Unit 3
Chapter 7 - True/False Questions:
1) The United States has a unicameral legislature.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 237
2) Every two years, states are redistricted to reflect changes in population as mandated by the
Constitution.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 238
3) The organization of Congress is closely tied to political parties.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 238
4) The Speaker of the House makes all committee assignments for the majority and minority
party.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 243
5) The officer who has actual power over the day-to-day operation and administration of the
Senate is the Senate majority leader.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 244
6) Newt Gingrich increased the power of the Speaker of the House.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 243-244
7) Whips are named after the whips that they used in the eighteenth-century to control partisan
loyalties in Parliament.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 244
8) The president pro tempore of the Senate is a member of the minority party and holds a
powerful political office.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 244-245
9) The Senate Rules Committee is very powerful and controls the flow of legislation in the
Senate.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 247
10) The Rules Committee acts like a traffic cop and can stop a bill from being amended if the
majority leadership so desires.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 258
11) Members of Congress use earmarks to help support their districts and win reelection.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 248
12) If a committee chair desires, he or she can usually kill a bill.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 249
13) Committee chairs are quite powerful.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 249
14) Much of the actual legislative work of Congress is done within the committee system.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 246
15) One study revealed that the chances of an incumbent member of Congress losing are
minimal, unless he or she is involved in a scandal.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 251
16) Since 1945, the number of women, African Americans, and Hispanics in Congress has been
gradually increasing.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 252
17) In general, the public thinks highly of Congress and of the job their own representative is
doing.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 255
18) Divided government refers to the situation where the Congress and the Supreme Court are
composed of different political majorities.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 254
19) Voters overwhelmingly dislike divided government because it tends to result in policy
gridlock.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 254
20) Members of Congress tend to pay more attention to those who help fund their reelection
campaigns.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 256
21) The Congressional Budget Office helps members of Congress by evaluating the costs and
economic effects of proposed legislation.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 257
22) All revenue bills must first begin in the House.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 239
23) Congress has the ability to issue a pocket veto before a bill is sent to the president.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 262
24) The China Trade Act of 2000 was enacted using a simple, straightforward process.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 262
25) Congressional review is a frequently used method of congressional oversight.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 267
26) Congressional review is the process of confirming presidential nominees.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 267
27) Richard Nixon is the only U.S. president to be impeached.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 269
Chapter 8 - True/False Questions:
1) The Articles of Confederation had a fairly powerful executive.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 275
2) Under the Articles of Confederation, the executive branch consisted of a president and a vice
president, but no cabinet.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 275
3) The United States under the Articles of Confederation lacked a strong president.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 275
4) Article II of the Constitution limits the president to two terms in office.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 277
5) A president can serve for a maximum of four years.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 276
6) A two-thirds majority vote by the Senate is required to remove the president after the House
has voted to impeach by a simple majority.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 278
7) Vice presidential vacancies are filled by presidential nomination with confirmation required
by three-fifths of the House.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 280
8) The Constitution limits the number of presidential appointees requiring Senate confirmation.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 280
9) Most of a president’s Cabinet nominees are successfully confirmed by the Senate.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 280
10) Article II of the Constitution gives the president the power to appoint congressional leaders,
pending Senate confirmation.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 280
11) The president has the power to reject all or part of any bill passed by Congress. .
