POLS Test 3 Book

T or F: The years of the Monroe presidency were dubbed the Era of Good Feelings because unemployment was low, GDP was high, and there were no international conflicts.

false

T or F: There is little to no incentive in an electoral system for officeholders to remain faithful agents.

false

T or F: To characterize the news media businesses discredits their integrity as suppliers of vital civic information.

false

T or F: Turnout in midterm elections, generally is higher for the least educated, who don't realize the futility of voting.

false

T or F: Typically only 20% of voters tell pollsters that the two major parties do such a bad job that a third party is needed.

false

T or F: Uninformed opinions tend to be very stable.

false

T or F: Universal suffrage for women was achieved in the 19th century with the passage of the 15th amendment.

false

T or F: Veteran journalists point to two specific events—the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis—as critical in fostering a pervasive and enduring credibility gap.

false

T or F: When it comes to principles instead of programs, Americans most likely think of themselves as conservative.

false

T or F: When it comes to voter identification, the Democratic party supports legislation to require photo identification for voting and to prevent election fraud.

false

T or F: Women first gained the right to vote in certain western territories because they were hotbeds of radical democracy.

false

T or F: Working journalists are so eager to cover politics that they are willing to appear as though they are working as their paid publicists.

false

______ explains how both the mass media and political campaigns can affect people's expressed political opinions.

framing

Anyone trying to mobilize the citizens to vote has to overcome the electorate's tendency to ______.

free ride

Pluralist politics is all about building coalitions, which means:

getting people to agree on an action even in the absence of agreement on the purposes of the action

In theory, ideologies promote consistency among political attitudes by connecting them to a more general principle or set of principles. In practice, ideologies:

often combine attitudes linked more by coalitional politics than by principle

Aggregate public opinion, is, given its coherence and focus by:

opinion leaders

Rather than present an argument, presidents now typically speak in:

sound bites

The two-party system arises from ______ in the winner-take-all competition for the presidency.

strategic voting

T of F: Blogs have changed the media in another important way by providing media outlets and entrepreneurs with space to develop digital-only content.

true

T or F:

true

T or F: "Pack journalism" refers to journalists following the same story in the same ways because they talk to one another while reporting and read each other's copy for validation of their own reporting.

true

T or F: "We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman" is an example of a Republican Party platform.

true

T or F: Age and education have the strongest influence on voting.

true

T or F: Aggregate public opinion on abortion is both highly stable and acutely sensitive to how the issue is framed.

true

T or F: Public opinion's influence on politics is simple: polls tell elected officials what to do, and when and how to do it.

false

T or F: The most recent expansion of voting rights lowered the voting age of citizens to 18 years through the motor voter act.

false

T or F: The news media serve as a strictly neutral conduit for the flow of civic information to their intended audience.

false

T or F: The parties are the focus of modern political campaigns.

false

T or F: The process of acquiring political attitudes is known as political learning.

false

T or F: The profusion of news across the spectrum of political ideology has resulted in a better-informed citizenry.

false

When public opinion is not stable, its movements can usually be explained by which of the following?

real-world events and circumstances

A staple of political advertising is:

repetition, simplicity and symbolism, exaggeration

T or F: The Democrat-Republicans protested the aristocratic inclinations of the federalists, eventually becoming known just as Democrats.

true

Since 1972, on average, about ______% of all eligible voters register and vote in presidential elections.

58%

Today, almost percent of television households subscribe to cable or to satellite services:

90%

The ______ ballot, introduced during the Progressive Era and still in use today, lists candidates from all parties and is marked in the privacy of a voting booth.

