GOV CH 10 CONGRESS Chapter Test

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True/False
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.

Even though one party may have more members than another party in the House or Senate, both parties have the same power as required by the Constitution of the United States

The Speaker is the same as the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives.

The Congress of the United States has "term limits." You can only run for Congress a set number of times.

Usually the Speaker of the House serves as head of the party when the President is in a different party.

The Vice President is also President of the Senate and usually votes only when there is a chance of a tie vote.

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Who sets the pay and compensation of members of Congress?

a.	The Executive Branch	c.	Congress
b.	The Judicial Branch	d.	Congressional Budget Office

Congressional meeting that consists of two sessions and lasts 2 years

a.	administration	c.	term
b.	Congressional tour	d.	session

Legislative committees composed of members from both houses of Congress.

a.	Standing committee	c.	Duel House Committee
b.	Joint Committee	d.	Subcommittee

Each of the following are represented in the House as a non-voting member except ...

a.	District of Columbia	c.	Samoa
b.	Guam	d.	Panama (Canal Zone)

10.

In the Senate, who is the most powerful?

a.	Speaker of the Senate	c.	Majority Whip
b.	Majority leader	d.	Vice President

11.

The legal procedure by which government leaders succeed the presidency should the president die, become disabled, or be removed from office

a.	Vice President	c.	presidential succession
b.	President Pro Tem invocation	d.	presidential tenure

12.

"All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives" This quote comes from ...

a.	Art II of the Constitution	c.	The Declaration of Independence
b.	Art I of the Constitution	d.	Art III of the Constitution

13.

The forced removal of a member of Congress for misconduct.

a.	incumbency	c.	expulsion
b.	censure	d.	reprimand

14.

States apportion House representatives on the basis of .....

a.	gerrymandering of unequal population size	c.	members at large
b.	single member districts of different population size	d.	single member districts of equal population size

15.

The party that holds over half the seats in the legislature.

a.	superior congressional party	c.	presidents party
b.	majority party	d.	minority party

16.

In the House of Representatives, who is most powerful?

a.	Majority Leader	c.	President Pro Tempore
b.	Speaker of the House	d.	Vice President

17.

The formal opening of each term of Congress. The Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution reset the date at January 3 of each odd-numbered year unless Congress sets another date.

a.	convening	c.	inauguration
b.	election	d.	roundup

18.

A _____ is formed when both houses of Congress pass the same bill in different forms. The leaders of both parties appoint members from each house to get together and sort out the differences, the goal being to come up with a single bill.

a.	standing committee	c.	subcommittee
b.	conference committee	d.	joint committee

19.

Legislature consisting of two houses.

a.	majority and minority leadership	c.	bicameral legislature
b.	unicameral legislature	d.	bye house legislature

20.

In the house the re-election advantage goes to

a.	majority members	c.	Democrats
b.	minority members	d.	incumbents

21.

Occurring every 10 years after the national census, _____ is the redrawing of the lines of a congressional district to take population changes into account. It alters the distribution of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

a.	reapportionment	c.	redistricting
b.	rescheduling	d.	reassessing

22.

Gerrymandering means drawing districts to ...

a.	balance the power of political parties	c.	balance the power of ethnic groups
b.	give a political party or ethnic group an advantage	d.	put an equal number of voters in each district

23.

The huge number of federal grants, projects, and contracts open to cities, colleges, institutions, and businesses in a Congress member's constituency. The grants, projects, and contracts are designed to bring money and jobs into the constituency so the Congress member can take credit for them and try to get reelected.

a.	packing	c.	casework
b.	pork barrel	d.	cracking

24.

Who manages the numerous requests for help from constituents?

a.	Case workers	c.	Personal Assistant
b.	Administrative Assistant	d.	Committee Staff

25.

The power of incumbency includes all of the following except ....

a.	pork barrel	c.	casework
b.	education and occupation	d.	franking privilege

26.

Who's job is it to see that members are present to vote on bills that are important to the party?

a.	Majority/Minority Leaders	c.	Pages
b.	Whips	d.	Speakers

27.

