Unit 2 Practice 2

Based on the graph, which statement about incumbency is most accurate?

• Incumbents have a significant reelection advantage.

• Incumbents are prohibited from accepting campaign contributions from interest group members.

• Incumbents only leave office when pressured by party leadership.

• Incumbents often leave office at the end of their term

Which of the following might contribute to the trend indicated in the graph?

• apportionment

• casework

• pork barrel

• logrolling

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.

• Entitlement spending has steadily become a larger portion of the federal budget.

• 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.

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?

• Changes in entitlement spending put pressure on discretionary spending.

• 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.

“Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall… proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law…. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it…” -Article I, Section 7, U.S. Constitution,

According to the Constitution, how can a bill become a law without the president’s signature?

• The Vice President can sign it as the president of the Senate

• Congressional committees can sign bills into law.

• Congress can demand a bill become a law if a majority of both houses voted for it.

• Congress can override the veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses.

How does Article I, Section 7 exemplify the concept of checks and balances?

• Congress does not need to involve other branches in lawmaking.

• States, through their congressional representatives, are involved in lawmaking.

• The Constitution mandates that Congress establish committees.

• No one branch is single handedly in control of making laws for the country.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the relationship between Congress and the President?

• The President has historically been able to direct Congress to pass certain laws.

• The President has the final word on which bills Congress considers.

• If something is important to the President it is always also important to Congress

• Presidents are most successful as facilitators, rather than directors, in lawmaking.

First, for open, competitive examinations for testing the fitness of applicants for the public service now classified or to be classified hereunder. Such examinations shall be practical in their character, and so far as may be shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the service into which they seek to be appointed.

Second, that all the offices, places, and employments so arranged or to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selections according to grade from among those graded highest as the results of such competitive examinations.

Third, appointments to the public service aforesaid in the departments at Washington shall be apportioned among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia upon the basis of population as ascertained at the last preceding census… --Pendleton Act, 1883

How did the Pendleton Act (1883) reform the system of hiring and firing of most federal employees?

• It required hiring and firing decisions to be based on partisan loyalty rather than merit.

• It required hiring and firing decisions to be based on merit rather than partisan loyalty.

• It continued to allow hiring on the basis of merit but made firing federal employees easier.

• It continued to allow hiring on the basis of partisan loyalty, but made firing federal employees more difficult.

Which of the following was the Pendleton Act designed to address?

• executive privilege

• the spoils system

• division of labor within the government

• bureaucratic slowdown in the government

What is the cartoonist’s main argument about the Supreme Court?

• Justices tend to assume that laws are unconstitutional.

• Justices have a negative attitude toward law making.

• Justices have significant discretion in deciding constitutional matters.

• Justices tend to disagree on constitutional matters.