Chapter 11

The framers of the Constitution granted Congress the power to ______, the greatest of all powers of government.

Before 1900, service in Congress

Which of the following strongly and positively affects a congressional candidate's ability to raise money and win an election?

The privilege of incumbents sending mail to their constituencies at the government's expense is known as the __________ privilege.

What is one reason that incumbents have a fundraising advantage over challengers?

Congressional elections usually favor

In the large majority of cases, the winner of a congressional campaign is the

Incumbents have ______ over challengers.

Redistricting consists of

A constituency is comprised of

When there is no incumbent running in an election it is called a(n) __________ __________ election and usually sparks heavier spending by the two political parties.

______ typically benefit from gerrymandering because the majority party ensures that there are enough of the party's voters in the district to ensure reelection.

Why are incumbents at risk when elections are being waged in the context of disruptive issues?

When congressional district boundaries are redrawn within a state, it is known as

Which of the following problems is most likely to jeopardize an incumbent's chances of reelection?

An open-seat election is one in which

The redrawing of congressional boundaries to benefit a political party is called

Which of the following statements about midterm elections are generally true?

Which of the following are common threats to incumbency?

As a result of the increased level of party polarization in the United States, which candidates face greater risk of losing the primary election?

Political scientist John Hibbing advises that the "first thing to being reelected is to stay away from ______."

Going into the 2018 election, the Democratic Party was able to field an unusually strong set of candidates because

In the 2018 midterm elections, how many House and Senate races received money from super PACs?

Elections held in the years between presidential elections are called ______ elections.

Compared with their percentage of the overall population of the United States, women and minorities are ______ in Congress.

In 2012, Senator Richard Lugar, a six-term incumbent, was beaten in the GOP primary by conservative Richard Mourdock, who portrayed Lugar as

To plan strategy and resolve policy issues, party members in Congress typically meet behind closed doors in a session called a party __________

True or false: It is more common for House incumbents than Senate incumbents to face challengers in the form of prominent local politicians.

The 2014 North Carolina Senate race (Hagan vs. Tillis) was one of the most extensive campaigns in Senate history, with more than $75 million spent. What portion of that money came from super PACs?

The partisan divide in Congress has grown in recent years and each party engages in ______, which is when party members band together on legislation and oppose the other party.

Polls indicate that voters' opinions of Donald Trump's performance had what effect in the 2018 midterms?

Who helps the Speaker set the party's legislative agenda in the House?

Which of the following are true concerning women and minorities who run for congressional office?

The U.S. Congress is a(n) __________ legislature with two chambers, the House and the Senate.

Which of the following positions in the Senate schedules debates on legislation?

Partisan voting is most apparent when members are voting on major ______ issues.

The party that controls the rules and has the most powerful leadership position in the House is the __________ party.

What is it that holds party lawmakers together?

In order to become a member of the Senate, a person must be at least __________ years of age and have been a citizen for at least __________ years.

True or False: The Senate majority leader's position is more powerful than that of the House Speaker.

Which of the following makes a challenger to a Senate incumbent more likely to be successful?

The trend toward party unity in Congress can clearly be seen in voting records of members of Congress when their votes are officially recorded during a __________ __________ vote.

Members of Congress are most indebted to which of the following?

Which of the following terms describes a permanent committee in Congress that has a defined legislative jurisdiction?

What are conference committees?

The difference between amendments that can be offered in the House and Senate to a bill under consideration is that in the

One reason why standing committees are powerful is that they have by law

A vote where most members of one political party vote one way while most members of the other party vote the other way is categorized as a ______ unity vote.

Which of the following correctly describes protocol for committee membership?

At present there are ______ standing committees in the House of Representatives.

Which of the following methods is most often used to select committee chairs?

A committee that is composed of members of both chambers of Congress is known as a ______ committee.

If a "turf war" erupts as different committees vie for jurisdiction over a bill, who or what decides the committee assignment?

If the majority of the members of the House of Representatives are Republican, then every committee and subcommittee in the House will

Which of the following is not a direct power of the committee chair?

