Test II

What is a poll tax? a tax that states impose on all citizens in order to pay for public opinion research -a fee that political parties charge people who want to become members and vote in their elections -a tax imposed by state governments for those registering to vote -a tax women had to pay if they wanted to vote in the nineteenth century -a tax the federal government charged to state governments in order to pay for the costs of running a federal election.

-a tax imposed by state governments for those registering to vote

Early presidential primaries and caucuses are more important because -they allocate more than 85 percent of all delegates in the nomination process. -they encourage more candidates to run for the nomination in later primaries and caucuses. -they determine who the vice presidential nominee will be. -they can help a candidate secure media attention and financial support. -they are held in the largest, most populated states.

-they can help a candidate secure media attention and financial support.

The Constitution was amended to allow women to vote during all public elections in 1870. 1885. 1920. 1948. 1965.

1920

The Constitution was amended in ______ to give eighteen-year-olds the right to vote. 1900 1920 1942 1971 1994

1971

If George W. Bush won the plurality of votes in Texas during the 2000 election, and Texas had thirty representatives in the House of Representatives, how many electoral votes from Texas did Bush win? 0 30 32 44 50

32

Approximately how many members does AARP have? 3,800 38,000 338,000 3,800,000 38,000,000

38,000,000 (38 million)

A majority system, which is used on a limited basis in the United States, requires that a candidate must win ______ to win an election. at least 25 percent of all votes cast at least 33 percent of all votes cast at least 40 percent of all votes cast 50 percent plus one of all votes cast at least 60 percent of all votes cast, plus a percentage of absentee ballots.

50 percent plus one of all votes cast

On average, more women vote for ______ candidates, and more men vote for ______ candidates. Republican; Republican Republican; Democratic Democratic; Republican Democratic; Democratic Independent; Independent

Democratic; Republican

Since the 1930s, African Americans have identified as Republicans. Democrats. nonpartisan. Independents. Greens.

Democrats

What bloc of voters has recently been called "the sleeping giant"? African Americans Latinos Asian Americans middle-class whites upper-class whites

LAtinos

From the end of the Civil War to the 1890s, the ______ Party was the party of the North, while the ______ Party was the party of the South. Democratic; Republican Republican; Democratic Federalist; Whig Whig; Federalist Socialist; Republican

Republican; Democratic

In contemporary American politics, solid support for the Republican Party comes from the South and Mountain West. South, Northeast, and Midwest. Northeast, Midwest, and West. Northeast, Midwest, and Southwest. Northeast and South.

South and Mountain West.

An iron triangle is made up of an alliance between a legislative committee, an executive agency, and the federal courts. the federal courts, the state courts, and interest groups. a legislative committee, an interest group, and an executive agency. an interest group, an executive agency, and the media. the media, a legislative committee, and the federal courts.

a legislative committee, an interest group, and an executive agency.

Lobbying is -an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting indirect pressure, through advertisements and media coverage, on members of Congress or a state legislature. -an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of Congress or a state legislature. -an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting indirect pressure, through phone calls or e-mails, on members of Congress or a state legislature. -the act of working on a re-election campaign. -making illegal campaign contributions to government officials.

an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of Congress or a state legislature.

A political party is an organization that influences the government through fund-raising. an organization established by the Constitution to nominate candidates. an organization that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office. an organization that was considered seditious until the twentieth century. an organization that collects fees from its members in order to pay the salaries of government officials.

an organization that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office.

The "Tea Party movement" is an official third party that challenges both Democrats and Republicans in national elections. an organized challenge to incumbents in the Republican Party by the most conservative wing of the Republican Party. an organized challenge to incumbents in the Democratic Party by the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party. an offspring of the Green Party that runs for state and local office in many midwestern states. the now defunct party that gave way to the Republican Party at the end of the "Second Party System."

an organized challenge to incumbents in the Republican Party by the most conservative wing of the Republican Party.

A______ is a closed meeting of a political group's members who gather to determine strategy and select candidates. convention caucus party district primary

caucus

A benefit that is sought by an interest group and that once achieved cannot be denied to nonmembers is called a free rider. collective good. right. solidary benefit. purposive benefit.

collevtive good

Strong parties may provide an important link between government and interest groups. money. churches. democratic participation. the media.

democratic participation

If one enjoys the benefits of a group's collective efforts but did not contribute to those efforts, one is called a citizen. subject. free rider. lobbyist. political activist.

free rider

The practice of ______ means that district boundaries have been purposefully drawn to unfairly advantage one group or party. proportional representation gerrymandering balloting incumbency recall

gerrymandering

It is likely that eliminating state-level voter registration laws will decrease voter turnout among younger people. decrease voter turnout among older people. decrease voter turnout among all voters. increase voter turnout among younger people. have no effect on voter turnout among any group.

increase voter turnout among younger people.

Accidental mobilization occurs when people are mistakenly contacted by a political party on Election Day. individuals are exposed to political information that they did not explicitly seek out. a candidate makes a verbal gaffe that leads new groups of people to vote in an election. turnout in a midterm congressional election is much higher than analysts predict. interest groups, rather than political parties, mobilize the majority of voters in an election.

individuals are exposed to political information that they did not explicitly seek out.