Australian

T or F: Regardless of religious affiliation, the more active people are in religious life, the less socially conservative they are likely to be.

false

T or F: Screaming headlines and sensational stories tempted newsstand browsers—this was known as blue journalism—a reference to the blue ink in which the comic strips were printed.

false

A truly random sample of any population is rarely feasible, because: A. there is no single directory where everyone is conveniently listed and so can be given a perfectly equal chance of being selected. B. there is always some amount of bias in the selection. C. most people choose not to participate in surveys. D. too many people would be required to participate.

a

Aggregate public opinion is not easily malleable because: A. the raw individual material that goes into the construction of public opinion is not easily changed. B. people are unwilling to change their minds. C. people are unable to change their minds. D. it is a combination of factors, and we don't understand the exact process by which it forms.

a

Because of the basic constitutional guarantees that allow citizens to express their views and compel government leaders to take those views into account, it is both possible and essential for political leaders and policy advocates to try to: A. shape and mobilize public opinion on behalf of their causes. B. avoid considering the role of public opinion in the success of their causes. C. mobilize public opinion on behalf of their causes, because they are incapable of also shaping public opinion on behalf of their causes. D. shape public opinion on behalf of their causes, because they are incapable of also mobilizing public opinion on behalf of their causes.

a

Broadly speaking, campaign finance operates through two parallel systems: A. money given directly to candidates, which is regulated, and money spent outside of the candidate's campaign, which generally is unregulated. B. negative advertising and positive advertising. C. money given directly to candidates, which is regulated, and money given directly to the party, which generally is unregulated. D. money given directly to candidates, which is regulated, and money donated to the candidate from outside the United States, which generally is regulated.

a

Casting a vote is making a prediction about the future: A. that electing one candidate will produce a better outcome in some relevant sense than electing another candidate. B. that one candidate will implement the policies you want exactly as you would like. C. that one candidate cannot—and should not—win. D. in which you hope for improvements over the past.

a

Despite their expressed disdain for parties, voters still rely heavily on party cues in making their decisions because: A. party labels continue to provide useful, cheap information about candidates. B. their membership in the party is a source of pride. C. they share identical policy preferences to that of their party D. they don't know any better

a

In a trial balloon: A. a politician "floats" a policy or some other idea with a reporter on the condition that the source of the story remain anonymous. B. a reporter "floats" around the halls of the White House waiting for a story. C. a reporter "floats" around the Supreme Court waiting for news on a trial. D. a politician "floats" a plan toward Congress—introducing a law anonymously.

a

In measuring public opinion, as a sample gets larger (beyond 1,200-1,500 people): A. the rate of improvement in accuracy declines. B. the rate of improvement in accuracy increases. C. the rate of improvement in accuracy does not change. D. the rate of improvement in accuracy increases to about 10,000 people and then begins to decline.

a

Republican party identifiers have ______ overtime. A. become increasingly conservative B. become increasingly liberal C. stayed at the same level of conservative D. become somewhat more conservative, followed by somewhat less conservative

a

The Federalists, one of the first two major parties, faded as a national force when which of the following occurred? A. their pro-British leanings put them on the wrong side of the War of 1812 B. President Washington denounced them from the well of the Senate C. President Adams resigned from the party while in office D. their opposition to judicial review led Congress to ban them

a

The Sedition Act in 1798: A. expressly forbade any criticism of the president and Congress. B. expressly forbade any printed commentary on the government. C. encouraged criticism of the president and Congress. D. encouraged printed commentary on the government.

a

The Watergate scandal broke and Richard Nixon was forced to resign largely due to which of the following? A. the Senate investigation spurred by the "leaks" of "Deep Throat," later revealed to be FBI bureaucrat Mark Felt B. the House investigation into impropriety in the savings and loan industryC. the Senate banking scandal C. the media coverage of his campaign finance scandal

a

The greatest barrier to successful media exposure: A. is the sheer volume of competing news stories chasing media outlets on any given news day. B. is the bias towards those sitting in office rather than those currently campaigning. C. is the number of newspapers currently printing. D. is the negative websites that tend to get the most traffic and therefore yield the most influence.

a

The messages candidates use in their campaigns depend very much on two things: A. the national context and what they can afford. B. who is running against them and what they can afford. C. the national context and who is running against them. D. the national context and their political party.

