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- 1. Multiple Choice
Constitutional checks and balances, especially applied to the president are designed to:
Provide for a balanced budget
Ensure that the states do not become too powerful
Ensure efficient government
Minimize the threat of tyranny from any branch of government
- 2. Multiple Choice
Which of the following is a member of the White House Staff?
The chair of the Federal Reserve Board
The secretary of commerce
The attorney general
The national security advisor
- 3. Multiple Choice
The Supreme Court’s power of judicial review permits the Court to overrule all of the following EXCEPT:
Lower-court decisions
State legislation
Executive orders
The Bill of Rights
- 4. Multiple Choice
Which of the following United States Supreme Court cases established the principle of judicial review?
McCulloch v. Maryland
Gibbons v. Ogden
Roe v. Wade
Marbury v. Madison
- 5. Multiple Choice
Which of the following statements about writs of certiorari is accurate?
Cases appealed by the solicitor general are automatically granted certiorari.
The Supreme Court has historically granted certiorari to all separation of powers cases.
The Supreme Court does not grant certiorari to cases involving state laws.
The Supreme Court grants certiorari for less than 5% of cases appealed to it.
- 6. Multiple Choice
The difference between an appellate court and a district court is that an appellate court:
Conducts trials by jury
Has original jurisdiction
Hears civil cases but not criminal cases
Reviews previous court decisions
- 7. Multiple Choice
Supreme Court justices were given tenure subject to good behavior by the framers of the Constitution in order to ensure that:
Justices remain accountable to the public
Justices are encouraged to make politically popular decisions
Cooperation between the judicial and legislative branches is assured
Justices are free from direct political pressures
- 8. Multiple Choice
Which of the following best explains the principle of stare decisis?
It requires that at least four Supreme Court justices agree to hear a case.
It encourages president to take judicial experience into account when nominating judges.
It reinforces the philosophy of judicial activism
It encourages judges to follow precedent when deciding cases.
- 9. Multiple Choice
Court packing refers to the practice of:
Removing appellate jurisdiction from courts
Appointing justices who agree with Congress’s political philosophy
Appointing only judicial activists
Appointing justices who agree with the president’s political philosophy
- 10. Multiple Choice
The United States Constitution mandates the:
Supreme, appellate, and district courts
Only legislative courts
None of the above
Supreme Court only
- 11. Multiple Choice
When the president chooses district court nominees it is traditional that members of Congress from the state where the court is are consulted. This is called:
House of Representative consultations
Court packing
Judicial scrutiny
Senatorial courtesy
- 12. Multiple Choice
All of the following are presidential powers EXCEPT the authority to:
Negotiate treaties
Veto legislation
Nominate cabinet members
Declare war
- 13. Multiple Choice
Presidents have had the most success in changing the direction of the decisions of the federal judiciary by:
Using the media to build consensus for the President’s position
Requesting that Congress reduce the term of office that judges may serve
Pressuring Congress to pass the appropriate legislation to override judicial opinions
Using the appointment process to select judges with judicial philosophies similar to those of the President
- 14. Multiple Choice
Policy that sets emission standards for automobiles is an example of:
Fiscal policy
Distributive policy
Monetary policy
Regulatory policy
- 15. Multiple Choice
Enumerated powers of the federal government include all of the following EXCEPT the power to:
Coin money
Declare war
Regulate interstate commerce
Regulate intrastate commerce
- 16. Multiple Choice
Which of the following is articulated in the War Powers Resolution?
The President may declare war.
The President must finance any war efforts from a special contingency fund.
The President may not send troops into hostilities without a declaration of war from Congress or a resolution from the United Nations.
The President must bring troops home from hostilities within 60 to 90 days unless Congress extends the time.
- 17. Multiple Choice
Which of the following is true of the relationship between Congress and executive agencies?
The agencies were created by and work under the direction of Congress.
Agencies, once created, work totally independent of Congress.
Congress creates, staffs, and supervises all executive agencies.
Because the agencies have bureaucratic expertise, Congress delegates “rule-making” authority to them.
- 18. Multiple Choice
The Senate must confirm all of the following presidential appointments EXCEPT:
United States attorneys
United States Supreme Court justices
Federal judges
White House staff
- 19. Multiple Choice
Congress is most likely to exert oversight of the executive bureaucracy in which of the following ways?
