Govt 2305 Unit 2 Review

​The American Farm Bureau Federation which tries to influence public policy decisions that affect farmers is an example of a(n)

Interest Group

What was the purpose of the Twelfth Amendment​?

It required the electoral college to vote separately for the president and vice president

Which of the following presidents failed to win a majority of the popular vote?

Kennedy, Nixon, Clinton, and George W. Bush

The lobbyist's primary job involves

Lobbyists make sure that people in government know what their members want and that their organizations know what the government is doing. lobbyists are right there to interpret the content and implications of the regulations for rank-and-file members. (educate)

_________ believe that interest groups further democracy by broadening representation within the system.

Pluralists

The first media technology to make broadcast journalists into household names was

Radio

There are four main functions of media, define them and tell me which has the greatest influence on government according to scholars

Reporting the news, Interpreting the news, Socializing citizens about politics, Setting the agenda for government action: Issues not on the political agenda will not get political action, the media can force the government to address issues, some issues receive too much coverage, media influences public opinion by defining "the news", makes issues public

What is "soft news" and give examples of it

Soft news refers to general entertainment programming that often includes discussions of political affairs. Programs like: The Daily Show, The Tonight Show, The Today Show, and the view all provide citizens with soft news.

We elect the president via 50 state elections combined into the electoral college; thus, presidential elections are best described as ________ elections.

federal

The primary goal of interest groups is to

influence public policy

If a lobbyist is trying to convince a legislator to support a particular bill, one of the most valuable resources an interest group can have is

large, politically active membership.

The acronym PAC stands for

political action committee

The text defines suffrage and franchise as the right to

vote

The percentage of eligible voters who actually vote in a given election is called

voter turnout

In the 2000 presidential election, after more than a month of ballot counting, recounting, lawsuits, and court decisions, Bush was certified as the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes by __________ popular votes.

537

Under current federal law, the amount that the PAC you belong to can donate to its favored candidate running for the U.S. Senate is

$5,000

The number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency

270

The process of transmitting information from one individual to another is called what?

Communication

Relatively routine behaviors that use the established institutions of representative government such as voting in an election are called _____ participation.

Conventional

The __________ party is probably the oldest political party in existence.​

Democratic Party

If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes, the election is decided by

House of Representatives.

Is ownership of the broadcast media in the United States private or public? Why?

Private- Americans would think of this as a threat to their freedoms

The __________ Amendment to the Constitution prohibits states from denying the right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

The Fifteenth Amendment

Which country was the first to provide for the general election of representatives through mass suffrage?

The United States

In the early days of America,​ the president was chosen by

The electoral college

Although terrorism is an unconventional political action, it is generally not counted as unconventional political participation because

They do not seek to influence the government but to destroy it.

The early Republicans (also known as the Democratic Republicans) were led by

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

What is the main way in which citizens control government?​

Voting in free elections to choose leaders

Largest daily newspaper circulation in 2014 (what is the name of the newspaper?)

USA Today

Who was the leader of the Federalists?

Vice President John Adams

When a leader assembles crowds to confront businesses and local governments to demand a hearing, he or she is engaging in

direct action

Which of the following is not a role of interest groups?

electing government officials

What most distinguishes political parties from interest groups like the AFL-CIO and the National Association of Manufacturers is that

interest groups do not nominate candidates to run as their avowed representatives.

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...

nominating candidates for election to public office

A(n) _____ is a designation as an official candidate of a political party.

nomination

In 2000, Republican George W. Bush won the presidency despite

receiving fewer popular votes than their opponents.

​What have newspapers done to their online content to stay in business?

requiring readers to pay for unlimited access to the news online.

One result of ​____________ was the direct primary, in which candidates must campaign not only for election, but also for the nomination of their party (name the era)

the Progressive movement in the 1920s

The march from Selma demonstrated to the nation the seriousness of

the civil rights problem in the South.

Define mass media

the means for communicating to large audiences. Typically divided into two types: print and broadcast.