a

Which of the following is a factor in what the news media chooses to cover? A. the story's level of controversy B. sensitivity—"safe" topics are preferred to divisive topics C. positivity—good news is preferred to bad news D. accuracy—who has the more accurate information

a

Which of the following is a strategy used to monitor elected leaders? A. frequent elections B. executive orders C. memoranda D. reports

a

Which of the following is an example of a free rider problem? A. voting B. soft money donations C. women's suffrage D. none of these

a

Which of the following is true about the practices of selecting leaders by ballot and limiting suffrage? A. These ideas arrived with the settlers from England, and many of the suffrage restrictions survived the Revolution. B. These ideas were meant to remedy the failures of the Articles of Confederation. C. These ideas failed to be adopted by the colonists. D. These ideas were primarily used in the South.

a

Which of the following was true about the 2012 party platforms, which were statements of the policy positions of each party? A. Few voters learn of the differences between the parties from them; rather, voters learned about the parties' positions through political news and campaign advertising. B. They were most voters' primary sources for learning the differences between the parties. C. They were very similar in the policies advocated by both major parties. D. They avoided controversial topics such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and guns in order to appeal to the swing voters.

a

The threat of replacement provides elected officials with:

a powerful incentive to listen to their constituents

During his years in the White House, Franklin D. Roosevelt conducted ______ biweekly press conferences with a regular group of White House correspondents.

about 1000

Regular, free, and competitive elections:

ameliorates the problem of delegation

An organized and consistent manner of thinking, feeling, and reacting with regard to people, groups, social issues, or, more generally, any event in one's environment is often referred to as an:

attitude

In examining the case of the New York Times and the Pentagon papers, the Supreme Court's decision "any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity" means: A. the government had to demonstrate—and in this case did—that publication of the documents would damage national security. B. the government had to demonstrate—and in this case had failed to do so—that publication of the documents would damage national security. C. the burden of proving prior restraint was on the Supreme Court. D. the burden of proving prior restrain was on the President.

b

One consequence of the electoral reforms of the Progressive Era was to: A. shift the focus of electoral politics from candidates to issues. B. shift the focus of electoral politics from parties to candidates. C. implement restrictions on who could vote. D. shift the focus of electoral politics from candidates to parties.

b

Presidents have discovered that lead(s) to more favorable news coverage. A. working on domestic policy rather than foreign policyB. acting like a regular person—dinners out, family vacations, attending church B. foreign travel and visits to disaster sites C. supporting a position of American exceptionalism

b

The "party organization" refers to one part of a connected three-part system that is: A. composed of those voters who identify with the party and regularly vote for its nominees. B. dedicated to electing the party's candidates. C. only the party that is affiliated with the majority of the population. D. an alliance of current officeholders cooperating to shape public policy.

b

The Civil War amendments did which of the following? A. ensured universal suffrage for all African Americans B. did not effectively extend the vote to African Americans C. ensured universal suffrage for African American males who owned property D. provided universal suffrage for women

b

Which of the following is an example of an infotainment news program? A. Anything on Fox news B. the Daily Show C. House of Cards D. Sports Center

b

Which of the following is true about the two-party system in the United States? A. it is mandated by Article II of the Constitution B. it has continued with a few exceptions since shortly after the nation's founding C. it is like most other modern democracies in the world D. it was a goal of the Framers who believed parties were essential to maintaining democracy

b

Which of the following weakened traditional party organizations and ended their monopoly control of campaigns? A. the primary system B. progressive era reforms C. the emergence of national party conventions D. none of the above

b

Which of the following would be most liberal? A. resident of the mountain states B. city dweller C. evangelical Christian D. senior citizen

b

Within a few decades of ratification of the First Amendment, the notion that the free press would guard the citizenry's liberties against the designs of ambitious politicians: A. had proven to be precisely the way the free press developed. B. had been replaced by the press as dedicated partisan boosters. C. had been enshrined in the Constitution as part of the first amendment. D. was undermined by the Supreme Court when it struck the words "press" from the Bill of Rights.

