POLS 100 Exam 2
Evidence such as the percentage of strong partisans and straight-ticket voters indicate that the strength of party in the electorate
"was low in the 1970's , but increased during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s."
Evidence such as the percentage of roll call votes that are party-line votes in Congress indicates that the strength of party in government
"was low in the 1970's, but has been increasing from the 1980's to the present."
Political Machine
A _____ is a party organization that once maintained power and control over goernment offices using nominations, patronage, bribery, and vote-buying.
Party Vote
A _____ is commonly defined as a situation in which a majority of Democratic members of Congress vote on one side of an issue and a majority of Republican memebers vote on the other side.
role theory
A behavioral model of politics based on the assumption that human beings have a psychological need for predictability is called
patronage, merit
A key reform designed to curb the power of party bosses was to replace_____ with _____ as the basis for getting a government job
_____ is a method of selecting representatives in which one person will win the single position based on obtaining more votes than any other candidate.
A single-member district plurality (SMDP) system
The first two political parties formed largely as a response to
Alexander Hamilton's economic program.
Divied Government
American electoral system frequently results in _________ which is when one party wins the presidency and another party wins a majority in the seats in one or both houses of congress;
1965 Voting Rights Act
As a result of the _____, large numbers of African Americans were brought into the electorate
False
As defined by Madison, parties are indistinguishable from "factions" and "interests." T or F
suspicion, distrust
Historically, political parties have been viewed with _____ and _____in the United States
a two-party system
Historically, the United States has tended to have the characteristics of
Increase
If the two major parties represented very different programs to Americans and the winning party carries out these programs, political conflict would____
the Republican Party
In 1994, _____________won control of both Houses of Congress for the first time in forty years
30
In the 1980s and the 1990s, about _____ percent of the electorate identified themselves as strong partisans.
Parlimentary
In the ____ system the party that controls the majority of legislative seats chooses the chief executive, generally called a prime minister.
Past
In the _______ factions were groups of people that joined together on an ad hoc basis to win some political advantage
Multiparty System
Most contemporary democracies are _________ in which 3 or more parties effectively compete for political offices, an no single party can win sole control of the government.
Proportional Representation
Most liberal democracies use a system of multimember constiuencies and _______
mulitparty systems
Most modern democracies have
Two party system
Only two political parties have a realistic chance of winning control over a significant number of major political offices.
_____ remains a significant predictor of vote choice and shapes how voters perceive candidates and issues.
Partisan identification
Organization
Party _________ is made up of party professionals who hold official positions within the party and other people active in running an maintaing the partys organizational apparatus.
in government
Party_______ Consists of elected and appointed officials who are considered representatives of the party.
policy motivated activists
People who believe in certain principles and are dedicated to implementing those principles are
party professionals
People whose incentives for participating are purely material and social are called_________
Patronage
Political _______is government jobs and contracts that elected officeholders handed out to those who supported the party.
Campagn Funds Message
Political candidates in the new political environment still need ______ and a clear________
"A _______ is a type of political committee that can raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations, and individuals to independently support or oppose political candidates."
Super PAC
it marked the peaceful transfer of political power form one party to another.
The Federalist loss to the Democratic-Republicans in 1800s was notable because
On which of the following is the direction of public opinion clearest?
The Iraq War
Prior restraint of the news media by the government would be allowable in which of the following situations?
The New York Times plans to publish embarrassing photos of a cabinet member at a strip club.
plurality
The United States uses the single member districy __________ system, a winner take all system that makes it hard for minor parties to win office.
Prior restraint of the news media by the government would be allowable in which of the following situations?
The Washington Post plans to publish the strategic details of a major offensive against ISIS that is planned for this weekend.
Whiskey Rebellion
The _____ of 1794 was created because farmers in western Pennsylvania werre outraged by the excise tax on liquor
Presidential System
The chief executive and legislature is elected independtly
elevated partisanship
The election of Ronald Reagan and the Republican takeover of the Senate in the 1980 elections was a factor that
presidential system
The legislature and the executive are separated under a_______system
elected to office
The main job of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee is helping people within the party get
parties nominate and run candidates for office and interest groups do not.
The most important feature that distinguishes political parties from interest groups is
been increasing
The number of party votes in recent years has
Increasing
The number of voters who refer to themselves as independent is
politically active
The party in the electorate is _________ at election time
Party in Electorate
consists of ordinary citezins who identify with the party and who usually support the party's candidates with votes and campagin contributions.
