Deck 6: The Presidency

Question 1

President Barack Obama appointed Charles Rivkin to serve as ambassador to France. Mr. Rivkin had previously served as the California finance cochair for President Obama's election campaign, raising more than $500,000 for the election effort. President Obama's appointment of Mr. Rivkin may be considered part of a/the ________.

A) logroll
B) pork barrel
C) spoils system
D) selective service
E) bureaucracy

Answer 1

C

Question 2

One important implied power of the president is executive privilege, which refers to the president's ability to ________.

A) keep documents and other sensitive information private
B) award loyal partisans with government positions
C) communicate directly with the people, typically through televised speeches
D) instruct federal agencies on the constitutionality of laws
E) issue public statements interpreting legislation

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The tension between a president's desire to enforce policies in a particular way and a bureaucrat's preferences to enforce policies otherwise creates a/an ________ for the president.

A) coordination problem
B) prisoner's dilemma
C) principal-agent problem
D) unstable coalition
E) free-rider problem

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of these presidents was most influential in developing mass political parties as a tool of presidential power and electoral support?

A) Martin Van Buren
B) William Henry Harrison
C) John Tyler
D) James K. Polk
E) Zachary Taylor

Question 5

The "spoils system" rewards political loyalists by giving them ________.

A) food and beverages
B) elected offices
C) jobs
D) educations
E) appliances

Question 6

The presidency is less democratically accountable than Congress due to ________.

A) election by the electoral college
B) differing terms in office
C) the ability to go public
D) powers specified in Articles I and II
E) election of House members by state legislatures

Question 7

During the Civil War, the Union States' competing desires to defeat the Confederate states while avoiding the costs of providing troops and supplies for the war effort created intense ________ that were overcome, in part, by President Lincoln's executive actions.

A) coordination problems
B) prisoner's dilemmas
C) principal-agent problems
D) unstable coalitions
E) free-rider problems

Question 8

What role best explains why the president is better able to solve collective action problems than Congress?

A) commander in chief of the military
B) leader of the Senate
C) single actor
D) formal head of the party
E) control of Supreme Court

Question 9

In a 1990 court case, President Ronald Reagan refused to make public his dairies written around the time of the Iran-Contra affair. This refusal is an example of a president utilizing which power?

A) signing statements
B) executive decision making
C) executive privilege
D) power over domestic security
E) power of diplomacy

Question 10

The Constitutional Convention's decision to vest the national government's executive authority in a single person was principally intended to ________.

A) mimic the British constitutional system
B) create a unified national identity by providing a symbolic focal point
C) minimize the burden of providing a salary and other resources to federal government officials
D) resolve collective dilemmas resulting from limited executive authority under the Articles of Confederation
E) make the presidency the preeminent branch of government under the new Constitution

Question 11

The president needs the approval of the ________ for appointments, and the ________ for declaring war.

A) House; Senate
B) Senate; Senate
C) House and Senate; House
D) House and Senate; Senate
E) Senate; House and Senate

Question 12

Which of these is an example of a president "going public"?

A) nominating a Supreme Court justice
B) holding a press conference
C) organizing a cabinet meeting
D) vetoing legislation
E) issuing an executive order

Question 13

The number of electoral college votes per state equals the ________.

A) number of House members per state
B) number of senators per state
C) size of the state legislature
D) age of the state
E) number of House members and senators per state

Question 14

Why might members of a popular president's party do better electorally than members of an unpopular president's party?

A) The president has more power, and therefore is more popular.
B) Congress has more collective action problems.
C) The president is the face of a political party.
D) Lack of confirmations under an unpopular president indicates lack of leadership.
E) War makes presidents popular.

Question 15

A national party's presidential nominating convention helps resolve ________ among its state party leaders.

A) free-rider problems
B) coordination problems
C) principal-agent problems
D) prisoner's dilemmas
E) unstable coalitions

Question 16

Presidents have used the ________ clause in Article II to increase their power.

A) elastic
B) take care
C) commerce
D) utilizing
E) executing

Question 17

Which is the best example of an agent when the president is the principal?

A) Speaker of the House
B) state supreme court justice
C) soldier
D) agency head
E) reporter

Question 18

Which refers to a government in which the president is a member of one party and the majority in Congress is controlled by another?

