Federal Govt Chapter 10

A runoff election is likely to occur when

...

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

1832

Approximately how much money does it take for a candidate to have a reasonable chance of winning a seat in the House of Representatives?

500,000

Which of the following do modern political campaigns not depend on?

A large army of volunteers from the party

The result produced when voters cast a ballot for the president and then automatically vote for the remainder of the party's candidates is called?

Coattail effect

Party activists who are elected to vote at a party's national convention are called

Delegates

Which of the following statements concerning the public funding of presidential campaigns is incorrect?

Federal law requires the presidential candidates from the major parties to use public funding during the general election.

Which of the following statements about campaign spending in Senate elections is true?

Incumbents generally spend more money than challengers in Senate campaigns.

Which of the following is not covered by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act?

Individual contributions to 501c(4) and 527 committees

During the earliest years of the United States, who nominated the candidates for president?

Nominations were controlled by each party's congressional caucus.

Why did many members of Congress vote to ban advocacy groups from running ads that mention a candidate's name within thirty days of a primary election and sixty days of a general election?

They thought that the ban would make it less likely for wealthy advocacy groups to flood the media with ads and unfairly influence the outcome of elections

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

electoral college

What is the first step in running for president?

forming an exploratory committee

When candidates for office sponsor hearings, undertake inspection tours of disaster areas, or meet with foreign dignitaries, the form of publicity they receive is called

free media

When states vie for influence by holding their nominating processes earlier, it is called

frontloading

Split-ticket voting

increases partisan divisions in government.

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

midterm election

The term soft money refers to

money donated to a party to sponsor party building and voter registration.

Three types of factors, _______, influence the decisions of voters at the polls.

partisan loyalty, issues, and the characteristics of candidates

In order for a political party to select a candidate to run in the general election, it holds a

primary election

Campaign consultants do all of the following except

print ballots for the election

For the presidential primaries, most but not all state parties use what type of election?

proportional representation

Most European nations employ what system of elections?

proportional representation

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

prospective voting; retrospective voting

which of the following is the best example of direct democracy in practice in the United States?

referendum

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

soft money

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

split-ticket voting

The primary responsibility for conducting public elections rests with

state and local governments.

When American Voters support only one party's candidates, they are said to be voting a

straight ticket

The boundaries of legislative districts in the United States are to be redrawn every

ten

A major factor in John Kennedy's 1960 presidential victory over Richard Nixon was

that Kennedy had a much stronger performance than Nixon during televised debates.

What is the incumbent?

the current officeholder, running for re-election

When are national elections held in the United States?

the first Tuesday of November every other year

The "Americanization of politics" refers to

the spread of American campaign techniques and political consultants to elections conducted around the rest of the world

Politicians attempt to "balance the ticket" with members of many important groups because

voters tend to prefer candidates who are closer to themselves in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, geography, and social background

Which of the following politicians was recalled from office?

California Governor Gray Davis (2003)

Karl Rove was the _______ for George W. Bush

Chief political strategist

what is a referendum?

It is the practice of voting directly for proposed laws.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, election campaigns tended to be

Labor intensive

When state legislators concentrate the members of one party in as few districts as possible in order to ensure that their opponents will elect as few representatives as possible, it is called

Packing

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

If a citizen votes for a candidate because he or she approves of the candidate's past record, it is called

Retrospective voting

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

The Republican Party has only closed primaries while the Democratic Party has only open primaries. The Republican Party requires that state presidential primaries allocate delegates on the basis of a winner-take-all system while the Democratic Party does not. The Democratic Party requires that state presidential primaries allocate delegates on the basis of a winner-take-all system while the Republican Party does not. 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 statements is most accurate?

When voters are satisfied with their economic prospects, they tend to vote for the party in power. When voters are dissatisfied with their economic prospects, they tend to vote for Republican candidates. Economic considerations do not affect the decisions that voters make about who to vote for.

Partisan loyalty is likely to be highest in the election of

a state legislator

The majority of PACs represent business and professional groups

business and professional groups

The effort by political candidates and their staff to win backing and support by voters in the quest for political office is known as a(n)

campaign

When a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party's election, it is called a(n)

closed primary

Before the post-World War II era, dark-horse candidates were most likely to arise at a national convention when

deadlocks between major factions developed