Select committees are

Which of the following is the most powerful party leadership position in the Senate?

How do committees and subcommittees serve to decentralize power in Congress?

Choosing committee chairs based on which member has the longest continuous tenure on a standing committee is an example of the __________ system.

Which of the following are true of joint committees?

The term that describes the minority party's committee and subcommittee leaders is __________ members.

When a bill falls into the area in which a committee is authorized to act, that committee is said to have

True or false: House committees have the power to make suggestions for changing a bill in a process known as mark up.

Members of the House of Representatives typically serve on ______ committees, while members of the Senate serve on ______.

Why is the Rules Committee considered one of the most important committees in the House?

A procedural move in which a member or members of the Senate speak(s) for an unlimited amount of time on the Senate floor in order to prevent a vote on a bill is known as

Which of the following is true of bills that emerge from committee with the full support of the committee members?

A limit of ______ exists for how long a Republican member can chair a particular committee.

Which of the following is a legislative power the president does NOT possess?

Hearings are an effective way for committees to

If the Rules Committee places a "closed rule" on a piece of legislation, ______ amendments are permitted.

Which of the following are the functions of Congress?

To end a filibuster, sixty senators must agree to invoke __________ and end the debate.

Whether or not Congress takes the lead in the making of laws usually depends on

On major bills, it is increasingly typical for the majority party's leaders to

The sole purpose of a conference committee is to

When a committee or subcommittee holds a(n) __________, they are trying to gather information about a proposed bill.

The president is usually better suited to take the lead on national issues because

What shift brought the president to a more central role in the legislative process?

Which function is the main responsibility of Congress, to which all other functions of Congress are related?

True or false: After clearing the committee stage, floor debate on a bill is usually led by the majority party's leadership in the House.

As political scientist James Sundquist noted, "Congress [is] organized to deal with _____ problems but not with _____ ones."

If the president chooses to veto a bill,

Members of Congress give various interests a voice in the legislative process as part of Congress's ______ function.

Why is the president usually better suited than Congress to taking the lead on broad national issues?

Today, Congress and the president

An example of Congress's ______ is when Congress passes legislation that creates incentives for the development of alternative energy sources.

Members of Congress usually serve on congressional committees that concentrate on policy areas that affect the members'

Which of the following statements about congressional committees are true?

The text uses the immigration issue as an example of a national issue on which Republican and Democratic lawmakers cannot agree. What is the sticking point?

Who established the standard for the proper approach to Congress's representative function?

How has the importance of local issues changed in Congress as party polarization has taken hold?

Among the reasons why Congress has difficulty taking the lead on broad issues are the facts that

The increase in party polarization in Congress has led to increased

Members of Congress are attentive to the concerns of constituents because constituents

Why do Republican and Democratic lawmakers generally have different perspectives on national issues?

How does the public generally feel about Congress?

Partisan divisions have become more ______ as a result of party polarization.

Which of the following oversight tools help Congress to ensure that the executive branch is administering the laws properly?

Positive aspects of party polarization include the fact that

In the 1980s, before partisan deadlock, congressional approval ratings were about ______ percent.

What term describes the situation in which Republican and Democratic lawmakers vote in the same way as their fellow partisans, regardless of constituency differences?

Ensuring that laws are being administered by the executive branch in the way intended by Congress is an important function of Congress and is known as

In Insecure Majorities, Frances Lee noted that, in the currently closely matched parties, members of Congress are engaged in "______" rather than "governing."

The practice in which members of Congress agree to vote for a bill in exchange for their colleague's vote on another bill is called

True or false: Congress is an institution in which many interests are represented, which is a strength in a diverse nation; yet Congress is also a place in which narrow interests can block Congress from acting even when there's an important national need, which is a weakness.

Today, in the grips of partisan deadlock, congressional approval ratings are about ______ percent.

When is congressional oversight exercised vigorously?

Congress's structure makes it easier to

The framers of the Constitution intended that lawmakers ______, something that has become increasingly difficult in today's partisan Congress.