Unit 5 Regular Government
Which of the following people is most likely to vote in a general election? HINT: The older and more educated someone becomes, the more likely it is that they will vote in the general election.
A 65-year-old college professor
Which of the following statements about interest groups and lobbying is true?
A Capitol Hill lobbyist's most precious asset is access.
Which of the following people would most likely be a Democrat? HINT: Cuban Americans disapprove of the Democrats' stance on Cuba. The Republican Party embraced the evangelical movement in the 1980s, and that relationship still holds today. The relationship between white Southerners and Republicans has also still largely held since the 1980s. Mexican Americans support Democrats' stance on immigration.
A Mexican American
Which of the following most accurately describes The Federalist Papers? HINT: If you don't recall what The Federalist Papers were, use Process of Elimination to find wrong answers. The Federalist party did not have a platform; platforms are the product of political conventions, which were not a part of American politics until later. The Federalist Papers were neither anti-British nor, as they were written in 1787, pre-Revolutionary.
A collection of essays arguing the merits of the Constitution
Which of the following best supports an argument that the national news media is a liberal-leaning institution?
A high percentage of national journalists are self-described Democrats.
Which of the following groups is aligned with the Democratic party, voting more than 85 percent Democratic in presidential elections?
African Americans
Which of the following defines an open primary election? HINT: Primaries are a valuable tool political parties use to select their best candidate for the general election. Like in the general election, voters select the candidate through voting at the ballot box. A caucus is a separate method of selecting a candidate. The results of an open primary are binding. Open primaries do not necessitate that voters be allowed to register on the day of the primary. Any registered voter may participate in an open primary; during closed primaries, only voters registered with a specific political party may participate.
Any registered voter may participate, regardless of party affiliation.
An interest group's political action committee has donated to Sentor Jones's campaign, yet Jones has signaled he opposes a proposed bill the interest group favors. Which of the following actions is the interest group most likely to take?
Ask to meet with the representative to explain and persuade her to vote otherwise
What is an accurate comparison of challengers and incumbents?
Challengers: Have generally fewer resources than incumbents Incumbents: Use the tools of their office to help support their candidacy
"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enable to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts." --George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796 Someone arguing that Washington's message is coming true would point to which of the following events in American political history? HINT: Washington warned that political parties would take power. Citizens United v. FEC dramatically increased the amount of money spent on elections, a decision many would argue gives political parties/interest groups more political power than voters.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of congressional and presidential campaigns?
Congressional: Have lower turnouts than presidential elections Presidential: Are decided by the Electoral College
What is an accurate comparison between conservative and liberal beliefs?
Conservative: Believe in limited regulation of business Liberal: Support gay marriage
You believe in expanding gun-control legislation, and you support more affirmative action efforts. You oppose the death penalty. Which party best aligns with your beliefs?
Democratic
Which of the following describes an open Republican primary? HINT: Pay close attention to the modifiers for a given scenario. You aren't being asked about any primary, or even any Republican primary-youre looking at an open Republican primary. These modifiers can help you to eliminate choices. An open primary is one in which any registered voter can participate-not just Republicans or Democrats.
Every registered voter can vote.
Which of the following groupings constitute an "iron triangle"?
Executive agency, congressional committee, interest group
To find how much money a political candidate spent on a campaign for the House, Senate, or the presidency, which agency should one contact?
Federal Election Commission
Which of the following constitutional amendments did Congress seek to enforce when it passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
Fifteenth Amendment
Which interest group action would most influence rulings in the courts?
Filing an amicus curiae brief
Political Action Committees (PACs) allow unions and corporations to perform which of the following actions? HINT: PACs do not run their own candidates for office. PACs do not have a formal voice in government. PACs often oppose one another. PACs allow unions and corporations to funnel unlimited sums of money toward political activities, as long as the money is not directly affiliated with a candidate.
Funnel unlimited amounts of money to candidates of their choice.
Which of the following activities are interest groups barred from taking part in? HINT: Interest groups such as PACs play a significant role in electing candidates to office but actual/solid gifts still constitute bribery.
