Ch10: Elections 2022

Rank the following election types, from the highest voter turnout to the lowest turnout.

-Presidential Election -Midterm congressional election -Local elections

What was the first year that over 20 percent of the population voted in a presidential election?

1920

Imagine that the following are the results from a Louisiana Senate race. Louisiana uses majority rule to determine the winner. • Anita Jones (R), 45 percent • Ben Watson (D), 40 percent • Zachary Smith (I), 15 percent Based on these results, who wins the race?

A winner cannot be determined now. There will be a runoff between Jones and Watson.

Direct democracy allows voters the opportunity to directly translate their preferences into government policy. Match the following characteristics to the correct form of direct democracy: ballot initiative, referendum, or both.

Ballot - is permitted in only 24 states referendum -occurs when a state legislature refers laws to voters for popular vote Both -often involves emotional issues Ballot initiative -allows citizens to place proposed laws directly on the ballot

Match the U.S. Supreme Court case to the effect it had on campaign spending.

Buckley v. Valeo (1974) -introduced the idea that campaign contributions count as speech Citizens United v. FEC (2010) -led to the emergence of Super PACs -prohibited the government from restricting independent expenditures by corporations

Which statement accurately characterizes the trend of campaign spending over time?

Campaign spending has increased over time.

Which of the following statements about economic conditions and incumbent presidential support are accurate?

Correct -In November, there is a close correspondence between incumbent support and consumer confidence. -When the economy is growing, the incumbent party tends to do well. Incorrect -Voters do not use the economy to evaluate the success of the president. -In April, there is a close correspondence between incumbent support and consumer confidence.

From the following list of election years with weak economies, select the year the presidential incumbent won more than 50 percent of the vote.

Correct -None Incorrect -1980 -1992 -2008 -2020

Which of the following statements about the 2020 election are accurate?

Correct -Polls overestimated Biden's advantage in the popular vote margin. -Turnout for the 2020 election was the higher than it had been for a century. Incorrect -Trump successfully held on to his 2016 gains in the upper Midwest. -Biden flipped Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas.

What are the characteristics of the Australian ballot?

Correct -The ballot includes the names of all candidates running for office. -Candidate selections are made in private. Incorrect -Candidate selections are made in public. -The ballot includes only candidates from one party.

Why do incumbents tend to win reelection so often?

Correct -Voters reward incumbents for previous success. -Challengers have difficulty communicating with voters. -Incumbents are typically good politicians. Incorrect -Redistricting protects all incumbents.

How does the voting-age baseline for calculating turnout differ from the voting-eligible baseline?

Correct -Voting-age turnout includes people who lost voting rights. -Voting-eligible turnout is harder to calculate than voting-age turnout. -Voting-age turnout understates the true turnout rate. -Voting-age turnout includes noncitizens.

Which of the following people would have been allowed to vote in the 1790s?

Correct -a 23-year-old White man Incorrect -a 45-year-old Black man -a 19-year-old Black woman -a 63-year-old White woman

Of the following redistricting constraints, which two must be met for a map to pass the minimum standard?

Correct -contiguity -equal population Incorrect -partisan fairness -racial equality

Which of the following demographic characteristics are the two strongest predictors of who votes?

Correct -education -age Incorrect -gender -race

Maria is using prospective voting to decide whether to vote to reelect a sitting president or to vote for the other party's challenger. What information will she use to make her choice?

Correct -how she thinks the economy will improve in the next administration Incorrect -how the economy did during the president's previous term in office -whether she prefers the president's religious views over the challenger's -whether she agrees with the president's previous work on civil rights

What changes did the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), also called the McCain-Feingold Act, make to campaign finance?

Correct -it prohibited unlimited party spending Incorrect -it limited individual contributions to $1,000 per candidate -it created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) -it allowed corporations to make unlimited contributions

What effect does plurality rule, along with single-member districts, have on electoral outcomes?

Correct -it tends to yield results that do not reflect the public's preferences -it tends to yield results that do not reflect the public's preferences it tends to overrepresent the largest party -it tends to result in vote wasting Incorrect -it tends to overrepresent the smallest party

What are two factors that make the campaign season in America so long?

