Difficulty Level: Easy
88. __________ powers are the powers explicitly given to Congress in the
Constitution.
Topic: The Structure and Powers of Congress
Learning Objective: LO 10.2: Differentiate the powers of Congress, and
compare and contrast the structure and powers of the House and Senate.
Page Reference: 302
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
89. __________ decides who shall be recognized to speak on the House floor and
rules on points of order (with advice from the parliamentarian), among other
responsibilities.
Topic: Congressional Leadership and Committees
Learning Objective: LO 10.3: Compare and contrast the leadership systems used
in the House and Senate, and explain how work is done through congressional
committees.
Page Reference: 304
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
90. Because they continue from one Congress to the next, __________ committees
are permanent fixtures to which bills are referred for consideration.
Topic: Congressional Leadership and Committees
Learning Objective: LO 10.3: Compare and contrast the leadership systems used
in the House and Senate, and explain how work is done through congressional
committees.
Page Reference: 307
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Short Answer Questions
341
91. Define gerrymandering and describe its origins. Use examples to explain how it
works.
1. Define gerrymandering as the redrawing of district lines to benefit a
party, group, or incumbent.
2. Gerrymandering dates back to the early 1800s, when Massachusetts
governor Elbridge Gerry signed off on a salamander-shaped district to
help his party win an extra seat.
3. Cracking and packing are two ways to manipulate redistricting.
Cracking involves the breakup of a strong minority party district into
pieces that then go into other districts. Packing merges pieces of the
majority party from its weak districts into a single strong district.
Topic: Congressional Elections
Learning Objective: LO 10.1: Describe the congressional election process and
the advantages it gives incumbents.
Page Reference: 297
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
92. Founder James Madison wrote, “to control the legislative authority, you must
divide it.” When it came to Congress, the Constitution did just that. Explain how
the bicameral design of Congress works as a check on congressional power. Be
sure to include terms of office, timing of elections, and age and residency
requirements in your discussion.
1. Explain that House and Senate members serve different terms of office
and are reelected on different schedules. The purpose was to make House
members more responsive to voters back home and to insulate Senators
from popular displeasure.
2. House members must be 25 and citizens for seven years, whereas
Senators have to be 30 and citizens for nine years.
3. The Framers purpose in setting the Senate requirements higher was to
have the Senate serve as a check on what James Madison called the
“fickleness and passion” of the House. This is also why the Framers
originally had Senators picked by state legislators, although this was
changed in 1913 to a direct election.
Topic: Congressional Elections
Learning Objective: LO 10.1: Describe the congressional election process and
the advantages it gives incumbents.
Page Reference: 296 – 297
342
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
93. What special power does Congress have with respect to the president? According
to the Constitution, what crimes constitute grounds for this action? Describe the
roles of the House and Senate in such an action, including the voting thresholds
for success.
1. Congress has the power to remove the president. It is a two-step
process.
2. The House may charge, or impeach, the president for “high crimes and
misdemeanors.” A majority vote in the House is required to impeach.
3. The Senate then may try the president to determine guilt or innocence. A
two-thirds vote is required in the Senate to convict and remove the
president from office.
Topic: The Structure and Powers of Congress
Learning Objective: LO 10.2: Differentiate the powers of Congress, and
compare and contrast the structure and powers of the House and Senate.
Page Reference: 302
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
94. Why is the House Rules Committee so important? What is its function? Be sure to
give examples of the rules the committee may use.
1. Explain that he House Rules Committee is the most powerful committee
in Congress because it controls the only route to the House floor. There is
no similar gatekeeper in the Senate.
2. The committee issues “rules,” which are tickets to the House floor. This
procedure can be used to delay or kill legislation.
3. The House Rules Committee also decides how bills will be debated by
the full House membership. A closed rule prevents amendments on the
floor, or allows amendments only by members of the committee that
reported the bill. An open rule allows debate and amendments on the floor
within the parameters set by the House Rules Committee.
4. Closed rules are mostly for tax and spending bills.
Topic: Congressional Leadership and Committees
Learning Objective: LO 10.3: Compare and contrast the leadership systems used
in the House and Senate, and explain how work is done through congressional
committees.
343
Page Reference: 306
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
95. It seems members of Congress were getting a lot of “free stuff” before 2007. That
was the year new ethics rules went into effect. Sketch out the parameters of those
new guidelines as well as those of the more recent 2012 Stock Act.
1. Explain that members of Congress cannot accept any gifts, travel, event
admissions, or meals from lobbyists, nor may lobbyists offer them.
2. Members cannot accept money for speeches, events, or articles,
although they may accept travel and expenses for events attended in an
official capacity.
3. The Stock Act outlawed insider trading by members, who sometimes
hear about changes in the economy or federal actions before the public
does.
Topic: The Job of the Legislator
Learning Objective: LO 10.5: Characterize the two ways legislators represent
their constituents, and identify the various influences on their votes.
Page Reference: 317
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
96. Congress has become more conservative in recent years, especially the House of
Representatives. This shift came in tandem with a general shift toward more
polarization in both chambers. Define polarization, and explain how it has been
exacerbated by the most recent reapportionment. How has the public reacted to
the ideological divide in Congress?
1. Define polarization as the extent to which liberals and conservatives
take stances at the far ends of the ideological spectrum.
