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117 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How is congress bicarmeral?
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It consists of two chambers: an upper chamber- Senate and the lower chamber- house of Representatives
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Speaker
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presiding officer of the House of Representatives, normally the speaker is the leader of the majority party
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Majority Leader
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title used for tge Speaker's chief lieutenant in the House and officer in the Senate. responsible for day to day work necessary to build political coalitions and enact laws
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Minority Leader
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coordinates the minority's attempts to improve or defeat majority legislation
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Hamilition quote
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unified or unitary, executive necessary for "'energy"
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The Structure of ____ affects unitary executive
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agencies
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Bureaucratic agencies do
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implement laws and policies, inspection and enforcement, rule-making, legislation and litigation
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forces affecting Bureactic action
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1 slow and inefficient
2 ineffective 3 slow to change, prone to expansion and waste |
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parochialism
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narrow perspective
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ways to Fix the Bureaucracy
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termination
deregulation devolution privatization |
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congress
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two year period, consists of two sessions (each one year)
right now 111th congress, 2nd session |
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House of Representatives
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435 reps, 1 per geographic district, 2 year terms
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Senate
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100 senators, 2 per state, 6 year terms
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party leadership in the house
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selected by the house conference (reps) and caucus (dems)- all house members of that party
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Speaker of the house
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Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
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Majority leader (house)
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Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
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Majority Whip (house)
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Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
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Minority Leader (house)
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John Boehner (R-OH)
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Minority Whip (house)
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Eric Cantor (R-VA)
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President Pro Tempore
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Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
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Majority Leader (senate)
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Harry Reid (D-NV)
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Majority Whip (senate)
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Dick Durbin (D-IL)
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Minority Leader (senate)
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Mitch McConnel (R-KY)
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Minority Whip (senate)
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John Kyl (R-AZ)
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legislators from House seek
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ways and means, appropriations, energy and commerce
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legislators from Senate seek
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finance, judiciary
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How a bill becomes a law
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1 introduction
2 committee action 3 floor action A. the house- stop at the rules commitee B. the senate-filibuster 4 combined action - only one chamber has voted on the bill - house or senate vote on same version of bill - house and senate have different versions of the bill 5 presidential action |
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what if the president does nothing with a new bill?
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if 10 days pass, and congress is still in session, the bill automatically becomes a law.
if congress adjourns before the 10 dys expire, the bill dies- "Pocket Veto" |
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Congress- beyond legislation
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constituency service, oversight, investigations, impeachment
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represent
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to act in place of or on behalf of someone else
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constituency
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the group on whoes behalf the legislator
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presidental powers
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state of the union address, commander in chief of the armed forces, make treaties, receive ambassadors, veto powers
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Bicameralism ( Texas)
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House 150 members 2 yr terms, Senate 31 members 4 yr terms
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Texas sessions
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regular sessions biennial (140 days)
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governor
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four year terms
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powers of the governor
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intro legislation/ budget, veto, bully pulpit, call special sessions, appoint executive branch officials, appoint judges
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A decision to allow only the last amendment that receives a majority to be adopted is called a(n)
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king of the mountain rule
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The House of Representatives currently has a membership of how many?
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435
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Which committee has the largest number of subcommittees?
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Appropriations
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The Appropriations, Commerce, and Foreign Relations Committees called standing committees because
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they have fixed memberships and jurisdictions and they continue from one Congress to another
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This is a voluntary group within Congress, formed by members to pursue shared interests; they can cross party, committee, and even chamber lines.
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caucus
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Who is the chief lieutenant to the Speaker in the House of Representatives?
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the majority leader
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This House committee controls the flow of legislation to the floor and conditions of debate.
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Rules Committee
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Who is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives?
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The Speaker of the House
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Temporary committees designed to deal with specific issues are called ________ committees.
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select
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In what circumstances has inherent executive power been invoked the most often?
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in cases of foreign policy
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What is one of the advantages of the president having a national constituency?
