Combo with "American Government Chapter 11" and 4 others

On average, how much money must a U.S. senator raise every week of his or her six-year term in order to acquire enough money to launch a competitive bid for reelection?

$20,000

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, what was roughly the amount spent on lobbying in the United States in 2009?

$3.5 billion

Which of the following is roughly the amount that was spent on lobbying in the United States in 2009?

$3.5 billion

Under federal law, PACs can contribute no more than ________ per candidate in a primary election.

$5,000

Which of the following are key players in the modern campaign?

(All of these answers are correct.) a. pollsters b. media producers c. fundraising specialists d. campaign consultants

There are more than ________ political action committees (PACs) in the United States.

4,000

Abraham Lincoln was first elected in 1860 with ________ percent of the popular vote.

40

MoveOn and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are both examples of

527 groups.

About ________ percent of people who regularly listen to National Public Radio do not donate money to their local station.

90

Committees kill more than ________ percent of the bills submitted in Congress

90

Compared with the Senate majority leader, the Speaker of the House has more power because: A. the House places more limits on debate. B. the House is the larger chamber in terms of membership. C. the House has less of a tradition as a chamber of equals. D. the Speaker is that chamber's presiding officer. E. All these answers are correct.

All these answers are correct.

Most of the legislative work of Congress is performed by: A. the House places more limits on debate. B. the House is the larger chamber in terms of membership. C. the House has less of a tradition as a chamber of equals. D. the Speaker is that chamber's presiding officer. E. All these answers are correct.

All these answers are correct.

The president's role in foreign policy increased largely because

America became more of a world power.

_____prohibits the purchase of televised advertising time by candidates.

Great Britain

Which of the following is NOT an example of an ideological party?

Greenback Party

Political parties in the United States originated partly as a political feud between

Hamilton and Jefferson

How did Theodore Roosevelt change the conception of the presidency?

He cast aside the Whig theory in favor of the stewardship theory

Why did Representative Tom DeLay lose his post as House majority leader?

He was implicated in a scandal involving campaign donations from lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The presidency was created by Article ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

II

The oversight responsibility of Congress is: A. relatively easy to carry out. B. becoming less and less important to the nation. C. more interesting to most legislators than policy making responsibilities. D. the most time consuming task for most legislators. E. None of these answers is correct.

None of these answers are correct.

Party dealignment is

None of these answers is correct.

The oversight of congress is: A. relatively easy to carry out. B. becoming less and less important to the nation. C. more interesting to most legislators than policy making responsibilities. D. the most time consuming task for most legislators. E. None of these answers is correct.

None of these answers is correct.

Which of the following statements is true?

Objective journalism is based on communication of facts and fairness.

What party has made big gains in recent decades among white fundamentalist Christians, based on its positions on topics like abortion and school prayer?

Republican

What technology led editors to substitute news reports for opinion commentary? A. radio B. telegraph C. broadcast TV D. cable TV E. power-driven printing press

Telegraph

In the modern era, the equivalent practice of using the presidency as a bully pulpit (Theodore Roosevelt) could best be summed up in the phrase, "________." a. going public b. spin control c. air wars d. lobbying the bureaucracy e. manipulating the media

a going public

Historically, the American press has shifted from

a political to a journalistic orientation

Which of the following statements would NOT be accepted by supporters of the pluralist view of interest groups?

The opinion of the majority should always prevail in a policy dispute over the opinion of a more intense and directly affected minority.

Explain how party coalitions in the U.S. reflect the nature of party competition. Does coalition formation tend to moderate or radicalize parties? Explain.

The overriding goal of a major American political party is to gain control of government by getting its candidates elected to office, which means that political compromise is essential. The major parties must appeal to different groups that may disagree on some issues; a reasonable amount of compromise is therefore necessary. The parties must also appeal to many of the same groups. The result is, in most circumstances though not all, a moderate form of political conflict in which the parties' coalitions overlap substantially in terms of the groups that comprise them.

Which of the following is one of the two major advantages of journalists in covering the political game and strategic aspects of news instead of the policy frame?

The political game is a constant source of fresh material.

Which of the following events/phenomena do some analysts consider to have cost Al Gore the presidential election in 2000?

a poor televised debate performance

An interest group that focuses on policy benefits for senior citizens would be an example of

a single issue group

The term iron triangle refers to

a small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who are concerned with promoting a particular interest.

Compared to House incumbents, Senate incumbents are more likely to face the problem of

a strong challenger

All of the following are characteristic of a party realignment EXCEPT

a very close electoral result.

________ once said, "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war."

William Randolph Hearst

What did the Supreme Court rule about executive agreements in 1937? a. They are legally binding in the same way that treaties are. b. They can only be issued in matters of national security. c. They will only be binding if reviewed and approved by both houses of Congress. d. They can only be made with the approval of a president's entire cabinet. e. They were ruled unconstitutional and are no longer used by the executive

a They are legally binding in the same way that treaties are.

Political parties serve to

a. link the public with its elected leaders. b. enable people with different backgrounds and opinions to act together. c. offer the public a choice between policies and leaders. d. narrow voters' electoral options.

