Study Guide federal government

The framers of the Constitution saw the________ as the preeminent component of the federal government.

C) Congress

The framers of the Constitution regarded Congress as

A) the preeminent branch of the federal government.

Senate incumbents have about a(n)________ chance of winning reelection.

D) 84 percent

Legislation whose tangible benefits are targeted solely at a particular legislator's constituency is often criticized as

A) pork.

Campaign fundraising tends to be a much greater challenge for

A) challengers than for incumbents.

Redistricting happens after the census, which is conducted every________ years.

C) 10

Incumbents may have some problems in reelection campaigns if

E) All these answers are correct.

Compared to House incumbents, Senate incumbents are more likely to face the problem of

C) a strong challenger.

One must be________ years of age to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and________ years of age to serve in the U.S. Senate.

C) 25; 30

Which of the following groups is overrepresented in Congress?

E) lawyers

In which of the following legislative sessions did Democrats have the majority in the House of Representatives?

C) 2021-2022

Which of the following statements is true?

C) Party-line voting has increased in recent years.

What percentage of state legislators are women?

B) more than 30 percent

The second-most powerful elected national official (after the president) is often said to be the

C) Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The most powerful person from the minority party in the House is the

B) minority leader.

In contrast with the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader

C) cannot compel an end to floor debate on a bill.

A standing committee in the House or Senate

E) All these answers are correct.

Most of the legislative work of Congress is performed by

A) the standing committees and their subcommittees with jurisdiction over particular policy areas.

When the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, the differences are resolved by a

A) conference committee.

A bill has been approved in the House and Senate, albeit in slightly different versions. The bill now goes to

B) a conference committee.

Bills are formally introduced in Congress by

A) members of Congress only.

Most of the work on legislation in Congress is done

A) by committees and their respective subcommittees.

Committees kill more than________ of the bills submitted in Congress.

E) 90 percent

Mark up of a bill means that

E) None of these answers are correct.

If the Rules Committee applies the closed rule to a bill,

A) no amendments will be permitted.

What is the procedural tactic employed in the Senate to prevent a bill from coming to a vote?

B) filibuster

Through a vote for cloture, the Senate

B) can end a filibuster.

To override a presidential veto, Congress must vote at a minimum by a

C) two-thirds majority in each chamber.

The dominant policymaking political institution during most of the 19th century was

B) Congress.

Congress's inability to consistently provide leadership on broad national issues is primarily due to

B) the fragmented nature of Congress.

There are currently________ voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives and________ voting members of the U.S. Senate.

B) 435; 100

Most members of Congress are

A) more likely to side with local interests than national ones on narrow issues.

The trading of votes between members of Congress so that each gets the legislation they want is called

C) logrolling.

Which of the following statements is true about congressional members over the last three decades?

A) Republicans have become more conservative.

What is the biggest reason that Congress does not vigorously pursue its oversight function?

A) the sheer magnitude of the task

Congressional oversight is most likely to garner public attention when it involves

A) gross wrongdoing.

A bill that benefits veterans is an example of a bill with a________ benefit because its positive outcome is limited to a specific group.

C) concentrated

The presidency is an

C) office in which power is conditional, depending on whether the political support that gives force to presidential leadership exists or can be developed.

A president's power has largely depended on

B) whether circumstances favor strong presidential leadership.

Which factors motivated Joe Biden's decision to step out of the 2024 presidential race?

A) inflation and questions about his age

The presidency was created by Article________ of the U.S. Constitution.

B) II

What did Alexander Hamilton argue about war in Federalist No. 69?

D) A surprise attack on the United States is the only justification for war by presidential decree.

The president's constitutional roles, such as chief executive and commander in chief,

D) have expanded in practice to be more powerful than the writers of the Constitution intended.

The Whig theory holds that the presidency

B) is a limited office whose occupant is an administrator who carries out the will of Congress.

How did Theodore Roosevelt change the conception of the presidency?

E) He cast aside the Whig theory in favor of the stewardship theory.

Which of the following is a reason for the relatively weak presidency during the 19th century, as compared to the presidency in the 20th century?

D) all of these factors: the smaller size and complexity of the federal government; the sectional nature of the nation's major issues; and the U.S. government's smaller role in world affairs

Which of the following is NOT a formal barrier to the presidency?

E) race

In the 1970s, a reform of the nominating process required all states to choose their delegates through

A) popular voting.

Which phrase in the Constitution establishes the president as chief executive?

A) "He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States."

Why was the 2024 Democratic nominating race like no other in the nation's history?

D) After acquiring the necessary number of delegates, Joe Biden abruptly dropped out of the race.

What does the role of chief diplomat allow the president to do?

