L & J Chapter 18 Test Review

What resulted within a few years after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act?

+1,000 African Americans were elected to political office 200 African American mayors served in cities of all sizes

A movement was started to lower the voting age. What was it lowered to?

18

Since what year has election day been on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November?

1845

When was the fifteenth amendment ratified?

1870

In what year did the National Women's Party picket outside of the White House, while distribution leaflets?

1917

What is the difference between voting registration then and now for African Americans?

1960: 29% 2000: +65%

When was the 26th amendment ratified?

1971

In 1789, when the Constitution went into effect, how much of the population was African American?

20% (both free and enslaved)

Until when did the Voting Rights Act place special regulations on states with a history of voter discrimination? What did these states have to do?

2013; ask for permission from the federal government before changing any of their voting laws

What was the minimum voting age in most states for many years?

21

On the state and local level, governors in how many states are limited in the number of terms they may serve?

36

What percentage of the adult population could vote?

5% - 6%

Who was the leader of the National Women's Party?

Alice Paul

What were some activities women did in the mid-1800s in effort for the right to vote?

Groups of women suffragists held meetings, gave lectures, wrote articles and pamphlets, marched, and lobbied for a constitutional amendment providing them the right to vote; held vigils and hunger strikes and practiced civil disobedience by unlawfully registering and voting

What is an example of a recent effort at voting reform?

Help America Vote Act of 2002

states were allowed to set the time, place, and manner of elections (states could have their own rules about who could vote in national elections as long as it did not violate the Constitution)

What occurred after the Constitution was adopted?

What did the Voting Rights Acts result in?

a dramatic increase in African American voter registration

a ballot that allows a person to vote without going to the polls on election day

absentee ballot

What are the different ways that a person can cast his or her ballot?

absentee ballots (filled out in advance)

When was woman suffrage put into effect nationwide?

after World War 1 when 19th amendment was ratified

When did Congress make laws regulating elections?

after the civil war

How were the literacy test, poll tax, and grandfather clause similar?

all measures used to prevent African Americans from voting

What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 do?

allowed federal government to register voters and send poll watchers on Election Day in states and localities that discriminated against African American voters

What did voting rights laws of 1970, 1975, and 1982 do?

broadened the federal role in elections; Literacy tests were abolished. The laws also required that ballots be printed in Spanish for Spanish-speaking communities or in other minority languages where appropriate.

the person responsible for the overall strategy and planning of a campaign

campaign manager

How are campaigns run and how do they try to influence voters?

campaigns usually attack the opposing candidates and try to influence voters to vote for a particular candidate; many people must manage and finance the candidate's actions

Compare the influence of party loyalty and candidate image on voters' choices. Which do you think is more important?

candidate image (used by weak party voters): experience, relatability, accomplishments, and background influence of loyalty (used by strong party voters): voters select people running within their party without analysis

Who votes in U.S. elections?

citizens over the age of 18 that can prove residency (also must be registered to vote)

List 4 reasons why people don't vote.

complicated registration; photo id; excessive elections; changing of party roles

mandatory voting

compulsory voting

What did critics of the Supreme Court's decision believe?

concerned that it "guts" the Voting Rights Act and makes it easier for state and local governments to enact laws that discriminate against some voters

a voter who is caught between his or her identity (religion, ethnicity, income level, or peer group)

cross pressured voter

What are popular referendums, legislative referendums, and initiatives examples of?

direct democracy, where voters have a more direct say in their own laws

What was the poll tax designed to do?

discourage African American suffrage

to deprive of the right to vote

disenfranchise

an orderly process for making group decisions

election

What influences voter choices at the polls?

election cycles, term limits for elected officials, ballot issues

Who can vote, and how one register to vote?

electorates vote (must be citizens that are registered, at or over the age of 18 and can prove residency) registration varies between states

What was the result of the 26th amendment?

ended the debate of voting age; lowered the age to 18 in every state; more than 10 million citizens between the ages of 18 and 21 gained the right to vote

The Court said that Congress needed to develop a new way to decide which state and local governments would have all changes to their voting laws reviewed by the federal government. What did this decision do?

ended the use of this special federal review of certain states' voting laws (states and districts can still be sued for laws and actions that discriminate against minority voters on a case-by-case basis)

When the Constitution went into effect, which African Americans could vote?

enslaved people could not vote anywhere; free African Americans could vote in few states

How often do presidential elections take place?

every four years

Federal elections are held how often and for whom?

every two years for members of Congress, when every house member and one-third of the U.S. senators are up for election

What structures the U.S. electoral system?

federal and state guidelines

What is the length of a term for the president?

four years

What is the hallmark of a democracy?

free and fair elections

an exemption in a law for a certain group based on previous conditions; only voters whose grndfather had voted before 1867 were eligible to vote with paying a tax or passing a literacy test (was incorporated in the constitutions of some southern states to disenfranchise African American suffrage)

grandfather clause

What did the Guinn v. United States case accomplish? (hint: 1915)

grandfather clause was declared unconstitutional

direct contributions to a candidate's political campaign

hard money

What was the main reason for the desire to lower the voting age?

if individuals were old enough to be drafted and fight for their country, they were old enough to vote

