Unit 2
Because there is barely any time between the end of one campaign and the beginning of the next, some people have called the American electoral process __________.
"the permanent campaign"
In 2016, the amount an individual could legally contribute to a candidate's campaign was __________.
$2,700
How many U.S. states employ a winner-take-all presidential election system in which all their electors are awarded to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes statewide?
48
Donations to __________ do not have to be disclosed unless a donor gives money specifically for a political ad.
501c Groups
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
A 2010 landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures.
McGovern-Fraser Commission
A commission formed at the 1968 Democratic convention in response to demands for reform by minority groups and others who sought better representation.
lobbying
A communication by someone other than a citizen acting on his or her own behalf, directed to a governmental decision maker with the hope of influencing his or her decision.
Census
A complete enumeration of a population, required by Constitution every 10 years
Protest
A form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics.
Civil disobedience
A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be unjust and to suffer the consequences.
Based on the graph, which of the following statements about campaign contributions made by corporate PACs to candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives is true?
A majority of corporate PAC contributions to House candidates go to the candidates of the majority party.
direct mail
A method of raising money for a political cause or candidate, in which information and requests for money are sent to people whose names appear on lists of those who have supported similar views or candidates in the past.
How are critical elections and party realignments interrelated?
A party realignment occurs before one or more critical elections and may be characterized by gradual or dramatic change
union shop
A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as a condition of employment.
Sample
A relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole.
voter registration
A system adopted by the states that requires voters to register prior to voting. Some 30 days, a few permit Election day registration.
caucus
A system for selecting convention delegates used in about a dozen states in which voters must attend an open meeting to express their presidential preference.
Random-digit dialing
A technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey.
Gender gap
A term that refers to the regular pattern by which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates. Women tend to be significantly less conservative than men and are more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending.
hyperpluralism
A theory of American democracy arguing that a wide variety of interest groups have become empowered with the ability to veto policy change, thereby leading to regular gridlock in Washington and policies that are contradictory and lacking in direction
Elitism
A theory of american democracy contending that an upper-class elite will hold most of the power and thus in effect run the government.
pluralism
A theory of american democracy that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group.
The 2012 election was the first time that __________ voted at a higher rather than_________________.
African Americans, non-Hispanic whites
Political participation
All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue
potential group
All the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest.
Which of the following does the information in the graph suggest?
Americans are more likely to work in their communities than discuss politics.
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of Baker v. Carr and Shaw v. Reno? A) B - courts not involved in drawing districts; S - courts may be involved B) B - one person, one vote; S - Racial Gerrymandering C) B - unanimous; S - overturns Baker D) B - based on freedom of assembly; S - based on 14th's right to privacy
B) B - one person, one vote; S - Racial Gerrymandering
Which of the following was one of the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act?
Candidates for Congress must contribute at least 10 percent of their net worth to the campaign.
How does lower voter turnout among young citizens affect the composition of those who show up at the polls?
Conservatives are overrepresented at the polls.
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of Democrats and Republicans?
D) democrats focus on state elections, republicans focus on national elections
What is one of the reasons that interest groups have proliferated over the past half century?
Developments in technology made interest group activities easier.
Electioneering
Direct group involvement in the electoral process, for example, by helping to fund campaigns, getting members to work for candidates, and forming political action committees.
Why are people with higher-than-average education more likely to vote?
Education enables voters to calculate the probability that their vote will decide the election.
presidential primaries
Elections in which a state's voters go to the polls to express their preference for a party's nominee for president. Most delegates to the national party conventions are chosen this way.
media events
Events that are purposely staged for the media and that are significant just because the media are there.
independent expenditures
Expenses on behalf of a political message that are made by groups that are uncoordinated with any candidate's campaign.
In 1934, Congress created which body to regulate the use of the airwaves?
Federal Communications Commission
free-rider problem
For an interest group, the fact that some or many potential group members will not join because they can benefit from the group's activities without joining. The larger a potential group, the less likely people are to join.
Based on the graph which cable news channel has the clearest ideological appeal? (same graph as above)
Fox
Which president practically invented media politics?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
A major party realignment occurred during the initial election of President __________.
Franklin Roosevelt
Based on the graph, in which of the following countries are people most likely to politically associate?
Germany
Which of the following viewpoints is more likely to be held by a political liberal than by a political conservative?
Government should regulate the economy in the public interest.
501(c) groups
Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions and can receive unlimited contributions. Section 501c of the tax code specifies that such groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities.
single-issue groups
Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and single-mindedly pursue their goals. Often draw membership from people new to politics.
Candidates for Congress must contribute at least 10 percent of their net worth to the campaign.
