Chapter 10

Congress and the President

PART I—GUIDEPOSTS
  1. Introduction to Congressional-Presidential Relations
  1. How would one characterize the history of congressional-presidential relationships?
  2. What challenges must a new president face regarding dealings with Congress?
  3. What are the key factors that will determine whether a president succeeds or fails in his dealings with Congress?
  1. Separate but Equal Branches
  1. Why did the framers see Congress as the central or main branch of

government?

b. How can Congress still impose its will upon the president?

c. Despite the potential for conflict, how can the two branches still cooperate?

  1. Sources of Discord
  1. Why does Congress often see things differently than the president?
  2. What is the impact of office terms, different constituencies, parties, public

support, divided government, and the need for supermajorities upon the

congressional-presidential relationship?

4.The Ebb and Flow of Power Between the Branches

  1. How/why have members of Congress and the president clashed over war powers?
  2. How do controversies over confirmation politics affect the presidential-congressional relationship?
  3. What is the significance of executive orders, executive privilege, the veto,

impoundment, and continuing resolutions?

  1. Why do the two branches frequently clash over the federal budget?
  2. What political lessons can be discerned from the Clinton impeachment process?
  1. Building Coalitions/The President's Agenda
  1. How does public support help the president with Congress?
  2. How can the president win friends and influence in Congress?
  3. In what ways can Congress set/shape the national policy agenda?
  4. Why was partisanship set aside after the 9/11 attacks?
  5. What are the two kinds of resources that shape a presidential agenda?
  6. What is meant by a "mandate" to govern?
  7. What is the "cycle of decreasing influence" and the "cycle of increasing

effectiveness"?

PART II—PRETEST
  1. A president formally proposes his legislative agenda through
  1. the State of the Union Address.c.his cabinet.
  2. his rationales for vetoes.d.all of the above.
  1. Each term of a House member is
  1. six years.c.five years.
  2. four years.d.none of the above.

3. A president who had only one term in office would have served

  1. three years.c.two years.
  2. four years.d.eight years.

4. “Divided government” means that

  1. the president is not getting along with his cabinet.
  2. Congress has few policy proposals to offer vs. the president’s agenda.
  3. one party does not control both the presidency and the two houses of Congress.
  4. all of the above

5. A presidential directive that has the force of law is called

  1. impoundment.c.an executive order.
  2. executive privilege.d.an executive veto.
  1. The president who first gave executive privilege a bad name was
  1. Gerald Ford.c.Bill Clinton.
  2. Richard Nixon.d.Jimmy Carter.
  1. A method by which the president can win friends and influence in Congress is through
  1. campaign assistance.c.bill signing ceremonies.
  2. patronage.d.all of the above.

8.Some political experts would like the U.S. to adopt a

  1. parliamentary system.
  2. unitary system.

c.confederation system.

  1. non-democratic political system.

9. The type of veto declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998 was the

  1. pocket veto.c.item veto.
  2. unitary systemd.none of the above

10. The War Powers Act was passed in the aftermath of the

  1. second World War.c.Korean War.
  2. first World War.d.Vietnam War.
PART III—PROGRAMMED REVIEW

Knowledge Objective: To understand the basic ideas underlying congressional-presidential relations

  1. President George W. Bush came to office without a national ______.
  2. A major congressional rival confronting President Bush was Senator John ______.
  3. The framers saw separation of powers as a political (strength or weakness) _____

the Constitution.

  1. Congress and President George W. Bush seemed to set aside partisan differences after the terrorist attacks of ______.

Knowledge Objective: To understand the political importance of “separate but equal branches”

5. The Constitution’s writers saw the ______branch as dominant.

6. Civil war president ______gained additional presidential powers.

  1. Congress can impose its will, as witnessed by President ______’s problems with health care.
  2. Congress jealously guards its policy preferences in the fields of ______and _____.

Knowledge Objective: To understand why Congress has a different political perspective

  1. Presidents have implied, inherent, or ______powers.
  2. The president, unlike Congress, has a ______perspective.
  3. Senators serve for _____ year terms.
  4. Most members of Congress run their campaigns ______of party.
  5. The most important predictor of how members of Congress vote is ______affiliation.
  6. _____ votes are needed to end a filibuster.