A) divided government
B) separation of powers
C) checks and balances
D) political parity
E) net neutrality

Question 19

The Supreme Court has granted wider latitude to the president in his or her role as ________ than as ________ due to powers stated in the Constitution.

A) commander in chief; executor of the laws
B) party leader; executor of the laws
C) commander in chief; party leader
D) Speaker; majority leader
E) executor of the laws; Speaker

Question 20

Why does the power of the president increase most dramatically in wartime?

A) Congress is susceptible to free riding during difficult times.
B) Soldiers vote for the president in power during wars.
C) Congress has trouble raising money and relies on the president in wartime.
D) Presidential popularity increases during wartime.
E) The president has the power to make efficient decisions necessary for war.

Question 21

What is an example of a formal presidential power?

A) organizing press conferences
B) leading public opinion
C) appointing judges
D) leading a political party
E) winning reelection

Question 22

On April 13, 2011, President Barack Obama gave a nationally televised speech opposing the congressional Republicans' deficit-reduction plans and offering an alternative set of fiscal proposals. This is an example of ________.

A) an executive order
B) an executive agreement
C) going public
D) standing pat
E) impeachment

Question 23

The governor of North Carolina is empowered to veto specific provisions in legislation that have passed both houses of the state legislature. This is an example of a ________.

A) precision strike
B) precise veto
C) general veto
D) line-item veto
E) drafting authority

Question 24

Which of these requires the approval of the Senate?

A) censure of the president
B) treaty
C) executive order
D) executive agreement
E) signing statement

Question 25

Why would presidents utilize executive orders?

A) popularity with the press
B) only used on popular issues
C) overturning them requires an act of Congress.
D) easy to overturn in case a president changes his or her mind on an issue
E) automatic adoption by Congress

Question 26

How can divided government shape bargaining between Congress and the president?

A) Fewer laws are passed under divided government, so bargaining between the branches is easier.
B) More laws are passed under divided government, so bargaining between the branches is more difficult.
C) The preferences of Congress and the president are further apart, making passing legislation easier.
D) The preferences of Congress and the president are further apart, making passing legislation more difficult.
E) Congress rationally anticipates numerous presidential vetoes and thus passes no legislation.

Question 27

President Obama has promised not to sign into law any legislation that repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is an example of a/an ________.

A) saber rattling
B) bully pulpit
C) veto threat
D) executive promise
E) presidential signing statement

Question 28

Over time, presidential powers have grown due to which of the following?

A) wars
B) depressions
C) civil unrest
D) wars and depressions, but not civil unrest
E) wars, depressions, and civil unrest

Question 29

In which system of government is the executive elected independently of the legislature and is not responsible to the legislature?

A) parliamentary
B) presidential
C) palatial
D) progressive
E) plutocracy

Question 30

How do veto threats shape Congress's creation of legislation?

A) The president continually gives speeches on the floor of the House, and Congress adjusts based on these multiple speeches.
B) The Supreme Court takes these veto threats as statements of law and will strike down contrary laws passed by Congress.
C) The press generates these veto threats, and the president, sensing their unpopularity, takes these threats to Congress.
D) Legislation is rarely changed by presidential veto threats.
E) Content of legislation is often changed to more closely match the president's preferences.

Question 31

Which is an enumerated power of the president?

A) power to wage war
B) power to veto legislation
C) power over domestic security
D) power to make executive agreements
E) executive privilege

Question 32

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has used its authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act created by Congress to require that all "half-inch and smaller chains, rings, hooks, shackles, and swivels in general use" in marine terminals be annealed (heat treated) every six months. This is an example of an ________.

A) executive order
B) executive law
C) administrative law
D) administrative affairs
E) executive administration

Question 33

Which of these duties does the vice president perform?

A) formally nominates Supreme Court justices
B) forms executive agreements
C) issues signing statements
D) casts tie-breaking votes in the Senate
E) issues executive orders

Question 34

On July 22, 2004, President George W. Bush issued a formal directive to the Department of Homeland Security to create the Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities in order to develop and implement procedures for ensuring the safety of people with disabilities during natural disasters and other emergencies. This is an example of an ________.

