Interactions Among the Branches Note Quiz 2.5-2.8

Which of the following may the president do to limit the power of Congress?

• Neither sign nor veto the bill, allowing it to die

• Refuse to allocate tax money to fund the law

• Declare the law unconstitutional, thereby killing it

• Persuade members of Congress to vote against the law

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the expressed powers of the President and powers of Congress?

• President power: Appointing ambassadors

  Congressional Power: Interpreting the Constitution

• President power: Negotiating Treaties

  Congressional Power: Ratifying treaties

• President power: Issuing signing statements

  Congressional Power: Levying taxes

• President power: Pardoning impeached officials

  Congressional Power: Impeaching officials

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the president's formal and informal powers?

• Formal Powers: Setting the agenda for Congress

  Informal Powers: Granting pardons

• Formal Powers: Declaring war

  Informal Powers: Delivering the State of the Union address

• Formal Powers: Vetoing legislation

  Informal Powers: Issuing executive orders

• Formal Powers: Acting as Commander in Chief

  Informal Powers: Appointing Supreme Court justices

“The president may be convinced that a piece of legislation is unwise. But his judgment as to its un-wisdom is not a legal reason for his declining to execute it. (It may be a reason to veto it, and one of the objections to signing statements is that they are vetoes not subject to override.) And the president may have a definite view as to what the legislation means, and that view might include conclusions as to its constitutionality, but his is not the view that counts. He may be the commander in chief, but he is not the interpreter in chief.”

-Stanley Fish, "Who's Afraid of Presidential Signing Statements?" Source: New York Times

Which of the following statements best summarizes Fish’s argument?

• The president should not execute laws he or she deems unconstitutional

• Signing statements provide legal reasons for the president to decline to execute laws

• Vetoes should be replaced with signing statements, since they are not subject to override

• Signing statements go beyond the president’s expressed constitutional powers

Which of the following statements is the most likely motivation for a president to issue an executive order?

• To force Congress to create policy that fits the president's agenda

• To achieve policy goals when a compromise cannot be reached with Congress

• To increase the power of the presidency over presidential appointments

• To create laws that cannot be changed or replaced overtime

Use the passage below to answer the following question.

“That unity is conducive to energy will not be disputed. Decision, activity, secrecy, and despatch will generally characterize the proceedings of one man in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number; and in proportion as the number is increased, these qualities will be diminished . . .”

-Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 70, “The Executive Department Further Considered,” 1788

Which of the following statements best summarizes Hamilton’s argument?

• One person should run the executive branch because they will be able to act swiftly, decisively, and discreetly, which is necessary for the presidency

• One person should run the executive branch because it will be too complicated for Congress if they have to negotiate with multiple people

• Three people should run the executive branch because it is too much power for one person to hold

• Three people should run the executive branch because its power to negotiate treaties with other countries should be distributed to multiple people

"Anti-Third Term Principle," by Clifford K. Berryman, 1912. The cartoon depicts Theodore Roosevelt, left, and George Washington, right. Source: National Archives

Which of the following Constitutional Amendments is most relevant to the topic of the cartoon?

• The Twenty-first Amendment

• The Nineteenth Amendment

• The Twenty-second Amendment

• The Fourteenth Amendment

“In addition to educating the country, [President Barack Obama’s] goal is to frame the political debate and set an agenda that the next Democratic presidential nominee can run on next year—an agenda that Obama hopes will put opposition Republicans at a big disadvantage.

Obama has been getting lots of attention for bypassing the Republican-controlled Congress and using his unilateral powers, such as executive orders, to get his way. But his power to persuade is another vital weapon in the president's arsenal, since he can command media and public attention almost whenever he wants.”

-Kenneth T. Walsh, U.S. News & World Report, 2015

The strategy described in the passage above is an best example of which of the following?

• The bully pulpit

• checks and balances

• formal powers

• cloture

Which of the following describes a difficulty the judicial branch faces in the policy implementation process?

• Supreme Court justices rarely have the opportunity to rule on cases of national importance

• The Supreme Court must rely on the other branches of government to enforce its rulings

• The legislative and executive branches frequently ignore the rulings of the Supreme Court

• The ideological composition of the Supreme Court frequently shifts when presidents nominate new justices

“That inflexible and uniform adherence to the rights of the Constitution, and of individuals, which we perceive to be indispensable in the courts of justice, can certainly not be expected from judges who hold their offices by a temporary commission. Periodical appointments, however regulated, or by whomsoever made, would, in some way or other, be fatal to their necessary independence.”

-Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 78, “The Judiciary Department,” 1788

Which of the following government policies would the author most likely support

• A ban on presidential appointments of Supreme Court justices

• Life terms, pending good behavior, for Supreme Court justices

• Congressional oversight of the judicial branch

• Regular democratic elections of Supreme Court justices