Chapter 9: Decision Making in Congress

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is part of a member’s formal, public record?

A. consulting with party leaders

B. social gatherings

C. roll call votes

D. speeches at conferences

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Power to Choose

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Which of the following actions would a “late decider” be likely to take?

A. listen to lobbyists from both sides before voting on a variety of amendments in committee

B. introduce legislation that would make minor changes to the Social Security Act

C. demand a waiver for constituents in her district in exchange for her vote on a bill

D. make a speech in a committee meeting about how important it is to draft a new immigration bill

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Timing of Decisions

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Which of the following members would tend to have the highest level of legislative effectiveness?

A. minority party member with a senior committee assignment

B. majority party member with a party leadership post

C. freshman member who focuses on fund-raising

D. senior member who devotes a great deal of time to casework

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Taking Part

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What is the single best predictor of member’s voting decisions?

A. presidential support (or lack of support)

B. party affiliation

C. constituent views

D. district demographics

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Party and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. All of the following are factors that we typically think shape members’ votes EXCEPT ______.

A. bribery

B. presidential leadership

C. party affiliation

D. constituent views

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Determinants of Voting

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Which of the following is an example of a logroll?

A. The president offers a member campaign support in exchange for his vote on a controversial piece of legislation.

B. A party leader offers a member a spot on a high-profile committee if she votes with the party.

C. Moderate members of each party create a cross-party coalition.

D. A member agrees to support his colleague’s bill today, in exchange for support for his own bill at a future date.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Logrolling

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Which of the following types of House districts is most likely to be represented by a Democrat?

A. a district with few minority voters

B. a majority-minority district

C. a wealthy outer suburb

D. a rural area with lots of farmland

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Constituency and Voting

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. What is asymmetric polarization?

A. Constituents are significantly more polarized than their representatives in Congress.

B. Republicans have moved further to the right ideologically than Democrats have moved to the left.

C. Members of Congress tend to be more polarized than judicial appointments to the Supreme Court.

D. Special interest groups have forced members of Congress to vote in a more polarized fashion.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ideology and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Which of the following helps explain the rise in party cohesion and unity since the 1970s?

A. gerrymandering

B. increased number of party-line votes

C. changes in the ideological composition of the two major parties

D. changes in the amount of control the president has over foreign policy decisions

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Party and Voting

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Which of the following is the most visible way that members participate in the lawmaking process?

A. cosponsorship

B. hearings

C. markup sessions

D. voting

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Casting Votes

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Which of these statements best describes polarization in the modern Congress?

A. Congress is almost completely polarized along party lines.

B. Congress is almost completely polarized by region.

C. Congress is much less polarized than in the 1970s.

D. Congress is currently experiencing a period of rapid depolarization.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ideology and Voting

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Which of the following is a centrist or moderate coalition in Congress?

A. Tea Party

B. Blue Dogs

C. Black Caucus

D. Progressive Caucus

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ideology and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. When members are visiting their districts, they can designate a staff member to vote for them on the chamber floor.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Casting Votes

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. An “active player” legislator would be likely to endorse new legislation very early, so he or she can shepherd it through each step of the legislative process.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Timing of Decisions

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Political activists are more likely to identify as either liberal or conservative.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ideology and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Senators tend to be generalists, while members of the House tend to specialize in a few areas.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Specializing

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Amendments are more freely offered in the Senate than in the House.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Offering Amendments

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Party voting is much more common today than it was in the 1970s.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Party and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Members are more likely to vote with their party leaders on final passage votes rather than procedural matters.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Party and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. On a good day, about half the members of each subcommittee tend to be actively involved in committee work such as hearings and markup sessions.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Taking Part

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Presidents almost always prevail in persuading members of Congress to pass legislation important to them.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Presidency and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. The Agriculture Committee is the most biased toward members with a constituency stake in the legislation being considered.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Taking Part

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Bills in the House are limited to two cosponsors.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Taking Part

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Poison pills frequently succeed in killing bills in the Senate.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Offering Amendments

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Members strive to be recorded on as many votes as possible, and the participation rate is over 90 percent in both the House and Senate.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Casting Votes

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. In the current Congress, constituency pressure tends to bolster party unity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Constituency and Voting

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Stalemate describes a period in which Congress is extraordinarily productive.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Legislative Bargaining

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Scholars and journalists often mistakenly treat votes as if they were unambiguous indicators of legislators’ views.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What Do Votes Mean?

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Deliberation is the hallmark of legislative decision-making.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conclusion

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Why might members or parties engage in a strategy of “strategic disagreement?”

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Bargaining Strategy

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. What is the difference between explicit and implicit bargaining? Give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Implicit and Explicit Bargaining

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What is a policy entrepreneur and why are they important to the policy process?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Specializing

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. What are the key differences between “early deciders,” “late deciders,” and “active players?”

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Timing of Decisions

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. How do constituencies influence lawmakers’ voting decisions?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Constituency and Voting

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. What are some of the costs and benefits of seeking multiple cosponsors for a bill?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Taking the Lead

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. Why do members propose amendments?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Offering Amendments

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. How does control of the floor agenda and use of special rules advantage majority leaders in the House? Give a specific example.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Offering Amendments

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Why is party cohesion high in the modern Congress? Is this development good or bad for representation?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Party and Voting

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. Why should voters be skeptical of interpreting a member’s voting record as an unambiguous indicator of his views and priorities?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: What Do Votes Mean?

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. Select a recent bill in the House or Senate and trace its passage through the chamber. Use the website voteview.com to download relevant votes and assess the influence of partisanship or other factors on the votes taken related to the bill (depending on student experience with data, the instructor can provide these files to students for select bills). Using vote information as well as qualitative sources, do you find evidence of strategic behavior? What factors do you believe best explain the passage (or failure) of the bill?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Various

Difficulty Level: Hard