American Gov't Exam 2 Review
Which of the following amendments combined the vote for president and vice president into one ballot, with the person running for each office named?
12th
Which of the following amendments extended voting rights to African American males?
15th
Which of the following amendments lowered the voting age to 18?
26th
A lobbyist from the NRA (National Rifle Association) meeting with a member of Congress to discuss firearms legislation is an example of which of the following?
A direct technique
If a lobbyist is trying to convince a legislator to support a particular bill, one of the most valuable resources in doing so is which of the following?
A large, politically active membership
National Committee Chair
A new president can select the national committee chair; in the case of the presidential "out" party, the national committee itself elects the party chair. The national committee is responsible for running the party's presidential nominating convention every four years
Today, how many electoral votes does each state get?
A number equal to the state's number of House and Senate members
In most states, the slate of electors is chosen by which of the following?
A plurality of votes
Closed Primary
A primary in which only registered members of a particular political party can vote
Some political scientists, including E. E. Schattschneider, believe that the sometimes narrow focus of interest groups is which of the following?
A threat to democracy
Which of the following best describes the American electoral system?
A winner-take-all, or plurality, system
In 1831, which of the following political theorists observed that Americans like to form groups and join associations as a way of participating in community and political life?
Alexis de Tocqueville
Which of the following best describes the impact the 2010 Citizens United decision has had on the political campaign process?
Allowing corporate entities to contribute unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates
The first political parties in the United States, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, had opposing views related to which of the following?
Amount of power that should be granted to the national government
Proportional Representation
An electoral system that assigns party delegates according to vote share in a presidential primary election or that assigns seats in the legislature according to vote share in a general election.
If a group of people supporting housing equity organized themselves and attempted to affect policymakers, they would have formed which of the following?
An interest group
What do we call someone who organizes citizens into a formal group that agrees on a united purpose and then takes a leadership role in directing the group's activities?
An interest group entrepreneur
What is the job performance evaluation for the president, Congress, or other public official or institution that is generated by public opinion polls and typically reported as a percentage called?
Approval rating
Political Party
Broad coalitions of interests organized to win elections in order to enact a commonly supported set of public policies
What types of interest groups are defined as economic interest groups?
Business, labor, and professional groups
Which method of delegate selection begins with local meetings and culminates in a state convention?
Caucus method
Why do cell phones present a problem for pollsters?
Cell phone owners increasingly do not have landlines
Beginning with the 2010 election, corporations were free to run ads directly advocating a candidate's election for the first time since 1907 when Congress first banned using general corporate funds in federal election campaigns. This occurred based on which 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision?
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Which of the following is a reason that Australia has a higher voter turnout than the United States?
Compulsory votin
Which of the following best describes concerns about concentrated media ownership?
Concentration could lead to a decline in the democratic debate, and media owners might steer the national agenda.
Generating public pressure and awareness may do which of the following?
Convince policymakers that public opinion overwhelmingly supports the interest group's position
After winning office in 1828, Andrew Jackson shortened the name of his party to what, signaling that it was a new kind of political party organization?
Democratic Party
From 1832 to 1856, which two parties dominated American politics and presidential elections?
Democrats and Whigs
Where did citizens not receive the right to vote in presidential elections until 1961?
District of Columbia
Party Platform
Document that lays out a party's core beliefs and policy proposals for each presidential election
The most numerous types of interest groups in the United States are which of the following?
Economic interest groups
What is the extent to which people believe their actions affect the course of government called?
Efficacy
The Constitution spells out in some detail the workings of which institution that chooses the president?
Electoral college
The winner-take-all principle can be observed in the United States when which of the following selects the president and the vice president?
Electoral college
single-member plurality system
Electoral system that assigns one seat in a legislative body to represent citizens who live in a defined area (a district) based on which candidate wins the most votes.
The formal selection of the president of the United States is in the hands of which of the following?
Electors in the electoral college
The 1996 Telecommunications Act did which of the following?
Ended a rule prohibiting telephone companies from entering the cable business
Which of the following refers to the principle of randomness in public opinion polling?
Every individual has a known and equal chance of being sampled.
A random sample refers to which of the following?
Every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected.
We elect the president via 50 state elections combined into the electoral college; thus, presidential elections are best described as which of the following?
