AP Government
Which of the following is the best example of a trial balloon?
A candidate for office runs ads in one state on a single issue to see how the public will react
Which of the following demographic groups has voted most consistently for the Democratic Party in national elections over the last three decades?
African Americans
How does the American media differ from the media in most other countries?
Almost all American radio and television stations are privately owned.
Which of the following is a type of primary election that requires registration as a party affiliate to vote?
Closed
Which of the following are sources of funding for interest groups?
I,II,III, and IV
Which of the following have to be proved in order for a public official to recover damages for libel?
I,II,III, and IV
Political parties serve which of the following functions in the U.S.?
I,II,and III only
Which of the following are types of elections held in the U.S.?
I,III,IV, and V only
Which of the following statements are true of political parties?
II and III only
Which of the following statements accurately describe traditional Republican Party economic positions?
II only
Throughout American history, which of the following conditions has led to an increase in interest groups' activity?
II,III, and IV
If one sees candidates from more than one political party on a ballot, one may be voting in
III and IV only
All of the following contribute to the success of incumbent members of Congress in election campaigns EXCEPT
Incumbents can use legislative staff to perform campaign services.
All of the following explain the proliferation of interest groups EXCEPT
Interest groups often run candidates for office to give their supporters a voice in government
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) did which of the following?
It banned soft money donations to national parties.
Which of the following is generally true of the gerrymandering of congressional districts?
It creates districts that favor one political party over another.
Since the early 1970s, how has the relationship between the president and the press changed?
It has become more adversarial, partly as a result of the Vietnam War and Watergate
The primary election system of selecting presidential candidates has had which of the following effects?
It has loosened the hold of party leaders over the nomination process.
Which of the following is a concern about the influence of lobbyists on government?
Many lobbyists are former federal officials who gave up their positions in government to work for interest groups.
Which of the following most accurately describes media coverage of elections?
Network news coverage is usually dominated by reporters who offer relatively short sound bites (spots) from the candidates.
Which of the following most accurately describes media coverage of elections?
Network news coverage is usually dominated by reporters who offer relatively short sound bites from the candidates.
Which of the following best describes the difference between an open and closed primary?
Only voters who register as members of a political party may vote in that party's closed primary, while independents and others may be eligible to vote in open primaries.
Which of the following describes a fundamental difference between political parties and interest groups?
Political parties represent broad arrays of issues, whereas interest groups are more likely to focus on narrow sets of issues.
The president who made the mistake of attacking the media publicly rather than privately was
Richard Nixon
Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the two major political parties in the United States?
Separate and largely independent party organizations exist at national, state, and local levels.
Which of the following is a major difference between the Democratic and Republican parties?
The Democratic Party has a more liberal ideology, whereas the Republican Party has a more conservative ideology.
Which of the follwing describes the result in a winner-take-all, single-member district plurality system?
The candidate who receives the most votes in the election wins.
Which of the following statements about political parties and the United States Constitution is true?
The issue of political parties is not addressed in the Constitution.
Which statement best describes the media's coverage of presidential campaigns?
The media focus primarily on the horse-race aspects of the campaign.
Which of the following best describes gerrymandering?
The party in control of the state legislature draws district boundaries in such a way as to favor its own candidates in subsequent elections.
Which of the following describes a consequence of the growing concentration of ownership of the news media.
There is increased similarity of network news coverage.
Environmentalists, women, and union members have worked over the years to advance their interests. What is the best description of these causes?
They are social movements that have spawned several related interest groups.
All of the following are true of two-party systems, EXCEPT:
They encourage moderation in policymaking and discourage change.
Which of the following is true of political action committees (PACs)?
They make campaign contributions to gain access to legislators.
The Mugwumps were
a faction of the Republican party.
Which of the following stories would most likely receive media coverage?
a story about a missing woman and her romantic relationship with a member of Congress
When Gary Hart ran for the Democratic nomination in 1987, he told the press to go ahead and follow him, because "they would be bored." The resulting sexual scandal that arose is an example of the media's role as
a watchdog who closely scrutinizes candidates' backgrounds and activities
Critical elections tend to occur under which of the following circumstances?
after a serious domestic crisis alters the political agenda
The franking privilege is one example of
an incumbency advantage
Media stories about Whitewater are an example of
attack journalism
Why are lobbyists useful to members of Congress in considering legislation?
because members of Congress are policy generalists and lobbyists are policy specialists with expert knowledge in their area
Why is there more news coverage of the president than of Congress or the courts?
because the president is one person and is viewed by the public as the center of government
In which of the following elections are voters allowed to choose candidates from either party for different offices?
blanket primary
A legislator asks for a campaign contribution from a political action committee (PAC) in return for a favorable vote on a piece of legislation supported by the PAC. This payment is called
bribery
"Free riders" occur when interest groups fight for benefits to the public as a whole, such as consumer protection. How can interest groups prevent the free-rider problem?
by providing people an incentive to join the interest group, such as a subscription to a magazine
Those who attempt to influence government decisions, especially legislation, often on behalf of interest groups, are best described as
campaign strategists
Broadcast journalism changed the media's coverage of politics in all of the following ways EXCEPT
citizens get more detailed and specific information about programs and policies than they could get from the print media
In 1987 the cooperation among the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the American Civil liberties Union (ACLU) to defeat Robert Bork's nomination to the United States Supreme Court was an example of
coalition building
An interest group would use grassroots lobbying on all of the following issues EXCEPT
complex tax legislation affecting a few people
Of the three major sources of funds available to interest groups, the one that is unique to modern interest groups is
computerized direct-mail solicitations.
