AP Gov: Nominations and Campaigns (Unit 9)

Which of the following statements indicates a high level of political efficacy?

"One vote can make a difference; I want my vote to be the difference maker"

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) in __________ led to serious reforms in the methods it used to choose its convention delegates

1968

To be a member of the House of Representatives, a person must be

25 years old

Donations to _________ do not have to be disclosed unless a donor gives money specifically for a political ad

501(c) groups

Each state is entitled to two US Senators that serve _______

6 years

In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that spending limits established by FECA were unconstitutional. Which Supreme Court case validated this ruling?

Buckley V. Valeo

Buckley V. Valeo VS. Citizens United

Buckley V. Valeo ruled that

The administration of the campaign finance laws in the enforcement of compliance with their requirements is handled by the

Federal Election Commission

The first presidential caucus of the campaign season is traditionally held in

Iowa

Hard Money

Political contributions given to a party, candidate, or interest group that are limited in amount and fully disclosed.

The founders created the Electoral College because they wanted the president to be selected by ________

elites

The New Hampshire primary is important because

it is the first primary

When does a referendum occur in the US?

when states give voters an opportunity to vote on legislation

To be the presidential candidate of a major political party, a person must

win a majority of the delegates at the party's national convention

Why do winning candidates claim a mandates 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

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

Which of the following has the most influence on the outcome of a congressional election?

a candidates incumbency status

To be president a person must be

a natural born citizen

Hatch Act

an Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law whose main provision prohibits employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president, vice-president, and certain designated high-level officials of that branch, from engaging in some forms of political activity

In recent elections, candidates have relied increasingly on

broadcasting to reach potential voters

Most of the money spent on presidential campaigns these days is spent on

media

Compared to the general population, delegates to presidential nomination conventions are

more ideological

The franking-privledges refers to the

right of members of congress to send mail to their constituents at the governments expenses

The BCRA (McCain Feingold) was designed to curtail which of the following?

soft money

What accurately describes re-election in congress?

House seats are safer from election turnover than are senate seats

Which of the following was a ruling of the Citizens United V. FEC Supreme Court case?

Super PACs may spend unlimited funds on advertisements that are not coordinated with the campaign because they are protected by the freedom of speech

A primary election in which voters are required to identify a party preference before the election and are not allowed to split their ticket is called

a closed primary

Which of the following scenarios is most closely related to the Supreme Courts decision in Citizens United V. Federal Election Commission (2002)?

a labor union spends millions of dollars to independently run negative ads about a presidential candidate shortly before the election

The use of direct primaries instead of the convention system in selecting presidential candidates results in which of the following?

a weakening of party control over nominations and an increase in the number of people involved in the choice of candidates

Which of the following was one of the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act?

all candidates for federal office must disclose who contributed money to their campaigns

Buckley V. Valeo VS. Citizens United

both affirmed money = speech, however Citizens United allow unlimited spending for corporations and PACS to a campaign however not directly to a candidate, where Buckley allowed unlimited spending for the candidate

Which of the following is NOT a way in which the federal government regulates campaigns?

by prohibitions on negative advertising

How did the McGovern- Fraser Commission make the delegate selection process of the Democratic Party more representative and open to input from the public?

by requiring delegates selection procedures to be open to all party members

Soft Money

campaign contributions unregulated by federal or state law, usually given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities.

News coverage of presidential campaigns tends to emphasize

campaign strategies and poll results

Which of the following is a result of the electoral college system?

candidates focus on one-party states in which they can win most of the electoral votes

In what major way do presidential campaigns serve to stimulate big government?

candidates make promises to particular groups and states so much on different campaign stops, and many of the promises involve more government spending and the new or bigger programs

When the party members meet to nominate a candidate for office, they participate in which of the following?

caucus

Which of the following is a type of primary election that requires registration as a party affiliation to vote?

closed

The funds allocated to public financing of presidential campaigns based on income tax

decreased substantially

A campaign might use _________ to solicit campaign contributions from those who have supported candidates with similar views in the past.

direct mail

Which of the following would result from the direct election of presidential candidate?

