In initiating broad legislative proposals, the president enjoys all the following advantages over Congress EXCEPT
the president being more likely to take a national perspective on policy issues.
the president being granted more authority by the Constitution in the area of lawmaking.
the president's actions receiving more attention from the national media.
the president having the authority to make policy decisions even when there are conflicting views within the executive branch, while congressional leaders cannot impose their views on other members who disagree with them.
a lack of fragmentation.
Most members of Congress are
concerned with national issues, but even more concerned with local ones.
controlled by special interest groups.
interested only in the work of the subcommittee on which they serve.
opposed to the seniority system.
more interested in oversight than in making laws.
By and large, partisanship is
irrelevant to the work of Congress.
a huge source of both cohesion and division within Congress.
relevant only in the context of local representation.
important in lawmaking and representation but not in oversight.
more important in foreign policy than in domestic policy.
The oversight responsibility of Congress is
relatively easy to carry out.
becoming less and less important to the nation.
more interesting to most legislators than policy making responsibilities.
the most time consuming task for most legislators.
None of these answers is correct.
What is the biggest reason that Congress does not vigorously pursue its oversight function?
the sheer magnitude of the task
its inadequacy as a means to control the bureaucracy
its inadequacy as a means to control the power of the president
its inadequacy as a way to generate publicity for members of Congress
its inadequacy as a means to control the judiciary
Which of the following is one of the three major functions of Congress's policymaking role?
lawmaking
check the president
appease special interests
inform the people
check the Supreme Court
Bills are formally introduced in Congress by
members of Congress only.
executive agencies.
interest groups.
the Supreme Court.
All these answers are correct.
Most of the work on legislation in Congress is done
by committees and their respective subcommittees.
on the floor of the House and Senate.
by conference committees.
by the president.
by bureaucratic agencies.
The scheduling of bills in the Senate is left up to
the Senate Scheduling Committee.
the Senate majority leader.
each of the Senate committees.
the Senate historian.
the Senate parliamentarian.
News media coverage of Congress and the president is
about equal in amount.
heavily tilted toward presidential coverage.
largely focused on Congress and its members.
typically focused on areas where there is consensus between the two institutions.
typically focused on areas where the House as opposed to the Senate is the leading chamber.
There are currently ________ voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives and ________ voting members of the U.S. Senate.
535; 100
435; 100
150; 31
300; 100
600; 300
What is the strategy employed in the Senate to prevent a bill from coming to a vote?
mark up
filibuster
cloture
pocket veto
conference committee
For a bill to pass in either chamber of Congress, it must
receive the support of a third of its members.
receive the support of a simple majority of its members.
receive the support of two-thirds of its members.
be passed within two weeks of its passage by the other chamber.
be passed within a month of its passage by the other chamber.
The dominant policymaking political institution during most of the nineteenth century was
the president and the executive branch.
Congress.
the bureaucracy.
the mass media.
Defining the conditions and scheduling a bill for floor debate in the House of Representatives is the responsibility of the
Ways and Means Committee.
Rules Committee.
Budget Committee.
Appropriations Committee.
Judiciary Committee.
Which of the following statements is true?
Political parties are unimportant in the organization of the U.S. Congress.
Party-line voting rarely occurs in Congress.
Party-line voting has increased in recent years.
Partisanship makes virtually no difference in the votes cast in Congress.
Since the founding of the United States, the debate over the representation function of Congress has centered on whether
key decisions should be made by a small number of representatives in committee or by the whole membership in floor debate.
the primary concern of a representative should be the interests of the nation or of his or her constituency.
congressional or presidential authority should dominate on broad issues.
the House or the Senate is more responsive to the public.
the House or the Senate should take the lead on foreign policy issues.
The trading of votes between members of Congress so that each gets the legislation he or she wants is called
gerrymandering.
pandering.
logrolling.
pork-barreling.
cloturing.
"Mark up" of a bill means that
a president has crossed out sections of the bill that he or she finds personally objectionable.
a bill has been approved after floor debate has finished.
witnesses at committee hearings suggest modifications of the bill.
the House Speaker and Senate majority leader have written a bill in a way that they favor.
Committees kill more than ________ percent of the bills submitted in Congress.
10
25
45
66
90
Nearly ________ percent of all PAC contributions go to the incumbents.
30
50
70
A bill has been approved in the House and Senate, albeit in slightly different versions. The bill now goes to
the president for his or her veto or signature.
a conference committee.
the standing committees in the House and Senate where the bill originated.
the House Rules Committee.
the Senate Rules Committee.
What percentage of state legislators are women?
less than 5 percent
more than 20 percent
about 50 percent
about 60 percent
more than 40 percent