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Presidents can persuasively claim to speak for the country as a whole.
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Which of the following is a formal power of the vice-president outlined in the constitution?
A. advise the president B. be fundraiser-in-chief for his political party C. chair Cabinet meetings D. preside over the United States Senate 100% E. The first and the third |
preside over the United States Senate
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Early American presidents
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rarely spoke in public.
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Which best describes how the Cabinet is selected?
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the president appoints members and the Senate confirms them
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Which best describes the president's national constituency compared to his party constituency?
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The party constituency takes more extreme issue positions than the national constituency.
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In the context of American politics, who or what is a "lame duck"?
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the President in the last two years of his second term
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The 75 days between election day and Inauguration Day are called
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the transition.
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The one person usually in charge of the entire White House staff is
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the chief of staff
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What is the system called when government officials are chosen according to their educational qualities, performance on examinations, and work experience?
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the civil service
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Agencies that have quasi-judicial regulatory responsibilities and are designed to be free from presidential interference are called
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independent regulatory agencies
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Standardized procedures make bureaucracies
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slow to adjust to change
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Over time, institutionalization has produced a more ____ legislature in Texas.
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professional
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The government network in which workers are hired on the basis of party loyalty is called
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the spoils system
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Which of the following is NOT true about government bureaucracies?
A. most of their tasks are possible and easy to achieve 100% B. it is hard to gauge their performance C. the most growth has occurred at local and state levels D. many private contractors perform tasks paid for by government agencies E. they often have a reputation for inefficiency |
most of their tasks are possible and easy to achieve
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As a measure of procedural safeguards, bureaucracies often employ the use of
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red tape
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The Pendleton Act created
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the Civil Service Commission
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What did the Hatch Act do?
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It barred federal employees from political campaigning and solicitation.
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The older concept of iron triangles has been replaced with the more complex
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issue networks
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Turnover in the Texas legislature is due to
1. low pay. 2. personal costs. 3. political ambition. 4. redistricting. 5. all of the above |
all of the above
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Who typically carries out redistricting in Texas?
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the legislature
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The number of members of a governing body that must be present in order for official business to be conducted is called a
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quorum
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Currently, the Texas legislature is legally convened for
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140 days every two years
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How can the legislature respond to a gubernatorial veto after a legislative session has ended?
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It can reintroduce the bill during a new legislative session.
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When was the first female governor of Texas elected?
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1925
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In 2005, the Texas Supreme Court declared the state's school finance system unconstitutional because it relied too heavily on
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local property taxes
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In Texas, the office of the lieutenant governor is primarily a(n) _____ office
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legislative
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Texas's attorney general
1. enforces the state's consumer protection laws. 2. represents Texas in lawsuits. 3. helps collect child support payments. 4. is primarily a civil lawyer. 5. all of the above |
all of the above
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According to Richard Neustadt, presidential power is the power to
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persuade
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The president’s constitutional powers are found in which article?
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Article II
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Article II gives the president authority to do all of the following except
A. negotiate treaties. B. make executive agreements. C. veto legislation. 100% D. recognize countries |
veto legislation
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Which president purchased the Louisiana Territory from France?
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Jefferson
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Which of the following countries is not part of Bush’s Axis of Evil?
A. Iraq B. North Korea C. Iran D. Afghanistan |
Afghanistan
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The War Powers Act was intended to
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apply the collective judgment of Congress and the presidency.
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President Bush’s approval ratings hit an all-time high of ____ after 9/11.
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91 percent
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The two-presidencies thesis holds that
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presidents are more likely to succeed in foreign than domestic policy
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President Clinton had numerous foreign policy successes, such as
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brokering peace accords between England and Northern Ireland.
