Federal Govt Chapter 13

The last time Congress exercised its constitutional power to declare war was in

1941

The goal of the War Powers Resolution was to

limit the power of the president to commit American troops to military action without authorization from Congress

What did the framers mean to accomplish by the indirect election of the president?

To make the president responsible to state and national legislatures

According to political scientist Terry Moe, why does Congress suffer from a collective-action problem in the face of presidential power?

Individual members of congress are more concerned with the substantive impact of presidential action on their constituents, rather than the general implications of presidential powers

Which of the following derives its greatest source of influence from the support of civil society?

Congress

Why was it considered shocking when, after the Civil War, Andrew Johnson made a series of speeches seeking public support for his Reconstruction policies?

During the nineteenth century, it was seen as undignified for a president to campaign on his own behalf.

What is the primary constitutional task of the vice president, besides succeeding the president in case of death, resignation, or incapacitate?

to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate

Which of the following statements best describes the number of significant executive orders between 1960 and 1995?

The number of significant executive orders has increased dramatically between 1960 and 1995.

A signing statement is

an announcement the president makes about his interpretation of a congressional enactment he is signing into law

An informal group of advisers to the president is often called the

kitchen cabinet

The Constitution’s framers believed that Congress’s greatest prerogative would be its

power of the purse

When Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops into Little Rock High School in 1957, it demonstrated that

The president may make unilateral use of the emergency powers to protect states against domestic disorder

Which of the following attributes did the framers intend for the office of the president to possess?

energy

Which of the following statements about the presidential veto is most accurate

Use of the veto varies considerably across presidential administrations, and vetoes are seldom overridden

The rise of national conventions to nominate the president led to the empowerment of what group?

State Party Leaders

When the president infers powers from the "rights, duties, and obligations" of the presidency, these are called

inherent powers

Which executive agency has the least discretion, as a result of very detailed Congressional legislation?

Internal Revenue Service

The president’s delegated powers come from

congress

The first lady is an important resource for the president in his capacity as

head of state

In undertaking the campaign against the Taliban in 2001, George W. Bush

sought and received congressional authorization for the bombing, but not a declaration of war

The ______ is the informal designation for the heads of the major federal government departments.

cabinet

The formal group of presidential foreign policy advisers, established in 1947, is called the

National Security Council

The president’s power to set the debate concerning public policy in Congress is called

a legislative initiative

As a means of managing the gigantic executive branch, presidents have increasingly come to rely upon the

White House Staff

The State of the Union address is

mandated by the Constitution

What is the general tendency of a president’s popularity?

Presidents usually start out popular and decline over the next four years

The Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers are both parts of

The Executive Office of the President

After the president and vice president, which office is next in the line of succession?

Speaker of the House

the power to receive ambassadors is an example of

an expressed power

In United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court

Required Nixon to turn over secret tapes to Congress

which of the following statements about congress and the executive branch is most accurate

The Constitution explicitly prohibits Congress from providing specific guidelines to executive agencies for implementing laws. Congress has never given executive agencies broad mandates and has always drafted legislation that offers very specific guidelines for implementation by the executive. Starting around the time of the New Deal, Congress has tended to give executive agencies broad mandates and to draft legislation that offers few clear guidelines for implementation by the executive. Throughout all of American history, Congress has tended to give executive agencies broad mandates and to draft legislation that offers few clear guidelines for implementation by the executive.

The Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970 by

an executive order

When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950,

Truman sent American troops to Korea without asking for a declaration of war

Congress’s tendency in recent years to give executive agencies fewer clear guidelines for implementing laws is the result of

the greater scope and complexity of the tasks that American government has undertaken. numerous initiatives passed by voters that require less legislative specificity. a series of Supreme Court decisions that ruled executive mandates were unconstitutional.

The main political value of the vice president is to

bring the president votes in the election from a group or region that would not otherwise be a likely source of support.

The National Security Council is composed of all of the following, except the

Speaker of the House

Contemporary presidents frequently use popular mobilization and executive administration to achieve their goals because

America’s system of separated powers makes party support an unreliable presidential tool.

What happened when Harry Truman seized control of the nation’s steel mills during the Korean War?

The Supreme Court declared his actions without basis in law or the Constitution.

Which president began the era of greater presidential control over the budgeting process?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

The groups of advisers and analysts to the president are collectively called the

white house staff

Which first lady was the first to seek and win public office on her own?

Hillary Clinton

which of the following statements is most accurate

The War Powers Act has been fully observed by every president who has deployed the military overseas since Gerald Ford. Recent presidents have refrained from asking Congress to declare war and have, instead, frequently deployed the military without congressional authorization. Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in order to give the president more control over the military. As a result of the War Powers Resolution, Congress now has more control over the military than the president does.

