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Dion Ivey Mr. Rooney 1.

In a parliamentary system, the voters cannot choose [B] their prime minister

January 17, 2014 Pre-Test Multiple Choice

Pg 363, although the prime minister is the chief executive of their parliamentary system similar to the President, unlike the President, they chosen "not by the voters but by the legislature." 2.An obvious and important difference between a president and a primeminister is that the latter always has [B] majority support in parliament Pg 363,While prime ministers are up for election from the majority party of their parliament, president's run for election with the House. This results in "prime ministers remaining in power as long as his or her party has a majority", while President's maybe from an opposite party as the House resulting in divided government. 3.Of the twenty-four congressional or presidential elections between 1952 and 1996, ___ produced a divided government. [E] fifteen Pg 364,this question is most likely dated since as of now in the 48 years between 1952 and 2006, 18 of the 27 congressional or presidential elections resulted in divided government. Subtract the three elections after 1996 and the answer is most likely 15 out of 24 elections resulted in divided government. 4.The Framers solved the problem of how to elect the president by [C]creating the Electoral College. Pg 367, The framers thought the president should be chosen directly by the voters, but were unaware as to who should be a voter or what system should be used. The average person was unlikely to be intelligent enough for politics and a direct vote system "would give inordinate weight to the large, populous states" so the electoral college was invented where each state chose its electors however it chose. 5. Presidents have been limited to two terms by the

[C] Twenty second Amendment. Pg 368, George Washington set an informal precedent of taking only two terms and all presidents after him followed his example. That is until FDR decided to successfully run for more terms. Any later

attempts at surpassing the two term precedent were stopped when in "1951 the Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, limiting all subsequent presidents to two terms. 6.The personality of which president began to alter the relationship between the president and Congress and the nature of presidential leadership? [A] Andrew Jackson Pg 369, as the "Tribune of the People", Jackson used his popularity to veto any bills he did not like. As such Jackson alone, "altered the relations between president and Congress and the nature of presidential leadership. 7.The era from 1836 to 1932 is commonly viewed as one of [E] congressional dominance Pg 370, After Jackson's second term, Congress reestablished its power, "the presidency for a hundred years was made the subordinate branch of the national government." In nine of the seventeen elections from 1837 to 1904 only two presidents were elected with more than 55% of the popular vote "during this period of congressional dominance" 8. The principal function of the White House Office is to [D]oversee the political and policy interests of the president. Pg 375, the effects of the White House staff on the President are decided by the rule of propinquity, those in the room have power over the decision. Although the titles in among the staff vary from counsel to special assistant, they all "oversee the political and policy interests of the president." 9.Personality plays a more important role in explaining the presidency than it does in explaining Congress because a president is [A]more likely to be judged by his character in addition to his accomplishments. Pg 381, As an individual, it is easier to judge the personality of each President in office. Each President is expected to bring a different personality to the White House yet at the same time be appealing to the public. People will tend to "judge the President not only on what he has accomplished , but also in terms of its perception of his character." 10.The presidential audiences listed by Neustadt include all of the following except [A]heads of state from around the world. Pg 383, According to Neustadt, the President has three audiences he must answer to. The first of these is his fellow Washington D.C. audience of fellow politicians and leaders. The second is party activists and officeholders outside of Washington. The final audience is "the public" which entitles the many opposing viewpoints and opinions of the public.

11.Which of the following statements about the effect of presidential coattails on congressional elections is true? [D] It has decreased in recent years Pg 384, Going back to the election of Eisenhower and Kennedy we can see riding the coattails has lost its effect. Eisenhower won with 57.4 percent of the vote but Republicans lost seats in both houses. Kennedy won the election but democrats lost seats in the House and gained one seat in the Senate. Recent studies and investigations on coattail riding has shown "their effect has declined in recent years and is quite small today." 12.From the time of winning office to the time of leaving it, the popularity of most recent presidents [C] decreased except at election time Pg 385,Presidential popularity is an important asset but it will undoubtedly decline over time. Every president besides Clinton, Eisenhower, and Reagan lost support except when they "won re-election, giving a brief burst of renewed popularity. " 13. Which of the following is most clearly affected by the personal popularity of the president? [D] how Congress treats his legislative proposals Pg 384, Congress may not care whether or not a President supports or threatens them but they do care for a popular president. If Congress adamantly opposes a popular president, they sense that they have reason to worry. As a general rule of thumb, "the more popular the president, the higher the proportion of his bills that Congress will pass." 14.When President Reagan was governor of California, he could veto portions of a bill that were irrelevant to the subject of the bill. He was exercising what is called [C] a line-item veto Pg 388, although governors can exercise this right, presidents do not have the same luxury. Presidents cannot accept some parts of a bill and reject others. A president must either "accept or reject the entire bill." 15. More than 2,500 presidential vetoes have been made since 1789. Congress has overridden about what percent of these? [D] 4 percent Pg 389, Of the 2500+ vetoes made since 1789, 106 have actually been overridden. Proportionally this is about 1 out of 25, or 4%. 16.United States v. Nixon held that there is

