美联社美国政府: Relationships Between Federal Institutions

年代tudy concepts, example questions & explanations for AP US Government

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

的一个lleged "corrupt-bargain" denied which politician the Presidency?

Possible Answers:

John Quincy Adams

Thomas Jefferson

Andrew Jackson

John Adams

Martin Van Buren

Correct answer:

Andrew Jackson

Explanation:

In the 1824 election none of the major candidates gained a clear majority; however, Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams emerged as the two leading candidates in the popular vote. Due to the lack of a clear winner, the election had to be decided in the House of Representatives. Henry Clay, himself a candidate in the election, allegedly offered his support to John Quincy Adams, helping him win the Presidency, In exchange, Clay was made Adams’ Secretary of State. Andrew Jackson would campaign, partially, on the platform of the "corrupt-bargain" in the next election, 1828.

Example Question #748 :Ap Us Government

Judicial review is__________.

Possible Answers:

the power of the legislative branch to review and overturn decisions made by the Supreme Court

the power of the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of certain government acts

the power of the executive branch to review appointments for the Supreme Court

the power of the executive branch to deem rulings by the Supreme Court as being in violation of established laws

the power of the legislative branch to impeach and remove justices from the Supreme Court

Correct answer:

the power of the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of certain government acts

Explanation:

Judicial review establishes that the judicial branch of the government has the right to analyze the constitutionality of certain actions undertaken by the legislative and executive branches of government. It is part of the checks and balances aspect of American government that ensures that no one branch of the United States government can wield absolute power at the expense of the other two branches.

Example Question #749 :Ap Us Government

In which of the following ways did Franklin Delano Roosevelt take action after the Supreme Court kept striking down laws during the New Deal era?

Possible Answers:

He attempted to have the “four horsemen” assassinated

He tried to “pack” the court

He attempted to do away with the Supreme Court

He tried to institute a mandatory age of retirement

All of the answers are correct

Correct answer:

He tried to “pack” the court

Explanation:

This is an incredibly interesting story. Essentially, there were four justices on the Supreme Court, Butler, McReynolds, Sutherland, and Van Devanter, who were extremely conservative. They always voted in a bloc, and nearly always voted to strike down FDRs New Deal legislation. This earned them the name “the Four Horsemen.” Since they always voted in a bloc (and there were four of them) it took only one other justice to disagree with the legislation to cobble together a majority and strike the law down. During the beginning of the New Deal era, this happened relatively frequently, much to FDR’s chagrin.

年代eeing no end in sight, and getting more frustrated by the day, FDR managed to come up with what he thought was a solution: get Congress to pass a bill that added more members to the Supreme Court. As President, he could appoint them, and since Congress was overwhelmingly Democrat, the Senate would likely confirm his appointees.

年代o, FDR comes up with a plan for a bill: craft a piece of legislation under the ruse of helping the poor, old, enfeebled members of the Supreme Court. His “subtle” bill would have allowed him to appoint 1 new associate justice for every justice over the age of 70 years, up to a total of 6 additional members. Nearly everyone saw the bill for what it was, and it quickly earned the derisive moniker of the “court packing plan,” as it would have allowed him to “pack” the court with like-minded justices, and thus his New Deal legislation would pass. It didn’t pass Congress.

Example Question #12 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

What individual or body has the power to offer “advice and consent,” thereby having the power to approve, presidential appointments?

Possible Answers:

年代upreme Court

Vice President

内阁

年代enate

House of Representatives

Correct answer:

年代enate

Explanation:

The Supreme Court and the Cabinet are two bodies appointed by the President, and so they do not have the power to approve these appointments. The House of Representatives and the Vice President also do not have this power. The power to offer “advice and consent” on the issue of presidential appointments is reserved by the Senate, according to Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution.

Example Question #13 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

The Constitution requires the “advice and consent” of the__________when___________.