A) executive order
B) executive law
C) administrative law
D) administrative procedure
E) executive directive

Question 35

President Truman's desegregation of the armed forces, President Johnson's adoption of affirmative action, and President Clinton's use of military force in Kosovo are examples of what formal power granted to the president?

A) executive suggestions
B) executive orders
C) signing statements
D) presidential vetoes
E) executive agreements

Question 36

What is an example of an informal presidential power?

A) declaring war
B) being commander in chief
C) vetoing legislation
D) signing executive treaties
E) leading a political party

Question 37

Which is an agreement between the United States and one or more foreign countries concluded solely with presidential approval?

A) treaty
B) international law
C) executive agreement
D) executive order
E) administrative law

Question 38

Compared to other executive offices around the world, the American executive office ________.

A) has much more administrative and military tools to influence domestic and world affairs
B) has much less influence over the military
C) has many more formal constitutional powers
D) is best described as imperial
E) is held more loosely accountable to obey the rule of law

Question 39

In the United Kingdom, the prime minister, the country's primary executive official, is elected by the House of Commons, a legislative body. This institutional arrangement is best described as a ________ system.

A) parliamentary
B) presidential
C) palatial
D) progressive
E) plutocratic

Question 40

Which of these is the most lasting way a president creates a legacy?

A) filling an agency-level vacancy
B) issuing a signing statement on a bill
C) giving a State of the Union address
D) appointing a Supreme Court justice
E) writing a political memoir

Question 41

What best explains the increasing power of the vice president over time?

A) Decreasing judicial activism requires the vice president to make more speeches.
B) Increasing staff and budgets have allowed vice presidents to take broader roles.
C) Delivering the State of the Union address has increased the office's power.
D) Shrinking staff of the EOP has caused the vice president to become stronger.
E) Changes to the Eleventh Amendment allow the vice president more trust from the president.

Question 42

All of the following are important roles of the vice president EXCEPT ________.

A) key advisory role to the president
B) next in line to the presidency in case of death or incapacitation
C) coordinating federal bureaucratic agencies
D) acting as the ceremonial head of state
E) tie-breaking vote in Senate

Question 43

How does the presidency fit into the system of checks and balances that accompanies the separation of powers? How do Congress and the judiciary check the presidency? How does the president check Congress and the judiciary? On balance, which branch of government has the greatest degree of formal power under the U.S. Constitution?

Question 44

In some cases, the president (and the executive branch that serves under him) can take actions that have the force of law. Identify, define, and discuss at least three different institutions that allow the president to take unilateral action that sets public policy in the United States. How, if at all, are these institutions consistent with the principles of the separation of powers system embedded in the U.S. Constitution?

Question 45

Compared to other elected or appointed officials of the U.S. government, presidents are ________.

A) less susceptible to changes in public opinion
B) held less accountable for economic downturns
C) more revered if they do not overuse executive orders
D) more restrained by public opinion
E) more popular

Question 46

What is the electoral college? How does it work? Why did the Founders assign responsibility for electing the president to the electoral college rather than to a direct national election? How does the electoral college influence the choice of president made by the American people?

Question 47

A president may be removed from office if he or she is impeached by the ________ and convicted by the ________.

A) House of Representatives; Supreme Court
B) Supreme Court; Senate
C) electoral college; Supreme Court
D) Supreme Court; House of Representatives
E) House of Representatives; Senate

Question 48

Explain the concepts of formal (enumerated) powers and informal powers as they relate to the American presidency. Identify at least two formal powers of the presidency as well as two of its informal powers. Which set of powers is more important for presidents? Discuss a specific example or examples to support your claim.

Question 49

Discuss the evolution of presidential power. Identify the major periods or phases of presidential history and how the actions of specific presidents enhanced or undermined the powers of the presidency. In particular, compare the scope of presidential authority and activity intended by the Founders with that exercised by modern American presidents.

Question 50

Why does the power of the president not return to lower levels after crises?

A) Crises increase presidential popularity, and this popularity does not decrease.
B) The institutions created to respond to crises persist and give the president power.
C) Crises do not increase presidential power.
D) The Supreme Court constantly supports the president.
E) Referendums make this new power permanent.