_____ explains the formation of interest groups as a rational quid pro quo between supplier and consumer.
exchange theory
The U.S. party system
falls far short of the party discipline required for the responsible party model.
"""Soft money"" refers to a vague, and often unfulfilled, commitment by an interest group or PAC to make a campaign contribution. "
false
"As long as news media report factual information, they cannot be reasonably accused of being politically biased. "
false
"Compared with people in other industrialized democracies, American tend to have low levels of political knowledge and information. "
false
"Election Day is scheduled for early November due to the popularity of major league baseball, which holds the World Series in October of every year. "
false
"In the United States, government's authority to control the press is unlimited."
false
"The American electorate seems to dislike divided government, as they almost always elect a president and Congress of the same party. "
false
"The American print media has always proudly adhered to the ideal of objective journalism, particularly during the period of the late 1800s to the early 1900s. "
false
"The election of George W. Bush in 2000 is widely regarded as a partisan realignment, ushering in a new era of Republican party dominance. "
false
"The term ""political alienation"" refers to refers to U.S. citizens who have moved abroad and can no longer vote in U.S. elections. "
false
"Wolf Blitzer reports that ""Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 48% to 46%"" in the latest CNN poll of likely voters, so we may reasonably conclude that Clinton is ahead in the race."
false
501(c) groups are required to make the names of their members and donors public
false
Campaign contributions by interest groups are an effective way to change a member of Congress's vote on a bill.
false
Conditional party government refers to the strong party leadership that occurs in the parliamentary systems common in Western Europe.
false
Government control and censorship of the media is an essential element of the propaganda model.
false
Interest groups direct their lobbying efforts only at elected branches of government.
false
Most Americans are dues-paying members of a political party
false
Party polarization has declined in the U.S. Congress over the past 30 years.
false
People who possess low levels of political knowledge and a lack of interest in political issues are more likely to vote because they are not burdened by too much information
false
Purposive incentives are typically sufficient for overcoming the collective action problem.
false
The growth of 24-hour news channels beginning in the 1980s has led to more in-depth coverage of news on television.
false
The growth of internet news sources has dramatically increased the likelihood that you will be exposed to alternative viewpoints.
false
The use of mass media for negative campaigning is not only distasteful -- it is also ineffective and counterproductive.
false
Third parties have no effect on electoral outcomes in the United States because they are unlikely to win a majority.
false
"When opponents of legalized abortion describe their position as ""pro-life"" and advocates describe themselves as ""pro-choice,"" these terms demonstrate what is called"
framing
Emphasizing certain aspects of a story to make them more important is defined as
framing
A family's influence on political socialization
generally has a lasting influence on a individual's feeling about politics and political issues.
There is mounting evidence that mass political attitudes and behaviors are
genetically influenced.
"Using data based on twin studies, researchers found that some political opinions and beliefs could be attributed to "
genetics
Faction
groups of people that joined together on an ad hoc basis to win some political advantage.
News stories reporting factual information about the passage of legislation or the ratification of treaties are most accurately characterized as
hard news
Stories that focus on factual information about important decisions or events are defined as
hard news
In a responsible party government system parties should
have clear and distinct policy positions
"A ______ requires citizens to be able to express their opinions and preferences, but also to be knowledgeable and informed."
healthy democracy
Political Parties
help maintain the stability of the political system
"Compared to other industrialized democracies, Americans contact public officials and participate in political campaigns at"
higher rates
"With respect to public opinion, intensity refers to"
how strongly the public feels about an issue.
One-Party System
in______ represenatives of a single political party hold all or almost all of the major offices in government
Policy motivated activists
incentives are primarily puposive and social.
Party Professionals
incentives for participating are primarily materail and social in nature.
"The use of intermediaries by lobbyists to speak to government officials, with the intent to influence policy is known as"
indirect lobbying
Group efforts to generate supportive or sympathetic public opinion are referred to as
indirect lobbying
The news media sees its primary role as
informing and educating the public.
Role theroy
is a behavioral model based on the assumption that human beings have a pscological need for predictability in thier relations with each other.
Political Machine
is a party organization headed by a "party boss"; they maintain power and control over goverment offices with techniques like nominations, partronage, graft and bribery.