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One of the keys to presidential success in Congress is for presidents to
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hit the ground running
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The Gulf of Tonkin resolution occurred during the
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Vietnam War
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The “Carter Doctrine” established
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that any move by the Soviet Union beyond Afghanistan would be interpreted as an assault on the vital interests of the United States
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In the opinion of the vice president and members of the cabinet, the president is suffering from a mental illness. The president does not agree that he is ill. What procedure exists to make a determination about who will serve as president?
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VP and a majority of the Cabinet submit a letter of incapacity to the Speaker of the House and the President Pro-Tem of the Senate - this triggers the VP becoming acting President. President then submits a similar letter saying he's fine. W/in 4 days, the VP and majority of the cabinet submit another letter, challenging the President's ability (all the while the VP remains acting President). Congress must then convene to vote on the President's capacity. If both chambers vote, by a 2/3 majority, that the President is incapacitated, the VP continues on as acting President.
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The Department of Homeland Security was created by legislation passed in which year?
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2002
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The current Secretary of Homeland Security is
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Janet Napolitano
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What is the Department of Homeland Security's mission?
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to lead the unified national effort to secure the country and preserve our freedoms" secure the country, prepare for hazards and disasters, coordinate intelligence gathering
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FEMA stands for
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Federal Emergency Management Agency
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FEMA is part of the U.S. Department of
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Homeland Security
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What is the mission of FEMA?
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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
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The TEA is the Texas
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Education Agency
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What is the purpose of the TEA?
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The mission of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is to provide leadership, guidance, and resources to help schools meet the educational needs of all students.
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The Railroad Commission of Texas was established in
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1891
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What is the current mission or purpose of the Railroad Commission of Texas?
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Oddly, the Railroad Commission no longer oversees the railroads (that power was transferred to the Department of Transportation in 2005). Instead, the RCT has primary policy authority over oil and gas production, surface coal mining, and alternative energy resources.
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Which of the following fuel misperceptions of the federal bureaucracy?
A. Presidents who campaign against the size of government B. Media reports of waste and inefficiency in the bureaucracy C. That bureaucrats are unelected officials D. All of the above |
All of the above
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According to the essay, who campaigned on the theme that the size of government should be reduced?
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Ronald Reagan
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The theory of overhead democracy concerns how elected official
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make the bureaucracy accountable to citizens in a democracy.
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Initially, which branch of government had primary control over the budget?
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Congress
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Reasons why the federal budget continues to grow are that
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members of Congress have an incentive to spend for their constituents.
it is inertial, meaning that each year's budget is larger than the previous one. |
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Has the budget been a successful tool to control bureaucratic behavior?
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Rarely, such as FY 1982 budget cuts to the EPA
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According to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the president has authority
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to appoint with the advice and consent of the Senate.
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The federal civil service was created with the
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Pendleton Act of 1883.
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Presidents reorganize agencies
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successfully, so long as both houses of Congress do not veto the president's plan within sixty days.
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Congressional oversight
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may take the form of police patrol or fire alarm oversight.
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Bureaucrats are most likely to be responsive to politicians on policies that are
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salient, but not complex.
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Which types of signals are likely to increase presidential influence over the bureaucracy?
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Positive ones, because they increase agency morale
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According to Richard Neustadt, presidential power is the power to
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persuade
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The president’s constitutional powers are found in which article?
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Article 2
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Article II gives the president authority to do all of the following except
A. negotiate treaties. B. make executive agreements. C. veto legislation. D. recognize countries. |
veto legislation.
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The War Powers Act was intended to
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apply the collective judgment of Congress and the presidency.
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The two-presidencies thesis holds that
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presidents are more likely to succeed in foreign than domestic policy.
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President Clinton had numerous foreign policy successes, such as
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brokering peace accords between England and Northern Ireland.
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Presidents typically establish major foreign policy positions through
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doctrines.
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The “Carter Doctrine” established
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that any move by the Soviet Union beyond Afghanistan would be interpreted as an assault on the vital interests of the United States.
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Public opinion data show that
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public support for increases in defense spending peaked prior to 1981.
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