regulatory commissions (such as the Federal Reserve Board), whose appointments require Senate majority approval

Question 75

What military office is held by the president? How does the War Powers Resolution
attempt to limit the president’s authority over military policy?

Answer 75

The president was to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States, negotiate treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Question 76

How are committee members chosen? How are committee chairs chosen?

Answer 76

Members of both parties compete for positions on various committees. These positions are typically filled by majority and minority members to roughly approximate the ratio of majority to minority members in the respective chambers, although committees are chaired by members of the majority party.

Question 77

Why did the framers choose a bicameral form for the U.S. Congress?

Answer 77

Great Compromise, proposed a bicameral congress with members apportioned differently in each house. The upper house, the Senate, was to have two members from each state. This soothed the fears of the small states. In the lower house, the House of Representatives, membership would be proportional to the population in each state. This measure protected the interests of the large states.

Question 78

Which powers are reserved solely to the U. S. Senate?

Answer 78

confirms presidential nominations to executive and
judicial posts.
* must provide “advice and consent” for treaties.
* chooses the vice president if there’s a tie in the
Electoral College.
* holds trial of impeached official and votes to
convict and remove with a 2/3 majority

Question 79

House Minority Leader

Answer 79

• Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
  – Same duties as majority
  leader without authority
  to schedule legislation
  – Organizes the minority
  party to “counter” the
  legislative program of
  the majority

Question 80

How does merit selection work?

Answer 80

In this system, the large majority of jobs in individual bureaucracies are tied to the needs of the organization rather than to the political needs of the party bosses or political leaders. This purpose is reflected in the way civil service positions are advertised. A general civil service position announcement will describe the government agency or office seeking an employee, an explanation of what the agency or office does, an explanation of what the position requires, and a list of the knowledge, skills, and abilities, commonly referred to as KSAs, deemed especially important for fulfilling the role.

Question 81

What are the powers that the framers of the Constitution granted to Congress?

Answer 81

Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution details the enumerated powers of the legislature. These include the power to levy and collect taxes, declare war, raise an army and navy, coin money, borrow money, regulate commerce among the states and with foreign nations, establish federal courts and bankruptcy rules, establish rules for immigration and naturalization, and issue patents and copyrights. Other powers, such as the power of Congress to establish federal courts below the Supreme Court, are found elsewhere in the Constitution (Article III, Section 1). The first of these enumerated powers, to levy taxes, is quite possibly the most important power Congress possesses. Without

Question 82

What does the president’s veto power allow him to do? How can a veto be
overridden?

Answer 82

veto legislation if necessary, although a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress could override that veto

Question 83

What steps must a new president take to effectively assume the powers of the office?

Answer 83

It can be difficult for a new president to come to terms with both the powers of the office and the limitations of those powers. Successful presidents assume their role ready to make a smooth transition and to learn to work within the complex governmental system to fill vacant positions in the cabinet and courts, many of which require Senate confirmation. It also means efficiently laying out a political agenda and reacting appropriately to unexpected events. New presidents have limited time to get things done and must take action with the political wind at their backs.

Question 84

public administration

Answer 84

the implementation of public policy as well as the academic study that prepares civil servants to work in government

Question 85

Merit System

Answer 85

a system of filling civil service positions by using competitive examinations to value experience and competence over political loyalties

Question 86

privatization

Answer 86

measures that incorporate the market forces of the private sector into the function of government to varying degrees

Question 87

What electoral advantages do incumbent members of Congress enjoy?

Answer 87

The historical difficulty of unseating an incumbent in the House or Senate is often referred to as the incumbent advantage or the incumbency effect. The advantage in financing is a huge part of this effect, but it is not the only important part. Incumbents often have a much higher level of name recognition. All things being equal, voters are far more likely to select the name of the person they recall seeing on television and hearing on the radio for the last few years than the name of a person they hardly know. And donors are more likely to want to give to a proven winner.

But more important is the way the party system itself privileges incumbents. A large percentage of congressional districts across the country are “safe seats” in uncompetitive districts, meaning candidates from a particular party are highly likely to consistently win the seat. This means the functional decision in these elections occurs during the primary, not in the general election. Political parties in general prefer to support incumbents in elections, because the general consensus is that incumbents are better candidates, and their record of success lends support to this conclusion. That said, while the political parties themselves to a degree control and regulate the primaries, popular individual candidates and challengers sometimes rule the day. This has especially been the case in recent years as conservative incumbents have been “primaried” by challengers more conservative than they.

