Government Chapter 2

"Motor Voter Act"

*to expand the electorate by making it easier to register to vote* (1) allow all eligible citizens to register to vote when they apply for or renew a driver's license; (2) provide for voter registration by mail; and (3) make registration forms available at the local offices of State employment, welfare, and other social service agencies

2 claims of opposers of closed primaries

1. It compromises the secrecy of the ballot, because it forces voters to make their party preferences known in order to participate. 2. It tends to exclude independent voters from the nominating process

3 claims of supporters of closed primaries

1. The closed primary prevents one party from "raiding" the other's primary in the hope of nominating weaker candidates in the opposition party. 2. It helps to make candidates more responsive to the party, its platform, and its members. 3. It helps make voters more thoughtful, because they must choose between the parties in order to vote in the primaries

Consider a scenario in which a very wealthy individual decides to launch a campaign for President of the United States. Under current laws (as they are explained in the lesson), which of the following contributions would not be permissible?

A corporation owned by the candidate gives $5,000 directly to her campaign committee

How does a direct primary differ from a caucus?

A direct primary is open to all the registered voters in a party, while a caucus is not

"You have to be loaded just to get beat." —Humorist Will Rogers Which statement is the best interpretation of what Rogers is saying about money and politics?

Candidates cannot realistically expect to compete unless they raise a lot of money

19th Amendment/Women's Suffrage

Gave women the right to vote

Use the map about types of primaries to answer the next two questions.

Georgia, Montana, and California

What is the difference between hard money and soft money?

Hard money may be given directly to a candidate; soft money cannot.

In The Federalist No. 10, James Madison refers to the 'mischiefs of factions.' To which of the following modern-day criticisms of interest groups was Madison likely referring?

Interest groups can gain too much power over public policy

How could a primary fight cost a party an election?

It could lead party supporters to remain divided at the time of the general election

What was one major difference between the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and earlier civil rights laws?

It gave the Federal Government the power to enforce the 15th Amendment

In contemporary times, a political party's nominees and platform are decided long before the party's convention takes place. With that in mind, what is one benefit of holding a national convention?

It provides an opportunity to promote the party's candidates and gain the public's support

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

What is the difference between plurality versus majority in an election?

Majority means that more than half of the voters voted for the person

Why are political parties essential to democratic government?

Political parties provide a link between representatives in public office and their constituents

Which statement is true, based on the information contained in the graphic?

State party organizations are run by a State party committee and its chairperson.

Why might the spread of democracy to frontier States have led to opposition to the early caucuses?

The early caucuses excluded people living in the newer States

In what way do political parties act as "bonding agents" between themselves and the voting public?

The parties try hard to choose candidates are both qualified for the office and of good character

It takes 270 electoral votes to win a presidential election. Using the information from the map, which statement is true about presidential elections?

The presidency can be decided by as few as 11 states

One of the first issues tackled by the interest group Common Cause was to seek an end to the Vietnam War. Based on what you know about the interest groups in the late 1960s, why did citizens likely choose to join this group?

They felt that a nontraditional approach would be most effective

The photograph shows Dwight Eisenhower outside in Nebraska in 1952. Choose the answer that completes the sentence. this image most likely shows:

a campaign rally.

A typical national convention is best described as

a checklist of formalities produced with high emotional appeal

national convention is best described as

a checklist of formalities produced with high emotional appeal

injunction

a court order that either compels or restrains the performance of some act by a private individual or public official

closed primary

a party nominating election in which only declared party members can vote

open primary

a party-nominating election in which any qualified voter can take part

blanket primary

a voting process in which voters receive a long ballot containing the names of all contenders, regardless of party, and can vote however they choose

"open-election law"

all candidates for nomination are listed on a single ballot, and the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, face off in the general election. But if a candidate wins a majority of the votes in the primary, he or she is declared the winner of the office involved—so, the primary becomes, in effect, the election

presidential primary

an election by which voters choose convention delegates committed to voting for a certain candidate

direct primary

an election held within a party to pick that party's candidates for the general election

How did Supreme Court decisions between 1940 and 1960 help enforce the 15th Amendment?

by striking down white primaries and racial gerrymandering

What is the most likely reason that a candidate for President would refuse to accept money from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund established by the government?

can raise more money from private sources

Read this quotation from the text discussing the Supreme Court's ruling in Buckley v. Valeo about limits on federal campaign spending. "In Buckley, the [Supreme] Court struck down all but one of the spending limits set by the FECA Amendments of 1974. It held each of the other restrictions to be contrary to the 1st Amendment's guarantees of free expression. In effect, said the Court, in politics 'money is speech.' The one limit the Court did uphold is a cap on spending by those presidential contenders who accept FEC subsidies for their preconvention and/or their general election campaigns." As a result, the Supreme Court's ruling

forced presidential candidates to choose public funding and unlimited spending

Read this quotation about the Citizens United Supreme Court case. "At bottom, the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt." —Justice John Paul Stevens, Dissenting Opinion This quotation was written

in support of blocking donations by special interest groups

What main strategy for fighting discrimination did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 rely upon?

judicial action

Super PACs can make the most impact on the campaigns of their preferred candidates by

paying for advertising that focuses on a target issue

What kind of people would party bosses select as delegates in order to manipulate the convention process?

people who agreed with the party bosses and would do what the party bosses wanted them to do in government

straw vote

polls that seek to read the public's mind simply by asking the same question of a large number of people; respondents are self-selected. Nothing in the process ensures that those who respond will represent a reasonably accurate cross section of the total population. The straw vote emphasizes the quantity rather than the quality of the sample to which its question is put

grass-roots pressures

pressures on public officials from members of an interest group or the people at large

"grass-roots lobbying"

the molding of public opinion, and various election-related activities

"top two" form of the open primary

the names of all those who seek nomination are listed, by office, on a single primary ballot. Then the top two vote-getters for each office, regardless of party, face one another in the general election. Thus, two Republicans, or two Democrats, may battle one another in November

Which of the following is a MAJOR reason why the government monitors lobbyists and their behavior?

to prevent lobbyists from corrupting the political process using illegal means

Congress enacted the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (a.k.a McCain-Feingold Act)

to reduce the amount of soft money received by candidates