question

Congress's power to create a federal program or agency and set levels of federal funds to support that program or agency is known as its power to __________

answer

authorize

question

The sum of loans and interest that the federal government has accrued over time to pay for the federal deficit is known as __________

answer

the national debt

question

The __________ is the only formal leadership position in the House of Representatives that is written into the constitution.

answer

Speaker of the House

question

The last stage in the congressional legislative process is when the House and Senate meet in __________ committee to resolve any difference that exist in the versions that passed each chamber.

answer

conference

question

Congress and the president negotiate the federal budget, which expires on September 30 each year. If they fail to do this, Congress enacts a __________ in order to continue funding the government.

answer

continuing resolution

question

The power of advice and consent on treaties and presidential nominations was given solely to the __________

answer

senate

question

The only way to stop a filibuster is by invoking __________, a motion to end debate that requires a supermajority or sixty votes to pass.

answer

cloture

question

Committee chairs decide which bills receive hearings and which go on to __________, a meeting in which committee members write the version of the bill that they send to the entire chamber for a vote.

answer

markup

question

Because the Framers knew that the country would grow, they required a __________, of the population every ten years, after which the number of congressional districts in each state would be adjusted to reflect population changes.

answer

census

question

The mode of election for the Senate was changed with the ratification of the __________ Amendment.

answer

seventeenth

question

The majority leader also has nine majority __________ to help get support for the party's preferred policies and keep lines of communication open between the party leadership and the rank and file membership.

answer

whips

question

Despite advancements made by underrepresented groups in the electing members to Congress, it is still predominantly __________

answer

white and male

question

When the party that controls Congress is NOT the party of the president, it is referred to as __________

answer

divided government

question

The House of representatives is subject to __________, which is the redrawing of the boundaries of congressional districts in a state to make them approximately equal in population size.

answer

redistricting

question

According to the Constitution, all bills for raising revenue should originate in the __________

answer

house of representatives

question

A __________ committee is a permanent committee with the power to write legislation and report it to the full chamber.

answer

standing

question

With the __________ Amendment, passed in 1913, Congress gained the power to "lay and collect taxes on incomes," whatever the source.

answer

sixteenth

question

Committee chairs have powerful roles. The chair is typically the majority party member who has the most __________, the longest time served on the committee

answer

seniority

question

With a two thirds majority vote in each chamber, the Congress can __________ a presidential veto.

answer

override

question

If Congress will be going out of session within ten days, the president can wait for congress to go out of session and simply not sign a bill, a practice known as a __________

answer

pocket veto

question

A __________ is the member of a committee from the minority party with the greatest seniority

answer

ranking member

question

When Congress exercises its power to allocate a set amount of federal dollars for a specific program or agency, it is using its ability to __________

answer

appropriate

question

The highest ranking minority party member in the House of Representatives is the __________, and his or her main responsibility is crafting the minority party's position on an issue and serving as the public spokesperson for the party.

answer

house minority leader

question

Congress is __________ ; that is, it is divided into two separate chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

answer

bicameral

question

In __________, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that executive privilege is not absolute and must give way when the government needs the information for a trial

answer

united states v. nixon

question

Because a president in his second term cannot seek reelection he is commonly referred to as a __________

answer

lame duck

question

Congress has learned to get around the threat of a presidential veto by passing __________ that include provisions affecting a number of issues

answer

omnibus bills

question

Two thirds of the Senators present must approve the passage of a __________ for it to be ratified.

answer

treaty

question

The presidential appointment process has two steps: nomination and __________

answer

approval by a majority of the Senate

question

By not following the precedent set by George Washington of only running for two terms, __________'s fourth term in office prompted the Senate to propose the twenty second amendment that limits the president to two terms.

answer

franklin d. roosevelt

question

Instead of providing the president with enumerated powers, the Framers __________ the president with a general grant of executive powers.

answer

vested

question

President Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909 described the office of the president as a __________ where presidents could use the attention associated with the office to make a public argument in favor of or against a policy.

answer

bully pulpit

question

When a president issues full forgiveness for a crime committed, it is called a __________

answer

pardon

question

The __________ Amendment, ratified in 1967, required the president to nominate a replacement vice president, who must be approved by a majority vote of the House and the Senate.

answer

Twenty fifth

question

The job of the chief executive grew accordingly but, though, increasingly demanding and complex, it remained essentially focused on __________ and __________

answer

national defense; economic growth

question

To combat the effects of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a clear policy vision, which he called the __________, and in the first three years of his presidency he succeeded in getting Congress to pass legislation that radically altered the size of the federal government.

answer

new deal

question

Until John Kennedy was elected in 1960, all presidents were from a __________ background.

