Deck 7: The Presidency As an Institution

Question 1

Presidents routinely use the line-item veto to strike specific spending items from appropriations bills passed by Congress.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest military authority in the United States.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

If a president does not sign a bill within five days, it automatically becomes law.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The indirect method of electing the president has significantly dampened the power of most modern presidents.

Question 5

The power to confirm the appointment of all principal executive officers makes the Speaker of the House the true chief executive officer (CEO) of the United States.

Question 6

The veto power makes the president the most important single legislative leader.

Question 7

Presidents cannot deploy National Guard troops on U.S. soil.

Question 8

The president plays little role in the legislative process.

Question 9

Members of Congress are often certain about the president's policy preferences, and therefore avoid sending legislation to the president that will be vetoed.

Question 10

The president may deploy troops in a state or city without a specific request from the state legislature or governor if the president considers it necessary to maintain an essential national service during an emergency.

Question 11

Most of the framers were anxious to provide for a more energetic executive.

Question 12

The president may deploy troops in a state or city without a specific request from the state legislature or governor if the president considers it necessary to protect federally guaranteed civil rights.

Question 13

American citizens vote directly for the president.

Question 14

Decision making in the executive branch is characterized by the same collective action problems as those faced by members of Congress.

Question 15

The U.S. Constitution grants the president several explicit powers independent of Congress.

Question 16

In 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the president's authority to exercise the line-item veto.

Question 17

The president may deploy troops in a state or city without a specific request from the state legislature or governor if the president considers it necessary to enforce a federal judicial order.

Question 18

In general, presidents have used the veto to equalize or perhaps upset the balance of power with Congress.

Question 19

A president uses the veto as a means to bargain with Congress.

Question 20

The Constitution provides that a state legislature (or governor when the legislature is not in session) must request federal troops before the president can send them into the state to provide public order.

Question 21

Congressional tax legislation is written in general terms and leaves a great deal of discretion to Internal Revenue Service administrators.

Question 22

The power of the president tends to decrease during national emergencies.

Question 23

When President Obama vetoed a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, he disappointed environmental groups that wanted a cleaner, safer way to transport oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

Question 24

American presidents have voluntarily delegated a great deal of authority to Congress over the past
80 years.

Question 25

A president may veto legislation even though it may entail a political cost.

Question 26

Since 1973, presidents have claimed they possess inherent executive power to defend the nation and generally ignored the War Powers Resolution.

Question 27

Congress has tended to give executive agencies broad mandates and draft legislation that offer vague goals to guide executive implementation.

Question 28

The wars fought by America in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq were all fought without declarations of war.

Question 29

Most presidents veto more legislation than they sign.

Question 30

In most instances, major congressional legislation is very detailed, with specific instructions for implementation so agencies have limited discretion.

Question 31

Congress intentionally sends some bills to the president knowing that they are certain to be vetoed.

Question 32

With hundreds of members and a multitude of staff assistance, Congress is able to initiate decisive action more frequently than the president.

Question 33

American courts treat administrative rules much like congressional statutes.

Question 34

In most cases, Congress delegates power directly to the president rather than to bureaucratic agencies in the executive branch.

Question 35

All modern governments find it necessary to delegate significant legislative powers to the executive branch.

Question 36

In 2003, President George W. Bush ordered a major American campaign against Iraq without congressional authorization.

Question 37

Delegated powers are those powers that are specifically granted to the president in the text of the Constitution.

Question 38

The power to declare war is one of the president's expressed powers.

Question 39

Many of the powers exercised by the president and the executive branch have been delegated by Congress or claimed by presidents over time.

Question 40

In 1989, President George H. W. Bush ordered an invasion of Panama without approval from Congress.

Question 41

Studies of presidential agenda success indicate that there is no relationship between which party is in the majority of the House and Senate and the ability of the president to get legislation passed through Congress.

Question 42

The president's Cabinet is a collective body that meets regularly to make important policy decisions jointly as a group.

Question 43

Woodrow Wilson's book Congressional Government described a system of legislative supremacy that continues to be a valid description of modern American government.

Question 44

The main value of the vice presidency is as an electoral resource for the president.

Question 45

In the United States today, Congress continues to be the constitutional source of policy.

Question 46

The staff of the White House sometimes insulates the president from other sources of information.

Question 47

In terms of the relationship between the legislature and the executive, divided governments are more likely to engage in broad delegation than unified governments.

Question 48

After Congress delegates power to the executive branch, Congress has few mechanisms to restrain the president.

Question 49

Most presidents of the past 25 years have sought to use their vice presidents as management resources after the election.

Question 50

In the United States, presidents are dominated by their Cabinets.

Question 51

Major actions, like the Louisiana Purchase, can never be carried out by executive order.