What was the result of racial Gerrymandering in the South?

a.	The Democrats were able to extend their power over the South	c.	The Democrats were able to break the grip of the Republican party on the South
b.	Black voters were able to extend their influence over the entire state	d.	Republicans were able to break the grip of the Democrat party on the South

28.

Periods of time during which a legislative or judicial body is not in session.

a.	recess	c.	validated session
b.	void	d.	interim session

29.

Which of the items below is not a Constitutional qualification for election to the House of Representatives.

a.	reside in district you are going to represent	c.	citizen of the U.S.
b.	25 years old	d.	legal resident of the state you are elected from

30.

A _____ is an assistant who helps the House majority and minority leaders and the Senate minority and majority floor leaders. They pass information from the party leadership down to party members and try to make sure that party members show up for important votes and floor debates. They also conduct informal polls on members' views about major legislation and report the results back to the party leaders.

a.	Majority Council	c.	Whips
b.	Minority Council	d.	Administrative Assistant

31.

The Senate is called a "continuing body" because every two years only _____ are re-elected to office.

a.	two thirds	c.	one third
b.	one quarter	d.	half

32.

Who must agree before Congress can adjourn?

a.	President can adjourn	c.	Each House of Congress
b.	House alone can adjourn Congress	d.	President, House and Senate

33.

Who runs the lawmakers office, supervises his schedule and gives advice on political matters?

a.	Legislative Assistant	c.	Interns
b.	Caseworker	d.	Administrative Assistant

34.

Where is most of the work of Congress conducted?

a.	Floor of House and Senate	c.	Caucus
b.	Committees	d.	Party Conferences

35.

Which branch of government is elected directly by the people?

a.	judicial	c.	all of these
b.	executive	d.	legislative

36.

Seats in a legislative body are distributed among electoral districts based on state population.

a.	sliced	c.	at large seats
b.	populated	d.	apportioned

37.

The Reapportionment Act of 1929 provided that the number of representatives in the House would remain fixed at _____

a.	535	c.	425
b.	100	d.	435

38.

What does Bicameral Legislature mean?

a.	Congress is elected every other year (bi yearly)	c.	The U.S. has a two party system in Congress
b.	All real power lies in the House of Commons	d.	Congress has two houses

39.

The authority to make laws.

a.	executive order	c.	judicial power
b.	legislative power	d.	executive power

40.

Every state is guaranteed at least _____ seat in the House of Representatives.

a.	3	c.	2
b.	no guarantee	d.	1

41.

How long does a term of Congress last?

a.	4 years	c.	1 year
b.	2 years	d.	6 years

42.

A privilege set out in the Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech to members while they are conducting congressional business. Protects the freedom of legislative debate.

a.	filibustering	c.	congressional immunity
b.	compensation	d.	policymaking

43.

If a representative meets the requirements of age, residence and citizenship, Congress can

a.	exclude an elected member for other reasons	c.	not exclude an elected member
b.	ask the Supreme court to rule on whether or not a member is mature enough	d.	only challenge a member on the basis of citizenship

44.

Of the three methods for punishing members of Congress listed below, which is least severe.

a.	time out	c.	expulsion
b.	reprimand	d.	censure

45.

_____ is what an elected official performs when helping members of his or her constituency cut through bureaucratic red tape to get them something they want from the government.

a.	cracking	c.	incumbency
b.	casework	d.	pork barrel

46.

House seats are apportioned on the basis of

a.	statehood	c.	seniority
b.	population	d.	electoral college

47.

The geographic area within a state that is served by one representative in Congress.

a.	region	c.	county
b.	state caucus	d.	congressional district

48.

The creation of legislative district boundaries to bring about the greatest partisan or factional advantage. Sometimes the dominant political party in a state legislature will manipulate a district's shape to make itself more powerful against the minority party before elections. The term was coined in 1812 after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry changed his district's boundaries to secure the most votes possible. The district's resulting shape was said to resemble a but his detractors christened the electoral creature a salamander districts.

a.	clustering	c.	salamandering
b.	Gerrymandering	d.	partitioning

49.

Divisions of larger committees that deal with a particular part of the committee's policy area.

a.	conference committee	c.	subcommittee
b.	joint committee	d.	standing committee

50.

