Framework of Congress, the House, and the Senate

As a result of the passage of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, U.S. Senators are now selected by....

• Direct popular vote

• indirect political party vote

• electoral college process

• appointment by state legislatures

Under representative democracy how do American citizens choose members of their state and federal legislatures?

• by signature petitions

• by elections

• by lottery

• by presidential appointment

Why did the Framers of the Constitution create a checks and balances system for the U.S. government?

• to have two presidents instead of one

• so that no legislation would ever get passed

• so no branch of government, nor person ever becomes too powerful over the American people

• so the judicial branch would create the laws

After the 2020 Census, Texas has ___ U.S. House members.

• 36

• 44

• 16

• 38

After the Reapportionment Act of 1929, there are _____ total seats in the U.S. House of Representatives--how are U.S. House seats distributed among the States?

• 435/based on the population of each state

• 100/based on the vote of state legislatures

• 37/based on popular opinion

• 50/based on manifest destiny of each state

How did ratification of the 17th Amendment impact the United States?

• strengthened the power of state legislatures

• increased the power of the people to have control over their federal government by direct elections of U.S. Senators

• state governors became more powerful

• court judges had to be elected

The U.S. Census is taken every ___ years.

• 5

• 20

• 15

• 10

To be a member of the U.S. House, you must be ____ years old, and to be a member of the U.S. Senate, you must be ____ years old.

• 25 and 30

• 18 and 21

• 35 and 45

• as long as you are old enough to vote, there is no age requirement

There are currently ____ women serving in the U.S. Senate.

• 42

• 3

• 11

• 26

Currently, the 2 U.S. Senators from Texas are _____ _______ and ______ ______.

• Joe Biden and Kay Bailey Hutchison

• Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren

• John Tower and George Mason

• Ted Cruz and John Cornyn