Question 88

whistleblower

Answer 88

a person who publicizes misdeeds committed within a bureaucracy or other organization

Question 89

Senate Minority Leader

Answer 89

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
– Represents the minority
party in Senate
negotiations

Question 90

What are the constitutional requirements to serve in the U.S. House of
Representatives? How many members are in the U.S. House of Representatives?
How are they chosen? Does the District of Columbia have voting representation in
the House?

Answer 90

The House of Representatives
– Has 435 voting members
* Elected from state districts
* Number of representatives depends on state’s population
– Members serve two (2) year terms
– Members must
* Be at least 25 years old
* Have been a U.S. resident for seven (7) years
* Be a resident of the state they represent

Question 91

How did the framers design the legislative branch of government and what powers was it given?

Answer 91

constitution. The Constitution established a bicameral legislature, with a Senate composed of two members from each state and a House of Representatives composed of members drawn from each state in proportion to its population. Today’s Senate has one hundred members representing fifty states, while membership in the House of Representatives has been capped at 435 since 1929. Apportionment in the House is based on population data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Constitution empowers Congress with enumerated, implied, and inherent powers. Enumerated powers are specifically addressed in the text of the Constitution. Implied powers are not explicitly called out but are inferred as necessary to achieve the objectives of the national goverment. Inherent powers are assumed to exist by virtue of the fact that the country exists.

Question 92

What military office is held by the president? How does the War Powers Resolution
attempt to limit the president’s authority over military policy?

Answer 92

The president was to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States, negotiate treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, and receive representatives of foreign nations (Figure 12.4).

Question 93

patronage

Answer 93

the use of government positions to reward individuals for their political support

Question 94

What role does each leader
play in the legislative process?

Answer 94

The leader of the House is the Speaker, who also typically the leader of the majority party. In the Senate, the leader is called the majority leader. The minorities in each chamber also have leaders who help create and act on party strategies. The majority leadership in each chamber controls the important committees where legislature is written, amended, and prepared for the floor.

Question 95

What are the constitutional requirements to serve in the U.S. Senate? How many
members are in the U.S. Senate? How are they chosen? Does the District of
Columbia have voting representation in the Senate?

Answer 95

The Senate
– Has 100 voting members
* Each state is allotted two (2) senators
– Members serve six (6) year terms
– Members must
* Be at least 30 years old
* Have been a U.S. resident for nine (9) years
* Be a resident of the state they represent

Question 96

Senate President

Answer 96

Vice President
Kamala Harris (Dem)
– Constitutionally,
the president and
presiding officer
of the Senate
– Only official duty
is to vote in case
of a tie, so she
rarely attend

Question 97

Which amendment addresses the rules for succession for the president and vice
president?

Answer 97

The 25th Amendment requires
– That the vice president become acting president when
the
* Vice president and
* A majority of the cabinet
notify the
* the Speaker of the House and
* the President Pro Tem of the Senate
of the president’s inability to perform his duties

Question 98

How are party leaders (e.g., Speaker of the House, Majority Leader, Minority Leader,
Whips) chosen in the U.S. House of Representatives?

Answer 98

The party leadership in Congress controls the actions of Congress. Leaders are elected by the two-party conferences in each chamber. In the House of Representatives, these are the House Democratic Conference and the House Republican Conference. Despite the power of the conferences, however, the most important leadership position in the House is actually elected by the entire body of representatives.This position is called the Speaker of the House and is the only House officer mentioned in the Constitution.

Question 99

What are the advantages and disadvantages of merit-based selection of federal employees?

Answer 99

The merit-based system of filling jobs in the government bureaucracy elevates ability and accountability over political loyalties. Unfortunately, this system also has its downsides. The most common complaint is that the bureaucrats are no longer as responsive to elected public officials as they once had been. This, however, may be a necessary tradeoff for the level of efficiency and specialization necessary in the modern world.

Question 100

spoils system

Answer 100

a system that rewards political loyalties or party support during elections with bureaucratic appointments after victory

Question 101

Senate Majority Leader

Answer 101

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
– Not as powerful as
Speaker of the House
– Schedules Senate
business
– Recognizes first
speaker in floor debate
– National spokesperson
for the party

Question 102

What does the president’s veto power allow him to do? How can a veto be
overridden?

Answer 102

Congress can pass laws, but its power to do so can be checked by the president, who can veto potential legislation so that it cannot become a law.

Question 103

How do presidents use their powers to govern and what factors affect their degree of success?