[E] no unqualified presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process Pg 398, During the Watergate scandal, former President Richard Nixon had refused to give audio recordings. These recording were crucial in the case of United States v. Nixon and he had been ordered to hand over the tapes (he always recorded every conversation in the White House). It was concluded that the President is an American person just as everyone else in the country was and must abide by the rules; he would not be above the rules from his temporarily heightened position and the use of executive privileged wouldn't override the function of the federal courts. 17.Every President since Harry Truman has commented that the power of the presidency [E] looks greater from the outside than the inside Pg 390,What Harry Truman said was true. Although a good majority of Americans believe that the president is all powerful, that is a somewhat glorified lie; his power is very limited. There are formal powers he has (listed above) as well as informal powers, but they are almost all limited by the need to share power with the Senate and the House. 18.The constitutional duty of the vice president is to [E] preside over the state Pg396,The only official task of the vice president is to preside over the Senate and to vote in case of a tie. 19.____ decide(s) whether a president should be impeached [B]coordinate foreign policy Pg 397, Not only the president and vice president, but also all "civil officers of the United States". The impeachment is like a criminal trial that is voted by the House of Representatives. To be removed from office, there needs to be a two thirds favor of the Senate who sits as a court. The House decides whether the person should be impeached or not. 20.____ decide(s) whether to remove the president from office following an impeachment trial. [B] The Senate Pg 397,Not only the president and vice president, but also all "civil officers of the United States". The impeachment is like a criminal trial that is voted by the House of Representatives. To be removed from office, there needs to be a two thirds favor of the Senate who sits as a court. The Senate decides whether the president should be removed from office or not with a vote. A two thirds majority determines the removal of the president.

Dion Ivey Mr. Rooney

January 17, 2014 Vocabulary

Divided Government: One party controls the White House and another party controls one or both houses of congress. Interpretation: When the executive branch and at least on house of the legislative branch are led by different parties Unified Government: The same Party controls the White House and both houses of Congress. Interpretation: One party controls both the executive and legislative branch Pyramid Structure: A presidents subordinates report to him through a clear chain of command headed by a chief of staff. Interpretation: Order of command in which to report to the President Line-Item Veto: An executives ability to block a particular provision in a bill passed by the legislature. Interpretation: President picks and chooses what parts of a bill he approves of. Circular Structure: Several of the presidents assistants report directly to him. Interpretation: Each staff member can report directly to the President Trustee Approach: A representative acting as a trustee of their own district; voting for what they think is best Interpretation: Trustee of a board votes according to what they believe to be best. Cabinet: The heads of the fifteen executive branch departments of the federal government. Interpretation: the fifteen departments of the president's office. Delegate Approach: A representative acting as a delegate of their own district; voting for what their constituents want Interpretation: An official votes according to what their district wants Veto: A message from the president to Congress stating that he will not sign a bill it has passed. Must be produced within ten days of the bills passage. Interpretation: Presidential rejection of a bill. Impeachment: Charges against a president approved by a majority of the House of Representatives. Interpretation: Counts of crime against the president

Pocket Veto: A bill fails to become law because the president did not sign it within ten days before congress adjourns. Interpretation: The president doesn't veto or pass a bill before Congress goes into adjournment. 12th Amendment: Providing for election of the president and vice president by the Electoral College: should there be no majority vote for one person, the House of Representatives (one vote per state) chooses the president and the Senate the vice president. Interpretation: If a president doesn't get the majority of the vote, House decides. Executive Order: A law governing a part of the Executive branch Interpretation: A law that can only be acted upon by a President. 22nd Amendment: Limiting all subsequent presidents after Franklin Roosevelt to two terms. Interpretation: Limit presidents to two terms. Lame Duck: A person still in office after he or she has lost the bid for reelection. Interpretation: an incumbent that is waiting to be kicked out. 25th Amendment: The disability problem: allowing the vice-president to serve as acting president? Interpretation: If the President is unable to act, the Vice- President steps up. Executive Privilege: Namely, the privilege of confidentiality, the President does have certain privileges which allow him to be above the law at times. Interpretation: President doesn't have to follow some laws. White House Offices: Offices held by hundreds of the presidents closest and most personal assistants Interpretation: All the jobs within the White House that the President fills with friends.

