POS EXAM #2
Most people get to fake news from ______.
social media
Prominent public interest groups ______.
tend to grow when opponents run the government and shrink when sympathetic politicians are in power
Casting a vote is making a prediction about the future _________
that electing one particular candidate will produce a better outcome
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spearheaded demonstrations throughout the South through his organization, which was called ___________
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Which of the following is an example of an infotainment news program?
the daily show
In general, the more the government does, ______.
the more incentives it creates for organized political action
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
Which of the following was the rationale behind the Missouri Compromise of 1820?
the parties compromised so the balance in the Senate between free and slave states would be maintained
The National Automobile Dealers Association found itself exempt from oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) due to a successful lobbying strategy focusing on:
their role as an underdog, populist rhetoric, and wide distribution across the country
A system of proportional representation helps preserve smaller parties because votes for their candidates are not wasted
true
Affirmative action represents a policy that required employers and schools that had practiced past discrimination to compensate minorities (and subsequently, women) by giving them special consideration in hiring and school admissions.
true
Aggregate public opinion on abortion is both highly stable and acutely sensitive to how the issue is framed.
true
Civil rights are protections the government secures on behalf of its citizens.
true
For most people, basic political orientations, whether reflections of ideologies, a few core values, or simple party preferences, are quite resistant to change.
true
Madison, who recognized that people act most forcefully when they have a stake in the outcome, believed tyranny could best be avoided by empowering every faction to look out for its own interests.
true
Many early observers of the presidential selection process expected the House to make the choice most of the time.
true
Market competition has provided a collective good in offering more people easier access to a greater variety of news.
true
Organizations that rely on so called "moral incentives" for joining interest groups tend to grow when opponents run the government.
true
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
Politicians pay close attention to group differences in polling data because they determine feasible coalition-building strategies.
true
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
The Democratic administration's high-profile sponsorship of civil rights laws led to its emergence as a major campaign issue in the 1964 presidential election.
true
The Republicans' competitive status is threatened, however, by demographic trends. The Republican coalition includes a disproportionate share of White (86%), male, older, religiously active, and socially conservative people, all shrinking portions of the electorate.
true
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
The nomination process enables the parties to solve the coordination problem posed by competing presidential aspirants.
true
The relationship between politicians and reporters is built on a tension between reciprocity and competition.
true
The reservation of power to the states to determine voting eligibility and the fragmented constitutional system are two major obstacles faced by African Americans in securing civil rights.
true
The threat of collective punishment by the voters gives the majority party a strong incentive to govern in ways that please voters.
true
PAC contributions to candidates increased by close to ______% between 1974 and 1986:
200
Today, almost ______ of television households subscribe to cable or to satellite services.
78%
The commitment of northern Republicans to Reconstruction in the South waned after which of the following?
An economic recession led to many Republican losses in the 1874 election.
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
Most successful large organizations circumvent the collective action problem by offering selective incentives, which are benefits available to everyone regardless of membership in the group.
False
Politicians can never trust the information provided by a lobbyist, so the costs of doing business are very high.
False
Small groups are harder to organize because transaction costs are higher and free riding is more severe.
False
The Sons of Liberty were an early public interest group well known for their subversive activities, including the publication of the Federalist Papers.
False
The rise of public interest groups and the fragmentation of the interest group universe has increased concern about the role of iron triangles and captured agencies.
False
Which political party was committed to the abolition of slavery and attracted a former president to serve as its candidate when it won 10% of the popular vote?
