Chapter 7b Champaigns

A citizen can currently give no more than ________ per candidate for federal office per election in a given two-year election cycle.

$2,700

Who wants to make it more difficult for working class and poor people to vote?

Republicans

What was the legal question before the Supreme Court as a result of the 2000 presidential elections?

Should Florida continue to manually recount ballots?

Which of the following statements about age and political participation is true?

Young people are far less likely to participate in politics than older people.

Which of the following has an impact on the outcome of elections?

all of these can affect the outcome of an election

Who typically sponsor initiatives, or initiative petitions?

interest groups

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

referendum

The condition in which voters grow tired of the campaign (as illustrated by the crying girl, Abby) is called

voter fatigue

527 committees are different from 501(c)(4) organizations because

501(c)(4) organizations do not have to publicly report who their donors are and how much they gave.

IA state's electoral votes can be calculated by:

Adding together the number of representatives and senators that it has

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

Corporations are people and can therefore spend as much as they want on political campaigns

Which of the following is NOT true about voting by mail?

It increases privacy protections.

Generally speaking, turnout in the United States is:

Lower than in most other democracies

_______ is the practice of tailoring campaign messages to individuals in small, homogenous groups.

Micro-targeting

________ is the practice of tailoring campaign messages to individuals in small, homogenous groups.

Micro-targeting

When a governmental body puts questions of public policy on a ballot for voters to decide, this is called a(n):

Referendum

Private groups that raise and distribute funds for election campaigns are called

political action committees.

All of the following are factors cited by some scholars as disadvantages of voting by mail EXCEPT

that it decreases voter participation.

The right of candidates to spend their own money on running for office is protected by

the Constitution according to the Supreme Court.

Presidential elections are always held on what day?

the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November

Donald Trump got 56% of the votes in Missouri in the 2016 race (Hillary got 38%). Missouri has 8 representatives in Congress. How many electoral votes from Missouri did Trump win?

10

"Dark money" comes from

501(c)(4)s.

may not spend more than half its revenue for political purposes.

A 501(c)(4)

Which of the following would be an example of a ballot initiative?

A vote on whether recreational marijuana usage should be legalized in Missouri..

Which of the following would be an example of a referendum?

A vote on whether to overturn a law passed by the New York state legislature and signed by the governor of New York that imposes higher taxes on wealthy residents.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002, soft money contributions to national parties are:

Banned

Bernie Sanders ran as a Democrat in 2016 even though he was a registered independent. He had a LOT of enthusiastic supporters who were "Independents." Which kind of election was LEAST favorable to Sanders?

Closed Primary states

Roesler (and others) support purely electronic voting since it is more secure and transparent. True False

False

Roesler (and others) support purely electronic voting since it is more secure and transparent. True or False

False

Stephen Colbert's reason for forming his SuperPAC (based on the clips from the lecture) was to promote the idea that all people (including corporations) should be treated equally. True or False

False

The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) is a powerful watchdog that has successfully kept US elections free from the influence of wealthy donors. True or False

False

Trump's financial advantage was key to his 2016 election win. True or False

False

In 1971, Congress passed the ____, which created a federal bureaucratic structure to monitor and set limits on campaign contributions by individuals as well as provide public financing for presidential campaigns.

Federal Election Campaign Act

The winner of the electoral college vote has NOT won the popular vote ________ time(s) in American history.

Four

What is the major significance of the Supreme Court's ruling in Buckley v. Valeo?

Independent expenditures are consided protected speech.

Some people say that money buys elections. A more realistic statement would be that money:

Is necessary but not sufficient for victory

Which of the following is true about the McCain-Feingold Act?

It banned nearly all soft money contributions.

In the 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court:

Struck down a part of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Act, thus allowing corporations and unions to spend money in support of candidates

_____ may raise unlimited contributions from corporations, unions, professional and business associations, and individuals for the purpose of making unlimited expenditures in favor of or against a candidate running for the presidency or for Congress.

Super PACs

Super PACs were made possible in part by the

Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

Who selects the president if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral vote?

The House of Representatives

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act initially prohibited corporate, union, or trade associations from sponsoring candidate-targeted ads; however, this was later changed by:

The Supreme Court

A major drawback of purely electronic voting is

The possibility of computer error b. The possibility of manipulating the computer program c. The lack of a paper trail

What was Stephen Colbert's reason for forming his SuperPAC? Hint: recall the Herman Cain rally

To poke fun at our campaign finance system of undisclosed amounts of money coming from undisclosed sources

Which of the following was NOT a factor in Donald Trump's 2016 win over Hillary Clinton?

Trump spent significantly more money on TV ads during the campaign

A state's electoral votes can be calculated by:

adding together the number of representatives and senators that it has.

527 committees are an important part of the American political system because they

are able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they do not coordinate their activities with a political party.

Presidential candidates who accept federal funding for their general election campaigns

are subject to strict expenditure limits.

In order to win the presidency, a candidate must win

at least 270 electoral votes.

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

ballot initiative.

The McCain-Feingold Act

banned most soft money contributions.

Contributing to the campaigns of candidates is basically a strategy of

buying access

Both 527s and 501(c)(4)s

can spend unlimited amounts on political advocacy as long as their efforts are not coordinated with those of any candidate's campaign.

The campaign funds raised and spent by 501(c)(4) organizations are called "dark money" because

donors and amounts contributed do not have to be made public.

What is the MOST important factor in predicting whether an individual votes?

education level

The right of candidates to spend their own money on running for office

is protected absolutely by the First Amendment, according to the Supreme Court.

Public funding for presidential primary campaigns

matches, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, all contributions of $250 or less, up to a total of $48.7 million in 2016.

Voter turnout in state and local elections is generally

much lower than turnout in national elections.

In order to qualify for public funding in a presidential primary, a candidate must

run as a major party candidate and raise at least $5,000 in individual contributions of $250 or less in each of 20 states.

A serious candidate for a U.S. House of Representatives race must raise at least ________ while a serious candidate for a U.S. Senate race must raise at least ________.

several hundred thousand dollars; several million dollars

In modern political campaigns, ____ has/have recently emerged as a valuable tool in reaching public.

social media

In modern political campaigns, ____ has/have recently emerged as a valuable tool in reaching the public.

social media

Contributions to political parties designated for so-called "party-building" activities (not to directly promote a candidate) are known as

soft money.

In general elections for Congress, how many votes must a candidate receive in order to win?

the most votes