Dion Ivey Mr. Rooney

January 17, 2014 Textbook Reading Questions

1. The president and a prime minister differs in a great deal of ways. In our country, we pick our President through what is basically a two party election, however, a prime minister is not voted into office but is chosen by a legislature, or, if there is a two party system, the prime minister will be chosen from the party that holds the majority. The situation becomes a bit different when there are multiple parties. In that case, the majority party may still be the prime minister however, the cabinet may be a coalition of the minority parties. This marks another difference in how the cabinet is chosen. A president may choose cabinet members outside of Congress; they may be close friends, campaign aides, or important representatives, however a prime minister may only choose from the members of the parliament. Unlike the President, a prime minister isn't able to point to the mess in parliament as a reason to get elected to his position. Playing the blame game will simply get him under fire since a prime minister is chosen from a pool of people who are already "inside the government" and also in his party. The president, as we have learned in earlier chapters, can simply choose to blame the mess in Washington as a reason to be voted in. A key difference between presidency and a prime minister is fact that a majority party of the president may not be available in congress. A prime minister is picked because he or she held a party majority in parliament, however the US often has divided government. Even when the President and Congress are from the same party, they often have different agendas making it bitterly difficult to pass any legislations or bills. 2.

3. Formal Powers: A. Diplomatic Powers - He (or she) may write treaties and sign them. This is with the Senate approval of course. He (or she) also has the powers to recognize foreign governments. Up until 1972, the United States had recognized the Island of Taiwan as "China" while ignoring the communist mainland. This had changed in 1972 when we recognized the mainland to open up trade with their markets. B. Military Powers - The President, when elected, is declared the Commander in Chief regardless of military experience. And although they don't have the power to declare war, every war fought after WWII were technically undeclared wars. The war powers act of 1973 has made it so that a president may send out troops for foreign conflict, but only for 60 days without Congressional approval. C. Veto Power - The President has the power to veto bills. They have a set time where they may chose to either approve a bill or veto it. By ignoring it for the set amount of time, the bill automatically becomes approved.

D. Appointment Powers - The President has the power to appoint federal judges, cabinet members, ambassadors and everything in between. E. The power to pardon anyone for any crime F. Give a state of the union (previously a report sent to Congress, but is now a big televised address o let the nation know what is planned and how things are going on a nationwide scale). G. Wield Executive Powers

4. Described as a "sketchy" power, this informal power of the President has to be used if he (or she) wishes to accomplish anything in office. When talking about persuasion, the president must aim this persuasion at three main audiences; the most important of which are his fellow politicians at Washington, D.C. These people are the ones that may break or make a legislation so to have their support is vital to have to gain power. People like FDR and Lyndon B. Johnson were able to do this, and for the most part, faced a less threatening Congress that agreed with his proposals. The second importance target audience would be party activists and partisan grassroots. These are the people that can rally people in support of the President and can muster up partisan (politically dedicated) support for the cause. The third, and final target audience would be (finally) the general people or "the average Joe". Although a good portion of the American people don't actively participate in voting or the political process in general, a favorable report of a proposal with no public reaction is better than a negative report of a proposal with people protesting left and right. The citizens can easily get irritated because, well, it is their country and a lot of them had entrusted the president with making "the right" decisions. Everything the President does will be scrutinized and for anything good that is done, there will be someone complaining that it was the wrong thing to do. The president uses speeches to try to persuade the people to him.

5. I would be in favor of the amendment making it so the President now has only 1 term but is given 6 years to do whatever it is they wish to do in office. In contemporary society, we view a president who has not won a second term as someone who had basically failed his job as president (did win the votes of his people). Whether they want to or not, the people in office are basically forced to run for reelection. We tend to ignore that after the President is elected their first time, they only have about 2, maybe 2.5 years of serious working time. A year and a half - 2 years are absolutely necessary to start campaigning and getting ready for reelection. A god portion of the arguments for a president getting 6 years are spot on. With the president only being limited to one 6 six year term, they don't necessarily have to listen to special-interest groups for deciding policy and it would mean that they would have more time to cater to the peoples will of what they do and don't want. They wouldn't need to worry about re-election or any of that nasty business, they would simply need to work to the best of their abilities for 6 years and hop that the people like him. Administrations before had proven themselves to be untrustworthy and deaf when it came to the peoples issue; instead of waiting 8 years for them to be

ousted, they can just leave office and a new person would get elected. The next presidential elections won't be until 2016, however people in 2013 were already talking about the next presidential race and possible candidates (absolutely ridiculous). Going back to the point that a president NEEDS to run again to be seen as successful, statistically speaking, they have a 68% chance of winning the presidency again due to their publicity and past experience. This provides an unfair disadvantage to the opponent running against the president. In conclusion, the president should be given a single 6 year term because it allows more work to get done without the hassle of worrying about reelections, give the opponent a fair ground to stand on when running, and he (or she) will not have t cater to the special interest groups.

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