Party in Government
is the elected and appointed office holders at the national, state, and local levels who are considered represenatives of the party
Research consistently shows that the news media has a
negativity bias
____ is the accounts of timely and specific events.
news
_____ is an approach to journalism that places emphasis on reporting facts rather than on analysis or a partisan point of view.
objective journalism
The most effective group influence on legislation is
on issues that attract little attention and have few to no opposing viewpoints.
A political system in which representatives of one political party hold all or most of the major offices in government is known as a
one-party system
Jefferson
opposed the creation of a national bank because he considered it a dangerous monopoly.
Pluralist theory suggests that no single interest group will become too powerful because
opposing interest groups watch each other and exercise countervailing power.
Interest groups are
organizations that seek to influence government in order to achieve some or all of their goals.
The burden of judging information for reliability and honesty has shifted
oward the individual and away from the gatekeeper.
"In a _______, the party that controls the majority of legislative seats chooses the chief executive."
parliamentary system
There are three major divisions of political parties associated with different activities and different people. They are
party in the electorate, party in government, and party organization"
When preferences within the two parties diverge strongly in opposite directions with very little overlap in the ideological center this is called
party polarization
Party activists whose incentives for participating in party activities are primarily material and social in nature are referred to as
party professionals
The ______ is a forum where information on matters important to civic life can be freely accessed and exchanged.
public sphere
"Johnny joins the Whigs because he genuinely believes U.S. independence was the product of an illegal rebellion, and that the U.S. rightfully belongs to the UK. Johnny is a Whig because of"
purpose benefits
"Benefits that interest group members derive from feeling good about the actual mission of the group, as opposed to more material benefits, are known as"
purposive benefits
"News coverage that describes white hurricane victims as ""evacuees"" and black victims as ""refugees"" has been held up by critics as an example of "
racial bias
Which of the following could be considered electronic media?
radio
A _____ is a method of selecting a subset of the population in which every person in the target population has an equal change of being selected.
random sample
"Under a direct primary system, who has the power to decide which candidate runs as the party s nominee in the general election?"
rank and file voters
"In Polisciland, the Orange Party had held the majority in the legislature for 36 straight years, but lost their majority in 2000 to the Purple Party, which has controlled the legislature ever since. The election of 2000 would best be described as a "
realigning election
A transition from one stable pattern of party support to another is called
realignment
Faction
refers to a group that is part of a larger political entity. It commonly identifies a segment within a political party based on a personality, philosophy or geographical region.
The National Voter Registration Act (the motor voter bill
requires states to provide registration services when citizens renew their driver's license.
The National Voter Registration Act (the motor voter bill)
requires states to provide registration services when citizens renew their driver's license.
Parliamentary systems may include all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:
responsible party government
_____ is a behavioral model of politics based on the assumption that human beings have a psychological need for predictability in their relations with each other.
role theory
_____________ is a behavioral model of politics based on the assumption that human beings have a psychological need for predictability in their relations with each other.
role theory
Political Party
running candidates for office under a party label is the most important difference between a _______ and an interest group
_____ refers to the prominence and visibility of an issue.
salience
The Reform Party
seems to have collapsed due to infighting among party factions.
Benefits provided by interest groups that are available to members only are known as
selective benefits
The ______ model of voting behavior suggests that our attitudes and opinions are products of our environment.
social-psychological
"Party identification, opinions about the candidates, and feelings about the issues of a particular election affect individual voting behaviors according to the"
social-psychological model
The sociological perspective of the Columbia school suggested that the most important determinant of an individual's vote choice is
socioeconomic status (SES)
"Due to its emphasis on demographic characteristics that do not change much over time, campaigns should have very little effect on voter choices in the ____________ model of vote choice. "
sociological model
Campaign contributions given to political parties rather than directly to candidates are known as
soft money
"Stories characterized by opinion, human interest, and often entertainment value are known as"
soft news
News stories reporting the latest exploits of the Kardashians or Honey Boo Boo are most accurately characterized as
soft news
"Satisfaction gained from membership in interests groups, such as friendship and sense of belonging to a group or meeting people with similar interests are known as _____ benefits."
solidary
"Students living in the dorms want a game room, so they form an organization: the University Gamers. This organization has the explicit aim of contacting university officials and student government representatives to try and persuade them to fund the game room. The University Gamers organization is"
special interest group
The element of ______ is the likelihood of changes in the direction of public opinion.
stability
Individual attitudes on the issue of abortion are relatively
stable
The trend in voter turnout in presidential elections from the 1950's to present
stayed within a band of roughly 10 percentage points around 50% to 60%.