A) be responsible for relations with other countries

During their years in office, when is a president more likely to get bills passed through Congress?

A) the first half of their first year in office

The president's role of chief diplomat rests largely on provisions in the U.S. Constitution that

A) grant the president the power to "appoint" and "receive" ambassadors.

Why does the president also occupy a role as chief legislator?

E) Bills may originate with the House of Representatives, the Senate, or the president's legislative office.

Which of the following has become a significant challenge for modern-day presidents?

B) Maintaining control over what is done in their name

In the run-up to the 2024 election, Donald Trump chose

A) J.D. Vance of Ohio to be his vice-presidential running mate.

What is permanent campaign?

A) when a president spends a lot of their time on rallies, polling and so on with the public rather than governing

When a president's party controls both houses of Congress, it creates a situation known as

A) unified government.

Cabinet members of the executive office is appointed by

A) the president.

Which of the following units is NOT included in the organization of the EOP?

E) DHS

What theory, prevailing in the 19th century, described the presidency as a constrained office?

A) limited presidency theory

Donald Trump turned tweeting into

B) an instrument of everyday governing.

Which of the following is a formal constitutional requirement for becoming president?

C) must be a natural-born citizen

Which of the following is true of the vice presidency?

B) The Constitution assigns no executive authority to the vice president.

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) was created in

E) 1939.

Which of the following is part of the Executive Office of the President?

E) All of these answers are correct.

The presidential advisory unit that, as a whole, has declined significantly as an advisory resource for the president in the last century is the

E) cabinet (as a whole).

The president's success is most dependent on winning over

D) Congress.

A president is likely to propose the most new programs

A) during his or her first year in office.

Which of the following is true of the president's veto power?

D) The veto is as much a sign of presidential weakness as of strength, because it arises when Congress refuses to accept the president's ideas.

Political scientist Richard Neustadt argues that presidential power, at its core, is the power to

B) persuade.

If the U.S. House of Representatives chooses to impeach a president, who conducts the trial?

C) the U.S. Senate

The forced removal of a president from office through impeachment and conviction requires action by the

D) House and Senate in separate proceedings.

Which president narrowly survived an impeachment conviction?

A) Andrew Johnson

How many presidents have been impeached in U.S. history?

D) 3

The War Powers Act was enacted in order to

D) limit the president's war-making power.

In Trump v. United States (2024), the Supreme Court ruled that

D) the president has either absolute or presumed immunity for official acts and no immunity for unofficial acts.

The "illusion of presidential government,"

A) works to a president's advantage when the country is doing well.

Which of the following is typical of post-World War II presidents with respect to public popularity?

A) leaving office with less than 50 percent approval ratings

Bureaucracy is based on which of the following principles?

D) hierarchical authority, job specialization, and formalized rules

Modern bureaucracy in America is best characterized in terms of

B) hierarchy, specialization, and rules.

In promoting their agency's goals, bureaucrats rely on

D) all of these: their expert knowledge; the backing of the president and Congress; and the support of clientele groups.

In the late 1800s, rapid economic growth placed new demands on the federal government and led it to

A) create new federal departments built around economic interests.

The number of employees in the federal bureaucracy is about

C) 2.8 million.

The cabinet department with the largest number of full-time civilian employees is the Department of

B) Defense.

The Department of________ was created in 2002.

E) Homeland Security

Which of the following statements does NOT correctly describe independent agencies?

B) Their heads are appointed by an independent commission.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are

E) respectively, an agency within a cabinet department, an independent agency, and a regulatory agency.

Federal regulatory agencies have responsibility primarily in the area of

A) economic policy.

Regulatory agencies have

A) administrative, legislative, and judicial functions.

Most federal civil servants are hired on the basis of

A) merit criteria.

As distinct from the patronage system, the merit system for managing the bureaucracy

C) provides for a neutral administration in the sense that civil servants are not partisan appointees, thus ensuring neutral work.

The________ established a merit system for certain federal positions.

C) Pendleton Act

The federal bureaucracy today is

D) a mix of the patronage and merit systems, with the vast majority of positions being filled by merit.

Which of the following is true of federal employees and labor unions?

B) Federal employees can form labor unions, but their unions by law have limited authority.

The majority of federal employees have a(n)________ job ranking.

E) Graded Service

Which of the following steps in the federal budgetary process occurs latest?

C) Congress completes work on the appropriations bills.

What is the congressional equivalent of the Office of Management and Budget?

C) Congressional Budget Office

What happens to the president's budget if it is approved by a vote of the House and Senate?

C) It is sent to the president to sign or veto.

Policy implementation refers to the bureaucratic function of

A) carrying out directives issued by Congress, the president, and the courts.