b

T or F: The 2010 and 2014 elections both saw large gains by the Democrats in Congress—not previously seen since the Johnson administration.

false

Because candidates are the focus of modern political campaigns: A. they are required to do most of their fundraising without party assistance. B. most fundraising comes directly from the party machine. C. the party's activities are aimed more at helping individual candidates compete more effectively than at promoting the party brand. D. the candidate's activities are aimed more at helping the party compete more effectively than at promoting the individual's brand.

c

Because carrying capacity is limited, on factor used by news organizations in deciding to run a story is: A. whether it presents both sides of the story evenly. B. the accuracy of the information. C. its level of controversy: conflict and disagreement are preferable to consensus. D. whether it reflects the government in a positive light.

c

Duverger's law explains: A. why plurality elections always lead to party systems with more than two major competitors. B. why office seekers will frequently pursue office as independents or third-party nominees. C. why in any election in which a single winner is chosen by plurality voting, there is a strong tendency for serious competitors to be reduced to two. D. why the Electoral College is used in Presidential elections.

c

Every expansion of suffrage since the adoption of the Constitution has had to do which of the following? A. be approved by the states B. be agreed upon at the local level C. overcome both philosophical objections and resistance rooted in the mundane calculations of political advantage D. overcome challenges from the political parties interested in maintaining the status quo

c

Fox News became a conservative media outlet because: A. they were paid to do so by the Koch Brothers. B. the owners had sincerely held conservative beliefs they wanted represented in the news. C. it saw an opportunity to gain a profitable market niche by differentiating its product from that of CNN and the broadcast networks, Fox News introduced a conservative slant by hiring conservative news anchors and loosening traditional constraints on editorializing while presenting the news. D. none of these

c

In An Economic Theory of Democracy, Anthony Downs defined a political party as: A. a collection of like-minded citizens, united in their purpose to advocate relevant policy preferences. B. any organization that seeks to influence the outcomes in elections. C. a team of men seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election. D. a machine-like apparatus with interchangeable parts (people).

c

No matter how well organized, electoral alliances fail: A. if one leader tries to take over. B. due to different goals and different factions competing for power. C. if they cannot get enough people to vote for their candidates. D. because there are always too many divisions within an alliance.

c

One implication of our winner take all system is: A. unqualified candidates. B. a larger number of political parties. C. a smaller number of political parties. D. strange, often comical, legislation introduced into Congress.

c

The financial decline of modern newspapers can best be attributed to: A. the loss of newspaper barons. B. the decline of an educated readership in the United States. C. the loss of ad revenue caused by the Internet. D. escalating printing costs.

c

The gender gap in politics is best defined by: A. women more supportive than men of civil rights and men more supportive of civil liberties. B. women more supportive than men of civil liberties and men more supportive of civil rights. C. women are more supportive than men of the Democratic Party and its candidates, and men more supportive of Republicans. D. women are more supportive than men of the Republican Party and its candidates, and men more supportive of Democrats.

c

The news media: A. can publish anything without fear of criminal or civil penalties because of freedom of the press. B. have unfettered access to the U.S. military, even during times of war. C. are the organizations that gather, package, and transmit the news through some proprietary technology. D. are responsible for publishing the Congressional Record.

c

The political incentives for parties can best be explained by: A. man's natural desire to belong in a group—known as belongingness. B. the need to make voting easier through cues such as party identification. C. the idea that action requires winning majorities on a continuing basis in multiple settings, organization is absolutely essential. D. none of these

c

The term "straw poll," an analogy for finding out what public opinion is, refers to: A. political parties choosing candidates when delegates drop straws in a box as they vote for one candidate or another. B. the colonial practice of allowing cows to choose from two different bales of hay to test the flavor. C. tossing straws in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. D. drawing straws to see who gets the short straw.