Correct -party primary elections -loose campaign finance regulations Incorrect -single member plurality districts

At the beginning of the year 2020, which of the following federal elections were Republicans favored in?

Correct -House -Presidency -Senate Incorrect -N/A

Which of the following statements are accurate about the role of party ID in the 2020 elections?

Correct -Independent voters slightly favored Biden. -Democratic voters overwhelmingly supported Biden. -Republican voters overwhelmingly supported Trump. Incorrect -Independent voters mostly supported "other" candidates.

Which of the following statements about voter registration are accurate?

Correct -Requiring people to register in order to vote reduces turnout rates. -Voter registration laws in the United States have generally gotten looser over time. Incorrect -Voter registration lists do nothing to help election administration. -Most American states automatically register citizens to vote.

Which regions had partisan shifts that would turn out to be decisive in the 2020 election results?

Correct -the Southeast -the Southwest -the Midwest Incorrect -the West coast

Which demographic groups are more likely to support the Democratic Party?

Correct Answer -Hispanics -African Americans Incorrect -Whites -Men

If you wanted to increase the likelihood of electing a Black representative to Congress, how would you draw the district lines around the Black population in Mississippi, which is clustered along the Mississippi Delta?

Create a district around the Delta's population.

Which statement best characterizes the result from the 2020 election, as it relates to state level elections?

Democrats were favored to retake control of several state legislatures, but did not do so.

Most campaigns for Congress are run by the national parties to ensure that the candidates support the party platform.

False

True or False Split-ticket voting was more common before the advent of the Australian ballot.

False

True or False The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic hurt Joe Biden's image with the public.

False

While members of the - each represent about the same number of constituents, members of the - represent widely different numbers of constituents.

House, Senate

Joe Bidens started the primary season by decisively - the first two contests and - the South Carolina primary.

Losing, Winning

What does the term gerrymandering refer to?

Manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group

Which form of electoral system is most common in the United States?

Plurality system

At the beginning of 2020, Republicans in the Senate felt - holding on to their majority. As Election Day approached, their majority seemed -. Based on the election results in late November, - are likely to be the majority party in the Senate for 2021.

Secure, Vulnerable, Republicans

How effective are voter ID laws, according to political scientists, and what are their impacts? Indicate whether voter ID laws have minimal or substantial effects on the following issues.

Substantial effects -N/A Minimal effects -voters' confidence in the electoral system -voter fraud in elections -voter turnout

Which of the following is true about voters who oppose a candidate for office because she is a woman?

They are using personal characteristics to influence vote choice.

Why have most major-party candidates declined federal funding for their presidential campaigns recently?

They could raise and spend far more money on their own.

Donald Trump faced primary challengers in 2020.

True

True or False Allowing voters to register to vote on Election Day increases turnout.

True

True or False Incumbents running during good economic times encourage voters to make retrospective judgments.

True

What information does a voter primarily rely on when casting an issue vote?

Whether she likes recent government actions

When a governor is removed from office by the voters before the end of his or her term, which of the following has occurred?

a recall

The - approach focuses on elections as a means to control politicians, while the - approach focuses on elections as a means of justifying governance by politicians.

agency, consent

Match the following demographic groups to their general propensity for voting.

less likely to vote -people aged 18-25 -people without a high school diploma -people who rent Incorrect -people age 65 and older -people with a college degree -people who own homes

Today, a state's number of votes in the Electoral College is determined by its number of - , with electors chosen by -.

members of Congress, popular vote

Low-information voters tend to rely on -, while high-information voters tend to rely on -.

party cues, issues

Which factor is the strongest predictor of how someone will vote?

party identification

Which term is used to describe the periodic redrawing of congressional districts in response to population changes?

redistricting

When you cast a ballot in the next election, your options are candidate A and candidate B for State House District 1, and the candidate who gets the most votes will win the seat. What kind of district is this?

single-member district

Political campaigns are mostly -; party organizations are -.

temporary, stable

Which reform led to the largest increase in the size of the population eligible to vote?

the Nineteenth Amendment, granting all adult women the right to vote

Countries with plurality rule in single-member districts tend to have - ,while countries with proportional representation tend to have - .

two-party systems, multiparty systems