What purpose can propaganda serve in a television commercial or debate performance?

influences voters' opinions, emotions, attitudes, or behaviors

What did supporters of the Supreme Court's decision believe?

it is good that local and state governments have more control over their own election and voting procedures

What did literacy tests do? (effective until 1960s)

it was a qualification to vote; white voters were often required to write their names, while African American voters had to do much more (ex: explain complicated part of constitution)

What has often prevented people from voting?

law, custom, and violence

What is the purpose of the 22nd amendment?

limits a president to two terms

a test based on a person's ability to read or write

literacy test

What are some barriers to voting that still exist in the United States?

long lines; elections take place on tuesdays; registration; citizenship

What are some of the roles and functions of a campaign organization?

managing; financing; local field works

What occurred during the 1960s?

many young Americans were fighting in Vietnam; many other were involved in protests and politics; a movement as started to lower the voting age to 18

What happened in 1972?

many young people exercised their right to vote for the first time

a congressional election that takes place halfway through the president's term in office

midterm election

What was achieved by the mid- 1800's?

nearly universal white adult male suffrage (most African Americans still could not vote)

Does the Constitution limit the number of terms a member of Congress can serve?

no; There have been proposals to limit their terms, but efforts to amend the Constitution to impose term limits have failed

Is the right to vote absolute?

no; it is still subject to restrictions and regulations

What restrictions prevented most white males from voting in early America?

not owning property

In some colonies who could vote?

only members of dominant religious group

What did the 24th amendment accomplish in 1964?

outlawed poll tax in national elections

an organization formed to collect money and provide financial support for political candidates (can donate $2,500)

political action committee

many paid in order to vote (usually a dollar or two) financial burden for poor people or all ethnic and racial backgrounds

poll tax

What did the Harper v Virginia Board of Election case accomplish in 1966?

poll tax was eliminated for states elections

the location in a precinct where people vote

polling place

Many states also allow citizens to vote directly on issues or laws, in the form of a what?

popular referendum, legislative referendum, or an initiative

the use of ides, information, or rumors to influence opinion

propaganda

During the first half of the 1800s, state legislatures gradually abolished what?

property requirements and religious restrictions for voting

What did Congress do in 2006?

reauthorized Voting Rights Act for another 25 years vote was nearly unaimous and bipartisan

the procedure by which an elected official may

recall

What do supporters say term limits cause?

reduce corruption, eliminate the advantages incumbent candidates have in re-election campaigns, and reduce the burden of campaigning on people in elected positions

What are some arguments in favor of term limits?

reduces corruption; eliminates advantage incumbent candidates have in next election; reduces campaign burdens on elected officials

What was the purpose of the 2013 Shelby Co v Holder Supreme Court case?

ruled that the formula Congress used to decide which states had to follow these special regulations was unconstitutional because the formula was based on discrimination in place over 40 years ago

States determine the dates of their elections. Most states hold their state general elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in keeping with the federal election cycle. What does this help to do?

save states money and is more convenient for voters, which improves voter turnout

What did political leaders in Southern states do? ex:grandfather clause

set up a number of road blocks to prevent African Americans from voting

What is the length of a term for a senator?

six years

money raised by a political party for general purposes; money not designated for a candidate

soft money

What does the Constitution state about elections?

states may prescribe the time, place, and manner of elections, but Congress may, at any time, make or alter those regulations

What did the Help America Vote Act of 2002 establish?

states must meet federal requirements to reform the voting process and make it as consistent and inclusive as possible

a ticket where a voter has selected candidates of his or her own party ony

straight party ticket

What strategies amounted to gerrymandering? What did this mean?

strategy 1: some states redrew their district boundaries in a way to spread minority voters out so they did not form a majority in any district strategy 2: district boundaries were drawn to pack all the minority voters into one district meant: these voters had a disproportionally small amount of political power

the right to vote

suffrage

What does the federal election cycle ensure?

the entire government will not turn over at the same time

What was one key pillar of the civil rights movement of the 1960s?

the fight for voting laws that would prohibit this discrimination

What was the fifteenth amendment considered? (hint: after the civil war)

the first effort to extend suffrage to African Americans nationwide

What does the Constitution dictate?

the length of the terms members of Congress, the president, and the vice president

What do critics say term limits cause?

the more experience an elected leader has in office, the better he or she can do the job, corruption can occur just as easily in a system with term limits and that if voters think someone has been in office too long or has too much power, they can choose another candidate in the next election

The power to determine the lengths of terms for governors, legislators, and other state officials, belongs to who?

the states

What happened by 1914 on woman suffrage?

they had won the right to vote in 11 states, all of them west of the Mississippi

What is the length of a term for a member of the House of Representatives?

two years

making a choice among alternatives in an election

voting

Why was voting so restricted?

white men believed voting was best left to wealthy, white, property-owning males (they believed these people would make smarter choices)

What were some of the arguments for allowing women to vote and lowering the voting age to 18?

women suffrage: democracy = equality lowering voting age: drafted into military yet could not vote in country

Before the American Revolution, who was unable to vote?

women, most african americans, white males who did not own property or pay taxes