c

The transformation of newspapers into instruments of mass communication meant that: A. the number of subscribers increased. B. politicians had more papers to monitor and therefore spent more of their time dealing with the media. C. politicians frequently found themselves bowing to powerful editors and publishers. D. the public no longer got its political news from the newspapers.

c

Which of the following is true about opinion leaders? A. They are limited to the media elite who tell individuals how they should think. B. They are limited to the political elite who tell individuals how they should think and who make the decisions for the country. C. They are a small segment of the public that forms opinions by paying close attention to political events and issues and from whom the uninformed majority takes cues about the issues. D. They are those who agree with the majority.

c

Deciding how we feel about an issue by noting who is for it or against it is an example of a(n) ______.

cognitive shortcut

Joseph McCarthy always appeared before television cameras with loose sheets of paper, which he could wave at the camera and claim contained the names of known:

communists in the State Department

Opinion polls find that almost every American supports the institutional underpinnings of modern democracy. When it comes to the practical application of these abstract values:

consensus breaks down

T or F: The most important information shortcut voters use to make predictions is the candidates recorded policy positions.

false

Divided government: A. is unconstitutional pursuant to Article II B. is such a rare a phenomenon in American politics that it is virtually nonexistent C. has not happened at the federal level since the end of the Progressive Era D. allows each party to block the other party's more extreme proposals and forces both to compromise when making policy

d

Elections allow ordinary citizens to, in aggregate: A. pay for government services they receive. B. express how they feel about government although elected officials do not take the voters' views into account when they make policy choices. C. celebrate democracy. D. reward or punish elected officials for their performance in office.

d

Ignorance about an issue does not necessarily prevent people from expressing opinions. Pollsters: A. believe most people guess when they do not know how to feel about an issue. B. claim the fundamentally irrational way people approach their opinions means no attitudes are informed. C. are responsible for respondents giving ambivalent answers. D. can get as many as one third of the people they interview to offer opinions on entirely imaginary issues.

d

Once newspaper publishers and editors freed themselves from party control: A. they quickly went out of business without the financial support B. the coverage drifted away from politics and towards human interest stories C. the readership of the papers dropped sharply D. they discovered they were able to influence public opinion and, in turn, national politics

d

Political scientist V. O. Key Jr. defined public opinion as: A. "an unknown known" B. "the summary of what the media shares with the populous" C. "those opinions generated by information" D. "those opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed"

d

The New Deal coalition of Democrats began to unravel due to which of the following issues? A. civil rights for African Americans B. the Vietnam War C. new economic initiatives such as housing subsidies and school nutrition programs D. all of these

d

The franking privilege: A. gives members of Congress free unlimited broadcast time. B. allows members of Congress early access to newspaper articles to check on how they are portrayed in the media. C. is responsible for the hostile relationship between elected officials and the press. D. allows members of Congress free access to the postal system for official correspondence.

d

The proliferation of alternative media gives viewers the opportunity: A. to select the news sources they find most congenial with their political views. B. to see even more sensationalized news. C. to opt out of political information all together D. all of these

d

The vast network of organizations engaged in measuring or trying to influence public opinion underlines the reality that: A. measuring public opinion is a straightforward task. B. measuring public opinion is a challenging, if not impossible, task. C. public opinion's influence is fairly simple. D. public opinion's influence is rarely simple or unmediated.

d

Thomas Jefferson once declared that, with respect to political parties: A. "without parties, elections are like a fire bell in the night, striking fear in my heart" B. "a division of the republic into two great parties . . . is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution." C. "They are the only proper restraint to the mischief of factions" D. "If I could not get to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all"

d

Which of the following helps to solve the massive coordination problem faced by millions of voters trying to act collectively to control or replace their agents? A. polling B. voting C. campaigns D. elections

d

Which of the following was a consequence of expanding the voting franchise? A. The propertyless despoiled the propertied. B. Votes for women immediately transformed electoral politics. C. Wealthy, White men were no longer elected in large numbers. D. A decline in the percentage of those eligible who turn out to vote.