Question 52

The signing statement is an important tool the president can use to force Congress to consider a piece of legislation he or she wants to introduce.

Question 53

During the nineteenth century, it was considered rather inappropriate for presidents to engage in personal campaigning on their own behalf or in support of programs and policies.

Question 54

Presidents typically gain more political support the longer they are in office.

Question 55

President Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency through an executive order.

Question 56

Most historians agree that Congress was the dominant political branch before 1933.

Question 57

A political strategy whereby the president makes the case to the people of the country that a certain policy needs to be enacted is known as going public.

Question 58

The president is the dominant actor in American foreign and defense policy.

Question 59

Strictly speaking, presidents can introduce new legislation.

Question 60

Throughout the twentieth century, presidents made increasingly frequent use of the executive order to accomplish their policy goals.

Question 61

Congress cannot restrain presidential administrative strategies like rewriting regulations and executive orders.

Question 62

The limitations of the administrative strategy have led presidents to rely on more tried and true methods of influence, like appeals to their party and to the public.

Question 63

The framers designed a republican scheme of presidential selection through an indirect election, in which state legislators would select electors to participate in the

A)state caucus.
B)Electoral College.
C)national primary.
D)presidential referendum.

Question 64

Which of the following is one of the president's expressed powers?

A)nominate federal judges
B)select candidates for Congress in his or her political party
C)declare war
D)raise taxes

Question 65

Which of the following statements best explains the framers' intent regarding presidential power?

A)They expected Congress to increasingly delegate its powers to the president, thereby empowering the executive branch over time.
B)They sought to reduce the power of the president by denying him or her a political base of support independent of Congress and the state legislatures.
C)The framers were strong proponents of the theory of the unitary executive.
D)They intended for the president to court public opinion when congressional opposition stood in the way of the president's policy initiatives.

Question 66

What 1830s innovation strengthened the presidency?

A)the introduction of the line-item veto power
B)the introduction of the kitchen cabinet system
C)the introduction of the caucus system
D)the introduction of the national convention system for nominating presidential candidates

Question 67

When President Jimmy Carter declared official legal forgiveness for all the draft evaders of the Vietnam War, he was said to have granted

A)paroles.
B)probation.
C)amnesty.
D)reprieves.

Question 68

In 1793, President George Washington received Edmond Genet as the formal emissary of the revolutionary government of France in 1793, setting a precedent for the presidential power to

A)recognize other countries.
B)regulate immigration.
C)establish alliances.
D)undertake covert operations against foreign governments.

Question 69

What are the powers specifically granted to the president in the text of the Constitution called?

A)manifest prose
B)delegated powers
C)articulated authorities
D)expressed powers

Question 70

When President George W. Bush refused to release information about warrantless wiretaps in the CIA leak case, he did so by invoking

A)veto threats.
B)executive privilege.
C)an executive order.
D)veto threats.

Question 71

Signing statements have little effect on the implementation of legislation.

Question 72

What is one reason presidential power has grown since the nineteenth century?

A)The presidency is characterized by unitary rather than collective decision-making processes.
B)Several constitutional amendments have granted additional expressed powers to the presidency.
C)The powers of the U.S. president were increased when the Senate consented to the United Nations charter in 1945.
D)Congress delegates increased power to the president in times of divided government.

Question 73

The American president exercises a measure of judicial authority through the power to

A)offer paroles and probations.
B)give atonements and expiations.
C)grant reprieves and pardons.
D)mandate subpoenas, writs of habeas corpus, and warrants of indemnity.

Question 74

How are appointments to the federal judiciary made?

A)by the president, with the advice and consent of Congress
B)by the president, with the advice and consent of the House
C)by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate
D)by the president, with the advice and consent of the chief justice

Question 75

Which term describes an understanding between the president and another country that has the force of a treaty but does not require Senate authorization?

A)bilateral accord
B)international pact
C)executive agreement
D)presidential treaty

Question 76

The scope of executive privilege was clarified in the court case

A)United States v. Nixon.
B)Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
C)Clinton v. Jones.
D)New York Times v. United States.

Question 77

Who has the highest military authority in the United States?

A)the president
B)the secretary of defense
C)the secretary of state
D)the Speaker of the House

Question 78

The American presidency was established by

A)the Declaration of Independence.
B)Article I of the Articles of Confederation.
C)Article II of the Constitution.
D)Article III of the Constitution.

Question 79

Since 1945, presidents have officially declared war on other countries several times.

Question 80

Which presidential powers are not expressed in the Constitution but stem from the "rights, duties, and obligations of the presidency," especially during wartime or national emergencies?

A)de facto powers
B)inherent powers
C)necessary and proper powers
D)autocratic powers