Chapter 10: Congress and the President

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is considered to be a powerful bargaining tool that the president can take with regard to Congress?

A. veto threats

B. cross-party coalitions

C. sending Congress draft administration bills

D. State of the Union address

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Veto Bargaining

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Which of the following is an example of the president’s power to persuade?

A. giving a televised speech asking voters to call their Senator

B. meeting with members privately to negotiate a deal

C. signing an executive order

D. naming a loyal appointee to head the State Department

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The President’s Power to Persuade

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Which of the following is an example of the “rhetorical president?”

A. using the rulemaking process to achieve an outcome blocked by Congress

B. hosting a private dinner with select members of Congress

C. appearing on a late-night television program to communicate his views

D. promising a Senator campaign support in exchange for a vote on an important bill

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Going Public: the Rhetorical President

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Which of the following is an example of the administrative president?

A. maintaining informal contacts with members of Congress

B. appearing on an aircraft carrier to bolster support for a military strategy

C. giving the State of the Union address

D. signing an executive order

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Administrative President

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What are the “two presidencies?”

A. domestic affairs versus foreign affairs and national defense

B. administrative versus legislative

C. power of persuasion versus going public

D. informal versus formal

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The “Two Presidencies”

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Which of the following is an example of a line-item veto?

A. issuing a signing statement that declares part of a law unconstitutional

B. waiting to sign a law for more than ten days, so it is automatically vetoed

C. vetoing some spending items in a bill while signing the rest into law

D. making a veto threat that draws a bright line describing which legislation the president will veto

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Line-Item Veto

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. How can a bill become law if the president vetoes it?

A. a ruling by the Supreme Court

B. two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress

C. executive order

D. reintroduction into Congress after waiting 180 days

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Constitutional Powers

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. All of the following are actions the president can take on receiving a bill from Congress EXCEPT ______.

A. veto the bill

B. sign the bill

C. veto part of the bill but sign the rest into law

D. take no action, and the bill will become law without his signature

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Veto Processes

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Which of the following is a common interest that might cause the president and Congress to cooperate?

A. the pocket veto

B. the bully pulpit

C. veto bargaining

D. shaping public policy

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Sources of Legislative–Executive Conflict and Cooperation

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. In recent years, bargaining and compromise between the president and Congress have grown much more difficult. Which of the following factors helps account for this change?

A. decreased use of the filibuster

B. intense party competition for control of national institutions

C. increase in the number of signing statements

D. gerrymandering

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Sources of Legislative–Executive Conflict and Cooperation

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. In which of the following areas would the “two presidencies” theory predict that the president would have the most power?

A. passing a law to regulate the financial industry

B. raising taxes on high earners

C. sending troops to Syria

D. changing the way agriculture subsidies are distributed

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The “Two Presidencies”

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. The president’s capacity for leadership is powerfully driven by expectations.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Leadership

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. About half of all administrative agencies established between WWII and 1995 were unilaterally created by presidents.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Administrative President

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Presidents often grant or withhold their patronage resources to cultivate support and goodwill in Congress.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Patronage

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Executive orders allow presidents to achieve objectives not explicitly authorized by Congress.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Administrative President

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. The veto power is the result of congressional rulemaking rather than being required by the Constitution.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Constitutional Powers

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Congress need not act at all on a vetoed bill.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Postveto Action

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Most presidents never use their veto power to block congressional legislation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Veto Bargaining

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. The president is constitutionally required to issue a signing statement for each bill he signs into law.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Signing Statements

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The Constitution allocates all powers related to legislation solely to Congress.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Constitutional Powers

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. The president and his party in Congress tend to be judged together by voters.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Party Loyalties

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. The best predictor of presidential success with Congress is the number of seats his party controls.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Party Loyalties

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. The balance of power between the executive and legislative branches is essentially a zero-sum game.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Balance of Power

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. When contemplating a veto, presidents do not generally seek advice from others.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Veto Bargaining

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The president does not need support from Congress to use administrative powers.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Administrative President

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. There is no limit to the persuasive power of patronage.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Patronage

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Why do presidents choose to veto legislation? Provide three distinct reasons and clearly explain the justification for each.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Veto Bargaining

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Why is the president sometimes called the “chief legislator?”

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Leadership

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What are the potential benefits and risks of “going public?”

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Going Public: the Rhetorical President

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. How did 9/11 affect Bush’s policy making dynamic with Congress?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The “Two Presidencies”

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What are signing statements and why do presidents issue them?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Signing Statements

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. What is the “two presidencies” thesis and what are its implications for the success of presidential proposals?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The “Two Presidencies”

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. What are veto threats and why do presidents issue them?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Veto Threats

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. What is the difference between a pocket veto and a regular/typical veto?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Veto Bargaining

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. How has President Obama attempted to foster informal ties with members of Congress and how successful have these efforts been?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The President’s Power to Persuade

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. What types of duties fall under the “administrative” presidency?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Administrative President

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. What are the four main theories of the presidency, and which do you think best explains the Obama presidency?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Various

Difficulty Level: Hard

14. What is the line-item veto and why did the Supreme Court declare it unconstitutional? In your view, should Congress try to pass a new line-item veto law or constitutional amendment?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Line-Item Veto

Difficulty Level: Hard

15. What are the three major sources of legislative–executive conflict? Describe each and give a specific example to illustrate. Which do you believe plays the largest role in today’s interbranch conflicts?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Sources of Legislative–Executive Conflict and Cooperation

Difficulty Level: Hard

16. Identify a recent bill that was signed into law. How did various aspects of interbranch conflict and/or cooperation factor into the passage of this piece of legislation?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Various

Difficulty Level: Hard