Federal Government Chapters 7,8, and 10
The standard socioeconomic model of participation chiefly refers to which of the following?
Education, income, and occupation
The first partisan political division in the United States was between which of the following?
Federalists and Anti-Federalists
Which framer of the United States Constitution warned against the dangers of faction?
James Madison
Besides registration, which of the following is usually cited as a reason for low voter turnout?
Lack of effective voter mobilization
Researchers have found that political apathy is which of the following in the United States compared to almost all other nations?
Much lower
Which of the following is a statewide election of delegates to a party's national convention, where the delegates will choose the party's presidential nominee?
Presidential primary
Which of the following best describes the reason that the two-party system has endured in the United States?
Prevalence of single-member electoral districts
Which of the following qualifications for voting was virtually eliminated in all states by the 1850s?
Property ownership
The system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election is called what type of representation?
Proportional
The adoption of which of the following would permit multiple parties to acquire seats in Congress because representation would be based on the percentage of votes that they receive in national elections?
Proportional representation
With respect to political participation, what is the "great equalizer"?
Protesting
Which of the following makes it difficult to regulate interest groups?
The right to petition the government outlined in the First Amendment
A Political Action Committee can contribute which of the following to a candidate for Congress for each separate election?
$5,000
When an election elicits a sharp change in the existing patterns of party loyalty among groups of voters, it is called which of the following?
A critical election
If a lobbyist is trying to convince a legislator to support a particular bill, one of the most valuable resources in doing so is which of the following?
A large and politically active membership
Which of the following best describes the American electoral system?
A winner-take-all, or plurality, system
Compared to whites, African Americans today tend to have political participation rates that are which of the following?
About the same
Which of the following describes an interest group bringing a new political or policy issue to the public's attention?
Agenda building
A group that has as its purpose issues unrelated to its members' vocations is known as which of the following?
Citizen group
The American Farm Bureau Federation tries to influence public policy decisions that affect farmers. This is an example of which of the following?
An interest group
Which of the following best describes an interest group?
An organization that actively attempts to influence government policy
What types of interest groups are defined as economic interest groups?
Business, labor, and professional groups
Political parties used the patronage system as a way to do which of the following?
Build party loyalty
PAC donations are disproportionately from which of the following?
Business and professional interests
The march from Selma demonstrated to the nation the seriousness of which of the following?
Civil rights movement
A legal action brought by a person or group on behalf of a number of people in similar circumstances is known as which of the following?
Class action suit
Relatively routine participatory behaviors that use the established institutions of representative government such as voting in an election are called which of the following?
Conventional
To maintain order, the government has a stake in doing which of the following whenever possible?
Converting unconventional participation into conventional participation
In recent years, private sector union membership has done which of the following?
Decreased
After winning office in 1828, Andrew Jackson shortened the name of his party to what, signaling that it was a new kind of political party organization?
Democratic Party
From 1832 to 1856, which two parties dominated American politics and presidential elections?
Democrats and Whigs
Which of the following is a criterion that must be met for a country to be considered democratic?
Having more than one political party
In general, which of the following factors contributes to higher voting rates?
Higher education levels
When citizens contribute money to a candidate's campaign, they are engaging in which of the following?
Influencing behavior
Which of the following statements regarding the existence of interest groups is true?
Interest groups can be problematic for democracy because members of the middle or upper classes often dominate them.
Which of the following best describes the right to vote?
It has been expanded since the writing of the Constitution.
Because it depends on mass participation in politics, majoritarianism tends to do which of the following?
It limits individual freedom.
What was the effect of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment that enfranchised 18- to 20-year-olds?
It reduced the national voter turnout rate.
Which of the following best describes realignment?
It takes place when a substantial group of voters switches party allegiance.
Successful interest groups and their representatives try to cultivate long-term relationships with which of the following?
Legislators and government officials
In Oregon, everyone votes by which of the following methods?
Which of the following models of democracy believes that political parties are essential in making government responsive to public opinion?
Majoritarian
Because the winning party will have a stronger voice than its opponent in policy decisions, elections inject some of the benefits of which of the following into the political system?
Majoritarianism
Large interest groups are often difficult to organize for which of the following reasons?
Many of their potential members prefer to let someone else shoulder the interest group's financial burden.
The task of planning the next campaign and convention, obtaining financial contributions, and publicizing the national party belongs to which of the following?
National chairperson
What is at the top of the party organization with its members chosen by each state party organization?
National committees
Which of the following is an important tenet of pluralist theory?
New interest groups naturally form when the need arises.
The four most important functions of a political party are structuring the voting choice in elections, proposing alternative government programs, coordinating the actions of government officials, and which of the following?
Nominating candidates for election to public office
A political party is a group of individuals who do which of the following?
Organize to win elections and operate the government
A centralized organization that dominated local politics by controlling elections, sometimes by illegal means, is known as which of the following?
Party machine
The lobbyist's primary job involves which of the following?
Passing information on to his or her employers and policymakers
Proportional representation tends to do which of the following?
Perpetuate several political parties
At each national convention, a political party drafts what document that outlines the party's policies, positions, and principles?
Platform
Groups specially formed to raise and contribute funds to support electoral candidates and that are subject to campaign finance laws are known as which of the following?
Political action committees
Which of the following terms can be defined as the actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics?
Political participation
When a veterans group publicizes reports of excessive wait times at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, which function is the veterans' group performing?
Program monitoring
An electoral system that assigns one seat in a legislative body to represent citizens who live in a district is known as which of the following?
Single-member district system
The Republican Party was established primarily to address which of the following issues?
Slavery
The relationship between participation and order is complicated because of which of the following?
Some types of participation promote disorder.
A free rider is which of the following?
Someone who benefits from the actions of a group without joining it
Many Americans disapprove of interest groups, except those that do which of the following?
Speak on their behalf
The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott is an example of which of the following?
Successful unconventional political participation
Most interest groups have a bias toward which of the following?
The middle and upper classes
Which of the following is the lowest layer of official party machinery?
The national convention delegates
Which of the following is true of federal and state laws with regard to third parties?
The two major parties have a clear advantage because the laws have fewer obstacles for them.
Which of the following groups is most likely to engage in unconventional political participation?
The wealthy
Which of the following groups of Americans turns out to vote at the lowest rate?
The youngest voters
Why was the presidential election of 1912 unusual?
There were three significant contenders for the presidency.
What role do interest groups play in educating policymakers about political and policy issues?
They are an important source of political information.
Which of the following statements about third parties in the United States is true?
They are discouraged by the election laws in many states.
Why does the public tend to disapprove of interest groups?
They do not offer equal representation to all citizens.
Congress and the states moved quickly to pass the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, because of which of the following?
They hoped to channel student energy away from demonstrations and toward more conventional forms of participation.
Minor political parties that present an alternative to the two dominant political parties in the American political system are known as which of the following?
Third parties
The American emphasis on freedom over equality in political participation works to the benefit of which of the following?
Those with greater resources
When do voters favor one-party control of the presidency and Congress?
When their party is in control
The main purpose of a political party is to do which of the following in order to control government and implement its policies?
Win elections