UNIV Quiz #1

10. Which state has produced the most U.S. Presidents? How many Presidents have hailed from that state?

. Donald Trump (R-NY) is the 45th President of the United States, and the first to have hailed from New York since Franklin Roosevelt. Virginia has produced the most U.S. Presidents (8). Only one President was born in Connecticut: George W. Bush (43rd President).

28. How many Electoral College votes does Puerto Rico receive?

0

30. What is the smallest number of states a candidate would have to win to secure a victory in the Electoral College (yes, I know that this particular combination of states and percentages is all but impossible given the current state of American partisan politics and the realities of elections)?

11

1. In what year was the U.S. Constitution ratified?

1789

34. How many states do not allocate Electoral College votes on a "winner-take-all" basis, which ones are they, and how do they do it instead?

2. in Maine and Nebraska, two electors are assigned in this manner and the remaining electors are allocated based on the plurality of votes in each congressional district.

33. How many states allocate Electoral College votes on a "winner-take-all" basis?

48 and D.C

26. How many Electoral College votes does Connecticut receive and how is this number determined?

7 votes. Each state is awarded a number of electors that it equal to the sum of the number of U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives it sends to Congress

16. What is a caucus (in the context of presidential elections)? How many states relied on caucuses in 2020?

A caucus is a meeting of the local members of a political party to select delegates to the national party convention. Just four (4) states used caucuses to choose delegates to party nominating conventions in 2020: Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota, and Wyoming.

15. What is a primary election? How many states relied on primaries in 2020?

A primary is an election where voters select candidates for an upcoming general election. Winning candidates will have delegates sent to the national party convention as their party's U.S. presidential nominee. Forty-six (46) states used primaries to select delegates to party nominating conventions in 2020.

13. Who was the first Republican to be elected President of the United States?

Abraham Lincoln

40. The New England states all went Republican in the 1956 Presidential Election. What happened in New England in 2016?

Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina all voted Democratic in the 1956 presidential election and Republican in the 2016 presidential election. All six New England states voted Republican in the 1956 presidential election and Democratic in the 2016 presidential election (although Maine's 2nd district did go for Trump that year).

3. Article II of the Constitution outlines the organization, structure, and responsibilities of which branch of government?

Article II of the Constitution outlines the powers and organization of the executive branch. It also specifies the eligibility criteria for anyone who wants to be President.

32. What is the most underrepresented state in the Electoral College? What is its population? What % of the U.S. population resides there? What % of all Electors does it send to the Electoral College?

California is the most underrepresented state in the Electoral College. Its 39.5 million residents represent nearly 12% of the U.S. population and yet it selects just 10.2% of Electors. That may not sound like much, but if you gave it 12% of Electors, it would have 64 or 65 (64.56) Electors rather than 55 . . . and those additional Electors would have to come at the cost of several smaller states. So in practice, the distortion and bias towards smaller states is even greater than it first appears.

23. Which of the following sources makes up the single largest category of campaign contributions today? (a) individual donations <$200

Candidates must still disclose the names, addresses, and employers of people who give them contributions totaling more than $200. Until 2012, small individual donations (<$200) constituted the single largest source of campaign funds. Today, it is large individual donations (those >$200), which make up nearly 40% of all contributions. Other prominent sources of funding include the political parties, PACs, and outside groups

36. Who is the only candidate to win the popular vote three times? In what years did the candidate achieve this feat?

Cleveland is the only individual to have won the popular vote for President three times (1884, 1888, 1892).

35. How many times has the candidate who won the largest share of the popular vote failed to win the Presidency?

Five times a candidate has won the popular vote and lost the election. Andrew Jackson in 1824 (to John Quincy Adams); Samuel Tilden in 1876 (to Rutherford B. Hayes); Grover Cleveland in 1888 (to Benjamin Harrison); Al Gore in 2000 (to George W. Bush); Hillary Clinton in 2016 (to Donald J. Trump). Cleveland is the only individual to have won the popular vote for President three times (1884, 1888, 1892).

14. In what year was the 12th Amendment ratified? What did it do?

From 1788-1800, the candidate who received the second-most Electoral College votes became the Vice President. This changed when the 12th Amendment was ratified in 1803. Beginning in 1804, each Elector casts two votes, one for the office of President and a second for the office of Vice President.