answer

protestant

question

Article II, Section I, of the Constitution states that the president must be at least 35 years old, a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years, and __________

answer

a natural born citizen

question

A powerful tool that presidents can use to influence legislation is the __________

answer

state of the union address

question

The __________ Amendment, ratified in 1804, changed the process so that candidates are elected for presidential and vice president separately, instead of the vice presidency as the person who came in second in the vote for president.

answer

Twelfth

question

In October 1973, Congress passed the __________ that states that the president cannot send troops into military conflict for more than sixty days without seeking a formal declaration of war from Congress.

answer

war powers act

question

Under the power of __________, the president directs all war efforts and military conflict.

answer

commander in chief

question

The main checks on the president's foreign policy agenda are the Senates power to __________ and the power of Congress to __________

answer

ratify treaties; appropriate money

question

At the highest level of federal office, two presidents __________ and __________ have been impeached but neither was convicted by the Senate and both remained in office.

answer

Andrew Johnson; Bill Clinton

question

The president has the power to __________ bills passed by Congress before they become law by refusing to sign them and sending them back to the chamber in which they originated with his objections.

answer

veto

question

According to the constitution, who becomes president when the president is removed from office by death, resignation, or inability to perform the duties of the office? __________

answer

vice president

question

The historian and presidential adviser Arthur Schlesinger Jr. used the term "__________" to describe the power of the president to speak for the nation on the world stage and to set the policy agenda at home.

answer

imperial presidency

question

President Lyndon Johnson's programs, which he called the __________, focused on improving race relations and ending poverty because he believed they stood in the way of social, political, and economic progress.

answer

great society

question

When a president signs a bill into law, he can issue __________, written remarks that reflect his interpretation of the law, although they are not required or authorized by the Constitution

answer

signing statements

question

the official published record of all executive branch rules, regulations, and orders in referred to as the __________

answer

federal register

question

The system of employment under which the employees are chosen and promoted based on merit is known as __________

answer

merit system

question

Guidelines issued by federal agencies for administering federal programs and implementing federal law are referred to as __________

answer

regulations

question

Federal employees appointed by the president to oversee civil service employees called __________

answer

schedule c appointees

question

The foundations of the bureaucracy, while not explicitly stated, can be found in__________ of the Constitution.

answer

article 2

question

Senior management personnel in the federal government appointed by the president are called __________

answer

senior executive service

question

Each federal agency has a __________ that defines its role and responsibilities within the federal bureaucracy.

answer

mission

question

Each federal agency has an __________ that is responsible for monitoring the activities of the agency's employees.

answer

office of inspector general

question

In setting up his administration, President Andrew Jackson established a __________ , in which he only appointed employees who pledged loyalty to him.

answer

patronage system

question

The __________ has final authority over the entire federal budget, and each agency and department must submit its proposed budget to this group for approval before it is included in the president's official proposed budget.

answer

office of management and budget

question

In response to the assassination of President Garfield, Congress passed the __________ , which established a merit and performance based system for federal employment.

answer

pendleton act

question

In 1966, the __________ Act established procedure by which ordinary citizens can request documents and reports from the federal government by paying and nominal fee, so long as the documents are not classified.

answer

freedom of information

question

The Civil Service is designed to protect employees from __________.

answer

partisanship

question

To encourage cooperation between political appointees and civil servants, and to make sure that each was held accountable for decision making, President Carter proposed the __________ Act of 1978. This act created the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to oversee both categories of federal employees.

answer

civil service reform

question

Fundamental to the core of the federal bureaucracy is the presumption that the people who hold bureaucratic positions have __________

answer

expertise

question

Federal employees appointed by the president with the explicit task of carrying out his political and partisan agenda are known as __________

answer

political appointees

question

The formal responsibility for policy implementation falls to the bureaucracy in what is commonly called the __________

answer

regulatory process

question

Organization that was created by the Pendleton Act to administer exams for the federal civil service and set standards for promotion based on merit known as the __________

answer

civil service comission

question

Most cabinet members are __________ as they are heads of cabinet departments and chief advisers to the president on the issues under their jurisdiction.

answer

cabinet secretaries

question

All bureaucratic agencies share all of the following components except __________

answer

extra national powers

question

Employees who report mismanagement, corruption, or illegal activity within their agencies are referred to as __________

answer

whistelblowers

question

Federal employees who are hired through a merit based system to implement federal programs and who are expected to be neutral in their political affiliations are known as __________

answer

career civil servants

question

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an example of an __________

answer

independent agency

question

The statement, "Every organization has a culture, that is, a persistent, patterned way of thinking about the central tasks of human relationships within an organization, "describes this central component of a bureaucracy. __________

answer

bureaucratic culture

question

Of all the components of American government, the __________ is the most likely to have a direct impact on the lives of its citizens.