During the twentieth century, American parties lost their complete control over

a. nominations. b. financing. c. platforms. d. the staffing of government jobs.

Which of the following is a reason that the nation did not routinely need a strong president during most of the nineteenth century?

all of these factors: the small policymaking role of the federal government; the sectional nature of the nation's major issues; and the U.S. government's small role in world affairs

The Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

allows corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited funds on campaigns.

An informal grouping of officials, lobbyists, and policy specialists who come together temporarily around a policy problem is

an issue network

American party organizations

are still important, but their role in campaigns is secondary to that of candidates.

Among the following, the news media are usually guided by events that

are timely

Congress has formally declared war ________ times in U.S. history. a. 2 b. 5 c. 55 d. 200 e. 6,500

b. 5

The presidency was created by Article ________ of the U.S. Constitution. a. I b. II c. III d. IV e. VII

b. II

Which of the following was a provision of the War Powers Act? a. It prohibits the president from sending troops into combat. b. It requires hostilities to end within sixty days unless Congress extends the period. c. It requires Congress to consult with the president whenever feasible before passing measures that will restrict president-ordered military action. d. It requires the president to inform Congress within one month of the reason for the military action. e. It removes from Congress the power to restrict the timing or size of president-initiated military actions.

b. It requires hostilities to end within sixty days unless Congress extends the period.

Which one of the following did NOT serve as a state governor prior to being president? a. Ronald Reagan b. Bill Clinton c. John Kennedy d. George W. Bush e. Jimmy Carter

c. John Kennedy

During 2006, the year before Democrats took back control of Congress, George W. Bush a. broke most of his campaign promises. b. enjoyed Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. c. had an 81 percent success rate with Congress. d. had a 38 percent success rate with Congress. e. None of these answers is correct.

c. had an 81 percent success rate with Congress.

PACs tend to contribute the most money to

incumbents.

Most lobbyists receive support from elected officials in direct exchange for

information

The media perform the signaling role by

informing the public of breaking events and new developments.

The traditional media have "softened" their news by

infusing it with more stories about celebrities, crime, and the like.

CNN and MSNBC have responded to Fox's ratings success by

installing talk-show hosts with partisan or hard-edged appeals.

The technological change that brought about the decline of the partisan press was the

invention of the high-speed rotary press.

An amicus brief

is a written document in which a group explains to a court its position on a legal dispute the court is handling

A main difference between iron triangles and issue networks is that

issue networks are generally less stable than iron triangles, in that the members of an issue network may change as the issue develops.

During his visit to this country in the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville described the United States as "a nation of ________."

joiners

Which of the following is one of the three major functions of Congress's policymaking role? A. lawmaking B. check the president C. appease special interests D. inform the people E. check the Supreme Court

lawmaking

The Communications Act

mposed on broadcasters an "equal time" restriction that prevented preference for some political candidates over others.

Which of the following is a formal constitutional requirement for becoming president?

must be a natural-born citizen

National party organizations can dictate the day-to-day decisions of

neither local nor state party organizations.

The reason the news product is designed to fascinate as well as to inform is because

news organizations are fundamentally businesses and must obtain revenue to survive.

If the Rules Committee applies the "closed rule" to a bill

no amendments will be permitted

The presidency is an

office in which power is conditional, depending on whether the political support that gives force to presidential leadership exists or can be developed.

Roughly how many American workers currently belong to unions?

one in eight

If a minor party gains a large following, it is almost certain that

one or both major parties will absorb its issue, and the minor party will lose support.

Roughly how much of campaign spending is devoted to producing and airing televised political advertisements?

one-half

Whereas today candidates rely on the media, previously they based their campaigns on the

party organizations.

The theory that society's interests are most effectively represented through group action is

pluralist theory

The history of democratic government is virtually synonymous with the history of

political parties

President Obama's failure in his early months in office to enact policies to combat global warming, despite his determination to do so, is reflective primarily of

poor circumstance related to the economy.

Legislation whose tangible benefits are targeted solely at a particular legislator's constituency is

pork-barrel legislation.

The Watergate scandal illustrates the

power of the media to serve as watchdog to safeguard against abuses of power.

Grassroots lobbying is based on the assumption that officials will respond to

pressure from constituents.

Another name for an interest group is

pressure group

The FCC's equal time requirement

prohibits broadcasters from selling or giving time to political candidates and denying it to their opponents.

State central committees

provide only general policy guidance for the state organizations.

One special contribution of Internet-based news is that it

provides the ordinary citizen with an opportunity to be part of the news system

Effective inside lobbying is based upon

providing useful and persuasive information to key officials.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has regulatory oversight over which of the following? A. radio B. cable TV C. Internet content D. newspapers E. All these answers are correct.

radio

"Agency capture" occurs when

regulatory agencies side with the industries they are supposed to regulate rather than with the public.

Objective journalism is based on the idea that the reporter's job is to

report the facts and cover alternative sides of a partisan debate.