19. Who is the only woman to have secured the nomination of a major party for the office of President of the United States? In what election year?

Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is the only woman to have secured the nomination of one of the two major parties for the office of President of the United States (2016). Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris (D-CA) is the third woman to be nominated by one of the two major parties for the office of Vice President (she was preceded by Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY) in 1984 and Sarah Palin (R-AK) in 2008).

38. As you know from working on your simulation, the southern states provide the Republican Party with some of its most reliable bases of support. But this wasn't always true. In 1956, how many of the 11 states that comprised the former Confederacy had a Republican Senator? Today how many of those same states have at least one Republican Senator?

In 1956, none of the 11 states of the former Confederacy had a Republican Senator. Today, 10 of 11 have at least one Republican Senator (and Republicans hold both Senate seats in 9 of 11). In 1956, Connecticut had 7 Republicans and 1 Democrat in its congressional delegation; today, it has zero Republicans and 7 Democrats.

39. Connecticut is pretty reliably blue (Democratic) in contemporary national politics. In 1956, how many Democrats were in Connecticut's congressional delegation? How many Republicans are there in the delegation today?

In 1956, none of the 11 states of the former Confederacy had a Republican Senator. Today, 10 of 11 have at least one Republican Senator (and Republicans hold both Senate seats in 9 of 11). In 1956, Connecticut had 7 Republicans and 1 Democrat in its congressional delegation; today, it has zero Republicans and 7 Democrats.

24. Which of the following is the best current projection of the cost of the 2020 presidential election? (a) $2.8 billion

In 2020, spending on the presidential elections is projected to exceed $5.2 BILLION. Adjusting for inflation, this will be nearly twice the previous record (2008, when two candidates spent a combined $2.8 billion inflation adjusted). If you're really interested in campaign finance, this is an accessible introduction to the topic.

5. In order to be eligible to hold the office of President, an individual must meet three eligibility criteria that are outlined in the Constitution. What are they?

In order to be eligible to be President of the United States, individuals must be (a) natural born citizens, (b) at least 35 years of age at the time they assume office, and (c) have been residents of the United States for at least 14 years.

20. How many women have been nominated by one of the two major parties for the office of Vice President? Who was the first, for which party, and in what year?

Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris (D-CA) is the third woman to be nominated by one of the two major parties for the office of Vice President (she was preceded by Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY) in 1984 and Sarah Palin (R-AK) in 2008).

4. Article III of the Constitution outlines the organization, structure, and responsibilities of which branch of government?

Judicial

21. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, which became public during President Nixon's second term, Congress enacted campaign finance legislation aimed to do four things. Name them.

National elections are incredibly expensive. In 1974, in the wake of the Watergate Scandal, Congress passed amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act (which was first enacted in 1971). These laws aimed to do four things: (1) limit contributions; (2) require public disclosure; (3) prohibit certain sources of campaign funds; and (4) control campaign spending. The 1974 Act also activated the system public financing of presidential elections that still exists today. (See this story for an excellent history of the topic.)

12. How many sitting presidents have been successfully reelected to a second full term? How many have been unsuccessful in their quest for reelection to a second full term?

Nine sitting Presidents have been unsuccessful in their quest for reelection to a second full term; 14 have been successfully reelected to a second full term. The rest either served partial terms or chose not to run for reelection

41. Did Donald Trump or Joe Biden accept public funds in 2020? Who was the last major party nominee to accept public funds to finance his or her general election campaign?

No. John McCain 2008.

11. Only one President was born in Connecticut. Who was he (name and party)?

Only one President was born in Connecticut: George W. Bush (43rd President).

17. In which election did primary and caucus results become determinative in the selection process?

Primaries and caucuses are used to select each major party's nominees. Prior to 1972, neither primaries nor caucuses were particularly common. Nominees were selected at the party nominating conventions in the summer, and delegates to those conventions were generally selected by party elites within the state. For example, in 1960, eventual winner John Kennedy only ran in seven (7) of the 14 primaries that took place on the Democratic side. That same year, Richard Nixon, the eventual Republican nominee, only participated in 11 primaries (he won all 11). In fact, from 1936-1968, only 12 states consistently held primary elections

18. Which two primary election cycles (years) witnessed the highest turnout rate? Approximately what percentage of eligible voters cast ballots in primaries in those elections?