House of Representatives
super PACs
Independent expenditure-only PACs, they may accept donations of any size and can endorse candidates. Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC. Created after Citizens United SC decision
527 groups
Independent political groups that are not subject to contribution restrictions because they do not directly seek the election of particular candidates. Section 527 of the tax code specifies that contributions to such groups must be reported to the IRS.
Who are most likely to engage in ticket splitting?
Independents
Based on the map which state had the largest number of campaign events?
Iowa
Which of the following documents expressed similar ideas to Thoreau's? (Civil Disobedience, 1849 included)
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Why are campaign contributions so important for interest groups seeking to influence government?
Members of Congress are better listeners when hearing from interests that financially supported their campaign.
Melting pot
Mixing of cultures, ideas, and peoples; often used to characterize the United States
Based on the graph how has party identification changed from 1952 to 2016?
More people identified as independents than with either party in 2016
Superdelegates
National party leaders who automatically get a delegate slot at the Democratic national party convention based on an office they already hold
According to exit poll data, which of the following group's members were most likely to vote for Donald Trump in 2016?
Non-Hispanic whites
Which statement best describes the functioning of party machines in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
Parties provided patronage jobs to loyal supporters, especially in urban areas
Based on the graph, which of the following was most financially invested in lobbying from 2009-2015? (graph)
Pharmaceuticals
soft money
Political contributions earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising. For a time, such contributions were unlimited, until they were banned by the McCain-Feingold Act.
Lobbyist
Political persuaders who represent organized groups
Political socialization
Process through which people acquire political attitudes and views from influences in their life (such as family, schools, media, etc.)
Exit Poll
Public opinion surveys used by media to predict electoral winners
__________ is the tendency for viewers to seek news that aligns with their existing ideas.
Selective exposure
sound bites
Short video clips of approximately 10 seconds, typically all that's shown from a politician's speech on the nightly television news.
The New Deal coalition fell apart after nearly four decades of political control with the movement of __________ from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
Southern conservatives
right-to-work laws
State laws that forbid the creation of union shops.
mass media
Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication.
Which of the following helps to explain why voter turnout is lower in the United States than in other democracies?
The United States hold elections midweek.
civic duty
The belief that in order to support democratic government, a citizen should vote.
political efficacy
The belief that one's political participation really matters - that one's vote can actually make a difference
linkage institution
The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda
mandate theory of elections
The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do.
policy agenda
The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time.
Sampling Error
The level of confidence in the findings of a public opinion poll. The more accurate the sample, the more confident one can be of the results.
Which of the following is a consequence of the rise of television broadcasting?
The news consumed by the American public is more entertaining than educational.
Which of the following is a potential danger associated with open primaries?
The other party can "raid" the primary to vote for the least viable candidate.
actual group
The people in the potential group who actually join.
invisible primary
The period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elite of the party and to create a positive first impression of their leadership skills.
frontloading
The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.
Minority majority
The situation, likely beginning in the mid-twenty-first century, in which the non-Hispanic whites will represent a minority of the U.S. population and minority groups together will represent a majority.
Why do presidential candidates tend to focus their efforts on battleground states?
The winner-take-all system makes battleground states more relevant to a campaign.
What important role do third parties play in American democracy?
They bring new voters into the electorate.
Which of the following was among George Washington's warnings about parties? (George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796)
They make the government weaker and encourage hostility
Based on the graph, in which of the following countries is voter turnout lowest?
United States
In which of the following countries is voter turnout lowest?
United States
Which of the following is true about states with caucuses?
Voters attend open meetings where they express their presidential preferences.
ticket splitting
Voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices
Based on the graph which of the following groups is most likley to vote Republican
White Evangelicals
Why do winning candidates claim a mandate even though political scientists generally discredit the mandate theory of elections?
Winning candidates want to justify their policy proposals by claiming that the public supports them.
Which of the following is a consequence of the trend evident in the graph? (three different news networks, shows percentage for consistently conservative/liberal and mixed)
Young adults are less likely than other age groups to use newspapers and broadcast media as news and information sources.
motor voter act
a 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for a drivers license
Citizens United v. FEC
a 2010 Supreme Court case that ruled that individuals, corporations and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures
Which group is more likely to vote?
a college degree holders
Which of these is an electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party may be displaced by the minority party?
a critical election
electoral college
a feature of the US Constitution that provides for the selection of the president by electors chosen by the state parties
What is an iron triangle?
a form of subgovernment, composed of leaders of interest groups, government agencies, and legislative committees
coalition
a group of individuals with a common interest on which every political party depends
What is a public interest lobby?
a group that believes it is working to benefit society as a whole
Which of the following is a possible effect of declining trust in government?
