AP Government: Chapter 8

In the 2000 US presidential election, one candidate lost the Electoral College vote while winning the popular vote and, therefore, did not become president. Who was it?

Al Gore

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution imposed new limits on presidential candidates. As a result, what is now true?

No person may serve more than two terms as president

The United States is predominantly a two-party system because _____________.

Single-member winner take all districts tend to result in two major parties.

Depending on the process used for voting and counting votes in American elections, some jurisdictions suffer increased risk for ambiguous or inaccurate results. Why is this true?

Some localities employ outdated voting methods

There are currently 435 Congressional districts in the United States, distributed among the several states based on population. However, this distribution changes with reapportionment. What is true about this process?

The total number of Congressional seats will probably decrease following the 2020 census because the population of the United States will have shrunk since the last census

One reason that a large candidate field is likely to shrink after only a few contests in a presidential nomination process is _____________.

Winner-take-all rules in all but two states.

An election with no incumbent running is called _____________.

an open seat.

One consequence you might expect from changing to a direct popular election would be _____________.

fewer visits by candidates to meet and greet voters.

To win the general election, candidates have to win support from, _____________ who often do not vote in primaries.

moderate and pragmatic voters.

Soft money refers to _____________.

money raised in unlimited amounts by political parties for party-building purposes.

A "permanent Congress" is a result of _____________.

of advantages held by incumbents.

Elections for members of Congress occur _____________.

on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Today, party nominees are largely selected by voters in primaries, whereas early in the nation's history, candidates were selected by _____________.

party caucuses.

An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official is known as _____________.

single-member district.

Votes are counted in the United States according to _____________.

state law as administered by local officials.

Determining the number and quality of candidates in advance of a presidential election can sometimes be difficult because of _____________.

the invisible primary.

The fact that some states have moved their primaries earlier in the election year suggests that _____________.

they want to have a real impact on the selection of the candidate.

To win their parties' nominations, presidential candidates _____________.

typically have to appeal to the more ideologically intense individuals in their parties.

When running for the House of Representatives, a candidate's main hurdle is gaining _____________.

visibility.

Many factors are involved in the election of candidates for federal office. The single most important factor that is likely to tip the scale for one candidate or another in a given election is _____________.

voter turnout.

Incumbent Senators are able to outspend their challengers by what ratio?

2:1

While incumbents generally have a strong advantage over challengers for seats in Congress, one party may lose a significant number of seats during a wave election (such as occurred for the Democrats in 2010 and for the Republicans in 2018). What is generally true about any given Congressional election?

A wave election is more likely to impact the House of Representatives than the Senate

The tendency in elections to focus on the personal attributes of a candidate, such as his or her strengths, weaknesses, background, experience, and visibility, is known as _____________.

Candidate appeal.

Presidential elections and midterm elections generally have very different levels of voter participation and outcomes for the respective political parties. What is likely to account for a presidential election in which down-ballot candidates of the same party as the winning presidential candidate are also highly successful?

Coattails

While many factors impact who wins on election day, which factor is most likely to influence the outcome before election day even arrives?

Early Voting

How often do candidates run for the House of Representatives?

Every two years

What organization was created in 1974 to administer new campaign reform laws?

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Over the years, various initiatives have been proposed to impose limits on the number of terms members of Congress may serve, but none have been successful What is a major reason for this?

Initiatives involved statutes rather than constitutional amendments

The major parties' shift to direct primaries resulted in more involvement by voters in the nomination of candidates. How might the influence of Super Delegates impact this phenomenon?

It increases party control over which candidate is ultimately nominated

If one of the major political parties badly loses a presidential election, and polling indicates that the primary reason for this loss was that the party platform is not in line with public opinion on key public policy issues, what might the party deo in advance of the midterm elections to achieve a better electoral result in Congress?

Promote candidates that are more aligned with public opinion

While the Democrats enjoyed a victory in House elections in the 2018 midterms, many political science experts believe it was not nearly as large as it should be in light of the fact that they won by an aggregate total of almost 10 million votes, a greater margin than either party has ever won before. Democrats are convinced that if so many districts weren't gerrymandered against them, they would have gained significantly more seats. They intend to initiate several lawsuits in federal district court from select states across the country to overturn district maps that were gerrymandered by partisan Republican state legislatures. What will likely happen?

Recent Supreme Court decisions show that the court is unwilling to question the validity of district maps drawn for politically partisan purposes

Which of the following probably has the MOST bearing on who wins a presidential election?

The current state of the economy

In the 2018 Midterm Elections, a Blue Wave washed over much of the United States, with Democrats gaining 40 seats in the House of Representatives, many of them from once safe Republican districts. Republicans expressed concern about legislation and oversight investigations that they expected to emanate from the House when the New Congress convened, and some believed that much of it would be spearheaded by senior Democratic members of the House. But the Republicans were still in charge through the end of the session, and they introduced legislation that they hoped to pass during the lame duck session that would prohibit senior Democrats from running in 2020 if they have already served at least four consecutive terms in Congress. What was the probable result?

This bill is unconstitutional and therefore had no merit

Presidents are limited to election to two terms by the _____________.

Twenty-Second Amendment.

In 2016 the Republican presidential nominating process began with 17 candidates. However, the Democrats began with even more candidates competing for the presidential nomination in 2020. Having such a crowded field could plausibly lead to _____________.

a contested convention.

Barack Obama's successful campaign for president in 2008 resulted in _____________.

a gain of both House and Senate seats for Democrats.

In most parliamentary democracies, the party in power calls elections _____________.

at a time of the party's choosing.

The outcome of the 2000 presidential election hinged on _____________.

damaged ballots that were cast in Florida.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution created the Electoral College because they _____________.

did not trust the choice of president to a direct vote of the people.

The 2020 primary season will begin in January and run into June. Many people believe that this calendar facilitates battle-tested nominees. Possible consequences include _____________.

disproportionate influence of earlier-voting states.