Free Soll Party
Divided government ___________.
allows each party to block the other party's more extreme proposals and forces both to compromise when making policy
The franking privilege __________.
allows members of congress free access to the postal system for official correspondence
Other things being equal, the voting rates for men and women _________.
had been roughly equal for decades but women are now more likely to vote
Why did the Framers have such a pervasive fear of political parties?
historical experiences about the dangers that resulted from faction strife along with 18th century social beliefs cause fear
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
By the end of the 1960s, households with televisions outnumbered those with ___________
indoor plumbing
The rise of public interest groups and the fragmentation of the interest group universe, as well as the ability of legislators to learn from past mistakes, broke up the ______ made up of members of Congress, lobbyists, and regulatory agencies.
iron triangles
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
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
Before a rule or regulation can be adopted, the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 requires administrative agencies to:
publish the rule or regulation in the Federal Register and hold public hearings if anyone objects to it
The reaction to September 11 _____________.
recalled the internment of Japanese Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941
A republic differs from a democracy because _________.
republics delegate power to a smaller number of elected citizens and republics often have a greater number of citizens and a greater sphere of country
Elections allow ordinary citizens to, in aggregate, ________
reward or punish elected officials for their performance in office
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 ______.
shape and mobilize public opinion on behalf of their causes
Why are the personal characteristics of the candidates important to voters?
since much of what these agents do is out of public sight, these give clues about a candidate's personal values
Which Washington, DC, location has become synonymous with the lobbying firms that represent America's biggest and most powerful interests?
K Street
Which of the following statements regarding news in the colonial days is true?
The news took vast amounts of time and effort
Which of the following is true about opinion leaders?
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.
Members of Congress are in a much stronger position to influence PACs than PACs are to influence them.
True
When the National Rifle Association wants to prevent new restrictions on firearms, its members shower Congress with letters, e-mails, faxes, and phone calls supporting its position. This is an example of grassroots lobbying.
True
What party found its only presidential success by nominating a popular military hero without known political coloration and obscuring party divisions by not writing a party platform?
Whig party
A focus group is _____.
a group of voters who are observed as they discuss political candidates issues, and events
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 _____________.
a leak
The proliferation of alternative media gives viewers the opportunity ______.
all of these
Aggregate public opinion on abortion is __________
both highly stable and acutely sensitive to how the issue is framed
Civil rights in colonial times roughly amounted to protections against arbitrary action by the distant British Crown and can be thought of as ______.
civic rights
The "party of the electorate" refers to one part of a connected three-part system that is ____________
composed of those voters who identify with the party and regularly vote for its nominees
The history of Black civil rights depended on ______.
configuring politics to allow society's competing interests to check one another
What ideological label do we use to describe those who distrust government, have greater faith in private enterprise and free markets, and are more willing to use government to enforce traditional moral standards?
conservatives
The difference between de facto segregation and de jure segregation is that ______.
de facto segregation is not mandated by law; de jure segregation is mandated by law
The term party organization refers to one part of a connected three-part system that is ______.
dedicated to electing the party's candidates
The term civil rights ________________.
describes the protections of individual rights against arbitrary and abusive government action
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
Most scholarly research has found that political action committees:
exert, at most, only a modest effect on a legislators decisions
Most scholars who study public opinion believe that expressed opinions seldom represent underlying attitudes.
false
Regardless of religious affiliation, the more active people are in religious life, the less socially conservative they are likely to be.
false
The profusion of news across the spectrum of political ideology has resulted in a better-informed citizenry.
false
When politicians participate in news making, they usually have one or both of two audiences in mind- the public and _________
fellow politicians
"Pack journalism" refers to__________.
journalists repeating the same story because they talk to one another and validate each other's reporting
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 a ______.
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
Political parties are __________.
not mentioned in the Constitution
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 coalition politics than by principle
What are the main conduits of public opinion in a pluralist political system?
opinion leaders and issue publics
Every expansion of suffrage since the adoption of the constitution has had to which of the following?
overcome both philosophical objections and mundane calculations of political advantage
Modern-day civil rights struggles tend to be focused on _________.
preventing majorities from subjugating minority groups.
What is the term for when the news media affects the criteria with which we evaluate candidates or elected leaders?
priming
Interest group leaders and their constituents are involved in a(n) ______ relationship with all of the familiar problems and challenges such relationships pose.
principal-agent