a lack of public support for government programs
Federal Election Campaign Act
a law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances, providing for limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions
Federal Election Campaign Act
a law passed in 1974 for reforming campaign finances, providing for limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions, must disclose who's contributed money to the campaign and how the funds have been spent
What is an event called that is purposely staged for the media and that is significant just because the media are there?
a media event
Random sampling
a method of poll selection that gives each person in a group the same chance of being selected
Political ideology
a more or less consistent set of beliefs about politics and public policy
Of the following people, who is most likely to participate in a presidential caucus?
a party activist
party platform
a political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
a six-member bipartisan agency created by the FECA to administer and enforce campaign finance laws
party machines
a type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements to win votes and to govern
What do right-to-work laws uphold?
a worker's freedom to decline the opportunity to join a union
What are Political Action Committees (PACs) seeking when they give campaign contributions?
access to the officeholder
The responsible party model implies that parties should __________.
adhere to the party platform
Increasing public attention to specific problems is a core feature of the media's __________ power.
agenda-setting
critical election
an electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party
winner-take-all system
an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies
Party dealignment is associated with __________.
an increase in divided government
trial baloons
an intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction
What is a Political Action Committee (PAC)?
an organization that solicits campaign contributions from like-minded individuals and distributes them to political candidates
Political culture
an overall set of values widely shared within a society
patronage
awarding jobs, promotions, or contracts based on political reasons and favors rather than for merit or competence alone
Which states should a presidential campaign focus on in the general election?
battleground states
What are the specific locations from which news frequently emanates called?
beats
Generally speaking, Political Action Committee (PAC) and Super PAC contributions have __________.
become increasingly important in congressional elections
How do interest groups lobby the courts?
by bringing lawsuits to the courts on behalf of classes of citizens
How did James Madison propose to overcome the problem of factions in Federalist No. 10?
by expanding their sphere of participation
How did James Madison propose to overcome the problems he addressed in Federalist No. 10? (passage included)
by expanding their sphere of participation
Which of the following is a typical way for lobbyists to seek to influence members of Congress?
by providing specialized expertise
Based on the graph how do candidate sound bites in the USA compare to other nations?
candidate sound bites are shorter in the USA than other nations
Based on the graph which group of people demonstrates the highest level of internet usage?
college graduates
What is lobbying?
communication as a representative of a group with government officials to persuade them to support a particular policy
How might lower voter turnout among young citizens affect the composition of those who show up at the polls?
conservatives are over represented at the polls
Of the following, in which form of participation were Americans most likely to engage in 2014? (graph included)
contacting government officials
Which is a consequence of hyperpluralism?
contradictory and confusing policies
"A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away" -Barry M. Goldwater Which of the following governmental policies would the author most likely support?
deregulation and privatization of industry
campaign contributions
donations that are made directly to a candidate or a party and that must be reported to the FEC
Research suggests that the overriding bias in the news is one toward stories that __________.
draw the largest audience
When can a party change its platform?
during its national party convention
closed primaries
elections to select party nominees in which only people who have registered in advance with the party can vote for that party's candidates
open primaries
elections to select party nominees in which voters can decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests
policy voting
electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters' policy preferences and on the basis of where the candidates stand on policy issues
The Founders created the Electoral College because they wanted the president to be selected by __________.
elites
James Madison described how a government could be designed to control the effects of __________.
factions
When a case that an interest group is interested in comes before the Supreme Court, the group can __________.
file an amicus curiae brief in support of one side of the case
Which of the following is the purpose of this, and other, party platforms? (Democratic Party Platform, 1932)
formulate, convey, and promote policies
The __________ problem occurs when people fail to join a group because they can get the benefits the group offers without contributing to the group's efforts.
free-rider
selective benefits
goods that a group can restrict to only those who actually join, helps solve free-rider problem
Political Action Committee (PAC)
groups that raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to candidates that the group supports
party eras
historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections
Which of the following argue that the formation of so many influential interest groups has made it increasingly difficult to accomplish major policy change in Washington?
hyperpluralists
According to Washington, how might parties endanger America? (George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796)
increased foreign influence
In which of the following might Political Action Committees (PACs) invest their contributions in order to maximize their political influence?
incumbents
A(n) __________ refers to an organization of people with shared policy goals entering the policy process at several points to try to achieve those goals.
interest group
The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders, is referred to as __________ journalism.
investigative
The media act as a __________ between the people and policymakers
key linkage institution
The Electoral College introduces a bias into the campaign and electoral process because __________.
less populated states are over represented
As technology has enabled the media to pass along information with greater speed, news coverage has become __________.