James Madison's solution to the problem of factions (special interests) has, in the modern policy process, actually contributed to the problem by

resulting in a fragmentation of authority among policymakers, thereby providing groups more opportunities to get their way

________ is based on judgment about the past performance of an elected official or political party

retrospective voting

The function that the national party organizations perform in relation to congressional candidates can best be described as a

service relationship—helping candidates conduct their personal campaigns.

On-the-scene coverage of a natural disaster is an example of the press's role of

signaler

Agenda-setting is an action that falls under which of the major roles played by the press?

signaling

The first American political parties emerged from the conflict between

small farmers and states' rights advocates, and those favoring commercial and wealthy interests

A pluralist could be expected to argue that

society is best seen as a collection of separate interests.

Regarding state party organizations, the day-to-day operation is usually the responsibility of the

state chairperson.

Which of the following is an indication of strong party loyalty?

straight ticket voting

________ does not have a competitive multiparty system.

the U.S.

________ provides no free television time to political parties and allows candidates to purchase air time.

the U.S.

According to the U.S. Constitution, if no one candidate receives a majority vote of the Electoral College, who chooses the president?

the U.S. House of Representatives

The citizens of ________ are most actively involved in interest groups and community causes.

the United States

Which of the following characteristics does the Internet have that traditional media lack?

the ability to allow readers to interact with news reporting

The air we breathe is an example of a

the collective good

Which of the following represents the greatest blow to the organizational strength of U.S. parties?

the direct primary

The yellow journalism of the late nineteenth century was characterized by

the emphasis on sensationalism as a way of selling newspapers.

The selection of the vice presidential nominee at the national convention is based on

the presidential nominee's choice of a running mate.

What is the "Rose Garden strategy"?

the presidential strategy of controlling communications by making nearly all pronouncements from the same location

The news media's common-carrier role is based on the idea that

the press should provide a channel through which political leaders can communicate their views to the public.

Since the founding of the United States, the debate over the representation function of Congress has centered on whether

the primary concern of a representative should be the interests of the nation or of his or her constituency.

The term "framing" is used to describe

the process of selecting certain aspects of reality and making them the most salient part of the communication, thereby conveying a particular interpretation of a situation.

What development brought about a dramatic reduction in television's capacity to generate an interest in news?

the rapid spread of cable

The "long tail" is a phenomenon related to

the rate of Internet news readership.

The federal government's licensing of broadcasting is based primarily on

the scarcity of broadcasting frequencies.

What is the biggest reason that Congress does not vigorously pursue its oversight function?

the sheer magnitude of the task.

Which of the following encourages the two major parties to build broad coalitions?

the two-party system and the need to gain a plurality

Democrats and Republicans have endured as the two major U.S. parties primarily due to

their ability to adapt to changing circumstances

Citizens' interest groups are distinguished from economic interest groups by the fact that

their members receive no direct economic benefit from attainment of the group's goals.

Political scientist Theodore Lowi has questioned pluralist theory by suggesting that

there is no concept of the public interest in a system that gives special interests the ability to determine the policies affecting them.

Economic groups have an advantage over non-economic groups because

they have greater access to financial resources.

According to James Madison, the source of most factions is the

unequal distribution of property.

In order to overcome the free-rider problem, non-economic groups have

used Internet resources and computer-assisted mailing lists to target potential donors.

A president's accomplishments have largely depended on

whether circumstances favor strong presidential leadership

Proportional representation systems encourage the formation of smaller parties by enabling parties to

win legislative seats even though they do not receive a majority of votes in elections.

Candidates' first priority in a close election is to

win over swing voters.

Most European parties on the political left tend to appeal mainly to

working class voters

In acknowledging the dilemma inherent in group activity, James Madison

worried that government would be overly dominated by groups, but recognized that a free society is obliged to permit the advocacy of self-interest.

Most states conduct ________ primaries.

closed

When the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, the differences are resolved by a

conference committee.

Congressional staffers spend most of their time on

constituency service and public relations.

In comparison with today's newspapers, early American newspapers

could not have survived without political party support.

________ ended the practice of party caucuses in Congress and in state legislatures nominating presidential candidates. a. George Washington b. Thomas Jefferson c. James Madison d. Andrew Jackson e. Martin Van Buren

d Andrew Jackson

The forced removal of a president from office through impeachment and conviction requires action by the a. House of Representatives only. b. Senate only. c. House and Senate in a joint session. d. House and Senate in separate proceedings. e. Supreme Court in a judicial proceeding

d. House and Senate in separate proceedings.

Which of the following is part of the Executive Office of the President? a. Office of Management and Budget b. National Economic Council c. National Security Council d. Office of the Vice President e. All these answers are correct

e. All these answers are correct

Which of the following presidents failed to win a popular vote majority, but still won the presidency? a. John Quincy Adams b. Rutherford B. Hayes c. Benjamin Harrison d. George W. Bush e. All these answers are correct

e. All these answers are correct

Which of the following did the framers want from a president? a. national leadership b. administration of the laws c. statesmanship in foreign affairs d. command of the military e. All these answers are correct.

e. All these answers are correct.

The news provides a refracted version of reality because it

emphasizes dramatic and compelling news stories.