Voters who cast votes for the same party's candidates in presidential and congressional races are called
straight-ticket voters
"A major budget deal between the president and Congress is announced on the Polisci News Channel, and the commentator observes that this agreement will ""significantly improve the president's approval rating."" This is an example of "
strategic framing
Giving prominence in media stories to who is gaining or losing on a issue is known as
strategic framing
"A major budget deal between the president and Congress is announced on the Polisci News Channel, and the commentator observes that this agreement will ""significantly improve the president's approval rating."" This is an example of "
strategic planning
Polls based on nonrandom samples are often referred to as
straw polls
Voters are more likely to remember information obtained from which of the following sources?
television news
The first two political parties
the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.
Interest groups often offer exclusive benefits to members in order to encourage their membership. They do this in order to overcome what Mancur Olson called
the collective action problem.
Early formal rational choice models tended to conclude that
the costs of voting outweigh the conceivable benefit.
The right to vote is known as
the franchise
The organizations and journalists that cover the news are known as
the news media
The idea that interest groups form in reaction to problems created by particular social or economic events is
the pluralist explanation
Political socialization refers to
the process by which one develops opinions and attitudes about politics.
"A poll finds 52% of voters supporting candidate A, and 48% supporting candidate B, with a 3 percent margin of error. Given this information, we can say that"
the range of opinion makes it difficult to assess who has more support.
Suffrage is most accurately defined as
the right to vote.
Political machines rely on political patronage as a tool for maintaining one-party control of a city government.
true
Prior restraint is another term for censorship
true
Public policy is more likely to reflect the interests of the wealthy because they participate in politics more actively and in greater numbers than other groups.
true
Question ordering can affect the responses given in a poll.
true
Question wording is an important factor in the validity of poll results.
true
Recent research suggests that political attitudes may be partially influenced by biological factors like genetics.
true
The Citizens United case held that corporations have the same free speech rights that individual citizens do.
true
The Democratic and Republican parties are the modern-day equivalents of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
true
rank-and-file voters
Under a direct primary system, who has the power to decide which candidate runs as the party's nominee in the general election?
partisan
Voters who identify themselves as independents who lean toward the Democratic or the Republican party tend to show highly _______ voting patterns
Straight-Ticket Voters
Voting for the same partys canidate for president and congress.
Which of the following would be a random sample in which we could determine the sampling error?
We take a sample in which every person in the nation has an equal chance of being selected to be interviewed.
On which of the following issues is public opinion most stable?
abortion
"""News"" can be defined as "
accounts of timely and specific events.
The process of selecting the issues or problems that government will pay attention is known as
agenda setting
Logrolling refers to
a coalition of uncommon interests
In 2012 less than _____ percent of voters identified themselves with one of the two major parties
60
In 2012 less than _____ percent of voters identified themselves with one of the two major parties.
60
About what percentage of voters get their information about elections from television news?
70%
The social-psychological model of vote choice suggests that an individual's vote depends on many attitudes and characteristics that interact with each other in a
"""funnel of causality""."
Negative attitudes about politics stemming from a reliance on comedy shows for news content has been described as
"""the Daily Show effect"""
What are the four dimensions of public opinion?
"Direction, stability, salience, intensity"
The most important distinction between political parties and interest groups is that
"interest groups seek to lobby the existing government, while parties strive to get their members elected into government."
Political participation may not be a accurate reflection of the will of the people because
"not all people participate equally, so some interests are disproportionately represented in the political process."
The majority of people who participate in politics are
"older, better educated, and more prosperous."
"In the ____, the electorate became noticeably more partisan."
1990s
"In recent presidential elections, minority voters have tended to vote for which of the following parties?"
Democratic
All States
Direct primaries are used by
_____ refers to the connection between the electoral system and the number of parties and explains why the single-member plurality system tends to favor a two party system.
Duverger's Law
_______ refers to the attitudes of people with large measures of political influence or expertise.
Elite opinion
Values and norms
Expectations associated with particular roles are based on the _____ of the society.
Which act allowed unions and corporations to form political action committees to raise and contribute campaign funds to candidates?