d

Typically more than half of voters tell pollsters that the two major parties:

do such a poor job that a third major party is needed

The fact that people with lower incomes are more inclined to support spending on government services helpful to people like them: Social Security, student loans, food stamps, child care, and help for the homeless and people with higher incomes are notably less enthusiastic about government spending on social programs or taxing higher incomes at higher rates is best explained by:

economic self-interest

T or F: Bill Clinton was the first president to have an in-house pollster taking regular reading' of the public's pulse.

false

T or F: During his years in the White House, Franklin D. Roosevelt conducted very few press conferences with a regular group of White House correspondents.

false

T or F: For most people, basic political orientations fluctuate throughout their lives as a function of their experience and income.

false

T or F: Framing coverage of the Ku Klux Klan as a free speech issue resulted in lower support than when the group was framed as a public order issue.

false

T or F: Mandating primary elections has weakened the role of parties as official components of the electoral system.

false

T or F: Most scholars who study public opinion believe that expressed opinions seldom represent underlying attitudes.

false

T or F: Paradoxically, the Progressive Era left the Republican Party and the Democratic Party organizationally much stronger but in a much weaker electoral position.

false

The framers knew self-government by direct democracy was impossible in the new nation due to:

high transaction costs

The campaign to give women the right to vote was fueled by the hope that their presence in the electorate would:

improve the moral tone of political life

Political scientist John Aldrich observed, "A new form of party has emerged, one that is in service to its ambitious politicians but not ______ them."

in control of

Democracies differ from other forms of government:

in terms of which private persons governments find it prudent to heed

Because the fit between the words and concepts used in polling questions and how people actually think about issues is never perfect, even the most carefully designed question:

is subject to some measurement error

How many people were on Senator Joseph McCarthy's lists of the so-called communists in the state department?

it changed daily

Which of the following describes the distribution of those willing to call themselves Democrats or Republicans—that is, partisan identification—from 1952 through 2010?

it remained surprisingly stable

When politicians strategically give important information to the news media on the condition that its source not be identified by name, this is referred to as:

leak

Americans seem to support a wide range of economic and social policies that commonly are classified as:

liberal

Issue voting is:

made easier by party labels because the typical positions of Republicans and Democrats differ in predictable ways on many issues

In 1972, the Democratic candidate, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, displayed his ignorance rather than appreciation of Jewish culture when he ordered ______ to go with his kosher hot dog while campaigning in a Jewish neighborhood in Queens, New York.

milk

______—getting people to agree on an action in the absence of agreement on the purposes of the action—is what pluralist politics is all about, and it is as fundamental to electoral politics as it is to governing.

mobilizing

The United States holds ______ elections for more public offices than any other nation in the world.

more

Throughout U.S. history, party coalitions have shifted periodically in response to:

new national issues and conflicts

Political parties are:

not mentioned in the constitution

Prior to the 2012 election, more than a dozen states adopted a requirement that voters show a picture ID at the polls, which:

raised the cost of participation for poor and minority voters

Typically, ______ of voters tell pollsters that the two major parties do such a bad job that a third party is needed.

over one half

The best single predictor of how someone will vote in federal elections is:

party identification

The federal system offers powerful incentives for ______ to win and exercise political power.

political parties

Modern efforts to measure, shape, and exploit public opinion have spawned two linked industries:

scientific polling and public relations

Illustrating the power of bloggers, in 1998, ______ scooped Newsweek's Michael Isikoff by suggesting an inappropriate relationship existed between President Bill Clinton and a White House intern.

the Drudge Report

The women's suffrage movement grew directly out of:

the antislavery movement

______ was a sign put up by Bill Clinton's campaign manager in 1992 to keep focus on the campaign's most powerful message.

