Which of the following statements is TRUE?
In the last several decades, liberal and conservative voters have sorted themselves into the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively: Differences between Republicans and Democrats in Congress has narrowed considerably since 1980.
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
Big government makes it easier for members of Congress to get reelected.
An especially important asset for incumbents running for reelection is their...
service to constituents
How many senators are elected from each state?
two
Which of the following is a consequence of the fact that members of Congress feel "unsafe at any margin"?
All of the above
BLANK percent of House members are African American.
less than ten
What issues define the sharpest differences between the parties?
Social welfare and economic policy
The most powerful person in the Senate is the...
Majority leader
Caucuses in Congress
All of the above
Which of the following statements about filibuster is FALSE?
The filibuster is used in both houses
Constituencies influence policy mostly by
the initial choice of the representative
Occasionally, a major political tidal wave rolls across the country and throws large numbers of incumbents of a given party out of office. When did this last occur?
1994
The seniority system gives a decisive edge to House members from...
safe
Women occupied BLANK percent of the seats in the 110th Congress.
16
Compared to members of the House, senators are...
more likely to face difficult reelection opponents
The fact that incumbents usually win reelection..
all of the above
The pork barrel and casework are examples of
opportunities for credit claiming by members of Congress
Committee chairs play a dominant role in
all of the above
A Senate seat is up for election every
six years
BLANK privileges refer to the free use of the mail system enjoyed by Congress.
Franking
The Government Accountability Office...
Both A and B
Which of teh following congressional offices is mandated by the Constitution?
Speaker of the House
A group of members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic is known as...
a congressional caucus
For members of Congress, advertising refers to
Making frequent trips back home
Which of the following statements regarding members of Congress is FALSE?
Proportionately, women are well represented in Congress today
The House Rules Committee...
reviews most bills coming from committee before they go to the full House
Which of the following statements is FALSE?
Legislators whose votes are out of step with the views of their constituents are rarely reelected
Federal grants and contracts that members of Congress try to obtain for their constituents are collectively referred to as...
pork barrel
What would it take to change the terms of members of Congress?
a constitutional amendment
The president's most common method of attempting to influence Congress is to...
hold regular meetings with the congressional party leaders
Critics argue that one of the effects of the continued reelection of incumbents in Congress is...
The insulation of members from political change
Which of the following is NOT one of the three primary activities that members of Congress engage in to increase the probability of their reelection?
Oversight
A myth about members of Congress is that they...
are overpaid, underworked, corrupt,a and ineffective
Which of the following statements about Congress is FALSE?
citizens have a direct role in determining leadership in Congress
There are BLANK members of Congress.
535
Members of Congress seek committees that will help them achieve each of the following goals EXCEPT...
a salary increase
Which of the following is TRUE about the minimum age requirements for members of Congress set forth in the Constitution?
One must be at least 30 years of age to serve in the Senate
Articles of impeachment must be passed by ...
the House
Comparison between members of the House and Senate concerning the impact of incumbency on their reelection chances shows that one of the reasons that senators have a smaller advantage is because they...
are more likely to be held accountable on controversial issues
Cutting through red tape to give people what they think they have the right to is
casework
The United States Senate has BLANK members
100
An example of casework by a member of Congress is
helping a constituent get a small business loan
Overall, members of Congress can BLANK of the American people.
possibly claim substantive representation, but not descriptive representation
According to George Edwards, presidential leadership of Congress is...
at the margins
Successful presidential leadership of Congress requires
the president to act as a facilitator, working at the margins of coalition building
The income and occupations of members of Congress
would, fro the most part, make them members of the elite in AMerican society
The parties in Congress are most cohesive
when electing their official leaders
House incumbents typically receive
generous support from their party campaign committees
Party leaders who work with the majority or minority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party are called
whips
Bills can be formally submitted for consideration by
members of Congress
BLANK committees draw their membership from both the Senate and the House
joint
Which of the following statements about the role of money in congressional elections is FALSE?
challengers usually outspend incumbents
Which of the following statements is FALSE?
most incumbents forgo the opportunity to run for reelection
To end a filibuster requires BLANK members present and voting to cut off debate.