less thorough
Which of the following was a goal of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974? (Federal Election Campaign Act, 1974)
limit the corrupting influence of money in politics
The primary interest of privately owned media is __________.
making a profit
Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other forms of communication are collectively referred to as the __________.
mass media
Narrowcasting
media programming on cable TV or the internet that is focused on a particular interest and aimed at a particular audience, in contrast to broadcasting
press conference
meetings of public officials with reporters
One impact of the Internet on political campaigns is that __________.
more people are making small political donations
iron triangles (subgovernments)
mutually advantageous relationships between interest groups, government agencies, and congressional committees. All have the same goal of protecting their own interests
The Democratic and Republican candidates for president are formally nominated at the __________.
national party conventions
A core function of political parties is __________.
nominating candidates
national committee
one of the institutions that keeps the party operating between conventions which is composed of representatives from the states and territories
interest group
organization of people with a similar policy goal, enter the policy process at one or more points
public interest lobbies
organizations that seek a collective good which does not only benefit their membership but society as a whole
To determine if families with children would use school vouchers to send their children to charter schools, from which of the following populations should you select a sample?
parents of children under age 18
selective perception
people paying the most attention to things they already agree with and interpreting events according to their own predispositions
The __________ is the official statement of a political party's policy alternatives.
platform
The issues that attract serious attention from public officials and other people actively involved in politics at the time collectively make the __________ agenda.
policy
Civil rights activists in the 1960s used the media to show Americans the injustice of the treatment of minorities, successfully placing the civil rights issue onto the __________.
policy agenda
Which of the following raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to political candidates?
political action committees (PACs)
What best explains the demise of party machines?
progressive reforms that instituted a merit-based hiring system
European democracies have more parties in positions of political power than does the United States because of their use of __________.
proportional representation
What is the main goal of each of the three elements of an iron triangle?
protecting their self-interests
What technique is the key to the accuracy of public opinion polls?
random sampling
In democracies, the primary interest of publicly owned media is __________.
serving the public interest
Prior to being banned in 2002 by the McCain-Feingold Act, unlimited monetary contributions that were earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising were known as __________.
soft money
collective good
something of value (ex. clean air) that cannot be withheld from any potential group member
Politicians and journalists have a(n) __________ relationship: Politicians rely on journalists to get out their message, and journalists rely on politicians to keep them in the know.
symbiotic
Which of these would a major TV network be least likely to show for very long?
talking heads discussing a major news event
Which of the following is an example of a single-issue interest group?
the National Abortion Rights Action League.
Based on the results shown in the table, which candidate won the election?
the Republican Party candidate (they won the electoral vote but not the popular vote)
The cozy relationship between politicians and the press in the twentieth century lasted until when?
the Vietnam War and Watergate
Thomas Patterson's careful analysis of campaign reporting has shown that since 1960, its emphasis has changed dramatically from __________.
the candidates' policy statements to the campaign as a horse race
party realignment
the displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period
Public opinion
the distribution of the population's beliefs about politics and policy issues
party de-alignment
the gradual disengagement of people from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification
party polarization
the growing gap between the stands of the parties on policy issues
battleground states
the key states that the presidential campaigns focus on because they are most likely to decide the outcome of the Electoral College vote.
campaign strategy
the master game plan candidates lay out to guide their electoral campaign
national convention
the meeting of party delegates every four years to choose a presidential ticket and write the party's platform
nomination
the official endorsement of a candidate for office by a political party
Who runs the national party organizations between conventions?
the party's national committee
national chairperson
the person responsible for running the ongoing activities of the national party organization
Why does the United States have a relatively restrained scope of government compared to most European nations?
the predominance of conservatives in the United States
Reapportionment
the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census
Which of the following accurately describes the cartoonist's message?
the rise of the Internet led to the decline of the newspaper industry
Demography
the science of population changes and characteristics
Which of the following is true of the maps above?
the size and shape of the districts is different in each
investigative journalism
the use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes, at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders
What does Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential election bid illustrate regarding the role of third parties?
third parties' potential to affect the outcome of the election
In 1960, one newspaper was sold for every two adults; by 2014, one paper was sold for every __________.
three adults
Which of the following circumstances did Thoreau believe that civil disobedience was justifiable? (Civil Disobedience, 1849 included)
to fight injustice
An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction it generates is called a(n) __________.
trial balloon
Public officials often leak __________ to reporters to see what the political reaction will be
trial balloons
Part of Anthony Downs's rational-choice model is that __________.
voters want to maximize the chance that their preferred policies will be adopted by government
A floating voter is someone who __________.
votes based on the candidates and not party loyalty
What is the most basic task of a political party?
winning elections
Of the following, who is most likely to split their ticket?
younger voters