answer

bureaucracy

question

A confrontational legal process under which each party presents its version of events is referred to as an __________

answer

adversary process

question

__________ refers to judges who go beyond what the law requires and seek to impose their own policy preferences on society through their judicial decisions.

answer

judicial activism

question

An opinion that agrees with the results of the majority opinion ( that is, which party wins) but sets out a separate rationale is known as a __________

answer

concurring opinion

question

The method of judicial decision making which claims that justices base their decision on legally relevant materials, such as prior court precedents and the plain meaning of the text of the law under consideration, is called __________

answer

the legal approach

question

The lawful authority of a court to hear a case is its __________

answer

jurisdiction

question

The official in the Justice Department who represents the president in federal court is known as the __________

answer

solicitor general

question

The opinion of a court laying out the official position of the court in the case is known as the __________

answer

majority opinion

question

Decisions by judges respecting the decisions of other branches or, through the concept of precedent, the decisions of earlier judges, is considered a __________

answer

judicial restraint

question

When a court declares that a law passed by congress and acts of executive branch are unconstitutional, it is exercising __________

answer

judicial review

question

Outside interests can file __________ briefs, stating their concerns in a case.

answer

amicus curiae

question

The Supreme Court granted itself the power of judicial review in the case of __________

answer

marbury v. madison

question

When a case is appealed, the court of appeals decides the case solely based upon __________

answer

questions of law

question

In interpreting the law with an extralegal approach, judges often actively engage in __________

answer

policy making

question

A lawsuit filed by one person on behalf of that person plus all similarly situated individuals is referred to as a __________

answer

class action

question

In __________ , the government prosecutes an individual for breaking the law.

answer

criminal cases

question

__________ are federal trial courts at the bottom of the federal judicial hierarchy.

answer

district courts

question

When you file a __________ , you are asking the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision.

answer

petition for a writ of certiorari

question

__________ is an agreement by a criminal defendant to plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence.

answer

plea bargain

question

A decision made by an entire Court of Appeals circuit is called a __________ decision.

answer

en banc

question

The Supreme Court rule that grants review to a case as long as four justices agree to support review is known as __________

answer

rule of four

question

Justices who disagree with the result reached by the majority can write a __________ opinion explaining why they believe the Supreme Courts decision was in error.

answer

dissenting

question

__________ of the Constitution establishes the judicial branch of government

answer

article 3

question

Intermediate federal courts that are above the district courts and below the Supreme Court are know as __________

answer

courts of appeals

question

The term __________ created by Alexander Bickel describes the tension that exists for a representative government when unelected judges have power to strike down laws passed by elected representatives.

answer

countermajoritarian difficulty

question

Overall, the Supreme Court grants only about __________ percent of certiorari petitions, leaving the lower court decisions as final in all other cases.

answer

1

question

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes refferred to the idea that government should not restrict the expression of ideas because the people are capable of accepting good ideas and rejecting bad ones as the __________

answer

marketplace of ideas

question

What First Amendment test requires the state to prove there is a high likelihood that the speech in question would lead to a danger that congress has the right to prevent? __________

answer

clear and present danger test

question

In 1973, the Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a national right to __________ existed.

answer

privacy

question

The articles of the Constitution protect civil liberties in all of the following EXCEPT __________

answer

bills of libel

question

The __________ Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.

answer

Fourth

question

In a World War I speech case, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that speech was not absolute, such as a person does not have the right to falsely shout __________ in a crowded theater.

answer

fire

question

The Supreme Court developed a three pronged test called the __________ to determine whether material can be deemed obscene.

answer

miller test

question

What process did the Supreme Court settle on to incorporate provisions of the Bill of Rights as binding on the states? __________

answer

selective incorporation

question

If the police conduct a search later found to be unconstitutional, the __________ holds that evidence collected during the search cannot be used in trial.

answer

exclusionary rule

question

The Constitutional right inferred by the Court that has been to protect unlisted rights such as sexual privacy is __________

answer

right to privacy

question

All of the following rights have been incorporated EXCEPT __________

answer

quartering of soldiers

question

As originally written, the Bill of Rights limited the activities of __________

answer

the national government, not the state government

question

Too much freedom can lead to __________ , a state in which everyone does as he or she chooses without regard to others.