Directly selecting the head of an executive agency
Impeaching the head of an executive agency
Changing the term length of heads of independent regulatory commissions
Controlling an executive agency’s annual budget
- 20. Multiple Choice
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are examples of:
Cabinet departments
Executive office bureaus
White House staff agencies
Independent agencies
- 21. Multiple Choice
To influence policy making by the federal courts, the president may do all of the following EXCEPT:
Take political ideology into account in making judicial appointments
Make public statements about issues that might appear before the courts
Encourage the Justice Department to get involved in cases that test certain issues
Fire and replace federal judges
- 22. Multiple Choice
The request of recent Presidents for the line-item veto is a challenge to which of the following principles?
Eminent domain
Executive privilege
Congressional oversight
Separation of powers
- 23. Multiple Choice
If Congress adjourns during the ten days the president has to consider a bill passed by both houses of Congress, but which the president has not yet signed, what is the result?
Line-item veto
Legislative veto
Executive veto
Pocket veto
- 24. Multiple Choice
Nominations to the Supreme Court must be approved by a:
Simple majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate
Two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate
Two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate and a majority of the sitting justices on the Supreme Court
Simple majority vote in the Senate only
- 25. Multiple Choice
When a bill passes the House and the Senate in different versions, the bill is resolved by which of the following types of committee?
Select
Reconciliation
Standing
Conference
- 26. Multiple Choice
Which of the following actions can Congress take if the Supreme Court finds a federal law unconstitutional?
Formally request the President to veto the Court’s decision.
Remove certain members of the Court and replace them with new members.
Reenact the same law.
Try to amend the Constitution.
- 27. Multiple Choice
Which of the following procedures results in the removal of the President from office?
The House and Senate vote for impeachment, and the Supreme Court reaches a guilty verdict.
The House and Senate both vote for a bill of impeachment.
A criminal court finds the President guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The House votes for impeachment, and the Senate conducts a trial and reaches a guilty verdict.
- 28. Multiple Choice
Which of the following statements about the rules of procedure in the House and Senate is correct?
The rules in each chamber are determined by the majority whip
The rules are specified in Article I of the Constitution
The rules can be changed by the President during a national emergency
The House operates more by formal rules while the Senate operates more on informal understandings.
- 29. Multiple Choice
Which of the following identifies the formal procedure for ending a filibuster?
Oversight
Logrolling
Pocket veto
Cloture
- 30. Multiple Choice
The practice in Congress whereby Representative A promises to vote for Representative B’s legislation, provided that Representative B will support Representative A’s legislation, is referred to as:
Personal casework and services
Pork barrel legislation
Filibustering
Logrolling
- 31. Multiple Choice
Of the following, which is the most powerful figure in Congress?
The Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee
The Majority Whip of the House
The Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
The Speaker of the House
- 32. Multiple Choice
Congressional legislative powers include all of the following EXCEPT:
Approval of treaties
Establishing a lower-court system
Passing federal laws
Pardoning felons
- 33. Multiple Choice
If Congress wanted to effect a change in the Social Security payroll tax, to what congressional committee would the task initially be assigned?
House Appropriations Committee
Senate Appropriations Committee
Senate Finance Committee
House Ways and Means Committee
- 34. Multiple Choice
Which of the following is a consequence of the way the district is drawn on the map?
It will likely lead to a highly contentious and competitive election.
It will lead to a seat that will be occupied by a member of a third party.
It will lead to very high turnout in the election.
It will likely lead to a less competitive general election, which could lead to increased partisanship.
- 35. Multiple Choice
The map shows the outline of a congressional district. Which of the following statements best explains the motivation behind the way in which it is drawn?
It has been drawn by a political party to group together moderate voters.
It has been drawn cooperatively by both political parties to ensure a fair election.
It has been drawn to group together diverse voters to foster highly competitive elections.
It has likely been drawn to pack together voters who are registered with the same party.
- 36. Multiple Choice
The president is most likely to use an executive order to make important policy when:
Congress is dominated by the president’s party
The Supreme Court is divided along ideological lines
A negotiation with foreign heads of state reaches an impasse
A compromise cannot be reached with Congress
- 37. Multiple Choice
Bureaucratic rule-making is best defined as:
Legally binding decisions made by Congress to constrain regulatory agencies
Directions given by the president to the bureaucracy regarding how a specific policy will be applied
Review and supervision of departments and agencies conducted by congressional committees
Guidelines issued by government agencies, which provide specific details about how a policy will be implemented
- 38. Multiple Choice
Appointments for the federal judiciary are often contentious for which of the following reasons?
