Government Practice Quiz

1. Oklahoma Representative J.C. Watts states that a person running for elective office should be motivated for all the following reasons EXCEPT

Getting involved in public service

Trying to make a difference

Getting elected for the salary

Feeling like one can make a difference

2. Which of the following is a function of Congress?

Lawmaking

Declaring war

Regulating the conduct of its members and punishing them b censure or explusion

All of the above

3. Members of the House of Representative and Senate do far more than ____________.

Their counterparts in the executive branch

Is expected of the judicial branch

All the civil servants in the bureaucracy

Make laws

4. By passing the War Powers Resolution, Congress was attempting to reassert its authority in ___________.

The budgetary process

Committing troops to combat overseas

The domestic policy process

The legislative process

5. Which of the folloiwng is considered a desirable committee assignment in the Senate?

Rules Committee

Ways and Means Committee

Foreign Relations Committee

All of the above

6. Which of the following is true regarding the speaker of the house?

The position of speaker is provided for by the Constitution

The speaker has the power to preside over the House

The speaker has the power to recognize or ignore members who wish to speak

All of the above

7. As a result of 1994 Republican congressional victory, which of the following became speaker of the House?

Representative Tom Delay

Representative Dick Armey

Representative Newt Gingrich

Representative Charlie Rangel

8. Rounding up the votes to pass the legislaton that the majority party in Congress wants is the principal job of the _________

Minority whip

Majority whip

Committee chair

Speaker

9. Which of the following gives a senator of the president's party an informal veto over presidential appointments in that senator's state?

Systems maintenance

The power of the purse

Senatorial Courtesy

The lawmaking function

10. Representative Tom DeLay, the majority whip from 1995 to 2002, played two roles: one is a national role and the second is to ________

Secure a leadership role

Represent the people of one's district and state

Earn an appointment by the major political party

Influence legislation for the special interest groups

11. If a bill is passed by both houses but is not in identical languge, it is sent to which of the following in an attempt to iron out the differences?

A standing committee

A select committee

A conference committee

The president

12. A presentative whose vote automatically mirrors the will of a majority of her/his constituents is acting as ___________.

An instructed delegate

A trustee

A Burkean disciple

None of the above

13. More than half of the nation's population are women. What percentage of the 109th Congress were women?

5%

10.6%

15.7%

About 25%

14. Which office in the Senate is most similar in power to that of speaker of the House?

President pro tempore of the Senate

Speaker of the Senate

Senate majority leader

Senate whip

15. The chair of a congressional standing committee is determined by the

Speaker

Majority leader

Majority party

Minority party

16. The average age of members of the House of Representatives in the 109th Congress when it convened in January 2005 was _______.

Thirty-five years

Forty years

Forty-five years

Fifty-five years

17. How many African Americans served in the 109th Congress?

20

35

38

42