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
"The law that enables citizens to register to vote at public offices (e.g., the DMV) is popularly known as the"
Federal Election Campaign Act.
8 out of 10
From 1982 to 2000, _____ elections resulted in divided party control of the presidency and Congress.
"What effect has increases in technology and the proliferation of media sources had on the level of political information and political involvement of the American people, to date?"
It is still undetermined what effect this phenomenon has had on the amount of political information and involvement.
ambitious politicians created political parties
John Aldrich explained that _____ to overcome collective action problems in order to achieve the goals of election and policy making
political parties
John Aldrich explained that ambitous politicains created _____ to overcome collective action problems in order to achieve the goals of election and policy making.
Two Party competition
Long term rivalry between the democrats and the republicans clearly meets the requirements of a _______________
interest, faction, and parties
Madison used three different terms, _____, to describe the divisions in society
responsible party model.
Political parties in the U.S. are not as strong and disciplined as in parliamentary democracies, and they fall short of the
Which of the following is a defining difference that sets interest groups and political parties apart?
Political parties run candidates for office under party labels.
party professionals policy-motivated
Political scientists classify people who participate in party activities as ______ and _____ Activists
Rituals such as the pledge of allegiance are an example of what?
Political socialization
What is the biggest threat to a free press in the United States?
Private Control of media
The mass media promote democratic values in all of the following ways EXCEPT:
Promoting a partisan political agenda.
"If you were to design a political system for a representative democracy that would produce a multi-party system with coalition governments, what form of electoral process would you choose?"
Proportional representation
_____ influence(s) the political attitudes of non-group members.
Reference groups
The rational choice model considers which factor in predicting vote choice?
Sharing a candidate's views on the issues
"All of the following is true regarding 501 (c) groups, EXCEPT:"
Their primary purpose is political activities
party in the electorate, party in government, and party organization
There are three major divisions of political parties associated with different activities and different people. They are
the States Righte Democratic (Dixiecrat) party
Which of the following third parties has received electoral votes in presidential elections?
Which of the following groups is most likely to have the lowest levels of voter turnout?
Young people
Political Parties, Policy Agenda, Policy Agenda, Congress, Congress
___ ____ organize government and seek to pass a ____ ____. Success in enacting this ___ ____ depends on whether the president's party controls _____ and whether the leadership of the majority party in _____ is effective in persuading its colleagues to support its agenda.
Material
_____ Benefits , including patronage jobs and government contracts, motivate party professionals to participate in politics.
Great Brittain
_____ is a good example of the responsible party model of government.
Partisan identification
_____ remain(s) a significant predictor of vote choice and shape(s) how voters perceive candidates and issues
Party Discipline
______ is the means to require party members in public office to promote or carry through the partisan agenda and punish those who do not to the party line.
Third Parties
______Have appeared often throughout our history. despite never capturing a significant number of national offices
TODAY
_______ a faction is a group that is part of a larger political community.
Party organization
________ consists of professionals who hold the official positions in the party.
Prime Minister
__________forms a government by appointing individuals to run the various government departments or ministries
Party Vote
_________commonly defined as one onwhich a majority of Democrats vote on one side of an issue and a majority of republicans vote on the other.
Political Parties
________help manage societal conflict.
Direct Primary
_______an election in which rank and file voters choose the partys nominees for various offices.
Rank and File voters
______are less likely than party leaders to choose candidates on the basis of party loyalty
A person or institution that controls access to something is known as
a gatekeeper
"Someone who invests resources (such as time, money and skill) to create and build an organization that offers various types of benefits to entice others to join the group is known as"
a group entrepreneur
"The Whigs are a group dedicated to returning the United States to the status of a colony of the United Kingdom. Three candidates are currently running for Congress under the Whig label. Based on the information, it is certain that the Whigs are"
a political party
A heuristic is
a psychological shortcut to aid in decision making.
"As part of an election-year survey you are asked: If you knew Candidate A has donated money to al-Qaeda, would you be more or less likely to vote for her? This survey is a"
a push poll
An election that brings about major political change over the long term is called
a realigning election
The most important characteristic in defining an interest group is
a shared attitude
"Lindsey Lohan's new political action group (Occupy Rehab) is the talk of the dorm. It is the lead story on all the news channels, a central topic of talk radio, and front page on all the big newspapers. Everyone in the dorm discussing Occupy Rehab is an example of the media's"
agenda setting power
Political parties are important to democracy because they
aggregate citizen interests and help translate them into political action.