The House of Representatives can undermine presidential authority by overriding judicial appointments.
The president selects nominees based on political orientation, while the Senate focuses on the academic credentials of nominees.
Federal judges are given a platform to legislate from the bench, and the Senate is hesitant about relinquishing power to the judiciary.
Life terms for federal judges mean that presidential appointments will continue to have influence long after the president’s term is over.
- 39. Multiple Choice
Senator Smith votes her conscience on bills that her constituents care little about, but she votes according to the wishes of the majority of her constituents on other bills. Which model of representation do her actions embody?
The trustee model
The majoritarian model
The delegate model
The politico model
- 40. Multiple Choice
A new president has been elected and has a number of positions to fill within the federal bureaucracy. Which of the following is an example of filling a position based on political patronage?
Choosing a secretary of state to appease members from the opposite party.
Reappointing the secretary of defense even though he or she was appointed by the previous president, who is a member of the opposite party.
Asking the chair of a prestigious university’s economics department to serve as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Nominating a high-level campaign fund-raiser to serve as an ambassador to New Zealand
- 41. Multiple Choice
Which of the following statements describes a difficulty presidents face in the policy implementation process?
Members of the bureaucracy often lack the expertise to carry out the president’s preferred policies.
Members of the president’s Cabinet can be removed at any time by Congress.
Congress generally gives specific details about how the laws they pass will be executed by members of the professional bureaucracy.
Because of civil service laws, it is not easy for the president to remove professional bureaucrats when they disagree with the president’s agenda.
- 42. Multiple Choice
A member of the House of Representatives has introduced a bill to raise the minimum wage, but it has been in committee for 36 days and is unlikely to make it to the floor. Which of the following is the best course of action for the representative to take to get a vote on the bill?
Presenting a cloture motion
Placing a hold on the bill
Introducing a concurrent resolution
Filing for a discharge petition
- 43. Multiple Choice
Based on the information in the line graph, which of the following is the most likely implication of entitlement and defense spending as a portion of the federal budget?
Discretionary spending levels are set by law and cannot be changed.
Congressional budget committees can ignore entitlement spending.
Democrats and Republicans generally agree on increasing entitlement spending.
Changes in entitlement spending put pressure on discretionary spending.
- 44. Multiple Choice
Which of the following is an accurate statement about the information in the line graph?
Defense spending has consistently been a larger part of the federal budget than entitlement spending.
Between 1980 and 2000, defense spending increased faster than entitlement spending.
In 2000 entitlement spending passed defense spending as a share of the federal budget.
Entitlement spending has steadily become a larger portion of the federal budget.
- 45. Multiple Choice
Which of the following best explains the difference in the number of bureaucrats employed by the Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security?
The Department of Homeland Security was created before the Department of Education.
The Department of Education receives its funding from Congress, while the Department of Homeland Security works directly for the president.
The Department of Homeland Security hires more employees at the state level than the Department of Education.
The Department of Education primarily addresses state issues, whereas the Department of Homeland Security primarily addresses national issues.
- 46. Multiple Choice
Which of the following accurately describes the information presented in the pie chart?
The legislative, judicial, and executive branches employ more bureaucrats than does the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The number of federal employees working in Washington, D.C., outnumbers those working in the states.
Congress has allocated more money to the Department of Homeland Security than to the Department of Defense.
The United States Postal Service has the largest number of employees within the federal bureaucracy.
- 47. Multiple Choice
Members of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Veterans Affairs are concerned about the quality of services at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Which of the following is an action the committee can take to address the problem?
Impounding funding for veterans hospitals until problems are resolved
Placing a referendum on the ballot in each state to increase health-care funding for veterans
Appointing a new secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Holding a hearing and subpoenaing high-level officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs to testify
- 48. Multiple Choice
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the House of Representatives and the Senate?
A
B
C
D
- 49. Multiple Choice
Which of the following may the president do to limit the Supreme Court’s power?
Fire and replace justices
Adopt new constitutional amendments
Veto parts of the Court’s decisions
Refuse to enforce a ruling by the Court
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