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WorksheetsAPGOPO Congress Review
Total questions: 50
Worksheet time: 26mins
After a constitutional amendment has been proposed by both houses of Congress, its adoption requires:
Official filing with the secretary of state
Support by a majority vote of the people
Signature by the president
Ratification by three-fourths of the states
Most of the work of legislating in Congress takes place in
Joint committees
Standing committees
Select committees
Conference committees
Which of the following is an example of checks and balances in action in the United States government?
The president issues an executive order that freezes federal government hiring
The president vetoes a bill passed by Congress
The voters reject the status quo and elect all new members of Congress
The voters at the state level elect a governor from a party other than the president’s.
Which of the following actions by a congressional representative is an example of “pork barreling”?
Misusing campaign contributions
Directing federal funds into the representative’s district through legislation
Accepting money from a political action committee (PAC)
Voting for a salary increase.
Which of the following constitutional provisions broadened the power of Congress?
The necessary and proper clause
The equal protection clause
The Tenth Amendment
The Ninth Amendment
Which of the following committees plays a major role in the House in shaping tax policy?
Finance
Ways and Means
Commerce
Appropriations
The voting patterns of members of Congress correlate most strongly with
the population density of their district
their economic background
their education level
their party affiliation
A member of the House of Representatives who wishes to be influential in the House itself would most likely seek a place on which of the following committees?
Agriculture
International Relations
Transportation and Infrastructure
Rules
Requires 60 votes in order to end unlimited debate
cloture
filibuster
logrolling
amendment
If a bill passes the House and then a different version passes the Senate, where does it go?
Rules Committee
Conference Committee
Judiciary Committee
Select Committee
Forces a bill out of committee to be debated on the floor
discharge petition
committee of the whole
filibuster
logrolling
Adds to incumbency advantage; free mail for members of Congress
franking
markup
free rider
independent expenditures
All tax bills will start in which committee?
House Ways and Means
Senate Finance Committee
Rules Committee
Conference Committee
Legislative tactic to add something to a bill in Congress that has nothing to do with the topic of the bill
amendment
logrolling
rider
filibuster
Permanent, policy specific committees in Congress
Conference
Select
Joint
Standing
A bill debated under "closed rules".
Can exit only in the Senate
Exists in both houses, but may have non-germane amendments allowed from the floor.
May have strict time limits, but amendments from the floor must always be allowed.
May be considered with strict time limits and no amendments allowed from the floor.
May have amendments from the floor, but no time limits may be imposed.
The practice of one member of Congress supporting another member's pet project in return for support for his or her own project is known as
Fillibustering
Pork Barrel Legislation
Logrolling
Gerrymandering
Congressional Authority
Senators were chosen by state legislatures until the ratification of
the 15th Amendment
the 17th Amendment
the 19th Amendment
the 27th Amendment
Which of the following are the four types of committees in Congress?
Standing, Bipartisan, Mixed, Federal
Standing, Joint, Bipartisan, Conference
Standing, Joint, Select, Conference
Standing, Federal, Joint, Conference
Which committee is often called the traffic cop of the House of Reps?
conference committee
rules committee
debate committee
filibuster committee
Match the correct term: the number of seats distributed to each state in the House of Representatives
reapportionment
apportionment
distrbution
constituents
The period of time during which Congress meets to conduct legislative business
period
session
term
Which of the following is a qualification to be a member of senate?
30 years old
citizen for 9 years
a resident of the state they want to represent
all of the above
How long of a term do Senators serve?
4 years
8 years
2 years
6 years
How long of a term do members of the House of Representatives serve?
2 years
4 years
6 years
8 years
The House Rules Committee is an important part of the legislative process because it:
Determines ethics rules for members’ conduct
Determines whether a bill should be referred to a policy committee for consideration
Determines the terms and conditions of debate when a bill goes to the House floor
Has the authority to limit the Speaker and Minority leader in their use of patronage
When a bill passes the House and the Senate in different versions, the bill is resolved by which of the following types of committee?
Conference
Select
Reconciliation
Rules
Which of the following situations best illustrates the meaning of divided government in the United States political system?
