PS103 Exam 3
In 2013, the total amount of money spent on lobbying the federal government was over
$3 billion
According to the data presented in this chart, the current federal budget is almost
$4 trillion
Which of the following statements is true?
-The Liberty and Free Soil parties helped to advance the cause of abolitionism in the nineteenth century. -The Progressive Party advanced many political and social reforms in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. -Ross Perot helped to put more pressure on the major parties to address the growing budget deficit in the 1990s.
What conclusions can be rendered by the data presented in this chart?
-There appears to be an association between lobbying and federal spending. -Lobbyists do well for their causes, as measured by total federal spending.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) involved
-the private marketplace. -the ability of Congress to regulate federal campaigns. -progressives versus conservatives.
The current Missouri constitution dates back to
1945
A __________ is a tax-exempt group that is not subject to contribution limits and spending caps and that is formed primarily to influence elections through voter mobilization efforts and issue ads that do not directly endorse or oppose a candidate.
527 organization
Missouri legislators can serve a total of _____ years in the House and _____ years in the Senate
8; 8
Which of the following groups identify overwhelmingly as Democrats?
African Americans
How are most states' electoral votes allocated?
All electoral votes go to the candidate with the greatest number of popular votes.
Which of the following is an example of a selective incentive?
American Automobile Association (AAA) members getting discounts at hotels
An organization of people who share common political interests and aim to influence public policy by electioneering and lobbying is known as a(n)
An interest group
A lobbying method initiated by an interest group that is designed to look like the spontaneous, independent participation of many individuals is called
Astroturf lobbying
Which of the following offices is elected during congressional midterm elections?
Auditor
Choose all of the following that are outside strategies
Choose all of the following that are outside strategies
The Sierra Club, which lobbies on many environmental and animal rights issues, and the Family Research Council, which lobbies on a variety of conservative issues, are examples of what type of interest group
Citizen group
Trust in government has generally _______________ since the 1950s.
Decreased
Andrew Jackson was the founder of which political party?
Democratic
The oldest viable political party in the world is the
Democratic Party in the United States
The __________ parties defined the Second Party System on the issue of the tariffs (farmers versus merchants) and slavery.
Democratic and Whig
______ is defined as one party controlling Congress but not the presidency or different parties controlling the House and Senate.
Divided government
___ states that in a democracy with single-member districts and plurality voting, only two parties' candidates will have a realistic chance of winning political office.
Duverger's Law
Many circuit level judges in Missouri are selected via ______. All appeals and high court judges are selected via ______.
Election; Merit Appointment
The most important factor in determining who wins a presidential race is the number of
Electoral votes won
Which of the following sampling techniques is the most expensive?
Face-to-face interviews
The __________ parties defined the First Party System on the issue of the proper role and size of the national government.
Federalist and Democratic-Republican
The reality that about 90 percent of regular listeners to National Public Radio do not contribute to their local station is illustrative of
Free Riding
State legislatures sometimes draw congressional district boundaries in ways that make it easier for one political party to win the seat. This process is known as
Gerrymandering
Only the ___________ and ___________ are subject to term limits in the Missouri executive branch.
Governor; Treasure
Astroturf lobbying is the name given to the artificial form of what type of lobbying?
Grassroots
There is a ________ correlation between the party identification of parents and their children and a __________ correlation between the ideology of parents and their children.
High ; High
The controversy in Citizens United centered on
Hillary - The Movie.
Which of the following explanations for why people turn out to vote is not correct?
Individual votes have a high likelihood of changing the election outcome
What is the difference between a referendum and an initiative?
Initiatives are put on the ballot by citizens, while referenda begin in the state legislature.
_______ strategies involve contact with elected officials or bureaucrats.
Inside
The amount of money spent on lobbying has changed in which of the following ways in the past decade?
It has increased significantly
When the government increases spending, it is generally preceded by policy mood that is
Leaning Liberal
Which of the following statements is true?
Lobbying is part of the democratic process.
Why is the collective action problem an issue for interest groups?
Many of their potential members decide to free ride on the group's efforts
The official name of the Missouri legislature is the
Missouri General Assembly
Catholics and union members were key groups of what coalition?
New Deal Coalition
What does the research in political science say about interest group influence?
Overall, there is no conclusive evidence that interest groups gain influence for their contributions or lobbying.
A __________ is a set of promises explaining what the party's candidates will do if elected.
Party Platform
What does the logic of collective action tell us about how interest groups operate?
People won't join a group unless they see benefits for participating
Like most states, Missouri voters elect multiple officers of the executive branch. This is called a
Plural Executive
Because of higher voter turnout, you'll likely experience lines and a longer wait time to vote in a __________ election.