Federal
Which of the following amendments to the Constitution protects the freedom of the press?
First
When state legislatures redraw district lines in order to benefit one political party over another, it is called what?
Gerrymandering
Party Caucus
Group of party members in a legislature who consistently vote for their party
In general, which of the following factors contributes to higher voting rates?
Higher education level
Members of the electoral college selected by each state equal the number of what?
House members plus senators
Which of the following statements regarding the existence of interest groups is true?
Interest groups can be problematic for democracy because members of the middle or upper classes often dominate them.
What most distinguishes political parties from interest groups like the AFL-CIO and the National Association of Manufacturers?
Interest groups do not nominate candidates to run as their avowed representatives
When a newspaper staff decides to put a news story about a senatorial race on the front page while putting an article about a local firefighter on page 7 of the paper, it is engaging in which of the following functions of the news?
Interpreting
When reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein researched and revealed information about the Watergate scandal, they demonstrated which of the following media roles?
Investigating
The relationship among interest groups, members of Congress, and federal agencies is referred to as which of the following?
Iron triangle
What was the effect of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment that enfranchised 18- to 20-year-olds?
It reduced the national voter turnout rate.
Which of the following describes the formation of the modern Republican Party?
It was formed from a coalition of antislavery factions.
The first televised presidential debate was between which of the following?
Kennedy and Nixon in 1960
The generational effect refers to which of the following?
Long-lasting impact of significant events of a particular time on the generation that came of age at that time
Characteristics frequently associated with nonvoters include which of the following?
Low education, low income, and being relatively young
Individuals often rely on cues and instincts to make decisions, rather than on an analysis of detailed information. Scholars have termed such thinking as which of the following?
Low information rationality
In Oregon, everyone votes by which of the following methods?
Which of the following refers to news sources such as newspapers, television, radio, and the Internet that provide a large audience with information about the nation and the world?
Mass Media
Someone joining an interest group because they want benefits such as emergency assistance or discounts is joining for which of the following reasons?
Material incentives
In order to ensure victory in general elections, candidates revise their message to attract moderate voters. This is an example which of the following?
Median voter theorem
The task of planning the next campaign and convention, obtaining financial contributions, and publicizing the national party belongs to which of the following?
National chairperson
What is at the top of the party organization with its members chosen by each state party organization?
National committees
A political party is a group of individuals who do which of the following?
Organize to win elections and operate the government
The psychological attachment that a person feels to a political party is called what?
Party Identification
When voters identify with a political party in repeated elections, it is referred to as which of the following?
Party alignment
A centralized organization that dominated local politics by controlling elections, sometimes by illegal means, is known as which of the following?
Party machine
Which of the following lays out the party's core beliefs and policy proposals?
Party platform
The free-rider problem increases the difficulty of attracting which of the following?
Paying members
Which of the following is not usually considered to be a part of the media?
Personal correspondence
Which of the following views sees a democratic society as one in which interest groups compete over policy goals and elected officials are mediators of group conflict?
Pluralist
A condition in which differences between parties and/or the public are so stark that disagreement breaks out, fueling attacks and controversy, is known as which of the following?
Polarization
Groups specially formed to raise and contribute funds to support electoral candidates and that are subject to campaign finance laws are known as which of the following?
Political action committees
Which of the following occurs in a proportional representation electoral system?
Political parties win seats in a legislature based on the proportion of the vote they receive.
Which of the following is a group of individuals who join together to choose candidates for elected office, whether by informal group voting or a formal nominating process?
Political party
The process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes is called what?
Political socialization
patronage system
Political system in which government programs and benefits are awarded based on political loyalty to a party or politician.
Some argue that the interest group system is most likely to leave out which of the following groups?
Poor American
Which of the following is a preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for office?
Primary
semiclosed primary
Primary election in which party-affiliated voters cast votes and nonaffiliated voters can choose which party's primary to vote in.
Which of the following qualifications for voting was virtually eliminated in all states by the 1850s?
Property ownership
The system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election is called what type of representation?
Proportional
The adoption of which of the following would permit multiple parties to acquire seats in Congress because representation would be based on the percentage of votes that they receive in national elections?
Proportional representation
What kind of goods are available to all, whether one has contributed toward the provision of that good or not?