2. Partisan redistricting to create safe seats results in more ideological
battles during the primary process. Party activists, who tend to be more
ideological than voters in general, put up candidates who tend to be more
extreme. Party moderates are less likely to be elected, and thus the abyss
between the two parties in Congress widens.
3. Congress’s approval rating hit historical lows in late 2012.
Topic: The Job of the Legislator
Learning Objective: LO 10.5: Characterize the two ways legislators represent
their constituent, and identify the various influences on their votes.
344
Page Reference: 316
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
97. Outline the main steps a bill takes to become a law, noting the differences
between the House and Senate. Why it is so much easier for a bill to be killed than
passed?
1. Outline the major themes of the lawmaking process: bill introduction,
subcommittee hearing and markup, full committee, Rules Committee
(House only), unanimous consent (Senate), full House or full Senate
debate, Conference Committee and bill reconciliation, presidential
approval or disapproval.
2. List the options for the president: approval with signature, no signature
and bill becomes law after 10 days if Congress is in session, no signature
and bill repeats the whole process if Congress is out of session (pocket
veto), or veto. A two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate is
required to override a veto.
3. Note that at any given step, the bill may be held or killed off. Riders
may be attached to obtain or thwart bill passage.
Topic: How a Bill Becomes a Law
Learning Objective: LO 10.4: Identify the steps by which a bill becomes a law
and the ways a bill can be stopped at each step.
Page Reference: 310 – 312, 314
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
98. Public approval of Congress has varied significantly over the past two decades.
Describe what was happening in the country when the level of approval of
Congress was at its highest and lowest points.
1. Identify 2001 as a high point. After the attacks of September 11, 2001,
approval of government was high in general as the country came together.
2. Identify 2012 as a low point. Public was angry about Congress’s
inability to fix the economy in the wake of the Great Recession.
Polarization in Congress led to gridlock. Many thought Congress was
failing to meet its domestic responsibilities.
Topic: An Assessment of Congress
Learning Objective: LO 10.6: Evaluate the influence of citizens on the
legislative process.
345
Page Reference: 320
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
99. What is the meaning of redistricting, who is responsible for it, and why is it such a
political football?
1. Define redistricting as the reapportionment of congressional seats after
each census. States that have grown in population are apportioned more
representatives and those that have dwindled, fewer.
2. State legislatures draw the new district maps. This has often been used
as an invitation to use redistricting as a partisan tool in which the
incumbent majority creates voting districts favorable to their party’s
reelection.
3. Gerrymandering is the term used for this sort of partisan district
creation. Packing and cracking describe whether district lines are drawn to
give electoral favor to a particular group of constituents (packing), or to
divide a block of opposition constituents (cracking).
Topic: Congressional Elections
Learning Objective: LO 10.1: Describe the congressional election process and
the advantages it gives incumbents.
Page Reference: 297
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
100. Political rhetoric in campaigns often includes a challenger attempting to disparage
the incumbent by labeling him or her a “Washington insider.” Does being an
incumbent make a politician more or less effective or corrupt? Be sure to weigh
the pros and cons of incumbency on politicians and society.
1. Recall that incumbents are far more likely to win a given election: over
a 90 percent average, even when Republicans retook control of the House.
2. List the advantages of incumbency, including: name recognition, credit
claiming, free mail, casework, media access, campaign experience, and
redistricting.
3. Note some pitfalls of incumbency that may be used to challenge an
incumbent. This could include perceptions of ineffective performance, or
perceived character flaws. Party affiliation can be important, such as in the
2010 election, when only 86 percent of House members were reelected.
Democrats were viewed more skeptically in the 2010 election.
4. Make an argument on the value of being an incumbent.
Topic: Congressional Elections
Learning Objective: LO 10.1: Describe the congressional election process and
the advantages it gives incumbents.
Page Reference: 297 – 299
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
101. Compare the House and Senate in terms of leadership structure, and explain why
the House has tighter control of its membership than the Senate.
1. Outline the leadership structures in both chambers, summarizing the
main responsibilities of the Speaker of the House and the majority
leaders in each chamber.
2. Explain that the sheer number of House members, who are elected
every two years, necessitates stronger leadership and control to
maintain order and to accomplish legislative goals.
Topic: Congressional Leadership and Committees
Learning Objective: LO 10.3: Compare and contrast the leadership systems used
in the House and Senate, and explain how work is done through congressional
committees.
Page Reference: 303 – 307
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
102. How do people of the world view the need for strong leaders versus democratic
institutions? Summarize the international view on this issue, and provide your
best guess about where Americans would poll on this. Support your answer.
1. The desire for democracy rose substantially in the Middle East during
the Arab Spring. In Egypt, for example, between 2007 and 2011, the
percentage of citizens favoring democracy over a strong leader went from
50 to 64 percent. Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi’s power grab in late
2012 led to violent protests in Cairo.
2. A Pew poll in 2010 found most citizens of the world preferring
democracy to strong leaders. This preference was strongest in Western
European countries, where the numbers of those preferring democratic
government ranged from 78 to 82 percent.
3. Democracy can be frustrating when citizens perceive that action is
required. Such feelings are intensified during times of war and economic
stress. Gridlock intensifies this frustration. This translates into feelings
that stronger leadership is needed, even at the cost of a loss of democracy.