In Beyond Ideology, political scientist Frances Lee shows that

even on low-stake issues, lawmakers exploit negotiation and floor debate to attack opponents and promote their party's image.

Economist Mancur Olson concluded that groups

exercise too much power in the American system.

In twentieth-century American history, the most important minor parties were ________ parties.

factional

ames Madison argued

for regulation of interests through a governing system of checks and balances.

Political scientist Aaron Wildavsky's "two presidencies" thesis holds that a president is likely to be most successful with Congress on policy initiatives involving

foreign policy

Andrew Jackson's contribution to the development of political parties was the

formation of a new type of grassroots party organization.

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), the Supreme Court

found corporations and unions could not be banned from spending money on campaigns.

Which of the following groups is NOT typically a part of the Democratic coalition?

fundamentalist Christians

In the 1960s, presidential candidates

had longer sound bites, on average, in broadcast television newscasts.

A president's policy initiatives are significantly more successful when the president

has the strong support of the American people

Most successful Internet blogs

have a liberal bias.

On both radio and television, most successful partisan talk shows

have been hosted by conservatives

In terms of news consumption, since the 1980s young adults

have been less informed than older ones.

The president's constitutional roles, such as chief executive and commander in chief,

have expanded in practice to be more powerful than the writers of the Constitution intended.

In 1912, a candidate for which minor party managed to earn more votes than one of his major party opponents?

Bull Moose

At which of the following times did the American media step back from their watchdog role?

after the September 11th terrorist attacks

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) was created in ________. a. 1789 b. 1804 c. 1865 d. 1888 e. 1939

e. 1939

Ticket splitting was most prominent during which decade?

1970s

How many presidents have been impeached in U.S. history?

2

The U.S. House of Representatives last decided the outcome of a presidential election in ________.

1824

The election of _____ was a realigning election.

1932

The election of ________ represented a party realignment.

1932

After which party convention did the Democrats force major changes in the presidential nominating process?

1968

Define a PAC. What limitations do PACs face when raising funds? What limitations do they face when contributing funds? Who are the primary recipients of PAC contributions, and why?

A PAC is the political action committee of an interest group that tries to gain influence by contributing money to the campaigns of political candidates. The true extent of PAC power to influence policy makers is hotly debated; PACs are influential, but their money does not literally buy votes in Congress. However, money does buy access, and members of Congress listen to groups that financially support their campaigns. PAC contributions account for roughly a third of total contributions to congressional campaigns. Their role is less significant in presidential campaigns, which are larger in scale and depend on a wider range of funding sources. PACs face limitations on their efforts to raise funds. They can raise money for election campaigns by soliciting voluntary contributions from group members. A group cannot give organizational funds (such as corporate profits or union dues) to candidates. Limitations also exist on the levels of contribution. A PAC can contribute no more than $10,000 to a candidate for federal office—$5,000 in the primary and $5,000 in the general election. The primary recipients of PAC contributions are incumbents. Congressional incumbents are highly likely to win and thus to remain in a position to make public policy. For this reason, the great bulk of PAC contributions are given to incumbents seeking reelection.

Explain the term partisan press. Why was it superseded by the objective press?

A partisan press is one that concentrates on advancing a particular ideological or partisan viewpoint. The American media, with few exceptions, no longer follows this pattern, although some European newspapers still do so. At one time, the American press was quite partisan. This situation changed with technological innovations such as the telegraph and rotary printing press, which changed the economics of American newspapers. Partly as a reaction against the excesses of yellow journalism, newspapers turned to the objective model of reporting, which concentrates on objective reporting of facts and reports on differing sides of controversial issues. They accomplished this in part by a direct company policy focus on objective reporting and a new focus on the professional ethics of objective journalism by journalism schools

What is meant by a party realignment?

A party realignment occurs when many significant social groups alter their voting behavior and switch their allegiance from one political party to another. Party realignments have four basic elements: The existing political order is disrupted; voters shift their support in favor of one party; a major change in public policy occurs as a result of the stronger party; and there is an enduring change in the party coalitions, which works to the lasting advantage of that party.

What are primary elections and what impact have they had on party organizations?

A primary election is a method of nominating party candidates in which the party nominee is chosen by voters rather than by party leaders. Primary elections weaken party organization by depriving the party of control over the candidates who will run under its banner.

Identify the factors that account for the relative uniformity in news reporting among major American news institutions.

A reason for the relative uniformity of news reporting is objective journalism, in which the emphasis on facts and salient events provides journalists with a basis for agreement. Put differently, because almost all journalists view the world and their job in roughly the same way, they tend to report the same things. Another reason for the lack of diversity in reporting is that a small number of news organizations generate most of the news. For example, the Associated Press (AP) wire service is the major source of national and international news for most newspapers. National networks tend to report the same stories and to agree on what are the most important aspects of those stories, and network correspondents cover the same beats and rely on many of the same sources, which leads them to report more or less the same things.

What did Alexander Hamilton argue about war in Federalist No. 69?

A surprise attack on the United States is the only justification for war by presidential action

Members of the ________ generate more mail to Congress than any other group.

AARP

The limits of interest groups' influence might be gauged by the Democratic backlash against the ________, which tried to block the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993.