A major cause in the decline of union membership in the United States was a(n)
decline in public support for unions.
A referendum can best be described as a vote to
determine whether citizens support an action by their state legislature
All of the following activities are specifically forbidden by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 EXCEPT
employment of a former government official by a lobbying group.
The national media often play the role of watchdog. This means that they can
expose scandals and investigate personalities
In 1968, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revoked the tax-exempt status of the Sierra Club because of its
extensive lobbying activities.
Popular elections are held all of the following governmental offices EXCEPT
federal judge
Interest-group activity is protected under the U.S. Constitution by the
first amendment
The television weekly 60 Minutes runs a segment on the role of local politicians in the drug trade. The issue soon becomes the subject of national debate. In this role 60 Minutes is acting as
gatekeeper
The need for sensationalist journalism died out due to the middle-class demand for reform, the termination of circulation wars, and the
growing education levels of the readers
When a child's parents both identify strongly with the same political party, the child will most likely
identify with the parent's party
Organizations that attract members by appealing to a coherent set of usually controversial principles are called
ideological interest groups.
In which of the following cases is a congressional candidate most likely to be elected?
if he or she is an incumbent
When contributing to congressional campaigns, political action committees (PACs) are most likely to contribute to
incumbents of both major parties
All of the following are recent trends in presidential nominations and campaigns EXCEPT
infrequency of presidential primaries among states.
The U.S. wine industry is represented in Washington by a group that seeks to influence public policy regarding wine. This group is most accurately called a(n)
institutional interest
An interest groups is most likely to have influence in Congress when the issue at stake
is narrow in scope and low in public visibility
One reason why so many news leaks occur is that
it is legal to print most governmental secrets
The term "party machine" usually refers to a
local party organization that is tightly disciplined and well staffed and relies on patronage to create party loyalty
A major function of local chapters of national membership organizations is to
lure members and raise money from them.
Compared to the general population, delegates to presidential nomination conventions are
more ideological
The Dirty Dozen consisted of the
most anti-environment legislators in the House.
A voter's choice of candidate is most influenced by
party identification
Which of the following is usually a result of a critical election?
party realignment
A group representing a corporation, labor union, or special interest that raises and spends campaign contributions on behalf of candidates or causes is a
political action committee
In addition to seeking technical information from lobbyists, public officials often look to them for
political cues on particular issues
A major difference between political parties and interest groups is that
political parties seek to gain control of government, while interest groups seek to influence public policy
Electronic journalism probably contributed to the decline in party loyalties because
politicians developed personal followings independent of party structure.
The Hatch Act helps maintain a nonpartisan bureaucracy because it
prohibits government employees in their official capacities from active participation in partisan politics.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an example of a feminist organization whose membership incentives are primarily
purposive
An election in which there is a significant shift in the bases of electoral support from one political party to another is called a
realigning election
Political action committees (PACs) were created by campaign reform laws to
regulate how groups such as business and labor contribute to campaigns.
In general, Democrats are more likely than the Republicans to advocate for which of the following?
restrictions on handgun ownership
The government can use all of the following tools to encourage positive stories and constrain negative stories written by journalists EXCEPT
revoking the licenses of stations that give unfavorable coverage
To say that "the pressure system has an upper-class bias" is to
say much about the people who join groups, but nothing about the positions the groups will take.
Regarding their relationship with the media, U.S. public officials generally
spend a great deal of time cultivating the media
American political parties, unlike those of most other democratic nations, are closely regulated by
state and federal laws
The government institution responsible for drawing of congressional district
state's legislature, or its delegated body.
The Equal Time Rule obliges stations
that sell advertising to one political candidate to sell equal time to that person's opponent
The formation of antislavery organizations in the 1830s and 1840s was an example of interest groups forming as a result of
the emergence of talented leadership.
Each of the following helps explain the incumbency advantage of members of Congress EXCEPT
the low standing of Congress in public opinion
The media has the most influence over which of the following aspects of the presidential selection process?
the outcome of primary elections
The rise of primary election system has led to
the public's more direct involvement in the election of the president.
One criticism of the media is that it does not cover candidates' speeches in depth. This is best illustrated in which of the following?
the shrinking sound bite
One reason for the persistence of a two-party system in the United States is
the single-member district electoral system
The reason Americans participate in civic associations more frequently than do citizens of other countries is
their sense of political efficacy and civic duty.
Interest groups engage in all of the following activities EXCEPT
using the franking privilege
The term "split-ticket voting" is most accurately described as
voting for candidates of different parties on the same ballot
The most common way that ordinary citizens participate in politics is by
voting in elections
In the 1992 election, Bill Clinton chose as a theme
we need change
If a communication is "on background," then
what an official says can be used but may not be attributed to him or her by name