The best description of the ideal of pluralism is that the public good should always trump individual interests. interests should be free to compete with each other for governmental influence. interest groups are factions that endanger liberty. democracy is best served by legalizing but regulating the influence of interest groups. interest groups are factions that endanger political and economic equality.

interests should be free to compete with each other for governmental influence.

State and local party organizations do all of the following except raise funds for candidates. conduct voter registration drives. litigate against unfavorable policies. recruit candidates for office. conduct get-out-the-vote drives.

litigate against unfavorable policies.

Compared with Western Europe, the United States has a(n)______ turnout in elections. higher lower roughly equivalent noncomparable unstudied

lower

During midterm elections, voters are voting for federal judges. members of Congress. the president. the secretary of state. national-level referendums.

members of congress.

Political ______ is the process in which large numbers of people are organized for political action. socialization mobilization saliency citizenship efficacy

mobilization

An example of the phenomenon called the gender gap would be that more women than men vote for Democrats. more women than men vote for Republicans. more men than women turn out to vote. in families, it is usually women who determine how the family votes. more men than women have had their ballots invalidated.

more women than men vote for Democrats.

The Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, mandated that states were forbidden to impose poll taxes. no state could prevent the right to vote on account of race. no state could deny the right to vote on account of gender. no state could deny the right to vote on account of property requirements. literacy tests were forbidden in federal elections.

no state could prevent the right to vote on account of race.

Approximately ______ of eligible voters turn out for midterm congressional elections. one-tenth one-third half three-fifths three-fourths

one-third

During the nineteenth century, party machines depended heavily on ______ in order to reward loyal party supporters. 527 committees patronage soft money caucuses hard money

patronage

If the winner of an election is whoever receives the most votes, regardless of the percentage of votes received, the candidates are running under a ______ system. majority plurality proportionality unitary primary

plurality

Interest groups are concerned with the ______ of government, while political parties are concerned with the ______ of government. values; goals membership; authority policies; personnel lawfulness; political feasibility legitimacy; power

policies; personnel

Private groups that raise and distribute funds for election campaigns are called political parties. political action committees (PACs). political consulting firms. executive agencies.

political action committees (PACs).

One reason that America has such low levels of political involvement and voter turnout is that political parties are too strong to allow for public involvement in the political process. political parties are not strong enough to function effectively. there are too many political parties for Americans to choose from. political parties do not exert any influence over elected officials. the major political parties are too similar on most issues to provide effective choices for voters.

political parties are not strong enough to function effectively.

In order for a political party to select a candidate to run in the general election, it holds a primary election. referendum. midterm election. franchise vote. exploratory committee.

primary election

Campaign consultants do all of the following except conduct public opinion polls. organize direct mailings. develop the issues on which the candidate will focus. produce television commercials. print ballots for the election.

print ballots for the election.

Most European nations employ what system of elections? majority plurality proportional representation open primary closed primary

proportional representation

Political scientists call voters' choices that focus on future behavior ______, while those based on past performances are called ______. prospective voting; retrospective voting retrospective voting; prospective voting partisan voting; issue voting issue voting; partisan voting issue voting; prospective voting

prospective voting; retrospective voting

State ballot access laws, such as registration fees and petition requirements, have the effect of -increasing the number of people who are willing to vote for third-party candidates. -reducing the number of people who are willing to vote for third-party candidates. -reducing the number of third-party and independent candidates who can run for office. -increasing the number of third-party and independent candidates who can run for office. -decreasing the importance of soft money in election campaigns.

reducing the number of third-party and independent candidates who can run for office.

If a citizen votes for a candidate because he or she approves of the candidate's past record, it is called prospective voting. retrospective voting. poll testing. ticket splitting. recall voting.

retrospective voting.

One important cause of the United States' two-party system is the Constitution's requirement for bipartisanship in Congress. single-member electoral districts. multimember electoral districts. proportional representation. internal mobilization.

single member electoral districts

How many party systems has the United States had since 1789? two six twelve twenty-four forty-three

six

If you voted for a Republican for president and a Democrat for senator, you engaged in a referendum. an open primary. split-ticket voting. the coattail effect. a closed primary.

split ticket voting

A runoff election is likely to occur when there are only two candidates running in the election. there are more than two candidates running in the election. there is only one candidate running in the election. turnout in the election is very high. turnout in the election is very low.

there are more than two candidates running in the election.

It is difficult for political scientists to categorize unrepresented interests because there are no constitutional means for unorganized interests to compete for attention. there are no organizations that can present their identities and demands. there are no measurements of interests and needs outside of representation. there are no legitimate interests that do not already have representation. these interests often want to stay hidden from public view.

there are no organizations that can present their identities and demands.

Nonelectoral forms of participation usually require more ______ than voting. time, money, and effort knowledge, passion, and cynicism information, trust, and strategic thinking economic security, perseverance, and alienation intelligence, pessimism, and mobilization

time, money, and effort

The United States began its tradition of the ______ during the early eighteenth century. single-party mandate two-party system multiparty system proportional representation 527 committees

two-party system

Historically, realignments occur when new issues combine with economic or political crises to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties. approximately every ten years. when Congress approves of them. after midterm congressional elections but not after presidential elections. only when the Constitution is amended.

when new issues combine with economic or political crises to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties.