ch4-7 gov quizzes

The people that a legislator spends considerable time and effort serving are called

constituents

A filibuster is

an attempt to prevent the passage of a bill through the use of unlimtited debate

The concept of cloture refers to

a process that attempts to limit debate on a bill in the Senate

Reapportionment is

the allocation of seats in the House to each state after each census

Redistricting is

the redrawing of district boundaries within each state to ensure equal district populations

Gerrymandering is

the drawing of legislative district boundary lines for the purpose of obtaining partisan advantage

A conference committee is

a special committee convened to resolve differences between a House-passed bill and a Senate-passed bill

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

reviews the programs and budgets of all executive agencies

Which of the following actions can Congress take if the Supreme Court finds a federal law unconstitutional?

Try to amend the Constitution

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

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

To be elected president one must receive a 

simple majority of the electoral vote

The president, in his capacity as head of state is responsible for 

conducting the foreign policy of the country

As chief executive, the president is constitutionally bound to 

all of the answers are correct

The granting of release from the punishment for a crime is called

a pardon

The War powers Resolution requires the president to

Consult with Congress within 48 hours of sending American forces into action

Before a treaty can become legally binding, the treaty must be 

approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate

A pocket veto

can only be used when Congress adjourns for the session within ten days of the bill being submitted to the President

Presidents have had the most success in changing the direction of decisions of the federal judiciary by 

Using the appointment process to select judges with judicial philosophies similar to those of the President

All of the following pos are granted to the President by the Constitution EXCEPT

Forming new cabinet-level departments

Which of the following procedures results in the removal of the president from office?

The House votes for impeachment, and the Senate conducts a trial and reaches a guilty verdict

What is the role of judicial review in the system of checks and balances?

it makes the courts a coequal branch with the president and Congress

Most American law is based on 

the English legal system

The body of judge-made law is known as 

common law

The doctrine of stare decisis means

to stand on the decided cases

The United States has a dual court system.  There are

state courts and federal courts

Jurisdiction refers to 

the authority of a court to hear and decide a particular class of cases

Diversity of citizenship exists when 

the parties to the lawsuit are from different states

U.S. district courts are 

trial courts

A writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court orders

a lower court to send it the record of a case for review

A procedure used by the Supreme Court to determine which cases it will hear is called

the rule of four

A dissenting opinion can be important because

it often forms the basis of the arguments used years later to reverse the majority opinion in a similar case

The two bodies that employ by far the largest number of federal civilian employees are 

The US Postal Service and the Department of Defense

The cabinet departments, in terms of organization, are 

Directly accountable to the president

The function of independent regulatory agencies is to 

Make and implement rules and regulations for a particular sector of the economy or other sphere of action

Independent regulatory agencies are independent because

Both of the first two answer choices are correct

The spoils system can be viewed as 

a system of patronage

Bureaucracy is the name given to 

a large organization, structured hierarchically, that carries out specific functions

One of the important differences between public bureaucracies and private corporations is that government bureaucracies are

not organized to make a profit

The acquisitive model of bureaucracy holds that 

leaders of bureaucracies seek expanded budgets and larger tariffs

The monopolistic model of bureaucracy states that

bureaucracies have no competitors and are therefore inefficient

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are all examples of 

autonomous agencies