The term mass media refers to
all means by which information is transmitted to the masses of people.
"Critics of voter ID laws, which require voters to show a valid photo ID in order to vote, contend that these laws disproportionately depress voter turnout among which of the following groups?"
all of the above
"The wealthy are more likely to participate in politics, according to Verba, Schlozman, and Brady, because they possess which of the following advantages?"
all of the above
A free press is considered critical to democracy because
all of the above
Political parties facilitate participation and communication because they
all of the above
Resources found to be related to higher levels of participation include
all of the above
The population ecology explanation of interest groups suggests that
all of the above
Third parties in the U.S.
all of the above
Which of the following are characteristics of conditional party government?
all of the above
Which of the following can be classified as a political interest group?
all of the above
Which of the following groups does not have a constitutionally protected right to vote?
all of the above
Which of the following makes it hard for third parties to be successful in the U.S?
all of the above
Why does government often seem so unresponsive public opinion?
all of the above
"An internet poll on the Fox News website indicates that 83% of Americans disapprove of President Obama's job performance. This poll is likely unreliable, however, because"
all of the above.
People who feel great trust and support for the political system are said to be
allegiant
A legal brief filed by someone or some organization who holds an interest in a case but is not an actual party is called
amicus curiae brief.
Political Party
an orginization that nominates and runs canidates for public office under its own label
Polls measuring public opinion
are useful and accurate if they are based on a random sample.
The tendency to accept uncritically information that supports your own political beliefs is
attitude congruency bias
Stories that focus on factual information about important decisions or events are defined as
bad news
"Because we have only two major parties in the United States, the major parties must"
be broad alliances of many different interests.
A ______ is a group of poll respondents that does not accurately represent the target population and provides inaccurate estimates of the true opinions and attitudes of the target population.
biased sample
Among the unrealistic assumptions made by the rational choice model of voting behavior is that voters will have high levels of knowledge about
both a & b
Civil disobedience is a tactic used by groups who
both b and c
"What is the name of the theory which holds that most people will not engage in collective action with the sole aim of producing public goods, but rather that groups build membership by offering selective benefits available only to group members?"
by-product theory
Voter perceptions of the qualities of a candidate are known as
candidate image.
Attitudes on the issue of same-sex marriage over the past 20 years have
changed dramatically
Interest group members whose only participation in the group is paying dues engage in
checkbook participation
Which of the following categories of interest group is most likely to adopt an indirect lobbying strategy?
civil rights group
A means of expanding an interest group's influence that involves working with other group is called
coalition building
"When large numbers of people work together to ensure that a public good is actually produced, this is an example of"
collective action
Countries that require citizens to vote or else face a fine or other legal penalty have what is called
compulsory voting
"The ________ is the chance , measured in percent, that the results of a survey will fall within the boundaries set by the margin of error."
confidence level
"Ironically, as the right to vote has been extended to nearly all adult citizens over time, voter turnout among those citizens has"
decreased
The 1900s marks a time when partisanship and split ticket voting by the general public has
decreased
Public opinion is most influential with public officials who follow the
delegate model of representation.
Instrumentation is the process of
designing survey questions.
"After 30 years of majority control of the Polisciland legislature, the Purple Party lost its majority status in the election of 1980, only to regain the majority again in the election of 1982. The 1980 election could best be described as a "
deviating election
Divided government is a term that describes
different parties controlling the executive and legislative branches.
Direct contact by lobbyist with government officials in a effort to influence policy is known as
direct lobbying
The ____ of public opinion refers to whether public opinion is positive or negative.
direction
Parliamentary systems may include all of the following characteristics EXCEPT:
divided government
Voters who lack knowledge about the issue positions of candidates may base their vote on _________________ instead.
either a or b
Duverger's
law explains the connection between the electoral system and the number of parties explains why the singel member district plurality system tends to favor the two party system.
Interest group efforts to influence government action are known as
lobbying
The activity of a group or person that attempts to influence public policymaking on behalf of the individual or the group is known as
lobbying
An individual whose job is to contact government officials on behalf of someone else is a
lobbyist
"Compared to other industrialized democracies, voter turnout in the United States is "
lower
"In 1988, the voters of Polisciland re-elected the Orange Party to a majority of the seats in the legislature for the 12th straight election. The election of 1988 could best be described as a "
maintaining election
"In the context of political science, rational means"
making choices that maximize benefits and minimize costs.