Giving tangible gifts to lawmakers
A member of which of the following demographic groups is most likely to support a Republican presidential candidate? HINT: While the overall voting habits of white females can vary, unmarried white females have historically favored the Democratic candidate. Since Franklin Roosevelt's presidency, African Americans have overwhelmingly identified as Democrats in a trend that continues to the present. Barack Obama won a whopping 96% and 93% of the African American vote in 2008 and 2012. Likewise, in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton received 88% of the African American vote. The majority of youths voted for Jimmy Carter (1976), Bill Clinton (1996), Barack Obama (2008 and 2012), and Hillary Clinton (2016). Married, white males have preferred the Republican candidate for president in every election since 1972.
Married white male
Which of the following statements is true about presidential primaries?
Most states use primaries to award delegates to presidential candidates.
What is an accurate comparison of objective news and commentary?
Objective News: Factual accounts of events and people Commentary: Opinions of experts or people with political goals
Which type of primary election provides the greatest choice for voters?
Open primary
Which of the following best describes why Republican presidential candidates who are successful in the primaries tend to be more conservative than rank-and-file Republicans? HINT: Those most active in both the Republican and Democratic parties tend to be further from the political center than average rank-and-file party members. Because party activists control much of the nomination process and are more likely than others to vote in primary elections, successful presidential nominees tend to reflect the political agendas of these activists.
Party activists, whose political participation is disproportionate to their numbers, tend to be very conservative.
At a nominating convention, which committee decides the positions that the political party will take? HINT: The Credentials Committee decides if a delegate has voting privileges. The Platform Committee decides the positions, i.e planks, the party will take over the next four years.The Rules Committee decides the important process of how delegates may vote during the convention (for example, whether they can change their vote after the first round of voting). There is no Ideology Committee.
Platform Committee
What is an accurate comparison between a political party and an interest group?
Political Party: Nominate candidates for office Interest Group: Make endorsements
What is an accurate comparison between a presidential candidate's actions during the primary and general elections?
Primary Election: Focus on convention delegates General Election: Focus on the electoral map
In recent presidential elections, which party's platform has supported school prayer and been opposed to abortion?
Republican
What is an accurate comparison of Republican and Democrat views on government?
Republican: Favor fewer regulations Democrat: Favor more governmental regulation of the market
What is an accurate comparison of Democrats and Republicans?
Republicans: Have shifted the party ideology from a more liberal stance to a more conservative stance over time Democrats: Lost the Solid South in a regional realignment
"In this campaign, I've met so many people who motivate me to keep fighting for change. And, with your help, I will carry all of your voices and stories with me to the White House. I will be a president for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. For the struggling and the successful. For those who vote for me and those who don't. For all Americans." -Hillary Clinton, Acceptance Speech, 2016 2. What guidelines of messaging best align with this passage?
Since the nominating process is over, she doesn't have to worry about trying to gain the support of party members.
What best characterizes cooperative federalism? HINT: Cooperative federalism refers to cooperation between the federal government and state governments.
State and federal governments working on the same issue
Which of the following events in the 20th century caused the Democratic Party to undergo a party realignment? HINT: Major historical events can cause party realignments, points at which political power dramatically shifts from one party to another. Many Americans blamed the Great Depression on the Republican Party. African Americans switched from the party of Lincoln to the party of Roosevelt, whom thy trusted more than Republicans who had become the party of the wealthy. The passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 would also be correct, but it is not on this list.
The Great Depression
The words "I'm Ready for Hillary" began to appeare on bumper stickers and T-shirts early in the 2016 presidential campaign. Which of the following campaign messages do those words convey? HINT: This is tricky. One way to find the right answer is to see that the other three are clearly wrong. But finding the correct answer is easier once you realise people put bumper stickers on their cars with the name of the candidates they like.
The candidate's name recognition and an argument for progress
Of the following which best describes what has happened to party identification in the past two decades
The number of independents has grown to equal the number of democrats and republicans.
"Shortly after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, Bob Woodward and I were asked a question which we answered with a short phrase we've used many times since to describe our reporting on Watergate. We called it the "best obtainable version of the truth." It's a simple concept for something very difficult to get right because of the enormous effort that is required. Underlying everything reporters do in pursuit of the best obtainable version of the truth is the question "what is news?" What is it that we believe is important? This question of "what is news" becomes even more relevant if we are covering the president. Nixon tried to make the conduct of the press the issue in Watergate, instead of the conduct of the president. We tried to avoid the noise and let the reporting speak." - Reporter Carl Bernstein, 2017 Which of the following reasons likely explains why Bernstein thinks the question of "what is news" is especially important when covering the president?
