Chapter 4

The Latino movement known as La Raza Unida occurred during the

1960s

Texas Democrats have been relegated to a minority status at the state level since

1994.

How long must a former member of a governing body or former executive head of a regulatory agency wait before he or she can lobby that agency?

2 years

Why don't Texans vote for third parties?

Because Texas employs what is known as a "first past the post," single-member district electoral system, it makes it difficult for third party candidates to win elections.

Conservative Democrats in Texas are also known as

Blue Dog Democrats.

The ________ convention is a meeting held by a political party following its precinct convention for the purpose of electing delegates to its state convention.

County

When deciding how to vote, people will use mental shortcuts. Political scientists call these shortcuts

Cues

For an independent candidate to get on the ballot in Texas, which requirement he or she must meet?

He or she must get petition signatures from registered voters who did not participate in any political party primary election.

Texans are increasingly identifying themselves as

Independent.

In Texas, primary elections are usually held in

March

Women were given the right to vote in the United States with the passage of the

Nineteenth Amendment.

________ is a system of representation that encourages third-party voting because it allows each political party representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote.

Proportional representation

Texas was the first state in the South to

Ratify the women's suffrage amendment

The ________ movement was a movement during the 1950s in which conservative Democrats in Texas supported Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower for the presidency because many of those conservative Democrats believed that the national Democratic Party had become too liberal.

Shivercrat

The requirements for getting on the ballot are set by

State

Candidates for state office and lobbyists have to file quarterly reports detailing their spending and donations with which agency?

Texas Ethics Commission

How much can an individual donate to a campaign for a state-level, nonjudicial office, such as for governor?

There is no limit.

The general election is held the first

Tuesday following the first Monday in November of even-numbered years.

The poll tax was made illegal in federal elections with the passage of the

Twenty-Fourth Amendment.

The most important federal law involved in the expansion of voting rights and protections in Texas was the

Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Which statement correctly describes the requirements for membership in a major political party in Texas?

With no requirements, a registered voter simply chooses which party primary to vote in.

The Motor Voter Act of 1993

allows citizens to register to vote while applying for a driver's license.

If an interest group "gets on the late train," it means

an interest group gives contributions after the election to a winning candidate the group had earlier opposed.

A closed primary allows only those individuals who________ to participate.

are a registered member of their political party

In order to vote in Texas, you must meet which of the following requirements?

be a resident of Texas, a U.S. citizen, and at least 18 years of age

The practice of combining several individual campaign contributions into one larger contribution from a group in order to increase the group's impact is known as

bundling.

The main role of the precinct conventions is to select delegates to the ________ and possibly to submit resolutions that may eventually become part of the party platform.

county convention

Interest groups often employ _____________________ as lobbyists in order to gain access to those in Texas government.

former legislators and government officials

Which of the following is a way in which parties help voters during elections?

give voters a party label they can identify with when deciding how to vote

Most lobbyists

have expertise in policy matters or personal relationships with legislators.

When individuals or interest groups take out ads concerning a campaign issue but do not tie them directly to any particular candidate, it is called

issue advocacy.

By forming a political action committee (PAC), the interest group can show a candidate that

its members care very deeply about an issue and are willing to donate money to support the group's position on the issue.

Which of the following is/are employed to express the values of interest groups?

lobbyists

When Tip O'Neill said, "all politics is local," he was talking about how

local issues are not generally ideological.

What type of primary allows a voter to choose on Election Day which party they will vote for?

open primary

Interest groups are best seen as

organizations established to influence the government's programs and policies.

Members of the Texas Republican Party have become more conservative and members of the Texas Democratic Party have become more liberal. This evolution best defines

partisan polarization.

The fundamental principles and positions supported by a political party are explained in the.

party platform

A private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns is called a(n)

political action committee.

The process of ________ occurs throughout our early years, when parents, religious leaders, teachers, and others influence our partisan identifications

political socialization

A ________ was a state-imposed tax on voters as a prerequisite for voting.

poll tax

What is the most basic level of the permanent party organization in Texas?

precinct chair

Once a lobbyist has access to a member of the legislature, the lobbyist can

provide information about how specific policies can benefit the legislator's district.

The States' Rights Party, also known as the Dixiecrats, split with the national Democratic Party over which issue?

racial integration

In Texas, special elections are used to

ratify amendments to the Texas Constitution.

The process of ________ involves recalculating how many congressional districts each state will receive based on the state's population.

reapportionment

Duverger's Law states that

single-member district systems result in two-party systems.

The situation in which individuals receive the benefits of collective action without contributing is known as

the "free rider problem."

Which offshoot of the Democratic Party preselected candidates for the Democratic primary and prohibited African Americans from participating?

the Jaybird Party

Which movement has had the largest impact on state legislative races in recent years?

the Tea Party movement

What is the main purpose of a primary election?

to select a party's candidate for the general election

In Texas, political parties help candidates by providing

training for a campaign.

When does interest-group capture occur?

when the state agency primarily serves the objectives of the interest group

organizations established to influence the government's programs and policies.

a. members c. credibility b. ability to raise money d. All of these are correct. CORRECT ANSWER IS D