Ch 10

Which income group had the lowest percentage of donors

$150,000 and up

Under current federal rules, individuals may donate a maximum of ____ to any single candidate and up to _____ to a political action committee.

$2,300; $5,000

Under federal law, individuals may donate as much as ____ per candidate per election and up to ______ per national party committee per calendar year.

$2600; 32,400

Except on rare occasions, boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts in the United States are redrawn by the states every ____ years.

10

Since 1968, the Consumer Confidence Index was lowest on the eve of the election of

1992

How many electoral votes are needed to win a presidential election?

270

In the 2012 presidential election, about how many states were considered to be "toss-ups", thus garnering most of the money and effort of the candidates?

5

In the 2012 election cycle, which age group made up the single largest group of donors as a percentage?

50-64

A nonprofit group that also engages in issue advocacy and is allowed to spend up to half of its revenue for political purposes is called

501c(4) committee

nonprofit groups that also engage in issue advocacy. Under Section 501c(4) of the federal tax code such a group may spend up to half its revenue for political purposes

501c(4) committees

nonprofit independent groups that receive and disburse funds to influence the nomination, election, or defeat of candidates. Named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, which defines and provides tax-exempt status for nonprofit advocacy groups

527 committees

Why don't candidates visit the bigger states during a campaign?

Bigger states have strong ties to a specific political party

In ____, the Supreme Court ruled that there could be no limits placed on candidates' expenditure of their own funds, since such spending is considered free speech.

Buckley v. Valeo

What is true of public funding available to candidates as established by the Federal Election Campaign Act?

Candidates who accept matching funds may spend no more than $42 million in their presidential primary campaigns.

Which presidential incumbents was reelected when the Consumer Confidence Index was less than 100 on the eve of the election?

George W. Bush

All other things being equal, ___________ was expected to prevail in 1968 and ____________ was expected to prevail in 2000.

Herbert Humphrey; Al Gore

$500,000 is the amount of money you will probably need if you want to run for a seat in the ...

House of Representatives

congressional elections that do not coincide with a presidential election; also called off-year elections

Midterm elections

Which of the following statements about congressional redistricting is accurate?

The federal government has generally supported the creation of majority-minority districts.

In order to win the presidency, a candidate must receive ____ of Electoral College votes.

a plurality of votes

Primary elections are held to select

a political party's presidential candidate for the general election.

Which of the following types of races is most likely to be decided exclusively by partisan loyalty among the voters?

a state legislative election

What is a closed primary?

an election in which voters can participate in the nomination of candidates, but only of the party in which they are enrolled for a period of time prior to the Election Day

a proposed law or policy change that is placed on the ballot by citizens or interest groups for a popular vote

ballot initiative

Political Action Committees (PACs) are organizations established

by corporations, labor unions, or interest groups to channel the contributions of their members into political campaigns.

an effort by political candidates and their supporters to win the backing of donors, political activists, and voters in their quest for political office

campaign

Before the 1890s, voters on election day almost always had to

cast a straight-ticket vote

a normally closed political party business meeting of citizens or lawmakers to select candidates, elect officers, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters

caucus

Who or what initiates the process that ultimately gets a ballot initiative onto the ballot for a popular vote?

citizens

When a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting that party's election, it is called a(n)

closed primary

a primary election in which voters can participate in the nomination of candidates, but only of the party in which they are enrolled for a period of time prior to primary day

closed primary

In 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the government could not restrict independent expenditures by ______ to political campaigns.

corporations and unions

a representative who votes according to the preferences of his constituency

delegate

Party activists who are elected to vote at a party's national convention

delegates

The 2012 presidential election was decided more by _____ than by any other factors.

demographic realities

Midterm elections are congressional elections that

do not coincide with a presidential election.

Supporters of race-based redistricting contend that

drastic measures are required to overcome traditional Caucasian dominance in Congress.

the presidential electors from each state who meet after the general election to cast ballots for president and vice president

electoral college

The federal courts have established ____ as a critical factor in establishing the boundaries of legislative districts.

equal populations

positive news and feature coverage initiated by the media themselves.

free media

a regularly scheduled election involving most districts in the nation or state, in which voters select officeholders; in the United States, general elections for national office and most state and local offices are held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years (every four years for presidential elections)

general election

State legislators routinely seek to influence electoral outcomes by manipulating the organization of electoral districts. This strategy is called

gerrymandering

the apportionment of voters in districts in such a way as to give unfair advantage to one racial or ethnic group or political party

gerrymandering

political campaigns that operate at a local level, often using face-to-face communication to generate interest and momentum by citizens

grassroots politics

In 2003, Californians voted out Governor Gray Davis. This election was unusual because

he lost in a rare recall effort.