The president can get a strong message out to the public asserting his interpretation of events.
Which of the following statements most accurately reflects voter trends in U.S. midterm elections?
The president's party typically loses seats in Congress during a midterm election.
During political campaigns before an election, the news media is said to cover the campaigns like a horse race. Which of the following statements best explains the reason for this analogy?
The press relies heavily on measurements like poll numbers as a constant comparison of candidates' relative success in a campaign.
Voters who rely exclusively on television network news coverage of national elections are most likely to be aware of which of the following? HINT: Network news programs tend to favor information that can be communicated quickly. The endorsement of a special interest group is generally stable, and is likely to be reported on only once. A candidates' position on issues are complex and difficult to capture on TV.
The relative strength of each candidate's support, as indicated by public opinion polls
Which of the following statements about the Electoral College is correct? HINT: Each state is represented by a delegation equal in number to that state's total representation in Congress (senators and members of the House). However, the number of House members for a given state is determined by proportional representation based on population, so a large state like California winds up with 54 votes whereas some states have only the minimum of 3. The Electoral College was part of the Constitution as originally ratified, not as a later amendment. It is possible for a candidate to win the Electoral College (and the presidency) while still losing the popular vote.
The results of Electoral College voting tend to distort the winner's margin of victory when compared with the popular vote.
Which of the following is true about Super PACs?
They can collect donations from the general public with no limits but cannot coordinate with candidates.
Which of the following statements about political action committees (PACs) is most accurate? HINT: In recent years, PACs have raised billions of dollars to influence elections throughout the United States. PACs cannot donate directly to political candidates. The FEC does regulate PACs. PACs raise money to support federal, state and local candidates. PACs attempt to influence elections at every level of government.
They raise money to influence federal, state, and local elections.
Which of the following is the primary function of a political action committee? HINT: A PAC wants to see that those who represent their point of view are elected. A PAC might try defeat an incumbent but would do so only if that incumbent failed to represent their point of view or actively worked against them. A PACs primary function is not to organize protests. PACs exist to raise political funds for campaigns and distribute them to candidates.
To contribute money to candidates for election
What is an accurate comparison of traditional media and new media?
Traditional media: Radio and television stations are licensed and regulated by the federal government. New Media: Cable stations and Internet news platforms appeal to niche markets.
What is an accurate comparison between voters and the Electoral College in a presidential election?
Voters: Candidates campaign to them Electoral College: Has the final say of who becomes president
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has had which of the following effects? HINT: States still have the power to establish their voter identification requirements, as long as these requirements do not violate the Constitution. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests. The Twenty-sixth Amendment lowered the nationwide voting age to 18.
Voting participation for racial minority voters has increased.
Which of the following statements concerning the likelihood that a person will vote is true? HINT: People are less likely to vote if they believe one candidate is far ahead. A strong party affiliation makes one more likely to vote. There is a strong correlation between higher education and a tendency to vote. White-collar workers vote more often than blue-collar workers.
White-collar workers are more likely to vote than are blue-collar workers, with the exception of blue-collar workers who belong to unions.
Which element of the Electoral College system causes some people's votes to be discounted?
Winner-take-all system
Which of the following is the best definition of a realignment?
a major ideological and demographic shift within a party
The current system of selecting presidential nominees, which was adopted in 1972, differs from the previous system in that: HINT: The reform of 1972 required states to use either a primary or open caucus as the means of picking the convention delegates, which meant the voters would be doing the choosing. This change required candidates to appeal directly to the voters if they hoped to gain nomination.
candidates must now appeal directly to the voters rather than seeking to win nomination through the support of party leaders
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
lowered limits on soft money
Divided government is the result of
one party holding the executive branch and the other the legislative branch
The factor which most influences the voting pattern of a congressperson is
party affiliation
Which of the following two groups are attracted to the Republican Party?
pro life and business persons
Which of the following is true of an open primary?
they allow cross over voting
Which of the following is true of Southern states?
they were once loyal to the Democratic party but now are loyal to the Republican party
When people vote for candidates from both parties in a single election, it is called
ticket splitting
Which of the following was least likely to join the New Deal coalition?
wealthy voters