Public
The collective attitude of the citizens on a given issue is known as what?
Public opinion
Generally speaking, groups that work toward a common or national good are considered which of the following?
Public-interest groups
A sample size that is which of the following will more accurately represent the population?
Random
To accurately represent the target population, a small sample should be which of the following?
Randomly selected, Representative in terms of opinions, representative in terms of demographics, representative of the whole group
In An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), Anthony Downs describes which of the following types of voting as a puzzle because voting is not in one's self-interest and the benefits are not clear?
Rational
What term is used to describe the phenomenon when voters adjust their long-term allegiance from one party to another in response to ideological changes?
Realignment
When political parties offer voters a clear choice through a distinct range of policies and programs, they are acting as which of the following?
Responsible parties
Which of the following best describes the system of patronage?
Rewarded party faithful with government jobs and contracts
The simple pleasure of being surrounded by people with similar interests and perspectives and who share professional or personal concerns is an example of what type of benefit?
Solidary
When we talk about a lobbyist, we talk about a person or group that is which of the following?
Someone or something that attempts to influence legislation and the administrative decisions of government
A free rider is which of the following?
Someone who benefits from the actions of a group without joining it
A set of groups seeking a particular benefit for themselves in the policy process are known as which of the following?
Special interests
Which of the following refers to the right to vote?
Suffrage
Which of the following best describes how lobbyists provide advisory assistance to legislators?
Testifying before legislative committees, assisting legislators with the drafting of bills, and providing technical expertise to legislators
If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes, the election is decided by which of the following?
The House of Representatives
Which of the following best describes political parties during the period leading up to the Civil War?
The Whig Party split over the issue of slavery, and antislavery factions of many parties coalesced to form the Republican Party.
Party Organization
The formal structure and leadership of a political party, including election committees; local, state, and national executives; and paid professional staff.
Which of the following statements about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is most accurate?
The government established the FCC to distribute and regulate the radio, television, and wireless frequencies.
In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln expressed the idea that democratic government must be responsive to which of the following?
The will of the people
median voter theorem
Theory that, in a two-party race, if voters select candidates on the basis of ideology and everyone participates equally, the party closer to the middle will win.
What role do interest groups play in educating policymakers about political issues?
They are an important source of political information.
Why are Internet polls not necessarily accurate?
They lack a random sample
Which of the following is the least likely reason that the two-party system has dominated the American political landscape?
Third parties are illegal in many jurisdictions
Minor political parties that present an alternative to the two dominant political parties in the American political system are known as which of the following?
Third party
Which of the following best describes how the U.S. Constitution protects interest groups?
Through the First Amendment's right to "petition the Government for a redress of grievances" and the First Amendment's right to "peaceably assemble"
National committees
Top level of national political parties; coordinates national presidential campaigns.
As president, Jackson worked closely with Van Buren to knock down the gates that stood in the way of public access to party decisions, to make their political party more accessible to the general public, and to attract the votes of an ever-expanding nation
True
Franklin D Roosevelt ran to reverse the effects of the Great Depression
True
In 1981, the Democratic Party made several other changes, including requiring that each state's delegation comprise an equal number of men and women, and creating a category of delegates known as superdelegates
True
The most famous and consequential exit poll took place in Florida during the 2000 presidential elections, fueling one of the most controversial electoral struggles of all time. The major networks used an exit poll to predict that the Sunshine State would go to Vice President Albert Gore Jr. (1993-2001). Florida's electoral votes would put Gore over the 270 needed, making him the apparent winner of the presidency.
True
To win a seat, the winner needs to win a plurality of votes, not the majority
True
Why are elections based on a plurality system discouraging to new party formation?
Under this winner-take-all system, no incentive is given for finishing second
What novel exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry in 1906?
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
Australian ballot
Voting system in which state governments run elections and provide voters the option of choosing candidates from multiple parties; also called the secret ballot.
The main purpose of a political party is to do which of the following in order to control government and implement its policies?
Win elections
Democrats have power in the
cities
superdelegates
party leaders and elected officials who become delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses
Republicans have power in the
rural areas
With Jefferson in office and the democrat-republican party holding g office for 28 years
the Federalist Party drifted away
Party in the Electorate
the voters who consider themselves allied or associated with the party