AFL-CIO

Which of the following groups is most closely aligned with the Democratic Party, voting about 85 percent Democratic in presidential elections?

African Americans

Which of the following is true of age differences in news consumption?

Age differences in news consumption shrink for Internet-based news but do not disappear.

A standing committee in the House or Senate: A. is a permanent committee. B. has jurisdiction over a particular policy area. C. has authority to draft, amend, and recommend legislation. D. is usually organized according to the seniority principle. E. All these answers are correct.

All of these answers are correct.

Incumbents may have some problems in reelection campaigns if: A. disruptive issues such as general public discontent with Congress become prominent. B. the incumbent is tainted with charges of personal misconduct or corruption. C. the election is a midterm election, and the incumbent is of the same party as the president. D. through redistricting, the incumbent is placed in a disadvantageous district. E. All these answers are correct.

All of these answers are correct.

Identify the defining characteristics of an interest group. How do interest groups differ from political parties?

An interest group is any organization that actively seeks to influence public policy. They are a linkage mechanism, serving to connect citizens with government. Although political parties are also linkage mechanisms, they serve a much broader range of issues in order to appeal to more constituents. Interest groups concentrate on trying to change specific policies, while political parties have winning elections as their primary goal. Interest groups also handle some issues, particularly controversial ones, that political parties neglect or deliberately avoid.

Compare iron triangles and issue networks.

An iron triangle is a small and informal but relatively stable set of bureaucrats, legislators, and lobbyists who are concerned with the development of policies beneficial to a particular interest. All sides of an iron triangle benefit from the relationship, which is why such relationships tend to be iron-clad or likely to endure. An issue network is an informal relationship among officials and lobbyists who are linked by common expertise and concern with a given policy area, such as energy, communication, the environment, or trade, and who come together temporarily around an issue problem. Issue networks are different from iron triangles because the former are temporary and ad hoc (a response to a particular issue) and are based on shared expertise, while the latter are more enduring and are based on common interest. Although they are less stable, issue networks have become a more prevalent manner in which to wield political influence.

Why have the Democratic and Republican parties been so durable as to maintain existence since the Civil War? Explain.

Analysts believe that the durability of the Democratic and Republican parties is due to their remarkable ability to adapt during times of crisis. These two major parties have survived many periods of social, economic, and political unrest not by maintaining a consistent ideology, but by adapting to the changing needs of the maintaining and realigning elections (for example, the elections of the Great Depression of the 1930s produced fundamentally new Democratic and Republican parties). Instead of being destroyed by these elections, the parties emerged with new bases of support, new policies, and even new philosophies. Democrats and Republicans remained the dominant parties in America. After the Great Depression, the Democrats became the country's majority party and emphasized a new social and economic role for national government. The party survived—indeed succeeded—only by responding to the crisis and adapting its policies to address the current needs of the people. Such capacity for adaptation has ensured the Democrats' and Republicans' longevity and dominance in America's two-party system.

Under which president did the Electoral College selection process change to a popular vote?

Andrew Jackson

Congress authorized an official impeachment investigation of

Andrew Johnson.

In the 2008 presidential election, ________ used the Internet most successfully to attract followers and raise donations.

Barack Obama

________ lost the 1964 presidential election in a landslide because his views were seen as too extreme.

Barry Goldwater

The Democratic Party's long-time regional stronghold, "the Solid South," stemmed from a realignment during which historical period?

Civil War era

The presidential advisory unit that, as a whole, has declined significantly as an advisory resource for the president in the twentieth century is the

Cabinet as a whole

What is a candidate-centered campaign, and how does it differ from a party-centered one? Identify some advantages and disadvantages of candidate-centered campaigns.

Candidates effectively control the candidate-centered campaign, while a party-centered campaign is dominated by parties. In the former, voters tend to select individuals; in the latter, voters tend to make their choices based on party traditions and party platforms. One advantage of candidate-centered campaigns is that they bring flexibility and new blood to electoral politics. This means the political system can more quickly adapt to new realities. Also, candidate-centered campaigns encourage national officeholders to be more responsive to local interests, because personal support among local constituents is the key to re-election. A disadvantage is that such campaigns are heavily influenced by the contributions of special interests. Another disadvantage is that officeholders' accountability to the public is reduced because an incumbent can always blame other officeholders for policy problems. Party-centered campaigns are characterized by collective accountability.

Define citizens'(or noneconomic) interest groups and identify the types of noneconomic interest groups and the constituencies they serve.

Citizens (or noneconomic) groups are organized around purposive incentives, which are opportunities to support a cause in which a person believes. Nearly every conceivable issue or problem has its citizens' group, and so the constituencies served by citizens' groups are incredibly diverse. Some citizens' groups, like the NAACP or the National Organization for Women, work to advance the interests of a particular social grouping. Other citizens' groups are dedicated to the promotion of a political ideology, like the American Conservative Union (ACU) or MoveOn. Most citizens' groups have an issue-specific policy agenda and are called single-interest groups. Single interest groups are organized to influence policy in just one area; examples are the Sierra Club, the National Rifle Association, and the various right-to-life and pro-choice abortion-related groups. However, citizens' groups are very difficult to classify because they differ so widely in focus and goals and can have overlapping traits. A single-issue group might be highly ideological or highly pragmatic.