The rise of the national convention was important because it

gave the presidency a mass popular base that would eventually support and demand increased president

In the early 1800s, the system of nominating presidential candidates that left the candidates beholden to their party’s leaders in Congress was called

King Caucus

The ______ asserted that the president could send American troops into action abroad only in the event of a declaration of war or other statutory authorization by Congress, or if American troops were attacked or directly endangered.

War Powers resolution of 1973

According to the text, what are the three most common ways for a president to expand his base of power?

party support, popular mobilization, and administrative control

Richard Nixon claimed ______ when he refused to turn over secret White House tapes to congressional investigators.

executive privilege

When congress delegates power to the executive branch it

Substantially enhances the importance of the presidency

A significant initiative set forth by Lyndon Johnson was

The Great Society

The turning point in American politics toward a president-centered government came about during the administration of

Franklin Roosevelt

Which of the following statements about the military sources of domestic power is most accurate?

Military emergencies, such as World War I, World War II, and September 11, have typically led to an expansion of the domestic powers of the executive branch.

In order to get around the need for Senate approval of treaties, many contemporary presidents have made use of ______ in foreign affairs.

executive agreements

Executive agreements differ from formal treaties in that they

do not have to be approved by the Senate

An executive order is

a rule or regulation initiated unilaterally by the president, with the status of a law

Why was George Washington’s reception of Edmond Genet as ambassador of France during the French Revolution so significant?

It reflected the authority of the President to officially recognize specific regimes as the sovereign power of a nation when there is doubt as to who rules

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) was established

Franklin Roosevelt in 1939

What is required for Congress to override a presidential veto?

two-thirds of both houses of congress

Which of the following statements about signing statements is most accurate

While presidents have made signing statements throughout American history, they have only recently been recorded and made part of the official legislative record.

According to separation of powers expert Louis Fisher, the powers of Congress have declined dramatically in which of the following areas?

national defense and the federal budget

The Office of Management and Budget is important because

its personnel are an integral part of virtually every conceivable presidential responsibility, such as overseeing regulatory proposals, reporting on agency activities, and preparing the national budget

The power to declare war is given to _______ under the Constitution?

Both houses of congress

When are the president’s partisan ties most important?

in dealing with Congress on legislative matters

The expansion of the Executive Office of the President, the development of regulatory review, and the use of executive orders have been important because they

have given presidents substantial capacity to achieve significant policy results despite congressional opposition to their legislative agendas

The office of the presidency was established by ______ of the Constitution.

article II

The decline of voting and political participation by Americans has which of the following effects?

It enhances the power of the president while weakening congress

The president must share foreign policy powers with

congress

Which of the following has caused an increase in the president’s delegated powers?

the increasing scope and complexity of legislation

Why is the president’s State of the Union address important?

It is an opportunity for the President to set the legislative agenda by initiating proposals and directing the public’s attention to the executive’s goals

When the White House directs administrative agencies to promulgate specific rules and regulations, this is called

regulatory review

The president has the power to appoint which of the following positions?

cabinet secretaries

The technique of popular mobilization dates back to the presidency of

Theodore Roosevelt

______ powers are the most common form of constitutional powers possessed by the president.

delegated

______ powers are specifically established by the language of the Constitution.

expressed

Which statement concerning the White House Communications Office is incorrect?

It allows the president to avoid giving information to the public

Which of the following statements about presidential pardons is false?

George Washington declared amnesty to all Americans who fought for the British during the War for Independence. Andrew Johnson declared amnesty to all Confederate soldiers. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for crimes he may have committed. Jimmy Carter declared amnesty for all draft evaders during the Vietnam War.

Which of the following tactics did Franklin Roosevelt not use to forge a link between the executive office and the public?

going on speaking trips around the nation delivering radio-broadcast fireside chats holding biweekly press conferences with reporters running extensive national television advertising campaigns

Which of the following statements best describes the Supreme Court?

The Court has no discretion whatsoever to decide which cases it will hear because its jurisdiction is defined entirely by the Constitution. The Court has limited discretion to decide which cases it will hear and it is forced to hear many cases that address only narrow, technical issues of federal law. The Court has limited discretion to decide which cases it will hear, and it is forced to hear only those cases that raise the most important issues of federal law. The Court has broad latitude to decide which cases it will hear and generally hears only those cases it deems to raise the most important issues.

Which of the following actions was not the result of an executive order?

the Louisiana Purchase entrance into the United Nations the annexation of Texas the desegregation of the military

Which statement concerning executive agreements between the president and foreign nations is incorrect?

During the 1960s, Congress discovered that several presidents had made agreements with foreign nations without informing Congress. Congress passed a law requiring the White House to provide a list of every executive agreement signed by the president. Presidents have always fully complied with Congress’s reporting requirement. One way for presidents to avoid complying with Congress’s reporting requirement is to call executive agreements alternative names, such as "national security memorandum."