Presidential
Missouri allows all of the following type of grassroots democracy except
Recall
A T-shirt that a group gives you for becoming a member is an example of what kind of benefit or incentive?
Selective
Hiking with a Sierra Club group is an example of a
Social Incentive
The most common type of local government in the United States
Special Districts
The __________ is one in which individuals who work for the winning party are rewarded with benefits such as jobs in government.
Spoils System
The __________ has forced the Republican Party to confront conflicting issues within the party.
Tea Party
Most of the money spent on political campaigns is for
Television Ads
Which of following statements is true about party identification in the United States?
The Democratic Party is currently favored over the Republican Party.
Scholars describe parties as organizations that are composed of all but which of the following separate and largely independent parts?
The party in media
Which of the following is probably not a reason that state constitutions are longer than the US Constitution?
The relatively small size of the federal budget.
Which strategies did the NRA use most often in their opposition to gun control legislation after the Sandy Hook shooting?
They used more outside strategies than inside strategies.
During the __________, the issues of post-Civil War reconstruction and the extent to which the federal government should regulate America's rapidly growing industrial base divided Democrats and Republicans.
Third Party System
The Great Depression was the impetus for the
Third Party System
Which of the following statements is true regarding the two major political parties today?
While the Democratic Party may have a slight advantage today, dramatic events will likely result in changes in party identification in the future.
What does party identification refer to?
a citizen's loyalty to a specific political party
The opposite type of group from a centralized one is __________, where most of the power is kept in the hands of local organizations.
a confederation
Which of the following statements best describes a political "dealignment"?
a decline in the percentage of citizens who identify with one of the major parties
Which of the following is an example of outside lobbying?
a lobby encouraging its members to write to their members of Congress
What is a caucus?
a local meeting at which party members select a candidate for the general election
After the Sandy Hook shooting, the NRA was
able to stop gun control legislation from passing
Which of the following is a brief filed in court?
an amicus curiae
Which of the following helps an interest group get what it wants?
being the only group interested in an issue
Groups with headquarters, often in Washington, D.C., and with members and field offices throughout the country are known as
centralized groups
What is another name for public interest groups?
citizen groups
Which type of group is most likely to be harmed by the free rider problem?
citizens' groups
Inside strategies relate to strategies that interest groups develop to _________
contact or influence elected officials
The American political parties are
decentralized organizations with loose coordination across groups.
Over the last several decades, the number of ideologically moderate members in Congress has
decreased significantly
In the Prisoner's Dilemma game, the best strategy for a player to take if he or she does not know how the other player will act is to
defect
If a lobbyist wishes to influence the way a law is implemented, he or she should contact which branch of government?
executive
The Democratic Party was favored over the Republican Party
for three decades (1950s-1980s).
Corporate money in federal campaigns
has been regulated by Congress since Theodore Roosevelt was president
Which of the following is something that only political parties can do?
have guaranteed positions on electoral ballots
Material benefits include all of the following except
helping a good cause
What does grassroots lobbying involve?
interest group members contacting their elected officials
Are political action committees (PACs) subject to contribution limits? What about 527 organizations?
just PACs
Whom do direct lobbyists generally target in their efforts?
legislators who are in favor of the group's goals
On which types of issues would we expect interest groups to be most successful?
low-salience, low-conflict
In a closed primary
only registered party members vote
The theory of __________ argues that interest groups are fundamental as America's political actors.
pluralism
Choose all of the following that are inside strategies
preparing a research report, litigation, testifying at a congressional hearing
Because it is often impossible to interview every member of a large group, surveys typically involve ____________ of the ____________.
samples; population
You decide to join a club on campus because you enjoy socializing with other people who share your views. This is an example of what kind of benefit?
solidary
Current research on party identification shows that party identification is
stable but occasionally changes when circumstances warrant.
In Federalist 10, Madison argues that the mischief of faction can realistically be corrected by
the creation of a large, diverse republic
Which of the following may have caused the Democratic Party to be more favorable during the 1950s?
the popularity of President Franklin Roosevelt and the allies' victory during World War II
During times of divided government, which party is said to be the party in power?
the president's party
In presidential elections, the number of electoral votes per state is
the same as that of the state's House members plus senators.
In the 2012 election, which states did Obama focus on?
those states in which the race was close.
Minor political parties in the United States
typically give voters more electoral choices
Which behaviors are most common for interest groups?
using both inside and outside strategies
Which of the following is an example of a free rider problem?
watching Sesame Street on PBS but not donating during the fund drives
Which of the following is an example of a free rider problem?
watching Sesame Street on PBS but not donating during the funding drives