Answer 103

While the power of the presidency is typically checked by the other two branches of government, presidents have the unencumbered power to pardon those convicted of federal crimes and to issue executive orders, which don’t require congressional approval but lack the permanence of laws passed by Congress. In matters concerning foreign policy, presidents have at their disposal the executive agreement, which is a much-easier way for two countries to come to terms than a treaty that requires Senate ratification but is also much narrower in scope.

Presidents use various means to attempt to drive public opinion and effect political change. But history has shown that they are limited in their ability to drive public opinion. Favorable conditions can help a president move policies forward. These conditions include party control of Congress and the arrival of crises such as war or economic decline. But as some presidencies have shown, even the most favorable conditions don’t guarantee success.

Question 104

government corporation

Answer 104

a corporation that fulfills an important public interest and is therefore overseen by government authorities to a much larger degree than private businesses

Question 105

bureaucracy

Answer 105

an administrative group of nonelected officials charged with carrying out functions connected to a series of policies and programs

Question 106

Speaker of the House

Answer 106

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
– Presiding officer of the House
– Decides which committee new
bills are assigned to
– Recognizes speakers on the
floor
– (One of the) primary people
who formulate the party’s
legislative program

Question 107

How long can a president serve in office? Which constitutional amendment
establishes the length of the presidential term?

Answer 107

Twenty-Second Amendment was proposed and ratified, limiting the presidency to two four-year terms.

Question 108

bully pulpit

Answer 108

Theodore Roosevelt’s notion of the presidency as a platform from which the president could push an agenda
cabinet

Question 109

rally around the flag effect

Answer 109

a spike in presidential popularity during international crises

Question 110

How are the House and Senate organized?

Answer 110

the most important leadership position in the House is actually elected by the entire body of representatives. This position is called the Speaker of the House and is the only House officer mentioned in the Constitution. The Constitution does not require the Speaker to be a member of the House, although to date, all fifty-four Speakers have been. The Speaker is the presiding officer, the administrative head of the House, the partisan leader of the majority party in the House, and an elected representative of a single congressional district

vote. The Speaker also rules on House procedures, often delegating authority for certain duties to other members. He or she appoints members and chairs to committees, creates select committees to fulfill a specific purpose and then disband, and can even select a member to be speaker pro tempore, who acts as Speaker in the Speaker’s absence.

Like the House, the Senate also has majority and minority leaders and whips, each with duties very similar to those of their counterparts in the House. Unlike the House, however, the Senate doesn’t have a Speaker. The duties and powers held by the Speaker in the House fall to the majority leader in the Senate. Another difference is that, according to the U.S. Constitution, the Senate’s president is actually the elected vice president of the United States, but may vote only in case of a tie. Apart from this and very few other exceptions, the president of the Senate does not actually operate in the Senate. Instead, the Constitution allows for the Senate to choose a president pro tempore—usually the most senior senator of the majority party—who presides over the Senate. Despite the title, the job is largely a formal and powerless role. The real power in the Senate is in the hands of the majority leader (Figure 11.16) and the minority leader.

Question 111

How has the federal bureaucracy been reformed in response to allegations of politicization?

Answer 111

Congress responded to cries for reform with the Pendleton Act, also called the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. The act established the Civil Service Commission, a centralized agency charged with ensuring that the federal government’s selection, retention, and promotion practices were based on open, competitive examinations in a merit system.

Question 112

What is the process for selecting a president and how has that process evolved over time?

Answer 112

presidential primary and caucus system as the main means by which presidential candidates are selected

Following the first election of Washington, the political party system gained steam and power in the electoral process, creating separate nomination and general election stages. Early on, the power to nominate presidents for office bubbled up from the party operatives in the various state legislatures and toward what was known as the king caucus or congressional caucus.

The process of electing a president every four years has evolved over time. This evolution has resulted from attempts to correct the cumbersome procedures first offered by the framers of the Constitution and as a result of political parties’ rising power to act as gatekeepers to the presidency. Over the last several decades, the manner by which parties have chosen candidates has trended away from congressional caucuses and conventions and towards a drawn-out series of state contests, called primaries and caucuses,

Question 113

bicameralism

Answer 113

the political process that results from dividing a legislature into two separate assemblies

Question 114

oversight

Answer 114

the right to review and monitor other bodies such as the executive branch

Question 115

select committee

Answer 115

a small legislative committee created to fulfill a specific purpose and then disbanded; also called an ad hoc, or special, committee

Question 116

whip

Answer 116

in the House and in the Senate, a high leadership position whose primary duty is to enforce voting discipline in the chambers and conferences