AP Govenrment Ch. 12 Congress MCQ

The advantages of incumbency in congressional elections include which of the following?

1. Incumbents receive more campaign contributions than do challengers.

2. Incumbents are able to provide important services for individual voters.

3. The government provides campaign funds for incumbents.

4. The President usually endorses incumbents for reelection.

5. Most American voters believe Congress does a good job.

1 and 2 only

The Constitution states that all revenue bills must originate in

the United States House of Representatives

Which of the following statements accurately summarizes the reasoning for the decision in Baker v. Carr (1962) ?

Because rural districts had fewer people, representation was unevenly distributed; thus, Baker was denied equal protection under the law.

Which of the following best describes the reasoning in Baker v. Carr (1961)?

Unequal representation of citizens in legislative districts is unconstitutional and may be reviewed by the courts.

Which of the following best reflects the holding in the case Baker v. Carr (1962) ?

Opened the door to Equal Protection Clause challenges to redistricting by deciding that such cases could be reviewed by federal courts.

The boundary lines of congressional districts are drawn by

state legislatures

Which of the following is true of the seniority system of Congress in relation to committee leadership and committee staffing?

The chairs of congressional committees tend to be senior members of the body's majority party.

Which of the following is true according to the diagram?

Both chambers make use of a system of majority and minority whips.

The committee system is more important in the House than in the Senate because

the House is so large that more work can be accomplished in committees than on the floor

	Formal Power	Informal Power
A	Vetoing legislation to prevent a bill from becoming law	Using a pocket veto to prevent a bill from becoming law
B	Using the bully pulpit to influence public opinion	Appointing ambassadors and receiving diplomats from other nations
C	Acting as commander in chief of the military	Signing executive agreements with foreign nations
D	Using the power of the purse to support government programs	Using signing statements to shape legislation

Which of the following accurately compares the formal and informal powers of the president?

C

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate?

House of Representatives	Senate
Debate on bills is limited	Debate on bills can be unlimited

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the rules for debate used by the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate?

House of Representatives	Senate
Debate is limited.	Members can filibuster.

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate?

House of Representatives	Senate
The Constitution’s framers intended it to reflect the will of the people.	The Constitution’s framers designed it to represent the interests of the states.

The committee that resolves differences between House and Senate versions of a bill is called a

conference committee

Federal benefits that must be funded by Congress and must be paid to all citizens who meet eligibility criteria are called

individual entitlements

A "cloture motion" passed in the Senate does which of the following?

Cuts off debate on a bill.

Which of the following categories accounted for the majority of spending in 2017, according to the chart?

Mandatory

An example of a discretionary item in the federal budget is

spending on national parks

Advocates of shifting the task of drawing United States House districts from state legislatures to independent commissions are likely to claim which of the following as an advantage of independent commissions?

Independent commissions significantly reduce the influence of partisan gerrymandering in the redistricting process.

Much of the steady increase in federal government expenditures since 1960 has been caused by

increases in entitlement programs

Which of the following committees of the House of Representatives sets the conditions for debate and amendment of most legislation?

Rules

	Facilitates Gridlock	Facilitates Action
A	Gerrymandering	Partisanship
B	Ideological news sources	Bicameral legislature
C	Bully pulpit	Judicial review
D	Checks and balances	Executive orders

Which of the following is the most accurate comparison of the processes that generally facilitate gridlock and those that facilitate governmental action?

D

Which of the following statements about the Senate is true?

Individual senators can exercise substantial influence over the legislative process.

A member of the House of Representatives who wishes to be influential in the House itself would most likely seek a place on which of the following committees?

Rules

Based on your knowledge and the diagram, which of the following is true regarding the leadership structure of Congress?

The role of the minority leader in both the House of Representatives and the Senate is to coordinate a strategy for the minority party.

A new president has been elected after running on a campaign of lowering taxes and reducing spending on discretionary programs but now must work with Congress to ensure legislation passes which achieves those goals. Which of the leaders in the diagram plays the most crucial role in shaping the legislation that the president wants passed?

Speaker of the House

“Pork barrel” legislation helps the reelection chances of a member of Congress because such legislation

helps earn the member of Congress a reputation for service to his or her district

The House Appropriations Committee disagrees with a proposal in the president’s annual budget request to increase the number of people eligible for food stamps, consequently leading to the House of Representatives passing a budget that does not increase funding for the program. This ability to check presidential actions is best described as

the power of the purse

Generally, when is a president more likely to get congressional approval of proposed policies?

In foreign affairs rather than in domestic affairs

	Congress Has Greater Control	President Has Greater Control
A	Judicial appointments	Foreign policy
B	Budgetary policy	Cabinet appointments
C	The bureaucracy	Fiscal policy
D	Military leadership	Foreign treaties

Which of the following accurately compares the powers of Congress and the president?

B

Which of the following statements about rules of procedure in the House and Senate is correct?

The House operates more by formal rules, while the Senate operates more on informal understandings.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Shaw v. Reno (1993) is most applicable to which of the following scenarios?

A state legislature approves a redistricting plan that draws district lines on basis of race.

Which of the following describes the ruling in Shaw v. Reno (1993) ?

Racial gerrymandering was ruled unconstitutional.

Of the following, which is the most powerful figure in Congress?

The Speaker of the House

The congressional system of standing committees is significant because it

fosters the development of expertise by members

Which of the following statements is true based on the bar graph?

From 2011 to 2016, no stand-alone appropriations bills were passed on time.

Which of the following is an accurate statement about committees in Congress?

Standing committees oversee the bureaucracy's implementation of legislation.

Congressional district boundaries are usually redrawn every ten years by the

state legislatures

Which of the following statements can be supported by the data in the line graph?

Members of the House of Representatives are more likely to be reelected than defeated.

A member of the United States Senate, Jane Smith, personally opposes a bill that calls for a single-payer system of healthcare, in contrast to the majority of her constituency, who are in favor of the legislation. Based on the trustee model of constituent accountability, which of the following actions will Senator Smith most likely take when it is time to vote on the piece of legislation?

Vote against the bill according to her own conscience, which may cause her to lose support among her constituents.