60
Legislative BLANK is the process of monitoring the bureaucracy and its administration of policy.
oversight
Which of teh following does the speaker of the House NOT play a role in?
recommending which members should be expelled from the House for failure to support the party's positions on bills
The principal leader of the minority party in the House or in the Senate is called the
minority leader
Traditionally, Congressional committee chairpersons have been chose through
the seniority system
Activities of members of Congress that help constituents as individuals are known as
casework
Which of the following statements about the majority leader of the House of Representatives is FALSE?
the majority leader exercises substantial control over which bills get assigned to which committees
The procedure used to cut off debate and end a filibuster is known as
cloture
The Constitution specifies that members of the House must be BLANK years of age; senators must be BLANK years of age.
25;30
Most of the business of Congress takes place
in committees and subcommittees
Which of the following characteristics of Congress make it representative?
it links voters to policy makers
Which of the following statements regarding the advantages of incumbency are TRUE?
the lack of strong opponents frequently contributes to incumbents' success
To increase turnover in Congress, some reformers have proposed
term limits
in US Term Limits Inc et al v Thonrtonet. al., the Supreme Court ruled that
state imposed term limits were unconstitutional
In a large nation, the success of democratic government depends on the
quality of representation
The filibuster is a technique used in the
Senate to prolong debate in order to kill a bill
In terms of religion, most members of Congress are
Protestant
Which of the following is permitted to draft a bill?
All of the above: anyone can draft a bill
Republican congressional reforms in the 1990s included all of the following EXCEPT
Committee chairs were given complete control over the timing of bills under consideration
Appropriations, Judiciary, and Armed Services are all examples of BLANK committees
standing
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
a and b
A proposed law, drafted in legal language is called a
bill
Individuals already holding office are called
incumbents
The best way constituents can influence congressional voting on legislation is to
elect a representative or senator who agrees with their views
The BLANK is administered by the Library of Congress to provide nonpartisan studies and information to members of Congress.
Congressional Research Service
What is descriptive representation?
Representing constituents by mirroring their personal politically relevant characteristics
Which of the following offices is responsible for making economic projections about the performance of the economy, the costs of proposed policies, and the economic effects of taxing and spending alternatives?
Congressional Budget Office
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
a and c
The House BLANK Committee reviews most bills coming from other committees before they go on to the full House, thus performing a traffic cop function.
Rules
Which of the following statements regarding party politics is FALSE?
2001 when george w bush took office, the views of the parties in Congress converged, moving closer together than they had been since world War 1
Another term for pork barrel politics is
embarking
According to the Constitution, once impeached, federal officials are then tried in the
Senate
After each federal census
The membership of the House is reappportioned
Nominees to the US Supreme Court must be confirmed by
Senate
Which of the following is an example of a House standing committee?
All of the Above
The filibuster
unique to the Senate
Setting the legislative agenda in the Senate is the responsibility of
party leaders
The notion that presidential leadership of Congress is "at the margins" suggest that presidential leadership consists of
Facilitating coalition building
When voting on labor issues,
Both A and D
The role of party identification in voters' choices in congressional campaigns is
moderately important, even though party identification is not as strong as it used to be
The most common prior occupation for members of Congress is
law
Which of of the following did the framers of the Constitution conceive of as the center of policymaking in America?
Congress
The BLANK is next in line after the vice president to succeed a president who resigns, dies in office, or is impeached
Speaker of the House
Most bills formally submitted for consideration in Congress
are quietly killed off early in the process
Within the last few years, power in Congress has become more
decentralized with the proliferation of subcommittees and caucuses
When the House and the Senate pass different versions of the same bill
a conference committee is appointed to resolve differences
Bicameralism means that a legislative body is one
with two houses, providing checks and balances on policymaking