the economy, stupid

Thomas Jefferson explained to a friend: "The basis of our government being, the very first object should be to keep that right.":

the opinion of the people

T or F: When politicians participate in newsmaking, they usually have two audiences in mind:

the public and fellow politicians

People choose which leaders to follow and which messages to heed according to:

the values and beliefs they accumulate over a lifetime

T or F: Americans in recent years have been inclined to believe that public officials are crooked and that the government wastes tax money, cannot be trusted to do what is right, is run by a few big interests for their own benefit, and does not care about ordinary people.

true

T or F: Americans, renowned since Alexis de Tocqueville's day for their egalitarian social and political values, tolerate huge—and growing—differences in wealth and well-being among individuals and groups due to the lack of popular support for mandating equal outcomes.

true

T or F: Both newspapers and broadcast media cover the regular sources of important stories in a systematic fashion by permanently assigning reporters to certain venues, traditionally called beats.

true

T or F: Campaign messages are often chosen opportunistically, rather than thought out well in advance.

true

T or F: Elections create strong links between public opinion and government action in the United States.

true

T or F: For most people, basic political orientations, whether reflections of ideologies, a few core values, or simple party preferences, are quite resistant to change.

true

T or F: Fractious coalitions are a common thread running across all the different party systems over the course of U.S. history.

true

T or F: Franklin Roosevelt's first fireside chat saw such a large audience and the outpouring of support, it prompted him to deliver more national radio addresses.

true

T or F: If 45% of the respondents in a poll of 1,500 people say they approve of the president's job performance, chances are 19 in 20 that the interval from 42% to 48% (45% plus or minus 3 points) covers the actual level of approval throughout the whole U.S. population.

true

T or F: If they could, politicians and the media would exploit the other since each possesses (and would prefer not to surrender) something the other needs.

true

T or F: In Federalist 10, the purpose of the term "republic" is to emphasize the distinction between democracy as the 18th-century Americans saw it and the proposed new system.

true

T or F: In today's politics, primaries and caucuses effectively determine the parties' nominees.

true

T or F: Local TV news broadcasts are typically rated more positively in terms of believability than any other mainstream news outlet.

true

T or F: Many early observers of the presidential selection process expected the House to make the choice most of the time.

true

T or F: Most policy Domains are of concern only to issue publics, so it is usually their opinions, not mass opinion, that matter to politicians.

true

T or F: News producers, from journalism professors to corporate owners, fondly refer to themselves as occupying the "fourth branch of government."

true

T or F: One implication of the Electoral College is that the largest states do not necessarily see the most action.

true

T or F: Opinion leaders provide the cues that the rationally ignorant majority uses as shortcuts to forming its opinion.

true

T or F: Party entrepreneurs, for their part, have simply redesigned party organizations to operate more effectively in today's media-based electoral arena.

true

T or F: Party labels provide useful information for performance voting so voters can easily vote for the in-party when the voter thinks the government is doing well and vote for the out-party when the voter thinks the government is doing badly.

true

T or F: People's opinions on most political issues rely heavily on the cues and signals that the leaders of their preferred political party send to them.

true

T or F: Politicians pay close attention to group differences in polling data because they determine feasible coalition building strategies.

true

T or F: Poll taxes, literacy tests, the requirement that voters reregister, and Voter ID laws are all examples of legislative efforts to discourage some groups from voting.

true

T or F: President Obama and his Republican Congress are an example of divided government

true

T or F: Prior to scientific polling, members of Congress used to read the walls of bathrooms to understand how people felt about issues.

true

T or F: Public figures largely forfeit legal recourse to protect their reputation. Slander and libel do not apply here.

true

T or F: Regular, free, competitive elections guard the nation against the dangers that inevitably arise when citizens delegate authority to governments.

true

T or F: Republicans typically favor a smaller, cheaper federal government; they advocate lower taxes, less regulation of business, and lower spending on social welfare. They would be more generous only to the Defense Department.