each vote would count equally in determining which candidate won the election

Presidential primaries provide little help for the American voter in determining a party's political candidate

false

Typically, presidential candidates implement their campaign strategies by

focusing on larger, competitive states, because they might tip the balance of the electoral college

In recent years, states have chosen early dates for their presidential primaries in order to gain influence in the process, This is called _____

front-loading

All of the following are reasons incumbents in the House enjoy an electoral advantage over challengers EXCEPT that incumbents

get substantial financial support from their party's national committee

Which of the following explains how Fed 10 relates to the decision in Citizens United V. FEC?

in Fed. 10 the author opted for stricter regulation of factions, whereas in Citizens United, petitioners argued that regulation was a violated of liberties

An individuals vote would most like have the most influence in

in less populous states such as wyomming

Which of the following is a significant trend in the presidential nominating process over the past three decades?

increasing importance of presidential primaries rather than state conventions

In the last 30 years, the single most important variable in determining the outcome of an election for a member in the House of Representatives has been...

incumbency

When contributing to congressional campaigns, political action committees (PACs) are most likely to contribute to

incumbents of both major political parties

The advantages of incumbency in congressional elections include which of the following?

incumbents receive more campaign contributions than do challengers, they are also able to provide important services for individual voters

In response to the BCRA (McCain Feingold Act), the US Supreme Court, in Citizens United V. FEC ruled that

independent campaign expenditures by corporations and unions are protected by the First Amendment

What do voters find to be the three most important dimensions of a candidate's image?

integrity, reliability, and competence

An interest group is most likely to have influence in Congress when the issue at stake

is narrow in scope and low in public visibility

The BCRA of 2002 (McCain-Feingold), did which of the following?

it banned candidates from running negative advertizements

Which of the following is true of the electoral college system?

it encourages candidates to concentrate their campaign in competitive, populous states

The primary election system of selecting the presidential candidate has had which of the following effects?

it has loosened the hold of party leaders over the nomination process

The Electoral College introduces a bias into the campaign and electoral process because __________

less populated states are overrepresented

A(n) __________ is a party's official selection of a candidate to run for office

nomination

Which of the following describes the difference between an open and closed primary?

only voters who register as a member of a political party may vote in that party's closed primary, while independents and others may be eligible to vote in open primaries

Researchers studying campaign stress that campaigns can have what three effects on voters?

reinforcement, activation, and conversion

Campaigns are most effective in

reinforcing existing preferences toward candidates

The FEC Act of 1971

restricted the amount of campaign funds that could be spent on a single election

__________ resulted from an amendment in 1979 to the original Campaign Reform Act, which allows parties to raise and spend money on voter registration and other campaign materials without limits on spending or the size of contributions that they can accept

soft money

How is a president chosen when none of the candidates receives a majority of the electoral college vote?

the House chooses a new president by a majority vote of its state delegations

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

Which of the following best explains why the winner of a presidential election usually claims to have a mandate from voters?

the allocation of electoral votes in the winner takes all system exaggerates the margin of victory

Which of the following is a correct statement about political action committees?

the amount of money that PACs can contribute directly to an individual candidates is limited by the law

When none of the presidential candidates receives a majority of the votes in the electoral college, the winner is chosen by the

the house of representatives only

Over the past 20 years, reforms of the presidential nomination process have had which of the following effects?

the number of female delegates and minority group delegates at Democratic National Conventions (DNC) has grown substantially

Which of the following statements about incumbent senators for reelection is correct?

the senators with the best chances of reelection are those who have served the longest

The process known as front-loading refers to

the tendency of states to choose an early date on the primary calendar

Critics of the winner take all aspect of the electoral college are most likely to make which of the following arguments?

the winner take all system of the electoral college undermines the rights of states

Which of the following took place after presidential candidates Truman in 1948, Nixon in 1968, Clinton in 1992 won only pluralities of the popular vote?

the winning candidates took office after achieving less than 50%of the popular votes cast

Which of the following is true of political action committees (PACs)?

they make campaign contributions to gain access to legislators

Research suggests that political campaigns are most likely to successfully convert voters when they ________

use "wedge" issues on which the other party is divided