________ was the only Republican elected president from 1932-1964.

Dwight Eisenhower

What aspect of presidential election did Andrew Jackson try but fail to achieve?

elimination of the Electoral College

Which of the following is a reason that the nation did not routinely need a strong president during most of the nineteenth century? A. the small poicy making role of the federal government B. the sectional nature of the nation's major issues. C. U.S. Governments small role in world affairs. D. None of these E. All of these

E. All of these.

What is the importance of the distinction between private goods (individual goods) and collective goods (public goods) in assessing why some interests are more highly organized than others? What type of group particularly benefits from this situation?

Economic groups offer members private (or individual) incentives that benefit them directly, which is a powerful reason to join the group. An example of a private good is a benefit that a labor union member obtains through the union. Citizens' groups offer collective goods (public goods), which are goods that all people share, such as a clean environment. The fact that such goods are available to nonmembers as well as members is a disincentive for many to participate. This situation, called the free-rider problem, can plague citizens' groups. Economic groups are less affected by the free-rider problem. Economic groups also have ready access to financial resources in the form of profits or dues, while citizens' groups typically have more trouble obtaining financial resources—though recent advances in computer-aided direct mail and Internet-based fundraising have improved the financing capabilities of many citizens' groups

Define economic groups. Identify four main types of economic interest groups and the constituencies they serve

Economic groups promote the economic interests of their members. The four types of economic groups are business, labor, farm, and professional groups. Business groups, which make up more than one-half of all lobbying groups in Washington, D.C., concentrate their activities on policies that are concerned with business, such as tax, tariff, and regulatory decisions. Business interests are also represented by associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Labor groups seek to promote policies that benefit workers in general and union members in particular. They have been politically active for a long time, and the AFL-CIO is the largest labor group. Farm groups represent various segments of the farm community; for example, the Farm Bureau promotes agribusiness and large farms, while the Farmers Union promotes the interests of smaller family farms. Professional groups, such as the American Medical Association, represent various professions and attempt to influence policy on their behalf.

The FCC restriction requiring broadcasters to "afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of public importance" was known as the A. "Equal Time" rule. B. objective-reporting model. C. signaling function. D. common-carrier function. E. Fairness Doctrine.

Fairness Doctrine

The Gazette of the United States was founded to promote the policies of President

George Washington

________ warned Americans of the "baneful effects" of factions (political parties) in his 1797 farewell address.

George Washington

How do European parties differ from American parties?

In Europe, where there are no primary elections, parties are stronger and have much tighter control over nominations, campaigns, candidate funding, and elections. American parties, due to federalism and a tradition of individualism, remain loose associations of local, state, and national organizations. European parties tend to divide along class lines, while America's two-party system requires each party to accommodate a wide range of interests in order to gain the voting plurality necessary to win elections. The European proportional representation system also results in the viability of smaller parties than can get representation in legislatures even with a small proportion of the vote.

Explain why the single-member district system of elections tends to promote a two-party system.

In a single-member district system, each constituency selects only one representative for an office on the basis of which candidate receives a plurality of the vote. This system promotes a two-party system in America. It discourages minor parties because it is, essentially, a winner-take-all contest. For example, if a minor party receives 20 percent of the vote in each congressional district, it would win no seats in Congress. Despite the fact that one in five voters voted for the minor party, the winning candidate in each district would be the major-party candidate with the larger proportion of the remaining 80 percent of the vote. In contrast, a system of proportional representation is not a winner-take-all contest. In European democracies, for example, seats in the legislature are allocated according to a party's share of the popular vote. This system encourages minor parties; if a minor party wins 20 percent of the vote by way of illustration, it receives 20 percent of the legislative seats. America's single-member district system disadvantages minor parties and, therefore, promotes a two-party system.

58. Compare outside lobbying and inside lobbying.

Inside lobbying is based on close contacts with legislative, executive, and judicial officials and relies upon the use of information and personal persuasion as means of gaining support for the goals of the interest group. Outside lobbying aims to bring public pressure to bear on officials and rests upon grassroots activity (e.g., a letter-writing campaign) and electoral support in the form of group endorsements, votes, and financial contributions.

Discuss interest-group liberalism and indicate how Madison's constitutional solution for controlling groups has itself become part of the problem in American politics.

Interest-group liberalism holds that there is no concept of society's collective interest in a policy system that enables special interests to determine for themselves which policy benefits they receive. Regardless of how many interests are served by the system, the public interest is not served, because each policy decision is the result not of majority rule but of minority or special-interest rule. Madison's constitutional solution to the problem of special interests was to offset the power of a faction by pitting it against other factions; in practice, this solution required the fragmentation of political power—checks and balances. Today, Madison's arrangement results in the delegation of authority in particular policy areas to small sets of officials, a condition that provides a perfect context for group influence.

How has the Internet affected the watchdog capacity of the media?

It has expanded the watchdog capacity of the media.

