Interest groups and the media test
SPENDING BY THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION (NRA), BY ELECTION CYCLE For which of the following tasks would using the bar graph as currently designed be the LEAST helpful?
Calculating the election cycle spending based on the intervals shown on the vertical axis
Which of the following is a true statement about the role of the media in providing citizens with information?
Correct answer: Demand for instantaneous news reporting has led to the growth of 24-hour news operations and a shift to online media consumption.
Which of the following is a clause of the Constitution that gives the federal government broad powers in many poicy areas?
Correct answer: Interstate Commerce Clause
Which of the following best characterizes the influence of the news media on public opinion in the United States?
Correct answer: They affect which issues the public thinks are important.
Which of the following most accurately describes media coverage of elections?
Network news coverage is usually dominated by reporters who offer relatively short sound bites from the candidates.
Which of the following makes a correct comparison between political parties and interest groups in the United States?
Political Parties recruit and run candidates in elections/Interest Groups seek to influence public policy.
Which of the following best explains how most candidates are recruited to run for office?
Political parties usually recruit and train people at the local level they believe are most fit to run for office.
An advertisement airs on television attacking a candidate running for office. The advertisement was produced and distributed by a group that was not affiliated with nor funded by any political campaign. Which of the following statements explains why this expenditure is not prohibited by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002?
Political spending by groups not directly affiliated with a campaign is a form of protected speech.
Which of the following is most frequently reported in the media during a presidential election?
Results from public opinion polls that indicate which candidates are most likely to win
In 1980, a small group of parents personally affected by drunk driving formed the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Over the past four decades, they have grown in number and have lobbied on state and local levels promoting legislation such as stricter limits on blood alcohol levels for drivers. MADD is an example of which of the following?
Single-issue group with the goal of impacting policy making
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) was designed to curtail which of the following?
Soft money
Which of the following is a correct statement about political action committees (PAC's)?
The amount of money that PAC's can contribute directly to an individual candidate is limited by law.
Which of the following describes the result in a winner-take-all, single-member-district plurality system?
The candidate who receives the most votes in the election wins.
Which of the following describes the potential impact on the electorate when daily media coverage of elections focuses primarily on the newest poll results?
The electorate will be less able to accurately compare the policy platforms of candidates running in the election.
In the early part of the twenty-first century, public opinion polls showed that a majority of Americans believed it should be illegal to burn the American flag. As a result, many members of Congress introduced amendments to make it illegal to burn or desecrate the American flag. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful. Which of the following statements best explains why these efforts have been unsuccessful?
The framers made the amendment process difficult in order to protect individual rights.
Which of the following is true of amicus curiae briefs?
They are used by interest groups to lobby courts.
In The Federalist 70, Alexander Hamilton states that "energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government." In this statement, Hamilton is arguing in favor of the need for
a single executive who can respond quickly to crises
The three points of an iron triangle include
an administrative agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee
When contributing to congressional campaigns, political action committees (PACs) are most likely to contribute to
incumbents of both major parties
The media's effect on public opinion can best be described as
influencing which issues the public sees as important
One of the best strategies that interest groups can use to achieve their goals is
lobbying members of Congress to make small changes in existing policy
All of the following are commonly used by interest groups to influence the political process EXCEPT
nominating candidates
Lobbyists try to influence legislators mainly through
providing legislators with information on technical issues
Interest groups use political action committees (PACs) to
raise and spend money on election campaigns
The process known as front-loading refers to
the tendency of states to choose an early date on the primary calendar
A corporate lobbyist would be LEAST likely to have an informal discussion about a pending policy matter with which of the following?
A federal judge in whose court a case important to the corporation is being heard
Which of the following scenarios is most closely related to the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)?
A labor union spends millions of dollars to independently run negative advertisements about a presidential candidate shortly before the election.
SPENDING BY THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION (NRA), BY ELECTION CYCLE
A map showing the dollar amounts spent by the NRA in each state since 1992
SPENDING BY THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION (NRA), BY ELECTION CYCLE The bar graph shows the National Rifle Association's spending on Democratic and Republican candidates over several decades of election cycles in support of gun ownership rights. How could a visual best be created to better understand how the spending of the NRA compares to that of gun control proponents?
A pie chart that tallies total spending by both the NRA and gun control proponents since 1992
Source: Gallup, 2016 Which best describes a likely reason for the information depicted in the graph?