An official reprimand of a legislator by his or her peers

a.	expulsion	c.	time out
b.	censor	d.	censure

51.

A _____ is an official count of a population that also breaks the total into divisions according to age, sex, race, occupation, and other characteristics. It is most often used as a tool to understand demographic changes. The U.S. Constitution requires that it be completed every decade.

a.	divisional count	c.	census
b.	term limit	d.	head count

52.

The _____ acts as leader of the Senate if the vice president is unable to attend. Since this is the case most of the time, the _____ is often the functioning Senate leader. He or she is elected by the other Senate members and is usually the member of the majority party with the longest continuous presence as a senator. The position is mainly a ceremonial one; the majority leader and the minority leader have most of the real power in the Senate.

a.	Speaker of the Senate	c.	President pro tem
b.	Speaker of the House	d.	Majority Whip

53.

The Senate can reject an elected member by

a.	majority vote	c.	The Senate cannot reject an elected member.
b.	two thirds vote	d.	two thirds vote in House and Senate

54.

A person hired to manage a lawmaker's office, supervise his or her schedule, and give advice

a.	legislative director	c.	committee council
b.	legal council	d.	administrative assistant

55.

A person selected by fellow members to be the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the House or Senate. One elected for the House and one for the Senate.

a.	senior member	c.	Majority leader
b.	caucus leader	d.	Minority leader

56.

How many Sessions are in each term?

a.	1	c.	4
b.	2	d.	3

57.

Elected by the minority party in the House of Representatives or Senate, his main responsibility is maintaining order and unified opinion within the party. He or she also acts as a sort of cheerleader for the often less successful minority grouping and is the official spokesperson for the party.

a.	Majority leader	c.	Vice President
b.	Minority leader	d.	party caucus chairperson

58.

Unscheduled sessions of Congress ordered by the president

a.	special term	c.	jam session
b.	interrogatory session	d.	special session

59.

Members of congressional staffs who manage the numerous requests for help from constituents.

a.	minority constituent worker	c.	administrative assistant
b.	legislative assistant	d.	caseworkers

60.

Which statement below is true?

a.	The upper house is more powerful than the lower house	c.	The Senate is not a house
b.	The Senate is called the lower house because there are fewer members	d.	The House is called the lower house and the Senate is the upper house

61.

A constitutionally mandated position, the _____ is elected by the majority party. He or she is second in line to succeed the president if the latter were to die or become too ill to work. Has numerous formal duties, including presiding over sessions of the House, playing a major part in making committee assignments, helping to decide which bills go to which committees, and appointing the party's legislative leaders and their staffs. In addition, he serves as his or her party's national spokesperson if his or her party is different from the president's.

a.	Speaker of the Senate	c.	Vice President
b.	President Pro Tem of the Senate	d.	Speaker of the House of Representatives

62.

An official reproach used by Congress for a member guilty of misconduct.

a.	reprimand	c.	expulsion
b.	censure	d.	immunity

63.

Which of the following is not an agency that provides support to members of Congress?

a.	Library of Congress	c.	Congressional Caucus
b.	Congressional Budget Office	d.	General Accounting Office

64.

When a Senator or Representative brings money to his state or district in the form of federal projects, we say they are engaging in _____ politics.

a.	statesman like	c.	pork barrel
b.	casework	d.	partisan

65.

A closed meeting of the party leaders or other group to select a candidate or decide other matters.

a.	cloture	c.	caucus
b.	session	d.	filibuster

66.

constituents free of charge. Taxes pay for the service.

a.	PAC's	c.	casework
b.	franking	d.	free-bee

67.

A _____ is a relatively permanent group that deals with bills in different areas of government policy. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have their own, and members are not interchangeable. Examples of policy areas include the environment and public works, veterans' affairs, and small business.

a.	standing committee	c.	joint committee
b.	sub committee	d.	conference committee

68.

A _____ is a temporary legislative body that is established for a restricted time period to accomplish a specific goal. Rarely writing original legislation, it breaks up after giving a final report to the chamber that formed it. Examples might be investigating public problems such as poor school lunch quality or increasing juvenile crime.

a.	standing committee	c.	subcommittee
b.	select committee	d.	conference committee