Which of the following was a provision of the War Powers Act?

It requires hostilities to end within sixty days unless Congress extends the period.

Which of the following statements about the patronage system is true?

It was a means of rewarding party workers for their loyalty.

Populist ________ won electoral votes in six states in the presidential election of 1892.

James B. Weaver

________ wrote that "Liberty is to faction what air is to fire."

James Madison

_______ is associated with the Era of Good Feeling.

James Monroe

Which one of the following did NOT serve as a state governor prior to being president?

John Kennedy

Which of the following is NOT true of the 2004 presidential election? A. Howard Dean did not accept federal matching funds in the primaries. B. John Kerry accepted federal matching funds in the primaries. C. George W. Bush did not accept federal matching funds in the primaries. D. None of the three candidates (Dean, Kerry, and Bush) accepted federal matching funds in the primaries. E. None of these answers is correct.

John Kerry accepted federal matching funds in the primaries.

The only two states that are exceptions to the unit rule are

Maine and Nebraska

Which states gives one Electoral College vote to the winner of each congressional district and two Electoral College votes to the statewide winner?

Maine and Nebraska

The vicious character to which current political ads are prone may be gauged by a 2002 ad that associated disabled war veteran ________ with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

Max Cleland

Which of the following is an accurate representation of the public's opinion about leaders and their accountability?

Most citizens have a low opinion of Congress as a whole, but say they have confidence in their local representative in Congress.

Which of the following organizations is NOT an example of a single-issue group?

MoveOn.org

Which of the following broadcast news sources has seen its audience grow?

NPR

Which of the following statements has been shown by scholarly research to be true?

Network journalists tend to be negative.

Which newspaper was the first to reduce the price of a daily copy to a penny?

New York Sun

All of the following use top-two primaries EXCEPT

Oregon.

Which of the following statements is true? A. Political parties are unimportant in the organization of the U.S. Congress. B. Party-line voting rarely occurs in Congress. C. Party-line voting has increased in recent years. D. Partisanship makes virtually no difference in the votes cast in Congress. E. None of these answers is correct.

Party-line voting has increased in recent years.

What is especially unique about the "Era of Good Feeling?"

President Monroe ran unopposed in 1820.

The issue of slavery gave birth to the ________ party as a major political party.

Republican

________ was known as the "Great Communicator".

Ronald Regan

In 1992, ________ won 19 percent of the popular vote in the presidential election.

Ross Perot

Defining the conditions and scheduling a bill for floor debate in the House of Representatives is the responsibility of the

Rules Committee.

Yellow journalism contributed to public support for the

Spanish-American War

Economist Mancur Olson refers to what aspect of interest groups as "the size factor"?

Small groups are ordinarily more united on policy issues and often have more resources, enabling them to win out more often than large groups.

Which of the following is true of the vice presidency?

The Constitution assigns no executive authority to the vice president.

How do the motivations of the press differ and often lead to a greater coverage of crime stories than the political process or world events?

The concern of the press is with the dramatic; it attempts to find and develop good stories. The press is not accountable to the public, but it does rely on revenue generated through advertising, and thus must attempt to maximize readership or viewership. The focus on crime stories increased in the early 1990s in an attempt to bolster sagging audiences.

What steps did the government have to take to regulate broadcast media, and why were those steps necessary?

The development of the broadcast media brought initial chaos primarily because nearby stations often used the same or adjacent radio frequencies, interfering with each other's broadcasts. Congress passed the Communications Act, which regulated broadcasting and created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to oversee the process. Broadcasters had to be licensed, and because the number of frequencies is limited, licensing required political impartiality. The Communications Act also contained an "equal time" provision, which prohibits broadcasters from selling or giving airtime to a political candidate without offering to sell or give an equal amount of airtime to other candidates for the same office.

Explain the four roles of the modern media

The modern media effectively perform four significant roles: those of signaler, common-carrier, watchdog, and partisan advocate. The signaling role requires the press to bring relevant events and problems into public view. In its common-carrier role, the press serves as a channel through which political leaders can address the public. The watchdog role requires the press to scrutinize official behavior and uncover evidence of deception, carelessness, or corruption. Finally, the press functions as a partisan advocate. Although the traditional media perform this function to a degree, the newer media (the talk shows and blogs) specialize in it.

Which of the following is true of employment in lobbying firms by members of Congress?

They are prohibited by law from lobbying Congress for a set period of time after leaving office.

The dominant labor interest group is

United Auto Workers

Congress authorized an official impeachment investigation of a. Andrew Johnson. b. John Quincy Adams. c. Theodore Roosevelt. d. Warren Harding. e. Calvin Coolidge

a. Andrew Johnson.

A basic reason for the existence of so many interest groups in the United States is

a. the American tradition of free association. b. the extent of diverse interests in American society. c. America's federal system of government. d. the separation of powers in American government.

In contrast with European news media, American news media are more likely to

act primarily as neutral transmitters of information.

The Whig theory holds that the presidency

b. is a limited office whose occupant is confined to the exercise of expressly granted constitutional powers.