The majority of Supreme Court justices are from one party, but the president is from another
The majority of governors are from one party but the president is from another
The president and the majority of members of Congress are from one party, but the majority of governors is from another
The majority of senators and the majority of representatives are from one party, but the president is from another
Which of the following best describes gerrymandering?
The party in power wins four or five surrounding districts by very small margins
The Supreme Court requires that state legislatures must adopt the doctrine of one person, one vote
The party in control of the state legislature draws district boundaries in such a way as to favor its own candidates in subsequent elections
By polling voters, party officials are able to determine how citizens will vote
Fiscal policies refer to the government’s power to:
Regulate specific industries
Tax and spend
Reapportion congressional seats
Control the supply of money
Enforce treaties
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
Which of the following is true of the seniority system of Congress in relation to committee leadership and committee staffing?
Members of Congress with the longest continuous service are assured the chairmanship of major congressional committees
The chairs of congressional committees tend to be senior members of the body’s majority party
Members of congressional committees are the most senior members of the body’s majority party
The oldest members of Congress have the most seniority
Which of the following describes the result in a winner-take-all, single-member-district plurality system?
The candidate who receives the most votes in the election wins
The candidate must receive at least 51% of the votes to win all of the seats in the district
The top two vote-getters compete in a run-off election
A political party must receive 51% of the votes to win all of the seats in the district
The three points of an iron triangle include:
An independent agency, a state, and a member of Congress
An administrative agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee
A cabinet department, an interest group and the House majority leader
A regulatory commission, a corporation, and the White House Office
When none of the presidential candidates receives a majority of the votes in the electoral college, the winner is chosen by they:
Federal Election Commission
Majority of the House and Senate combined
House of Representatives only
Senate only
Congressional legislative powers include all of the following EXCEPT:
Legislating federal appropriations
Pardoning felons
Establishing a lower-court system
Passing federal laws
Members of Congress who have adopted the delegate role of representation normally cast their votes based on which of the following?
The preferences of the majority of their constituents
Their judgement about what is best for their constituency
The instructions of their political party’s leadership
Their political party’s most recent policy platform
Which of the following is a unique power held by members of the Senate?
Control of the veto
Control of the appropriations process
The ability to filibuster
The ability to impeach the president
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
Which of the following statements about gerrymandering is true?
It has been banned by United States Supreme Court decisions beginning with Bake v. Carr.
It was used traditionally to maintain urban control of the House of Representatives
It can be used by a political party to draw boundary lines to control as many districts as possible
It guarantees greater constituency control over elected representatives
The term “pork barrel” refers to legislation specifically designed to:
Encourage a federal balanced budget
Ensure the careful inspection of farm goods and other foodstuffs
Distribute excess produce to the poor
Provide funding for local projects that are intended to benefit constituents
Which of the following is an example of congressional oversight?
Holding hearings for review of an executive agency’s activities
Assisting constituents with particular problems
Reporting campaign contributions to the Federal Election Commission
Signing trade agreements with other countries without input from the president
Which of the following statements about motions for cloture is true?
They force a bill out of committee so that the full House can vote on it
They are applied to bills that failed in the previous session of Congress
They are applied only to appropriation bills
They are used by senators to end a filibuster and bring a bill to vote
Which of the following is the best example of a categorical grant?
Money given to states for special education programs
Money given to individuals in the form of tax rebates
Money given to states unconditionally
Money given to states to spend at their discretion on transportation
The Constitution states that all revenue bills must originate in:
The Office of Management and Budget
The Congressional Budget Office
The United States Senate
The United States House of Representatives
Nominations to the Supreme Court must be approved by:
Simple majority in the Senate only
Simple majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate
2/3 vote in the House of Representatives only
2/3 vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate
Of the following, which is the most powerful figure in Congress?
The Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee
The Speaker of the House
The Majority Whip of the House
The Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
Of the following, which has been used most to expand the power of the national government?
The commerce clause of the Constitution
The habeas corpus clause of the Constitution
The First Amendment
The Fifth Amendment
Congressional district boundaries are usually redrawn every ten years by the:
Census Bureau
State legislatures
President
Federal Election Commission
Lobbyists try to influence legislators mainly through:
Providing legislators with information on technical issues
Placing persuasive advertisements in the media
“wining and dining” legislators
Threatening to help the legislator’s opponent in the next election