Which groups made the lowest level of political contributions as a percentage?

high school diploma or less

The ____ is a candidate running for re-election to a position that he or she already holds.

incumbent

a candidate running for re-election to a position that he or she already holds

incumbent

In most congressional elections, ____ outspend ____.

incumbents, challengers

During the 2012 Republican presidential nominating process, candidate Ron Paul spoke for what faction of the party?

libertarians

Obama was reelected despite a _________ of consumer confidence in the economy.

low level

a type of electoral system in which, to win a seat in the parliament or other representative body, a candidate must receive a majority of all the votes cast in the relevant district

majority system

a gerrymandered voting district that improves the chances of minority candidates by making selected minority groups the majority within the district

majority-minority district

When a congressional election is held that does not coincide with a presidential election, it is called a(n)

midterm election

The 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 resulted in

more minority representation in congress

What factors have studies indicated likely matters least in generating long-term support for a presidential candidate?

national debate performance

In the case of Buckley v Valeo, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that

no limits can be placed on candidates' expenditure of their own funds, since such spending is considered free speech.

Opponents of race-based redistricting contend that

not fair, it has a negative impact on racial minorities, and it has resulted in making many districts uniformly Caucasian and more Republican.

The number of a state's electoral votes is determined by the

number of members it has in both houses of Congress.

a primary election in which the voter can wait until the day of the primary to choose which party to enroll in to select candidates for the general election

open primary

a party document, written at a national convention, that contains party philosophy, principles, and positions policy

party platform

a type of electoral system in which, to win a seat in the parliament or other representative body, a candidate need only receive the most votes in the election, not necessarily a majority of votes cast

plurality system

a private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns

political action committee (PAC)

____ are organizations established by corporations, labor unions, or interest groups to channel the contributions of their members into political campaigns.

political action committees

The Electoral College is

presidential electors from each state who cast ballots for president and vice president.

Political parties in most states hold ____ to choose a presidential nominee who will face the nominees from other parties during the general election.

primaries

Which of the following widely used systems was introduced in hopes of diminishing the power of American party leaders?

primary elections

elections held to select a party's candidate for the general election

primary elections

a multiple-member district system that allows each political party representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote

proportional representation

voting based on the imagined future performance of a candidate or political party

prospective voting

a procedure to allow voters to remove state officials from office before their terms expire by circulating petitions to call a vote

recall

____ is the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives.

redistricting

the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives. This happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legal challenges in existing districts

redistricting

Which is the best example of direct democracy in practice in the United States today?

referendum

the practice of referring a proposed law passed by a legislature to the vote of the electorate for approval or rejection

referendum

____ voting occurs when voting is based on the past performance of a candidate.

retrospective

voting based on the past performance of a candidate or political party

retrospective voting

a "second round" election in which voters choose between the top two candidates from the first round

runoff election

a 15-, 30-, or 60-second television campaign commercial that permits a candidate's message to be delivered to a target audience

spot (advertisement)

selecting candidates from the same political party for all offices on the ballot

straight-ticket voting

Swing states like Ohio, Virginia, and Iowa were compared to which cut of meat?

tenderloin

When there is a presidential election and the Consumer Confidence Index has a score of over 100,

the candidate of the party in power is likely to win.

Who is the incumbent?

the current officeholder, running for re-election

Which of the following has been most important in establishing standards such as "one person, one vote" in the process of drawing the boundaries of House districts?

the federal courts

Prospective voting occurs when voting is based on

the imagined future performance of a candidate.

The 2010 Citizens United decision declared that advocacy groups can form Super PACs and run unlimited campaign ads for or against candidates, as long as

the organizations are independent of the candidate's campaign.

In the present day, what determines how a party convention's delegates will vote?

the results of the state party primary or caucus

an informal public meeting in which candidates meet with ordinary citizens. Allows candidates to deliver messages without the presence of journalists or commentators

town hall meeting

During the nineteenth century, national political campaigns relied heavily on

volunteers

While Abraham Lincoln's 1860 presidential campaign spent $100,000, it also relied heavily on

volunteers