Possible Answers:

年代upreme Court . . . ratifying a treaty

President . . . ratifying a treaty

House . . . ratifying a treaty

年代enate . . . ratifying a treaty

Correct answer:

年代enate . . . ratifying a treaty

Explanation:

The Constitution specifically requires the “advice and consent” (that’s the actual language, hence the quotation marks) of the Senate when ratification of a treaty is at hand. In other words, in order for our country to successfully reach atreatywith another country, the Senate must give their “advice and consent.” In slightly more concrete terms, the Senate must approve (or ‘ratify’) the treaty by a supermajority (vote). This, as you can imagine, is a rather difficult task. It has caused the embarrassment of one President in particular: Woodrow Wilson. Woodrow Wilson failed to gain Senate approval of the Treaty of Versailles, and his brainchild, the League of Nations. This was rather embarrassing to President Wilson, as he had essentially stumped around Europe campaigning for the League of Nations only to have his own country fail to back him.

Example Question #14 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

尽管如此,技术上来说,公关esident’s power to wage war is checked by Congress’s ability to declare it, Congress has attempted to further check the President by the passage of which of the following?

Possible Answers:

War Powers Act of 1973

None of the answers are correct

PATRIOT Act of 2001

Freedom, America, and Patriotism Act of 2005

Correct answer:

War Powers Act of 1973

Explanation:

This is an interesting, and somewhat convoluted question. As the prompt says, the President’s ability to wage war istechnicallychecked by Congress’ ability to declare war (i.e. ONLY Congress can declare war). That said, there have been a total of 0 declared wars since WWII. Yes, you read that correctly, zero. What about Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, etc etc?

的一个nswer lies in the President’s ability to direct troop movement (as the Commander-in-chief). Very long story short, the president can technically skirt the issue of a declared war by directing troops to go somewhere and intervene—this is often called an “armed conflict.”

Congress attempted to reign in the President’s unfettered ability to create/aid in armed conflicts by passing the War Powers Act of 1973, which imposed various procedural hurdles on a President attempting to move troops for that purpose.

Example Question #15 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

The line-item refers to the President's power to____________.

Possible Answers:

to threaten to veto a piece of proposed legislation if it is not changed to the liking of the President

执行之前否决了一块乐gislation that has made its' way back to the desk of the President for a second time

to let a piece of legislation sit for a period of time so that it cannot be enacted by the current members in Congress

to remove a line or portion of a proposed piece of legislation without vetoing the entire piece

to veto a piece of proposed legislation with the goal of having legislators rewrite one section

Correct answer:

to remove a line or portion of a proposed piece of legislation without vetoing the entire piece

Explanation:

A line-item veto is when the President simply vetoes a portion of a piece of proposed legislation, and then sends it back to Congress for approval. This way the whole piece does not have to be redrafted, and legislators simply have to agree on whether the portion vetoed is necessary or not.

Example Question #16 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

What is the structural power balance between the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch?

Possible Answers:

Pyramid power balancing

A balance of powers

The separation of church and state

A triangular power

A system of checks and balances

Correct answer:

A system of checks and balances

Explanation:

制衡的制度way that the U.S. government balances power between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. It is known as such because of the way that each branch is able to check the others and balance them out if one gains too much power over another.

Example Question #17 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

___________is where both the President and a majority of both chambers of Congress belong to the same political party.

Possible Answers:

United government

Agency government

Unified government

Divided government

Correct answer:

Unified government

Explanation:

这应该是一个相对简单的问题. When both the president and the majority of both chambers of congress belong to the same political party, we refer to this as “unified government.” The name, of course, makes sense, because—as they’re both of the same party—government is unified. Whenever government is unified, there’s a greater chance of increased legislation and reform (do you see why?).

Example Question #18 :Relationships Between Federal Institutions

________________is where the President and either one or both chambers of Congress are of different political parties.

Possible Answers:

年代olidified government

Divided government

Fractured government

Unified government

Correct answer:

Divided government

Explanation:

这应该是一个相对简单的问题. Divided government is the exact opposite of unified government—not too shocking, given the name. Because both the president and either one or both chambers of Congress are of two different political parties, it becomes much more difficult to create and pass legislation, leading to gridlock.

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