Study Guide for Exam #2
1. What are the two principal functions of Congress? Explain the inherent
conflict that exists between these two functions. How might this conflict
explain Fenno’s dilemma?
2. Identify four meanings of representation.
3. What types of committees exist in Congress? What are their respective
purposes? Analyze and assess the validity of the following statements: “The
committee system is what makes Congress work.” “The committee system is
at the heart of the organizational decentralization and policy fragmentation in
Congress.”
4. Discuss the legislative process. What is a “veto point?” Identify the primary
veto points in the legislative process. How many veto points can be
associated with a typical bill in Congress?
5. What is the “honeymoon effect?” What factors contribute to this
phenomenon?
6. What is meant by the “media presidency?” What is meant by the “textbook
presidency?” How do these perpetuate a “mythological presidency?” Explain
why the true nature of presidential power is personal, episodic, and negative.
7. Detail the constitutional basis of presidential power. Are the president’s
powers broad and flexible or narrow and restricted? Explain your answer by
contrasting the literalist and stewardship theories.
8. What is a bureaucracy? Discuss the premises of the classical model of
bureaucracy?
9. Why have the bureaucracies of the national government grown over the last
120 years?
10. What types of bureaucracies are found in the executive branch?
11. Discuss how bureaucracies make public policy. How can bureaucratic
policy-making be reconciled with the constitutional principle of separation of
powers?
12. What problems exist for bureaucracies with respect to policy
implementation?
13. What reforms have been proposed to make bureaucracies more effective?
14. What is the difference between the original and appellate jurisdictions of the
United States Supreme Court [USSC]? Which is the primary source of cases
on the USSC’s docket?
15. Mechanically, how does the USSC decide to hear a case on appeal? What
is the “rule of four?”
16. What is merits consciousness? What is “cue theory?”
17. What do we mean when we say that a court decision has policy impact?
How does this differ from legal impact? Give examples of U.S. Supreme
Court [USSC] decisions that have policy impact. Explain each example.
18. What is judicial review? Discuss the ‘historical’ birth’ of judicial review in
MARBURY V MADISON [1803]. What were the facts of the case? What was the
constitutional issue? What did the USSC decide? What was the long-term
significance of the case?
19. What is meant by judicial activism? What is meant by judicial restraint?
20. Why is compliance important as a criterion of judicial policy-making? Give
examples of USSC decisions that meet this criterion. Explain each example.