Quiz/notes

Question 1

Which of the following is the biggest predictor of congressional oversight of the bureaucracy?

Answer 1

Divided Government

Question 2

True or False: limitation riders put conditions on how a bureaucracy can spend money.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

What is OIRA?

Answer 3

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Question 4

This law restricts federal employees’ partisan activities:

Answer 4

Hatch Act

Question 5

What is the most common form of oversight?

Answer 5

Nonstatutory controls

Question 6

Which area of policy affords more presidential power?

Answer 6

Foreign policy

Question 7

True or False: Presidents can issue a line-item veto.

Answer 7

False

Question 8

If a President does not sign a bill after 10 days and Congress is in session, what happens?

Answer 8

The bill becomes law

Question 9

True or False: Executive Orders have the force of law.

Answer 9

True

Question 10

True or False: A President’s decision to “go public” is risky.

Answer 10

True

Question 11

Members of which chamber tend to be “generalists”?

Answer 11

Senate

Question 12

Which of the following groups is a “typical” base of support for the Democratic Party?

Answer 12

Younger voters

Question 13

This “type” of Member of Congress has a known reputation of supporting a piece of legislation.

Answer 13

Early decider

Question 14

True or False: the two political parties have not become more ideologically sorted over time.

Answer 14

False

Question 15

True or False: committee chairs play a larger organizing role than parties

Answer 15

False

Question 16

This type of committee meets to adjudicate differences between House- and Senate-passed versions of a bill.

Answer 16

Conference committees

Question 17

Which of the following describes the structure of committees in Congress’s earliest days?

Answer 17

Standing committees did not exist

Question 18

Which is the most powerful tool given to Congressional leaders?

Answer 18

The power to schedule legislation

Question 19

This term refers to the entirety of a party’s members in either the House or the Senate.

Answer 19

Caucus

Question 20

Which of the following is not true about more senior Members of Congress?

Answer 20

They travel home more than junior colleagues

Question 21

True or False: The Speaker of the House of Representatives must be a member of the House

Answer 21

False

Question 22

Which of the following is true?

Answer 22

Party discipline is stronger in the House than the Senate

Question 23

True or False: Conditional party government spells out when rank-and-file Members of Congress delegate authority to their leaders.

Answer 23

True

Question 24

This congressional position is in charge of enforcing party discipline:

Answer 24

Whips

Question 25

True or False: one must live in the district that they represent.

Answer 25

False

Question 26

True or False: Non-citizens do not count for purposes of seat allocation in Congress.

Answer 26

False

Question 27

Why are there fewer women than men in elected office?

Answer 27

They are less likely to be asked to run

Question 28

This type of representation is concerned with representation on issues.

Answer 28

Substantive representation

Question 29

Compared to the general public, which of the following is not true of Congress?

Answer 29

It is less religious

Question 30

True or False: PAC donations make up the majority of a campaign's funding.

Answer 30

True

Question 31

Match the region of the country to the party that traditionally performs best in that area:

Answer 31

Coasts --> Democrats South ---> Republicans Plains----> Republicans Midwest ----> Toss-up

Question 32

True or False: door-to-door, face-to-face campaigning is more effective than TV or radio ads.

Answer 32

True

Question 33

True or False: corporations can spend an unlimited amount of money on campaigns.

Answer 33

True

Question 34

True or False: most Members of Congress are primarily concerned with securing their own re-election.

Answer 34

True

Question 35

Trustee

Answer 35

members of congress are expected to use their own judgement

Question 36

Delegate

Answer 36

Members should do exactly what their constituents want them to do on each issue

Question 37

Textbook Congress

Answer 37

performing legislative and constitutional duties

Question 38

Representative assembly Congress

Answer 38

The individual members of congress focused on building and maintaining political support

Question 39

True or False: Geographic space aided the development of representative democracy in the New World.

Answer 39

True

Question 40

Homestyle

Answer 40

The actions and behaviors of a member of Congress aimed at the constituents and intended to win the support and trust of the voters at home

Question 41

Multiple Referrals

Answer 41

The act of sending a proposed piece of legislation to more than one committee in the same chamber.

Question 42

Omnibus Bill

Answer 42

One very large bill that encompasses many separate bills.

Question 43

Committee Leader

Answer 43

The leaders of different committees that set timelines for and head the various committees in the Senate and House. Sets agenda for individual committees; can bury policy - Chairpersons are always the majority party.

Question 44

majority-minority districts

Answer 44

Drawing district boundaries to give a minority group a majority

Question 45

incumbency advantage

Answer 45

advantage institutional advantages held by those already in office who are trying to fend off challengers in an election

Question 46

Congressional Rules

Answer 46

Procedures that are NOT spelled out in the Constitution, but are adopted by the House and Senate that govern operations during the lawmaking process

Question 47

Campaign Finance Regulations

Answer 47

laws that govern political fundraising and/or spending - Buckley v. Valeo (1976): Campaign expenditures are free speech protected by 1st amendments - Citizens United V. FEC (2010) Corporations can donate unlimited amounts to campaigns

Question 48

Party Leadership

Answer 48

members of the house and senate who are chosen by the democratic or republican caucus in each chamber to represent the partys interest in that chamber and who give some central direction to the chambers work

Question 49

conditional party government

Answer 49

The theory that lawmakers from the same party will cooperate to develop policy proposals.

Question 50

Statuatory interpretation

Answer 50

Judges construe meaning of the vague language embedded in laws 'When the court misinterprets a statute, congress can amend or clarify the law

Question 51

Constitutiona interpretation

Answer 51

Occurs when federal or state laws are challenged as violating the us constitution Congress can more easily reassert itself vis-a-vis the court when dealing with statutory, rather than constitutional, interpretation

Question 52

Federalism

Answer 52

When arguments between states and the federal gov, the SC ultimately determines power possessed by each

Question 53

There are 3 main components to the federal court system

Answer 53

District courts Courts of appeals Supreme courts (lowest power to highest)

Question 54

Disctrict courts

Answer 54

Federal trial courts Lowest level Handle civil matters, bankruptcy hearings, and federal criminal cases Do most work of federal courts Goal is norm enforcement- applying relatively settled law to disputes Structure Each state has ar least one district court , bigger states have more Lifetime appointments and magistrate judges , which serve for a fixed term and assist lifetime judges with caseload

Question 55

Court appeals

Answer 55

Smaller in number than district courts Organized in eleven regional circuits Plus a circuit for dc and an overall federal circuit that has nationwide, specialized juridiction Latter ddeals w administrative agency ruligns and patent cadses Staffed by circuit judges Next up after district courts 13 districts Hear oral arguments that appeal a district courts ruling Cases are decided by three-judge panels Occasionally will be reviewed by a larger number of circuit judges sititng – en banc En banc = is not the norm main job is error correction , reviewing lower courtscases and checking them

Question 56

Supreme courts

Answer 56

If parties are unhappy with an outcome at the appelate level, they can seek a supreme court review of their cases - important – sc review is almost NEVERz automatic Sc has discretion over the cases it hears Sc hears and decides approximately 1% of cases in which a review is requested Supreme court hears cases that focus on important questions of constitutional and statutory interpretation Sc rarely hears a case just to overturn a lower courts ruling Sc cares abt its policy making role I