An increase in concerns over media bias
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC, has raised over $50 million dollars, which it plans to spend on advertising in the next midterm election. It plans to target its spending in competitive districts in the days leading up to Election Day. Which of the following court cases decision is most likely to protect the right of the group in the scenario?
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
The term "horse-race journalism" refers to the tendency of the media to
Correct answer: cover campaigns by emphasizing the relative standings of the candidates in the polls rather than the issues they discuss
In the process and structure of public policy-making, "iron triangles" refer to the
Correct answer: networks of congressional committees, bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups that strongly influence the policy process
The activity of lobbyists is protected by the _____________ Amendment.
First
A chief executive officer (CEO) of a corporation believes that the Republican candidate for president will enact policies that are more beneficial to her business. The CEO donated the maximum amount allowed by law directly to the candidate's campaign fund. To increase the candidate's chances for election, the CEO also directed her corporation to donate funds to an independent political action committee to create ads criticizing the opposing candidate. According to the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), which provision of the Constitution protects her actions?
Freedom of speech in the First Amendment
The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) urges its members to take action in support of what they term "animal friendly" legislation through their website. In addition to providing information about important issues that legislators may vote on, the nonprofit organization also describes the best ways to contact a legislator and tips on how best to interact with lawmakers. Which of the following is being illustrated in the scenario?
Interest groups sometimes form around a narrow set of issues with the goal of impacting policy making.
Which of the following statements about Americans' trust in the mass media is best supported by the data in the graph?
It generally decreased over time.
In 1974, the House of Representatives approved a resolution granting the Judiciary Committee authority to investigate impeachment of President Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. Which constitutional ideal of democracy is demonstrated in this scenario?
Limited government
The National Education Association (NEA) is an organization of teachers, administrators, and other educators who work together to advance the interests and impact of public education. One of the NEA's goals is to support public education by ending government funding of voucher programs that promote school privatization. Vouchers give parents financial incentives to send their children to private schools rather than having children attend local public schools. Which of the following strategies would be the most effective way to achieve the NEA's goal of furthering the interest of public education?
Lobby members of congressional committees to vote against all legislation that would support school voucher programs.
Which of the following best explains how parties link citizens to the electoral process?
Parties send volunteers to knock on doors to register voters.
There is an ongoing debate over the role of money in elections. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002 banned soft money and restricted advertisements in the weeks before an election. Parts of this act were challenged and struck down in the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010). Which of the following was a consequence of that ruling?
Super PACs may spend unlimited funds on advertisements that are not coordinated with the campaign because they are protected by the freedom of speech.
In 2002, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in an effort to regulate campaign finance by limiting the ability of corporations and unions to spend their general treasury funds on election communications. In 2010, the Supreme Court invalidated this provision of the act. Which of the following statements accurately describes the majority decision of the case?
The First Amendment allows corporations and unions to make independent expenditures regarding candidates for office.
Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist 21 In the passage, Hamilton is concerned that under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government does not have sufficient constitutional powers to gain compliance from state governments. Which of the following is a way that the Constitution allows the federal government to address this problem?
The federal government can pass laws that allow it to fine or tax individuals directly.
"Any candidate using Facebook can put a campaign message promising one thing in front of one group of voters while simultaneously running an ad with a completely opposite message in front of a different group of voters. The ads themselves are not posted anywhere for the general public to see (this is what's known as 'dark advertising'), and chances are, no one will ever be the wiser. That undermines the very idea of a 'marketplace of ideas,' says Ann Ravel, a former member of the Federal Election Commission who has long advocated stricter regulations on digital campaigning. 'The way to have a robust democracy is for people to hear all these ideas and make decisions and discuss," Ravel said. 'With microtargeting, that is not happening.'" Julia Carrie Wong, "'It Might Work Too Well:' the Dark Art of Political Advertising Online," The Guardian, March 19, 2018. Which of the following political processes or behaviors is most directly affected by the development described in the passage?
Voter mobilization
In 1987 the cooperation among the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to defeat Robert Bork's nomination to the United States Supreme Court was an example of
coalition building
The largest amount of political coverage in newspapers during presidential campaigns is devoted to
day-to-day campaign activities
The agenda-setting function of the media refers to the power to
decide which issues are important enough to bring to public attention
In response to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act), the United States Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), ruled that
independent campaign expenditures by corporations and unions are protected by the First Amendment
The free rider problem occurs when
people benefit from an interest group's efforts without making any contribution
The primary function of political action committees (PAC's) is to
raise campaign funds to support favored candidates
