Chapter 5: Being There: Hill Styles and Home Styles

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is an example of descriptive representation?

A. an African American member of the House representing a majority-minority district

B. a white Democrat sponsoring a bill to provide more funding to inner city schools

C. a former lawyer representing a small rural district and promising price supports for farmers

D. a moderate Democrat representing a district where a majority of registered voters are Republicans

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Who Are the Legislators?

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Which of the following groups are underrepresented in the Senate because of the “equal representation” rule?

A. business owners

B. ranchers

C. Ivy League graduates

D. African Americans

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Equal Representation of States

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Which of the following activities fits into a member’s role as a legislator?

A. helping a constituent lodge a complaint with the Social Security Administration

B. raising money for the Democratic National Committee

C. writing a letter of recommendation for a constituent applying to the Naval Academy

D. introducing legislation on immigration reform

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Congressional Roles

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What are the two stages of constituency careers?

A. Democratic and Republican

B. expansionism and protectionism

C. person-to-person and issue-oriented

D. fund-raising and legislating

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Constituency Careers

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Which of the following activities is an example of constituency service?

A. introducing a bill that would fund the construction of a new bridge in the member’s district

B. requesting membership on the Armed Services Committee because the member is a veteran

C. cosponsoring a bill that would make changes to education policy

D. making a floor speech in favor of a partial-birth abortion ban

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Congressional Roles

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. All of the following tend to be associated with procuring pork barrel projects for one’s district EXCEPT ______.

A. lower chance of facing a strong challenger

B. higher chance of negative attack ads

C. improved name recognition

D. enhanced chance of reelection for vulnerable members

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Constituency Servant

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Which of the following might happen during a party caucus meeting?

A. final vote on a bill to pass health-care reform

B. selection of a party’s candidate for president

C. coordinating floor speeches to shape media coverage

D. the State of the Union address

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Partisan

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Which of the following is the widest type of constituency?

A. primary constituency

B. reelection constituency

C. personal constituency

D. geographic constituency

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: What Are Constituencies?

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Which of these individuals would be considered a member of a Senator’s personal constituency?

A. her spouse

B. a voter who always votes for the Democratic Party candidate

C. a voter who shares the Senator’s ethnic background

D. a donor from a neighboring state

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: What Are Constituencies?

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Which of the following activities would be typical of a “person-to-person” home style?

A. town hall meetings to address local issues

B. knowing constituents by name

C. highlighting the member’s status as a decorated war veteran

D. emphasizing key issues in television ads

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Presentation of Self

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Which of the following tasks would be part of the job of a legislative assistant?

A. run errands

B. drafting bills

C. making fund-raising phone calls

D. attend roll call on behalf of their representative

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Staff Functions

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. The right of members to send out mail at no cost with their signature instead of a stamp is referred to as the ______.

A. executive privilege

B. franking privilege

C. congressional privilege

D. legislative privilege

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Mail

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. About half of the members of the House of Representatives are millionaires.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Who Are the Legislators?

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Most news coverage about incumbents is uncritical and positive.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Feeding the Local Press

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Pork barrel spending is widely viewed negatively among constituents, even when it is secured for their own district.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Constituency Servant

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. People with working-class backgrounds are underrepresented in Congress.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Education and Occupation

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Veteran members of Congress are more likely to be successful in getting their bills passed than are freshman members.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Shape of the Washington Career

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Despite their strong support, members do spend time and attention on making sure their primary constituency (or loyalists) is happy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political and Personal Constituencies

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Members who are elected as independents must still organize with one of the two major parties in order to receive committee assignments.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Partisan

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Compared to other minority racial and ethnic groups, African Americans are the most underrepresented in Congress.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Who Are the Legislators?

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Because more populous states are more racially diverse, the Senate’s equal representation rule acts to boost the voting power and representation of whites.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Equal Representation of States

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Senate norms and procedures tend to be more formal than in the House of Representatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Legislator

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Most Americans tend to want members of Congress to follow majority opinion rather than their own personal preferences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Independent Judgment or Constituency Opinion?

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Because of the incumbency advantage and the creation of many safe seats, most members of Congress do not worry much about the threat of losing their reelection campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Geographic and Demographic Constituencies

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Any campaign work by staff members must be done outside of the congressional office and without using any congressional office resources.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Staff Functions

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. All legislators have at least one staffer who serves as a press aide.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Feeding the Local Press

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. What is the difference between substantive and descriptive representation? Provide an example of each type.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Who Are the Legislators?

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. What are some factors that could lead a member to change their home style?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Home Styles

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. How does national and local news coverage of Congress and its members differ?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Feeding the Local Press

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What are the most important differences between a person-to-person and an issue-oriented home style?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Presentation of Self

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. How does the equal representation rule in the Senate impact representation and political outcomes?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Equal Representation of States

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Why do veteran members of Congress tend to be more effective than freshman members at getting their bills passed?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Shape of the Washington Career

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. What is collective representation? Give a specific example of how this might work in the modern Congress?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Collective Representation

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Why would members work hard for their party even when they may disagree with some policy stances?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Partisan

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. What are the four major types of constituencies and who generally belongs to each?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What Are Constituencies?

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. What are the three roles undertaken by most members of Congress? Briefly explain what each of these roles entails and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Congressional Roles

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. How have Senate norms or folkways changed since the 1950s?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Legislator

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. How well does Congress reflect the American public demographically? Is this a problem for representation? Be sure to consider multiple demographic characteristics in your response.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Who Are the Legislators?

Difficulty Level: Hard

13. In making decisions about bills to sponsor or votes to take, should members follow the majority opinion in their constituency or follow their personal conscience?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Various

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Explore the concept of home style by identifying a member of the House or Senate of particular interest to you. Using newspaper articles, campaign materials, and the member’s website, try to identify which home style the member seems to use to present themselves. Does their home style seem to be driven by district/constituency qualities, personal preferences, or something else?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Home Styles

Difficulty Level: Medium