Participation and Voting (Chapter 7)

The Framers of the Constitution left the issue of voter enfranchisement to:

Congress

If the voter-turnout was computed on the basis of registered voters, about _______ percent of American vote.

45

Which of the following qualifications for voting was virtually eliminated in all states by the 1850's?

Property ownership

Which of the following activities requires the most initiative?

Running for office

Characteristics frequently associated with non voters are:

high education, low income, and being relatively old

Congress and the states moved quickly to pass the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age to eighteen, because they:

hoped to channel student energy away from demonstrations and toward more conventional forms of participation

What term do we use to describe an attempt to modify or reverse government policy to serve a political interest?

influencing behavior

At times, initiatives may work to the advantage of politicians because:

initiatives may free a politician from having to take sides in controversial issues

In the long term, the national government responded to unconventional participation by civil rights activists with:

legislation expanding civil rights and voting rights in the 1960's

When elections are competitive, or close, voter turnout:

tends to increase

The effect of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which eighteen-to-twenty-year-old, was to:

boost voter turnout in the United States above that of the most other democratic nations

Which of the following was a key strategy used by Martin Luther King, Jr., in the civil rights movement?

direct action to challenge specific cases of discrimination

Some studies show that direct political action appeals most to those who ______ the political system and have a _________ sense of political efficacy.

distrust; strong

The short-term impact of "motor voter" laws has been:

to increase voter registration, although actual turnout has not increased

Which of the following would be described as "supportive" political behavior?

voting for an incumbent

Which of the following groups did the Nineteenth Amendment enfranchise?

women

Which of the following is a conventional form of political participation?

writing letters to public officals

The American cultural emphasis on freedom over equality in political participation works to the benefit of:

union members

A class action suit is a way to:

use the courts to benefit specific individuals

The text defines suffrage and franchise as the right to:

vote

What term do we use to describe the percentage of eligible voters who actually voted in a given election?

voter turnout

Most referenda are placed on the ballot by:

voters

If voters are to hold officials accountable through the electoral process, then what assumptions must be true?

-offiiceholders must be motivated to respond to public opinion by threat of defeat -citizens must know the candidates for office -citizens must know the record of the person holding office

The characteristic of people who prefer direct political action?

-they distrust the political system -have a sense of political effectiveness -have access to a network or organized groups -identify strongly with members of a group

Americans are just as likely as citizens of other countries to do all of the following:

-vote -sign petition -boycott products

Ballot measures tend to increase all the following:

-voter turnout -campaign contributions to interest groups -levels of confidence in government

Which of the following best describes American political participation in comparison with activities of citizens in other democracies?

Americans are less likely to participate in unconventional activities

Which of the following people vote most often?

An African-American college graduate who has been a high-ranking company manager for 15 years

Which means of political participation serves the ideal of equality better than any other?

E-mailing concerns to elected officals

The country with lowest voter turnout among eligible voters in national elections is:

El Salvador

Which Amendment to the U.S. Constitution enfranchised African American males?

Fifteenth Amendment

The _____Amendment to the Constitution prohibits states from denying the right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Fourteenth

Which country was the first to provide for the general election of representatives through mass suffrage?

Great Britain

Which of the following was the first known act of unconventional participation in America?

The Boston Tea Party

Direct action includes:

a citizen's group appearing before the city council seeking change in an ordinance

In Harper vs. Virginia State Board of Election, the Supreme Court held that state poll taxes were:

a state matter, as specified in the Tenth Amendment

Which of the following is the best definition of "political participation?"

activities of people to influence the structure, selection or policies of our government

The last major expansion of suffrage in the United States involved:

age

Critics argue that referenda are not truly democratic because:

an issue cannot be put on the ballot without the approval of the state legislature

Which of the following best describes the effectiveness of unconventional participation?

both violent and nonviolent unconventional participation are sometimes effective

Which of the following would least likely be considered conventional political participation in the United States?

burning an American flag

To ensure stability, the objective of political institutions in democratic systems should be to:

channel participation into conventional activities

In the individual states, the use of initiatives and referenda:

has been increasing recent years

On the whole, voter registration laws in the US:

depress voter turnout

Which voter characteristic is most important in predicting conventional political participation versus conventional non-participation in American politics?

education

Election, as institutionalized mechanisms of political participation, do which of the following?

encourage citizens to participate in other political parties

Elections, as an institutional mechanism:

encourage the citizenry to engage in other kids of political participation

The purpose of the literacy tests that were used in the southern states after 1870 was to:

ensure that only well-informed people voted

In recent years, referenda and initiatives have primarily focused on:

gay marriage

A citizen appearing before a government agency board to protest high property taxes is engaging in:

influence behavior

The process of enfranchising African-Americans had what impact on American federalism?

it made the national government, not the states, the guarantor and protector of voting rights while over-riding state laws

What did the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

it puts states under federal supervision to protect African American voting

Which of the following statements about unconventional participation are true?

it violates principles ore beliefs of the dominant culture

Which of the following would the standard socioeconomic model predict?

people with low incomes are most likely to vote

Direct primaries were intended to shift political power to which of the following?

political parties

A direct primary is a:

preliminary election to choose party candidates (nominees)

What term do we use to describe the political philosophy of reform that trusts the goodness and wisdom of individuals and distrust political institutions and special interests?

progressivism

What power were California voters exercising when they ousted Governor Gray Davis?

recall

A 2009 study showed that half of all voters are unaware that they can:

switch political parties

Americans tend to ________ their local governments.

take little interest in

Although the United States has a much lower voter turnout than do other democracies, Americans might actually work harder at being good citizens because:

the United States has far more elections then do other countries

The decline in voters participation since the 1960's can be attributed in large part to:

the belief that government is not responsive, so voting does little good

A tobacco company gave money to both the Democratic and Republican parties in 2000. What is the best reason for this behavior?

the company wanted to guarantee influence with whichever party won the election

In nearly every other democratic country, the burden of registration is placed on:

the government

The text points out that one of the reasons the United States has such a low voter turnout is:

the requirement of voters to self-register to vote

Citizens can mobilize against a project by pressuring local officials to stop undesired projects from being located near their homes through what is known as:

unconventional participation

How does education level affect voter turnout?

well-educated people are more likely to vote than are their less-educated counterparts