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Application
Page reference: 282-283
12) Most presidential vetoes are overridden by Congress.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 282-283
13) The vice president serves as Commander in Chief of the armed forces.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 283-284
14) As a check on state power, the president has the authority to pardon those accused or
convicted of a state crime.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 285
15) According to the War Powers Act, the president is prohibited from engaging troops in
combat without a congressional declaration of war.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 285
16) As a check on the judicial branch, the president has the authority to pardon those accused or
convicted of a federal crime.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 285
17) Every president since Richard Nixon has vigorously supported the War Powers Act as a
constitutionally permissible limit on executive power.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Application
Page reference: 285
18) Jefferson used the concept of inherent presidential powers to justify the Louisiana Purchase.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 289
19) During the first few presidential administrations, the president tended to be much stronger
than the Congress.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 289
20) Presidential power has expanded under George W. Bush.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 291
21) Franklin D. Roosevelt is usually considered the founder of the modern presidency.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 290
22) While previous presidents had been content with Congress taking the lead in making policies,
Franklin Roosevelt took on a strong policymaking role.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 300
23) President Harry Truman desegregated the military using an executive order.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 302
24) Executive orders have the force of law and can be sometimes used by presidents to make
major policy decisions.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 302-303
25) Presidents avoid “going public” because they are afraid it will make them appear undignified.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 296
Chapter 9 - True/False Questions:
1) Individual entities within the government often have a higher approval rating than the
government has overall.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 308
2) Some city and county officials are concerned that the federal bureaucracy is far too
dependent upon them for possible emergencies requiring national action and coordination.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 310
3) The size of the bureaucracy decreased following the Civil War.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 312
4) One third of all civilian government employees work for the IRS.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 314
5) The size of the federal workforce decreased under President Clinton.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 312
6) Congress has liberalized the Hatch Act’s prohibitions on federal employees participating in
campaigns.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 321
7) Hundreds of new government agencies were created to deal with the economic problems of
the Great Depression.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 311-312
8) Bureaucracies and businesses operate under the same incentive structures.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 313
9) At the lower levels of the U.S. civil service, most positions are filled by patronage.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 314
10) There is no direct mention of the Cabinet in the U.S. Constitution.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 318
11) Iron triangles refer to the relatively stable relationships among agencies, interest groups, and
congressional committees.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 322
12) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an independent regulatory
commission.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 320
13) Under current federal law, members of the executive branch are prohibited from participating
in elections in any way other than voting.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 321
14) Bureaucrats make and implement some policies.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 322-323
15) The Hatch Act prohibited most forms of campaign participation by federal employees.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 321
16) The bureaucracy is accountable to no one except the president.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 325-326
17) Congress’s power to control the bureaucracy is severely limited because Congress lacks the
power of the purse.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 326
18) Bureaucracies are prohibited from exercising bureaucratic discretion.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 323
19) Under Title IX, the number of women athletes has increased.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 325
20) Presidents nominate many executive branch officials.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 327
Chapter 10 - True/False Questions:
1) Supreme Courts are referred to by the name of the oldest judge serving on the Court.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 337
2) Although Congress exercises some oversight of the federal judiciary, it may not reduce the
salary of sitting federal judges to penalize them for decisions that Congress does not like.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 339
3) The pay for federal judges is lucrative compared to what they can make in private practice.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 339
4) Marbury v. Madison (1803) established the doctrine of judicial review regarding acts of the
national government.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 339
5) Article III sets out the structure of the federal court system.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 339
6) The Judiciary Act of 1789 gives form and substance to the federal courts.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 339
7) Chief Justice John Marshall helped increase the power and stature of the Supreme Court.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 344-345
8) Trial court judges determine matters of law, not fact.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 345
9) The bulk of the judicial work in the federal system takes place in the Supreme Court.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 349
10) The state court systems hear more cases than does the federal court system.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 346
11) Most criminal cases are decided in the state court systems.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 347
12) There are thirteen U.S. district courts.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 348
13) The Constitution sets the number of justices on the Supreme Court at nine.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 350
14) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit must follow precedents established by the
Supreme Court.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 350
15) Politics permeate the selection process for judges and justices.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Synthesis
Page reference: 351
16) There have been seven females and five African Americans on the Supreme Court.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 357
17) Most presidents appoint Supreme Court justices who share their policy preferences.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 354
18) The current Chief Justice is Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 361
19) Interest groups are forbidden from trying to influence the federal courts.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Synthesis
Page reference: 356-357
20) Since 1970, the number of cases filed with the Supreme Court and the number of cases the
Supreme Court decides has increased exponentially.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Analysis
Page reference: 359
21) The Supreme Court grants a writ of certiorari only if a majority of justices vote in favor of
doing so.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 359
22) Amicus briefs are often submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by interest groups.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 364
23) The solicitor general works in the Department of Defense and is responsible for defending
any military actions to the federal courts.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 362
24) While oral arguments are open to the public, the Supreme Court’s deliberations and
negotiations occur in private.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 358
25) If the chief justice is in the majority, he or she will usually decide who will write the majority
opinion.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 366
26) Judicial activism is only advocated by liberals.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 367
27) Supreme Court opinions can sometimes influence public opinion.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Comprehension
Page reference: 369
28) Public confidence in the Supreme Court has increased measurably since the Court started
televising its proceedings.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Synthesis
Page reference: 370
29) Prayer at public high school graduation ceremonies and football games came to an abrupt
halt when the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional in 1992.
Answer: FALSE
Bloom’s level: Application
Page reference: 372