The honeymoon period occurs during a. a president's second term only. b. the first part of a president's term. c. the period of a president's term immediately following a successful foreign policy initiative. d. the period of a president's term immediately following a successful domestic policy initiative. e. the State of the Union address

b. the first part of a president's term.

Which of the following describes what political scientist Hugh Heclo calls "the illusion of presidential government"? a. the inability of the president to influence the legislative priorities of Congress, even though the party in power pays lip-service to the president's agenda b. the presidential image-building through public relations that contributes to the idea that the president is in charge of the national government c. the belief by the public that Congress should follow the presidential agenda, regardless of whether or not the majority part is the same party of the president d. the image-building that the president's foreign policy strength lends to the rest of his agenda e. the image strength lent by the sheer size of the executive establishment, even though the president has little direct control over most of it

b. the presidential image-building through public relations that contributes to the idea that the president is in charge of the national government

In Bush v. Gore (2000), the Supreme Court

blocked a manual recount of the Florida presidential vote.

The influence of interest groups through the courts occurs through

both initiating lawsuits and lobbying for certain judges to be appointed to the bench.

The largest number of PACs are those associated with

business

Most of the work on legislation in Congress is done

by committees and their respective subcommittees.

Which of the following is a formal constitutional requirement for becoming president? a. One must be at least 40 years of age. b. One must be a resident in the United States for at least 10 years. c. One must be a natural-born citizen. d. One must be a white male. e. One must be a Protestant.

c. One must be a natural-born citizen.

Prospective voting is characterized by

choices based on what candidates promise to do if elected.

James Carville, Dick Morris, and Roger Ailes are all examples of

campaign strategists who have earned legendary reputations.

A pocket veto differs from a regular presidential veto in that the pocket veto

can take effect only when the Congress is not in session

Some groups pursue collective goods. A collective good is one that

cannot be selectively granted or denied to individuals; it must be shared.

The president's constitutional roles, such as chief executive and commander in chief, a. are based on very precise constitutional grants of power. b. are rooted in tradition only; they have no basis in the language of the Constitution. c. are not subject to check by Congress. d. have expanded in practice to be more powerful than the writers of the Constitution intended. e. are absolute powers under the Constitution

d. have expanded in practice to be more powerful than the writers of the Constitution intended.

The War Powers Act was enacted in order to a. guide the military in its use of force in field situations where it is impractical to seek direction from the president. b. allow the president more leeway in committing U.S. troops to combat. c. define the relationship between the United States and its allies. d. limit the president's war-making power. e. weaken Congress in foreign policy matters

d. limit the president's war-making power.

Theodore Lowi's theory of interest-group liberalism

deals with the tendency of officials to support the policy demands of the interest group or groups that have a special stake in a policy.

Organizationally, U.S. party organizations are

decentralized and fragmented.

Outside lobbying does NOT include

developing and maintaining close contacts with policymakers.

During the era of objective journalism, the commitment of newspapers to two-sided news reporting

did not extend to their editorializing

The presidential advisory unit that, as a whole, has declined significantly as an advisory resource for the president in the twentieth century is the a. Council of Economic Advisers. b. Office of Management and Budget. c. White House Office. d. National Security Council. e. the Cabinet (as a whole).

e the Cabinet (as a whole).

The most fully organized interests are those that have which of the following as their primary purpose?

economic activity

In the dynamics of an iron triangle, what benefit do interest groups provide to friendly bureaucratic agencies?

lobbying support for agency programs

Candidate-centered politics encourages all of the following EXCEPT

long-term consistency in policymaking.

Bills are formally introduced in Congress by

members of Congress only.

Candidate strategy in the early presidential nominating contests (such as New Hampshire's primary) is designed chiefly to gain

momentum

According to E. E. Schattschneider, the interest-group system has a

strong upper-class bias.

In recent decades, lobbyists in Washington, D.C. have increasingly

targeted the executive branch in their efforts to influence policy decisions.

During what decade did the American news audience change from a growing to a shrinking one?

the 1980s

The support of ________ was critical to passage of a controversial prescription drug program for the elderly in 2003.

the AARP

Which citizens' group did a Fortune magazine survey rank as the nation's most powerful lobbying group?

the AARP

The forced removal of a president from office through impeachment and conviction requires action by the

the Senate only

The major reason for the persistence of the American two-party system is

the existence of single-member election districts.

The situation in which individuals are tempted not to contribute to a cause because they will get the benefits even if they do not participate is called

the free rider program

Why have issue networks become more prevalent than iron triangles?

the increasing complexity of policy problems

A flaw in pluralism theory is the fact that

the interest group system is unrepresentative because some interests are far better organized and more powerful than others.

Which institution receives the most news coverage from the national press?

the presidency

About 95 percent of all political activists in the United States work at

the local level.

One of the reasons the reporting of national news is relatively uniform among news sources is that

the network newscasts are brief and the day's top stories tend to dominate.

Which of the following does NPR serve as an example of?

the one true success story of public broadcasting

A purposive incentive is defined as

the opportunity to contribute to a worthy goal or purpose.

Whereas today candidates rely on the media, previously they based their campaigns on

the party organization