Knowledge Objective: To understand why there is controversy between the branches

15. The president (has, does not have) the power to declare war.

16. Some scholars argue that Congress has been ____ and abdicated its authority to

the president.

  1. The War Powers Resolution was passed over President ______’s veto.
  2. The Senate has rejected _____ proposed cabinet members.
  3. George W. Bush nominated ______as his attorney general. He was a controversial choice.
  4. Executive privilege was used by Clinton vis-à-vis his foreign policy stance toward ______.
  5. An executive order has the force of ______.
  6. Congress has overridden less than ______percent of presidents’ regular vetoes.
  7. President Nixon practiced ______, not spending funds for purposes Congress had authorized.
  8. President Clinton was impeached by the ______, but not convicted by the _____.
  9. The Budget Act of _____ tried to restore greater budget making to Congress.

Knowledge Objective: To understand the importance of coalition-building and the president's agenda

  1. ______support is crucial to a president’s success with Congress.
  2. Appointing the friends and political supporters of key members of Congress to various federal positions is called ______.
  3. Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton were considered ______(effective, ineffective) communicators.
  4. The “genius” of Congress is deliberation, debate, and ______.
  5. The two types of resources that shape a president's agenda are ______and

______-______.

PART IV—POST-TEST

  1. The Secretary of Defense nominee rejected by the Senate in 1989 was
  1. Lewis L. Strauss.c.John Tower.
  2. Charles B. Warren.d.none of these.
  1. According to the War Powers Resolution, Congress can end a future troop commitment within
  1. 60 days.c.90 days.
  2. 30 days.d.120 days.
  1. The type of veto that is associated with the period of “ten days” is termed the
  1. item veto.c.pocket veto.
  2. regular veto.d.all of the above
  1. The U.S. president who issued the greatest number of regular vetoes was
  1. Richard Nixon.c.George Bush.
  2. John F. Kennedy.d.Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  1. The president who used executive orders more than 350 times was
  1. Ronald Reagan.c.Jimmy Carter.
  2. Bill Clinton.d.Lyndon Johnson
  1. Senate Democrats defeated which Bush nominee for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002?
  1. Clarence Thomasc.John Ashcroft
  2. Charles Pickeringd.Linda Chavez
  1. All of the following are “supermajorities” EXCEPT
  1. 60 votes to end a filibuster.
  2. two-thirds vote to override a presidential veto.
  3. a majority - 51 votes - needed to pass a bill in the Senate.
  4. None of the above is a supermajority.
  1. Compared to the president, Congress, in a national crisis, is
  1. slower to act.
  2. faster to act.
  3. unable to respond at all in any way.
  4. slower, but always wiser.

9. Of the presidents Eisenhower to Clinton, which president achieved the lowest

congressional support percentage in the early 1990s?

  1. George Bushc.Ronald Reagan
  2. Bill Clintond.Jimmy Carter

10. Which of the following congressional qualities conspires against presidential policy

leadership?

  1. Its institutional responsibilities and pride
  2. Its decentralized nature
  3. Its independent and entrepreneurial mode of legislators
  4. all of the above

PART V—TEST ANSWERS

Pretest Post-test

  1. a 1. c
  2. d 2. a
  3. b 3. c
  4. c 4. d
  5. c 5. b
  6. b 6. b
  7. d 7. c
  8. a 8. a
  9. b 9. a
  10. d 10. d

Programmed Review

  1. mandate16. passive
  2. McCain17. Nixon
  3. strength18. nine
  4. 9/1119. Ashcroft
  5. Congressional20. Haiti
  6. Lincoln21. law
  7. Clinton22. ten
  8. defense/agriculture23. impoundment
  9. emergency24. House, Senate
  10. national25. 1974
  11. six 26. Public
  12. independently 27. patronage
  13. partisan28. effective
  14. Sixty29. reflection
  15. does not have30. Political; decision-making

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