If the Rules Committee applies the "closed rule" to a bill,
no amendments will be permitted.
the bill will not be allowed a vote.
the bill will require a 2/3 majority for passage.
no further floor debate is allowed.
no filibusters will be allowed to prevent a vote.
Congressional staffers spend most of their time on
constituency service and legislative matters.
legislative matters.
constituency service and public relations.
legislative matters and constituency service.
public relations.
Legislation whose tangible benefits are targeted solely at a particular legislator's constituency is
pork-barrel legislation.
logrolling.
gerrymandering.
private legislation.
public interest legislation.
Compared to House incumbents, Senate incumbents are more likely to face the problem of
raising enough money to run a strong campaign.
an electorate that is inclined to judge their fitness for reelection in the context of pork-barrel legislation and other favors for the local community.
a strong challenger.
name recognition.
All these answers are correct.
In Beyond Ideology, political scientist Frances Lee shows that
the number of bills passed each year by Congress has dropped dramatically from year to year because of partisan gridlock.
lawmakers generally avoid partisan negotiations or attacks when dealing with low-stakes issues in order to get more business done.
the congressional agenda is less and less shaped by partisan consideration rather than reelection priorities.
even on low-stake issues, lawmakers exploit negotiation and floor debate to attack opponents and promote their party's image.
the congressional agenda is increasingly shaped by policy priorities rather than partisan consideration.
Compared with the Senate majority leader, the Speaker of the House has more power because
the House places more limits on debate.
the House is the larger chamber in terms of membership.
the House has less of a tradition as a chamber of equals.
the Speaker is that chamber's presiding officer.
In contrast with the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader
plays a key role in formulating the majority party's legislative positions.
seeks to develop influential relationships with his/her colleagues.
is not the presiding officer of his/her chamber.
holds a position that is defined in the Constitution.
None of these answers is correct.
A standing committee in the House or Senate
is a permanent committee.
has jurisdiction over a particular policy area.
has authority to draft, amend, and recommend legislation.
is usually organized according to the seniority principle.
When the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, the differences are resolved by a
conference committee.
standing committee.
select committee.
rules committee.
joint committee.
Committee staffs within Congress
concentrate on constituency relations.
perform an almost entirely legislative function.
concentrate on public relations.
split their time between legislative functions and public relations.
are devoted to logistical functions and committee public relations.
One must be ________ years of age to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and ________ years of age to serve in the U.S. Senate.
18; 21
21; 25
25; 30
35; 45
40; 50
The second-most powerful federal official (after the president) is often said to be the
chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate.
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senate majority leader.
Campaign spending tends to be a much greater challenge for
challengers and nonincumbents than for incumbents.
Republican candidates.
Democratic candidates.
candidates in urban areas than for candidates in rural areas.
men than for women.
In the nation's first century,
service in Congress was even more of a lifetime career than it is now.
members of Congress would move from House to Senate and back with little concern for the relative power and prestige of the chambers.
service in Congress was not seen as a lifetime career for most of its members.
service in Congress was restricted by the imposition of term limits in many states.
service in Congress was greatly preferred to service in state government.
The modern Congress is different from the nineteenth century Congress in that most members
are now professional politicians who want to stay in Congress.
are now amateur politicians who want only to spend a short time in Congress.
are now minorities or women.
now have previously been governors of their home states.
return to their respective state legislatures after their congressional service is over.
Incumbents may have some problems in reelection campaigns if
disruptive issues such as general public discontent with Congress become prominent.
the incumbent is tainted with charges of personal misconduct or corruption.
the election is a midterm election, and the incumbent is of the same party as the president.
through redistricting, the incumbent is placed in a disadvantageous district.
Which one of the following statements about the seniority principle is most accurate?
The seniority principle is based on the length of time the member has spent in Congress.
Because of seniority, committee chairs exercise absolute power over their committees.
Seniority is no longer absolute in the selection of committee chairs, but it is usually followed.
Seniority is no longer used at all in the choice of committee chairs.
Seniority is used in the Democratic Party, but not the Republican Party.
Because of the inherent tension in Congress between the need for strong leadership at the top and the individual congressional member's need to act according to local concerns,
Congress is unable to take effective action to counter the growth in the power of the president.
power in the Congress is widely dispersed.
power in the Congress is highly centralized in the Speaker and Senate president pro tempore.
members of Congress prefer to address international issues because the tension between local and national issues is less substantial in this situation.
Congress has been unable to take effective action to counter the growth in the power of the Supreme Court.
Senators are generally less likely to take directions from their leaders than House members because
senators are prohibited by their state legislatures from taking orders from others.
senators think of themselves as being equals and are only willing to be led by persuasion.
senators are more highly paid than House members and are thus immune from financial threats.
House rules mandate that all party members on major bills must vote according to the directions of their leaders.
Most of the legislative work of Congress is performed by
the standing committees and their subcommittees with jurisdiction over particular policy areas.
the joint committees chosen to coordinate actions between the two chambers of Congress.
the select committees chosen to study special problems on a temporary basis.
the steering committees that decide how the party stands on particular bills.
party leaders in both chambers.
Which nation does NOT have a one-house dominant legislature?
Canada
Germany
the United States
Great Britain
None of these answers is correct, as all these nations have one-house dominant legislatures.
Through a vote for cloture, the Senate
confirms presidential appointees.
can end a filibuster.
overrides a presidential pocket veto.
accepts the House version of a bill.
closes its legislative session for the year.
A pocket veto differs from a regular presidential veto in that the pocket veto
applies only to a section of the legislation in question.
applies only to expenditure legislation.
occurs when the president decides to veto a bill he had previously signed.
can take effect only when the Congress is not in session.
occurs when the president goes before Congress to announce a veto.
Congress's inability to consistently provide leadership on broad national issues is due to
the lack of talented leadership in Congress.
the fragmented nature of Congress.
constitutional restrictions on Congress's lawmaking powers.
the constant threat of a presidential veto.
opposition from the mass media.
Congress typically takes presidential proposals
only as a starting point.
only if the dominant party is the same as the president's party.
and most often fast-tracks them into law.
and tables them until they expire.
In the 1970s, roll-call votes
generally demonstrated the power of incumbents.
generally demonstrated an increase in party loyalty.
generally did not pit most Republicans against most Democrats.
were less common than voice votes.
were generally not used to record each member's vote.
