Exam #3

What year marked the first time a major political party held a convention?

1832

Which of the following was not a date of an electoral realignment?

1994

The United States has approximately _____television stations and ____daily news papers

2,000; 1,400

If George W. Bush won the plurality of votes in Texas during the 2000 election, and Texas had thirty representatives in the House of Representatives, how many electoral votes from Texas did Bush win?

32

The average winning margin in House elections is

40 percent.

A majority system, which is used on a limited basis in the United States, requires that a candidate must win ______ to win an election.

50 percent plus one of all votes cast

Whats a poll tax

A tax imposed by state governments for those registering to vote

Which of the following statements about the digital divide is not true

All racial and ethnic groups in the United States are equally likely to have online access

what was the main cause for dropping the legal voting age to eighteen

Government officials hoped it would lead to a decline in disruptive student protests

Most newspaper reporters identify themselves as

Liberal

the face that Americans strongly support the idea that governmental interference with individuals lives and property should be kept to a minimum illustrates their commitment to

liberty

Strong and often corrupt urban political party organizations during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were called

machines.

which of the following phenomena is not an illustration of the gender gap

men are more likely to join political parties and other social organizations

When a congressional election is held that does not coincide with a presidential election, it is called a(n)

midterm election.

Compared with Western Europe, the United States has a _____ turnout in elections

Lower

Political _____ is the process in which large numbers of people are organized for political action

Mobilization

Which media source is most critical in setting news agendas

Newspapers

Which of the following is not an important national newspaper

Newsweek

which of the following statements about the marketplace of ideas is true

Private groups and the news media play important roles in shaping opinions in the marketplace of ideas

Primary elections were introduced by the ______ in order to weaken the power of party leaders.

Progressives

From the end of the Civil War to the 1890's, the ____ Party was the party of the North, white the _____ Party was the party of the South

Republican; Democratic

Which of the following best indicated the downfall of the New Deal coalition?

Richard Nixon's election in 1968

Despite its high reach, ____typically provides the least depth of news coverage

Television

Which of the following is a difference between Democratic and Republican primaries?

The Democratic Party requires that state presidential primaries allocate delegates on the basis of proportional representation while the Republican Party does not.

Which of the following parties originated from internal mobilization

The Jeffersonian Party

Which event occurred in 1994?

The Republican Party won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the 1950s.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the government and the media in the United States today?

The government does not own but regulates the content and ownership of broadcast media

______ is the most common electoral system used in general elections in the United States

The plurality system

which of the following statements about agencies of socialization is incorrect

an individuals religion has no impact on their political views

A political party is

an organization that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office

The "Tea Party movement" is

an organized challenge to incumbents in the Republican Party by the most conservative wing of the Republican Party.

Which group was not a part of the New Deal Coalition?

business Leaders

Besides their ideological biases, journalists also exhibit selection biases in favor of news stories they view as

having a great deal of dramatic or entertainment value

The protests against SOPA and PIPA are an example of

how new media can be effectively used to mobilize offline participation in politics

The press release was created

in the early twentieth century by a public relations firm working for a railroad

The African community

is economically diverse and typically votes as a bloc in most elections

The socioeconomic state model explains one's political participation by examining an individuals

level of education, income, and occupational status

one who supports abortion rights and opposes state involvement with religious institutions would be best described as an

liberal

A party's ______ contains its philosophy, principles, and policy positions.

platform

Private groups that raise and distribute funds for election campaigns are called

political action committees (PACs).

Before the 1890s, who was responsible for printing election ballots?

political parties

Campaign consultants do all of the following except

print ballots for the election.

Political scientists call voters' choices that focus on future behavior ______, while those based on past performances are called ______.

prospective voting; retrospective voting

Liberalism and conservatism are good examples of

public opinions

Money contributed directly to a political party to be used for voter registration or party building is called

soft money.

f you voted for a Republican for president and a Democrat for senator, you engaged in

split-ticket voting.

Which system develops when the winner of an electoral race obtains more votes than any other candidate

the Plurality system

the Federalist party disappeared forever as a result of

the War of 1812

Which of the following is not part of a country's party system?

the laws that govern how much money parties can raise and spend in election campaigns

King Caucus" refers to

the use of each party's congressional caucus to nominate presidential candidates during the early nineteenth century.

A runoff election is likely to occur when

there are more than two candidates running in the election.

what is one of the main differences between those who have gone to college and those who have not

there is a higher level of political participation among those with a college education

what was the original purpose of voter registration

to reduce corruption by making it more difficult to vote

One third of all Asian Americans live in

California

The main problem with voting as a form of political participation is that

Citizens cannot communicate very much information by only casting a ballot.

which of the following statements about the political opinions of democrats and republicans in the public is most accurate

Differences between the political opinions of democrats and republicans on a wide variety of policy questions are greater today than any other period in the last forty years

According to the text, daily internet users who participate in society and politics through online activities are called

Digital Citizens

Which of the following statements about governmental public relations efforts is not true

Due to its size and power, the government is always successful at influencing public opinion

How are election days in the United States different from those in Europe

European elections are usually held on Sundays instead of working days

In 1985, the federal government stopped enforcing the _____, arguing it was no longer necessary due to the increasing number of television and radio stations

Fairness doctrine

A voter's partisan loyalty is at its highest in presidential races.

False

The face that the media referred to the Obama administrations health care initiative as reform instead of as health care rationing is an example of the medias power of

Framing

What is the best explanation for the fact that latinos have tended to favor Democratic Party candidates in national elections

They disagree with the Republican Party's stance on immigration

All fifty states had legislative referendums.

True

Party conventions are held once every four years.

True

The introduction of primary elections was meant to weaken the power of party leaders.

True

A political ideology is best defined as

a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy

The pentagon papers were released as a result of

a leak by a minor Defense Department staffer

The controversial nature of affirmative action reveals that

different policy preferences can be based on different practical interpretations of the same principle

Which of the following statements about political parties is correct

during the nineteenth century, political parties employed hundreds of thousands of workers to organize and mobilize voters

The ______ is the last example of indirect voting in national elections.

electoral college

in a liberal ideology, which of the core American values is most important

equality

If a radio station aired a personal attack against you but refused to give you the opportunity to respond to that attack on its station this station would be violating the

right of rebuttal

Which of the following tasks does a party's national committee not perform?

selecting presidential and vice-presidential candidates

Which of the following is not a reason that Americans prefer online news

the accuracy and objectivity of the information found online

recent studies by political scientists have shown that

the average American exhibits little knowledge about political institutions, processes, or leaders

the concept of a marketplace of ideas refers to

the competition between varying opinions and ideas that are aired in public forums

Who is the incumbent?

the current officeholder, running for re-election

Which event helped lead to a change in the way that the electoral college chose the president and vice president?

the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1803

Which government regulation provides candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages

the equal time rule

A ______ is a media format in which candidates meet with ordinary citizens, without the input of journalists or commentators.

town hall meeting

At a party convention, when an entire state delegation votes for the single candidate supported by the majority of its delegates, it is called the

unit rule.

State Governments

used to have far more power to regulate suffrage than they currently do

the difference between a political value and a political attitude is that

values are basic principles while attitudes are specific preferences