answer

anarchy

question

Under the compelling interest test, the federal government or a state can limit rights only if the Supreme Court decides __________

answer

that the government has a compelling interest and the law is narrowly drawn to meet it

question

Nonverbal activities the convey a political message, such as saluting the flag, burning the flag, or burning draft cards, are referred to as __________

answer

symbolic speech

question

The courts have consistently ruled that speech codes __________

answer

violate the first amendment

question

__________ are phrases that might lead the individual to whom they are directed to respond with a punch.

answer

fighting words

question

If acquitted by a jury, the __________ clause ensures that the accused cannot be tried for the same crime again.

answer

double jeopardy

question

Those rights that are so fundamental that they are outside the authority of government to regulate are known as __________

answer

civil liberties

question

Beginning in 1897, the Supreme Court slowly began to use the protection of "life, liberty, or poperty" in the Fourteenth Amendment's __________ clause to incorporate some of the provisions of the Bill of Rights as binding on the states.

answer

due process

question

In 1971, the Supreme Court created the three pronged __________ to determine if a law violated the establishment clause.

answer

lemon test

question

__________ is when the free speech doctrine allows certain types of regulations of speech, as long as the restriction does not favor one side or another of a controversy.

answer

content neutral

question

The right of individuals who have been arrested and jailed to go before a judge, who determines, whether their detention is legal, is known as __________

answer

writ of habeas corpus

question

Normally, wiretapping requires a warrant signed by a judge or magistrate backed by __________ that a crime is being committed.

answer

probable cause

question

The __________ consists of the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

answer

Bill of Rights

question

Southern politicians used all of the following tactics to disenfranchise African American voters except __________

answer

loyalty oaths

question

Businesses refusing to serve or hire people on the basis of their race, sex, sexual orientation, or national orientation is an example of __________

answer

private discrimination

question

The __________ is an independent agency with commissioners selected for five year fixed terms, which Congress established as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

answer

equal employment opportunity commission

question

President John Kennedy had to send 25,000 federal troops to ensure the enrollment of one black man, James Meredith, at __________ in 1962

answer

the university of Mississippi

question

the expectation that citizens may not be discriminated against and should have an equal chance to succeed in life is called __________

answer

equality of opportunity

question

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln __________, which made slavery illegal in those states in rebellion as of January 1, 1863,

answer

issued the emancipation proclamation

question

On December 1, 1955, police arrested __________ for refusing to give her seat on a bus to a white person

answer

Rosa Parks

question

The period after the civil war where the former Confederate states gained readmission to the Union and the federal government passed laws to help emancipate slaves is known as __________

answer

reconstruction

question

What legal barriers did African Americans face after World War II? __________

answer

the legal right of private businesses to discriminate, prohibitions on the right to vote, state sponsored segregation of schools, state sponsored segregation of buses

question

By August 1920, with effective lobbying by suffragist groups, three quarters of the states ratified the __________ Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote in the November 1920 presidential election.

answer

nineteenth

question

The landmark __________ (1990) requires public and private employers to make "reasonable accommodations" to known physical and mental limitation of employees with disabilities and if possible, to modify performance standards to accommodate an employee's disability

answer

Americans with Disabilities Act

question

The Court has created three standards of review to determine if a law is discriminatory. The toughest of these standards is __________

answer

strict scrutiny

question

In Dred Scott v Sanford, the court ruled that not only could Congress not ban slavery in the territories but that blacks were not __________

answer

citizens

question

Slavery is prohibited in __________ of the U.S. constitution.

answer

none of these - article 1 and 2, amendment 1 and 10

question

The expectation that equality is achieved if results are comparable for all citizens, and that all citizens are proportionally represented in measures of success in life is known as __________

answer

equality of outcome

question

The __________ Amendment, in addition to guaranteeing that no state shall deny any person due process of law, prohibits states from denying any person the equal protection of the law.

answer

fourteenth

question

Native Americans born on reservations did not receive natural born citizen status until the passage of the __________

answer

indian citizenship act

question

Full fledged membership in a nation is called __________

answer

citizenship

question

The actions of the southern states during the period of segregation, such as denying African Americans the right to vote or appear in public places are examples of __________

answer

public discrimination

question

The courts have ruled that private discrimination is permissible unless it involves significant __________

answer

state action

question

The __________ of 1866 guaranteed the right of freedmen to make contracts, sue in court if those contracts were violated, and own property.

answer

civil rights act

question

In __________ the Court endorsed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan that sent 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry to relocation camps.

answer

Korematsu v United States

question

The Court's ruling in Plessy v Ferguson established the doctrine of __________

answer

separate but equal

question

In the landmark case Brown v Board of Education, the Court ruled that segregated schools violated the __________

answer

equal protection clause

question

__________ are the rights related to the duties of citizenship and the opportunities for participation in civic life that the government is obliged to protect

answer

civil rights

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