A basic problem with the rational choice explanation for voting behavior is that
many voters do not have enough information about candidates or issues to make rational calculations.
ALL the means used to transmit information to masses of people is known as
mass media
oward the individual and away from the gatekeeper.
mass media
An AARP member's discounted hotel rate is an example of
material benefit
_____ is the tendency to present an unbalanced perspective so that information is conveyed in a way that consistently favors one set of interests over another.
media bias
"In a _______, jobs are given based on relevant technical expertise and the ability to perform."
merit system
"Joe Tinfoil, a longtime listener of political talk radio, believes that the Affordable Care Act requires citizens to have a tracking microchip implanted in their forearm in order to avoid tax penalties under the law. Joe's belief is an example of "
misinformation
The belief that incorrect information is true is called
misinformation
Efforts to stimulate higher voter turnout are known as
mobilization
Most modern democracies have
multiparty systems
Interest group activity in the policy making process is a key aspect of which theory of democracy?
pluralism
The proliferation of interest groups in America competing for government attention exemplifies which of the following theories?
pluralism
Organizations specifically created to raise money and make political contributions on behalf of an interest group are called
political action committees (PAC's).
People who feel isolated from the political system suffer from
political alienation
The tendency to favor a political party or ideological point of view is known as
political bias
The belief that participating in politics makes a difference is called
political efficacy
The process of turning opinion into actions that influence public policy is
political participation
_____ is the translation of personal preference into a voluntary action designed to influence public policy.
political participation
"In the United States, voter turnout is higher in "
presidential elections.
The ____ is the print and electronic media that are partially or wholly devoted to collecting and reporting news in the United States.
press
"Media consisting of newspapers, magazines and books is called the"
print media
promotion of social and economic equality as a core American value.
print media.
A governmental order to prohibit or censor a news story prior to publication or broadcast is known as
prior restraint
All of the following are associated with the propaganda model EXCEPT
promotion of social and economic equality as a core American value.
"The ______ suggests that because most mainstream media are corporately owned, the media are biased toward corporate and conservative interests."
propaganda model
Voting that is based on an individual's estimation of how well a candidate will perform duties in the future is called
prospective voting
Groups can overcome the free rider problem by
providing benefits that are available only to members who pay dues
Groups can overcome the free rider problem by
providing benefits that are available only to members who pay dues.
Interest groups tend to focus their efforts on
providing information and support to those who are sympathetic to the group's interest.
The free rider problem is characteristic of
public goods
"527 groups can engage in issue advocacy, but cannot expressly advocate the election or defeat of a federal candidate. "
true
"Compared with people in other industrialized democracies, Americans tend to have low levels of political knowledge and information."
true
"For the majority of its history, American politics has been characterized by competition between two major parties. "
true
"Party polarization, by definition, makes political compromises by our elected leaders much more difficult. "
true
"Recent research suggests that some heritable personality traits (i.e., biological factors) may influence partisanship and vote choice. "
true
"The writings of political columnists like David Brooks or E.J. Dionne are examples of ""elite opinion."" "
true
A group entrepreneur helps to overcome the collective action problem by bearing much of the initial costs of starting a new group.
true
An internet poll on the Fox News website asking visitors to the site to rate the president's job performance will likely provide a biased sample.
true
An objective and unbiased news media is necessary if a political system is going to uphold the core principles of democracy.
true
The collective action problem demonstrates how individual rationality can undermine group goals.
true
The rational choice model of vote choice assumes that voters have a fairly high level of political knowledge of the issues and candidates.
true
Voter turnout in the 2014 midterm elections was the lowest it has been in over 70 years.
true
"In a ______, public officials are to make decisions based on their own expertise and judgment, and not just make decision based on the wishes and preferences of their constituents."
trustee system of democracy
Elected officials who view their job as becoming experts on the issues and making decisions that they believe are in the public's best interests regardless of what their constituents believe are called
trustees
The strength of American political parties
varies of time
The party in the electorate can best be best described as
voters who identify with a party.
Political Parties
were formed sometime between Washington's last term and Jefferson's first.