true

T or F: Research suggests the most persuasive appeal to encourage turnout is a message that stresses the closeness of the election—and therefore increasing people's chances of being pivotal to the outcome.

true

T or F: Sarah Palin's use of twitter—rather than traditional campaign speeches—meant every tweet was covered extensively by the media.

true

T or F: The "good old days" can best be described as when the print journalists ruled the news and worked closely with politicians on the basis of mutual trust and profit.

true

T or F: The 2012 focus on the appropriate strategy for invigorating the economy and bringing down the deficit is an example of candidate's opportunistic choice of issues.

true

T or F: The Republicans' competitive status is threatened, however, by demographic trends. The Republican coalition includes a disproportionate share of White (87%), male, older, religiously active, and socially conservative people, all shrinking portions of the electorate.

true

T or F: The average politician has trouble getting his or her message to voters because he or she attracts too little news coverage and direct communication is far too expensive.

true

T or F: The basic necessities of any campaign are a candidate, a message, and a way to inform voters about both.

true

T or F: The chief reason for their longevity is that the institutions created by the Constitution make the payoffs for using parties—to candidates, voters, and elected officeholders—too attractive to forgo.

true

T or F: The fact that in 2008 Barack Obama's vote ran about 7 percentage points higher among women than among men is an example of the gender gap in politics.

true

T or F: The golden age of newspapers was so named because they held a monopoly over mass communication and were the only outlet for national political news.

true

T or F: The legality of political party activities are ensured by the first Amendment's guarantees of freedom to speak, write, and assemble.

true

T or F: The most famous leaker in American history was "Deep Throat," who continuously provided news reporters at the Washington Post leads for investigating the June 1972 break-in at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel.

true

T or F: The most recent expansion of voting rights—the Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971), which lowered the voting age of citizens to 18 years—also was a political move, one provoked by the Vietnam War.

true

T or F: The nomination process enables the parties to solve the coordination problem posed by competing presidential aspirants.

true

T or F: The object of the Federalist was to sway educated public opinion in favor of the Constitution.

true

T or F: The organization of modern Democrat and Republican parties can be depicted as pyramidal organization that function hierarchically.

true

T or F: The party system is one durable institutional by-product of political ambition pursued under American electoral rules.

true

T or F: The relationship between politicians and reporters is built on a tension between reciprocity and competition.

true

T or F: The superdelegates accounted for almost 20% of the votes at the 2008 Democratic Party's presidential nominating convention.

true

T or F: The threat of collective punishment by the voters gives the majority party a strong incentive to govern in ways that please voters.

true

T or F: The two-party system has been strengthened by laws that treat the parties as official components of the electoral machinery.

true

T or F: The typically low approval rating in Congress is an example of our cynicism about government.

true

T or F: To attract audience attention in the ever changing media environment, producers and editors will often package the news in more sensational ways.

true

T or F: To succeed, politicians should not worry about changing minds, but instead focus on framing the choice they are facing favorably.

true

T or F: Typically, half of Senate incumbents and 70-80% of House incumbents win by default because their opponents spend too little money to make a race of it.

true

T or F: Universal suffrage for White men was not fully achieved until the 1840s.

true

T or F: Voters who coalesce around causes such as gun control or gun rights are examples of single issue voters.

true

T or F: Voting, like any delegation of authority, raises the possibility of agency loss

true

T or F: When a government seeks to prevent the publication and dissemination of written and recorded speech, it is exercising prior restraint.

true

T or F: When issues have arisen that split the existing party coalitions in the United States, partisan identities weaken, and the party label may not provide the information voters want.

true

T or F: While minorities show distinct opinion and voting patterns, their views tend to reflect the group's economic status rather than particularly ethnic views.

true

T or F:The ultimate barrier to a more egalitarian campaign finance system is the First Amendment to the Constitution as it is currently interpreted by the Supreme Court.

true

In general, opinion on whether to take a tougher or more conciliatory approach to dealing with the Soviets varied:

with US perceptions of Soviet behavior