Congress/President Study Guide

1. What did the framers conceive of as the center of policymaking in

America? (353)
2. What is the free use of mail by Congress? (354)
3. Information regarding Senators and members of the House of
Representatives. (355)
4. What are the myths about the members of Congress? (354)
5. How do the members of the Senate reflect the nation? (355-356)
6. Explain and recognize examples of substantive and descriptive
representation. (357-358)
7. What is the most important advantage to someone trying to get
elected to Congress? (358)
8. Are the statistics of reelection higher for members of the House or
the Senate? (358)
9. What are the primary activities that members of Congress engage in
to increase the probability of reelection? (360-361)
10. Define pork barrel (361)
11. When is the membership of the House reapportioned? (362)
12. What is a good predictor of voting behavior? (362)
13. What is different about Nebraska? (365)
14. What are PACs seeking when they contribute money to members of
Congress? (363)
15. Describe the functions and responsibilities of the House Rules
Committee. (366)
16. What is the impeachment process? (366)
17. Describe bicameralism. (365)
18. What part of Congress is more influential in foreign affairs? (366)
19. What are the responsibilities of the Senate? (366)
20.What is a filibuster and how do you end it? (367)
21. The real differences between the House and the Senate lie in their
___________________________________. (366)
22.Who has the power to initiate all revenue bills? (366)
23. Who is next in line after the VP? (367)
24. What does the minority whip do? (368)
25. Most important Congressional activity is done in ____________
_________________________________________. (369)
26. Who is the most powerful person in the Senate? (368)
27. What happens when the House and the Senate pass different versions
of the same bill? (370)
28. What is oversight? (370)
29. Describe a caucus. (373)
30. What is the committee staff responsible for? (374)
31. What happens to most of the bills submitted for consideration? (375)
32. What is the president’s most common method of attempting to
influence Congress? (377)
33. Learn about the English politician and philosopher Edmund Burke. (380)
34. Typically, what is the primary determinant of a Congressional
member’s vote? (380)
35. What did the Supreme Court decide in U.S. Term Limits vs. Thornton? (365)
36. Richard Neustadt has argued that presidential power is the power to
________________. (394)
37. What is the principal reason that Presidents have trouble getting
things done? (393)
38. Who is regarded to be the worst and most ineffective President? (395)
39. What are the requirements to be President? (394)
40. What types of careers have Presidents since WWII typically had? (394-
395)
41. Dropped the bomb. (396)
42. Which President resigned? (396)
43. What is the 22nd Amendment? (395)
44. What does it mean to be “impeached?” (397)
45. What does it take to impeach a President? (397)
46. What happens after a President has been impeached? (397)
47. What was Nixon’s scandal called? (398)
48. What all does the 25th Amendment do? (398)
49. Did the framers want the President to be all-powerful? (398)
50. Does the Constitution go into detail about what powers it wants the
President to have and how to implement them? (400)
51. What are the Constitutional powers of the President? (401)
52. What are the Constitutional powers of the Vice-President? (403)
53. What is the President’s cabinet? (404)
54. Who creates cabinets? (403-404)
55. What do the following cabinets handle: State, Justice, Defense and
Interior (405)
56. Who prepares the President’s budget? (406)
57. What does the white House Staff do for the President? (407)
58. Who was the “consummate delegator?” (408)
59. What is a pocket veto? (409)
60. What does it take for Congress to override a presidential veto? (409)
61. What is meant by presidential coattails? Do they hold up in general?
(412)
62. Why might the War Powers Resolution be considered unconstitutional?
(420)
63. Explain the War Powers Act (420)
64. What did Congress do during the 1991 Gulf War? (420)
65. What is an electoral mandate? (414)
66. What is a mid-term election? (412)
67. How do polls affect a President? (423)
68. What is a rally event? (425)
69. What does the Press Secretary do? (428)
70. A budget deficit occurs when expenditures exceed __________.
(438)
71. What is a progressive tax? (439)