Chapter 16: The Two Congresses and the American People

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. All of the following tend to be considered by most voters in assessing their individual member of Congress EXCEPT ______.

A. legislative effectiveness

B. home style

C. service to the state or district

D. communication style

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Members’ Bonds with Constituents

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Which of the following media sources tends to provide the most favorable coverage of individual members of Congress?

A. national media

B. local broadcast media

C. newspapers

D. cable news

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Members’ Bonds with Constituents

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Which of the following is an example of opposition research?

A. A news reporter chooses to highlight scandalous lobbying violations in a broadcast.

B. Congressional oversight uncovers that an executive agency is misusing funds.

C. A Democrat presents evidence that a Republican-sponsored bill will hurt the economy.

D. A challenger uncovers evidence that a Senator used illegal drugs.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Opposition Research

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Which of the following is an example of “unorthodox” lawmaking?

A. packaging numerous disparate policies into omnibus bills

B. scheduling votes for the “Tuesday–Thursday” club

C. the nuclear option for federal judicial nominations

D. the use of the pocket veto by the president

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Deliberation

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. All of the following are key elements of strong party government EXCEPT ______.

A. parties are internally cohesive

B. subcommittee chairs tend to be very powerful

C. members’ party-line voting presents clear alternatives to voters

D. caucuses meet regularly to decide policy

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Comity and Bipartisanship

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. All of the following are historically common reasons for use of the filibuster in the Senate EXCEPT ______.

A. regional conflicts

B. issues of great importance to constituents

C. routine procedural matters

D. great constituency

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Senate Roadblocks

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. In which of the following conflicts did the president actively seek congressional authorization for use of force?

A. Bush--use of force in Iraq

B. Obama--military action in Libya

C. Truman--intervention in the Korean War

D. Clinton--cruise missile attacks on Iraqi intelligence

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Executive Hubris

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Which branch of government is responsible for statutory interpretation?

A. legislative

B. judicial

C. executive

D. bureaucracy

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Judicial Lawmaking

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The primary function of a legislative assembly is ______.

A. to foster deliberation

B. to end conflict

C. to check the executives

D. to pass budgets

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Deliberation

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. In the modern Congress, committees have become much stronger and more influential compared to past Congresses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Assessing the Congressional Process

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Local representatives are primarily evaluated in light of the personal bonds they forge with constituents and the political positions they take.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Members’ Bonds with Constituents

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. During the 2008 financial crisis, Congress took the lead in setting the agenda and finding solutions.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Two Congresses and the American People

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. When considering the greatest achievements of the federal government over the past 50 years, Congress played a minimal role in pushing forward these policy changes.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Policy Success and Stalemate

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Crises often demand that Congress act quickly without due deliberation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Two Congresses and the American People

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Voters tend to view their own member of Congress as less ethical than the rest of Congress.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Questions of Ethics

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Scandals, even when they are uncovered and punished, weaken public confidence.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Questions of Ethics

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Greater transparency in Congress tends to lead to more negotiation and compromise.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Transparency

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Congress has produced many innovative and effective policies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Policy Success and Stalemate

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. For most of the Senate’s history, filibusters were rare.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Senate Roadblocks

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Congressional reforms in the 1970s were successful in permanently reshaping Congress–president relations, with Congress now having the upper hand on most issues.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Is Congress Permanently Damaged?

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Since WWII, presidents have regularly engaged the US troops in foreign conflicts without seeking congressional approval.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Executive Hubris

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Presidents have become more assertive in denying information to Congress.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Executive Hubris

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Executive dominance is most apparent in military affairs.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Executive Hubris

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. What is the “Tuesday–Thursday club” and how does it impact deliberation?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Deliberation

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. How does the financial crisis of 2008 illustrate how Congress operates during a crisis?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Two Congresses and the American People

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Why do Congress’s internal ethics procedures seem to fail to inspire public confidence?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Ethics Rules and Processes

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What are the costs and benefits of increased congressional transparency?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Transparency

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. How has political news coverage changed in recent years?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Media Coverage

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. How do the public’s expectations differ for individual members compared to Congress as a whole?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Congress

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. What types of media coverage are members most likely to seek out, and why?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Members’ Bonds with Constituents

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. What are the “hazards of public life” and how might they influence who runs for Congress?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: “A Small Class of People”

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. What are some of the major achievements of the federal government? Did Congress play a major role in bringing about these achievements?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Policy Success and Stalemate

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. How have recent developments in Congress impacted the quality and quantity of congressional deliberations?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Deliberation

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. What is party government, and how has the increase in party government in recent years impacted policymaking?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Comity and Bipartisanship

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. What is the partisan filibuster and when did it emerge? How does it differ from the traditional use of the filibuster?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Senate Roadblocks

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. What is the impact of the partisan filibuster on governance?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Senate Roadblocks

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. How has Congress contributed to the imbalance of power between the executive and legislative branches in national security?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Executive Hubris

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. How does polarization influence the balance of power between Congress and the Supreme Court?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Checks and Imbalances?

Difficulty Level: Hard

16. What are some of the institutional shortcomings of Congress, and what are some of the proposed reforms to these shortcomings? Do you believe effective reform is possible?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Assessing the Congressional Process

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Is the trend toward increasing presidential power reversible or not? What steps could or should Congress take to reclaim some power from the executive?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Various

Difficulty Level: Hard