Government Chapter 12 – Flashcards
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Incumbents develop a hillstyle in order to
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promote policies and their career aspirations
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The logic of separate constituencies and separate interests underlying the bicameral Congress was reinforced by
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differences in length of tenure
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A representative who is performing the role of an instructed delegate is
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primarily representing the wishes of his or her constituents
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When a senator says, "One man's pork is another man's job," that senator is probably referring to a(n)
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earmark
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A member's request for a special appropriation for projects back home that are attached to a bill to gain votes is known as a(n)
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earkmark
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Most people who study the decision-making process in Congress agree that the single best predictor for how a member will vote is his or her
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party affiliation
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After a bill has been introduced and referred to a committee,
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the committee may hold hearings to explore the merits of the bill
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The actual passage of a bill setting the funds that an agency can spend is called a(n)
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appropriation
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The Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 requires
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the president to spend the funds that Congress has appropriated
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When Congress follows up on the laws it has enacted, it is exercising
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oversight
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After the Supreme Court underwent extraordinary change in 2005, George W. Bush nominated and the Senate confirmed the nominations of ________ to become the newest members of the Court.
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John Roberts and Samuel Alito
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A filibuster is
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an attempt to prevent the passage of a bill through the use of unlimited debate
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The concept of cloture refers to
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a process that attempts to limit debate on a bill in the Senate
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Which of the following is true about the Congress of 2006? -Members of Congress were paid a salary of 99,000 a year -Over three quarters of the members of Congress are millionaires -The number of women and minorities currently serving in Congress is at an all-time low -There are more than a hundred women serving in the current Congress -The median age of members of Congress is higher than the median age of the U.S. population
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The median age of members of Congress is higher than the median age of the U.S. population
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Most major-party candidates for Congress are placed on the general-election ballot as the result of a
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direct primary
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Incumbents develop a homestyle in order to
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produce a favorable image with constituents
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Reapportionment is
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the allocation of seats in the House to each state after each census
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Gerrymandering is
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the drawing of legislative district boundaries for the purpose of gaining partisan advantage
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Members of Congress are granted generous franking privileges that
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permit them to mail letters to their constituents without charge
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The most important committees in Congress are ______ committees, permanent bodies that possess an expertise resulting from their jurisdiction over certain policy areas.
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standing
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Most of the actual work of legislating is
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performed by the committees and subcommittees within Congress
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The Speaker of the House
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is the leader of the majority party
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The president of the Senate is
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the vice-president of the United States
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An important function of the House majority leader is to
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act as spokesperson for the majority party in the House
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The founders of the American republic believed that most of the power that would be exercised by a national government should be in the hands of
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the Electoral College
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The principal and most obvious function of any legislature is
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lawmaking
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A representative who acts on conscience or to represent the broad interests of the entire society is actin as a(n)
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instructed delegate
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One major problem with the role of the instructed delegate is that
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the constituents may not actually have well-formed views on many issues
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Casework is
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constituent service
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When gasoline prices increased to more than 3$ a gallon in 2006,
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in private, members of Congress acknowledged that their actions would have little effect on gasoline prices but wanted to show their constituents that they were doing something about a problem
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The necessary and proper clause
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has expanded the role of the national government relative to the states
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An attempt in the Senate to prevent the passage of a bill through the use of unlimited debate is known as
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a filibuster
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When Senate Democrats made use of the filibuster to block some of President Bush's nominees to the federal bench in 2005, Senate Republicans responded by threatening "the nuclear option," in which
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the Senate rules would be revised to disallow filibusters against judicial nominees
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Which of the following is true... -One of the few states in which gerrymandering no longer occurs is NY, where legislation enacted by the state legislature prohibits such practices -The strategy of dividing the opposing party's supporters into different districts i known as "packing" -Partisan redistricting almost inevitably works to the detriment of incumbents -Although the Supreme Court has been willing to review the constitutionality of redistricting plans, its most recent decisions have upheld redistricting plans in Pennsylvania and TX
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the last one
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The average Senate office on Capitol Hill employs about
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30 people
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The seniority system provides that
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the committee member of the majority party with the longest continuous service normally becomes the committee chairperson
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The foremost power holder in the House of Representatives is the
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Speaker of the House
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Democratic members of Congress from moderate districts who sometimes vote with Republicans and who are frequently pursued by Republican leaders are known as
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Blue Dog Democrats
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The conservative coalition
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is weakened because most southern conservative congresspersons are now Republican
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A representative who is performing the role of a trustee is
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acting on conscience or representing the broad interests of the entire society
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The concept of logrolling refers to
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an arrangement by which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other's bills
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A representative who primarily represents the wishes of his or her constituents is acting as a(n)
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instructed delegate
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According to the cue-taking model
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members of Congress make decisions by checking how key colleagues intend to vote on a bill
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An earmark is
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a member's request for a special appropriation that is attached to a bill to gain votes
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The real leadership power in the Senate rests in the hands of the
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Senate majority leader
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"Money bills"
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must originate in the House
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One of the most powerful agencies in Washington, the ______ assists in the preparation of the federal budget and monitors federal agencies throughout the year.
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Office of Management and Budget
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A temporary law that Congress passes when an appropriations bill has not been decided by the beginning of the fiscal year is
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a continuing resolution
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Oversight is the process by which Congress
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follows up on the laws it has enacted
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The enumerated powers of Congress are powers
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expressly given to that body in the Constitution
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One major difference between the House and Senate is the total number of members, a difference that has meant
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a greater number of formal rules are needed to govern activity in the House
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After being reported by a committee but before being sent to the House floor, bills are given to the ______ Committee, which defines the conditions under which the bills are to be considered by the House.
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Rules
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The largest occupational group among members of Congress is
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lawyers
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Common tactics of winning reelection include all of the following except
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changing one's political party
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In med-term congressional elections, those held between presidential contests,
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voter turnout falls sharply
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The allocation of seats in the House to each state after each census is known as
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reapportionment
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Redistricting is
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the redrawing of district boundaries within each state to ensure equal district populations
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The "speech or debate" clause in Article 1, Section 6, of the Constitution means that a member of Congress
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is normally immune from libel or slander charges when conducting official duties
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The job of a conference committee is to
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reconcile House and Senate versions of a bill
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In the House of Rep, the discharge petition is used to
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force a bill out of committee so that the entire House can vote on it
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The House majority leader
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fosters cohesion among party members
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The whips assist the party leaders by
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passing information to members of Congress from the leadership of the party
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Generally, leaders in the HOR
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have more control over the agenda of the body than leaders in the Senate
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Conflict resolution of Congress
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congress resolves elections where no candidate receives majority in electoral college