Since 1972, performance in primaries and caucuses has been by far the single most important factor determining who will get the party nomination. Changes in Democratic Party nomination procedures that year required convention delegates to support the candidates who won their state primaries (or caucuses), at least on the first ballot. Republicans soon followed suit. Over the years, both parties have tweaked their rules, but in both parties, there is currently no way to deny the nomination to a candidate who secures more than 50% of the delegates awarded through the primary and caucus processes. 1972 may still be the highest turnout primary season in history. A record 25.9% of the estimated eligible voting population participated in primaries in 1972. In 2008, that number was 25.8%. ("May" is in italics because there are questions about the accuracy of pre-1980 primary turnout data.)

9. Which amendment to the Constitution limits the number of terms an individual can serve as President? In what year was it ratified?

The 22nd Amendment (ratified in 1951) now limits the President to two elected, or full, terms.

27. How many Electoral College votes does the District of Columbia receive and how is this number determined?

The Washington, DC - which has no senators or full voting members of the U.S. House - was awarded 3 Electors as a result of the ratification of the 23rd Amendment in 1961. That amendment guarantees DC Electors, but caps its representation in the Electoral College at a total equaling that of the smallest state (currently 3). The populated U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa) are not represented in the Electoral College. (They do have non-voting members of Congress).

8. Only one President served more than two terms. Who was he (name, party, and home state)? In what year was he first elected? To how many terms was he elected?

The country's 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D-NY) was elected President 4 times (1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944). The 22nd Amendment (ratified in 1951) now limits the President to two elected, or full, terms.

7. Who was the first President of the United States? In what year was he elected?

The first Presidential election took place between December 15, 1788 and January 10, 1789. George Washington ran unopposed and was elected as the first President. After being elected twice (1789, 1792) he chose not to run again. He and Alexander Hamilton sang a song together as they wrote his Farewell Address. (OK, probably not; but while the ideas were Washington's, Hamilton did probably write the bulk of the prose.) His resignation set a precedent that U.S. Presidents would only serve two terms - a precedent that was followed by the first 31 individuals to hold the office.

2. Article I of the Constitution outlines the organization, structure, and responsibilities of which branch of government?

The first three Articles of the Constitution cover the organization, structure, and responsibilities/powers of the three branches of government: the legislative branch (Article 1), the executive branch (Article 2), and the judicial branch (Article 3)

29. How many Electoral College votes must one win to secure the Presidency? How is this number determined?

The total number of Electors is currently 538. A candidate can win a majority of Electoral College votes (270), and thus the presidency, by winning as few as 11 states: NJ (11), NC (15), GA (16), MI (16), OH (18), IL (20), PA (20), FL (29), NY (29), TX (38), CA (55).

25. What is the current size of the Electoral College?

The total number of Electors is currently 538. A candidate can win a majority of Electoral College votes (270), and thus the presidency, by winning as few as 11 states: NJ (11), NC (15), GA (16), MI (16), OH (18), IL (20), PA (20), FL (29), NY (29), TX (38), CA (55). Theoretically, this could be accomplished by receiving just 27% of the vote.

6. There are at least three other circumstances that can disqualify a person from holding the office of President. List and describe two (2) of them.

There are also at least three other circumstances that can disqualify a person from serving as President: a) if, upon being impeached from any federal office, the U.S. Senate also chooses to declare the person to be subject to "disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor" (art. I, § 3, cl. 7); b) if someone who held federal office later rebelled against the United States, that person is disqualified (14th Amendment); c) if someone previously served more than one full term as President of the United States (this final condition was added by the 22nd Amendment,

31. What is the most overrepresented state in the Electoral College? What is its population? What % of the U.S. population resides there? What % of all Electors does it send to the Electoral College?

Wyoming is the most overrepresented state in the Electoral College. Its 579,000 residents constitute just 0.17% of the U.S. population and yet the state selects 0.56% of all Electors - 3.3 times the number it would have if Electors were allocated by population in accordance with the one person, one vote principle.

37. Campaigns "target" the states where they want to spend their limited resources (time and money) based on two factors. List them and give a real-world example of what this looks like in contemporary politics.

competitiveness and size. Ohio receives a lot of attention. Connecticut does not as much.