Texas Government Final Review
The Latino movement known as La Raza Unida occurred during the
1960's
The poll tax was made illegal in federal elections in __________ but remained legal in state elections in Texas until __________.
1964; 1971
Texas Democrats have been relegated to a minority status at the state level since
1994
Early voting increases the polling period from 12 hours to
2 weeks
Interest groups are often powerful in staes
Dominated by one party
__________ was the former Texas Speaker of the House who was indicated for taking an illegal gift from a law firm that specialized in collecting delinquent taxes for local government
Restrictions on speaking fees
In what case did the Supreme Court rule that a key section of the voting rights act was unconstitutional, which affects a key provision requiring Texas to have its new districts approved by the U.S. department of justice
Shelby County v. Holder
The __________ movement was a movement during the 1950's in which conservative Democrats in Texas supported Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower for the presidency because many of those conservative Democrats believed that the national Democratic Party had become too liberal.
Shivercrat
Name recognition often gives __________ a distinct advantage ion Texas elections
Incumberment
Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn ran for governor as __________ in 2006
Independent
Texans are increasingly identifying themselves as
Independent
Campaigns attempt to reach voters through all of the following EXCEPT
Involvement in high-profile litigation
When individuals or interest groups take out ads concerning a campaign issue but do not tie them directly to any particular candidate it is called
Issue advocacy
What is the significance of the Supreme Court case Smith v. Allwright?
It announced that in primary elections states could not restrict voters on account of race
Which of the following is NOT a description of an interest group?
It is typically active only at the national level of government
Major state officials are elected in nonpresidential years because
It prevents popular presidential candidates from influencing he outcome of Texas races
In __________ the U.S. Supreme court held that the state executive committees were acting as agents of the state and were discriminating in violation of the fourteenth amendment
Nixon v. Condon
The most important role for political parties in Texas elections is to
Offer a candidate a label by which he or she can identify with the voters.
The purpose of an __________ is to allow any registered voter to cast a ballot in either primary, but not both. There are no party restrictions.
Open Primary
The process of __________ occurs throughout our early years, when parents, religious leaders, teachers and other influence out partisan identifications.
Political Socialization
A private group that raises and distributes funds for use in election campaigns is called a
Political action committee
The poll tax disenfranchised
Poor people
The procedure by which certain states, sucha s Texas, are required to obtain approval every time they make changes to districts is called
Preclearance
The pattern beginning in the 1950's, of Texans voting for a republican president but sticking with conservative Democrats for state office is called
Presidential Republicanism
In which of the following elections is voter turnout the highest
Presidential elections
The Texas Medical Association is best describe as what kind of interest group
Professional
Which of the following is NOT a requirement to vote in Texas
Property ownership
Highly partisan legislation passed in 2011 now requires Texans to
Provide photo identification when voting
Texas was the first state in the South to
Ratify the women's suffrage amendment
The process of __________ involves recalculating how many congressional districts each state will receive based on the state's population
Reapportionment
In Texas, the __________ Party usually experiences higher voter turnout than the __________ party
Republican; Democratic
All the following are principals generally supported by the Tea Party movement EXCEPT
Increase immigration
After 1994, Democrats controlled the Texas house until __________, but republicans held every statewide office.
2002
Latinos currently represent __________ percent of the Texas population
38
Approximately what percentage of the state's voting age population is registered to vote
70 percent
The 8F croud was
A loose but influential group of Texas businessmen
Early voting in Texas has been shown to produce __________ to voter turnout
A modest increase
The Motor Voter act of 1993
Allowed citizens to register to vote while applying for a drivers license
Which interest is NOT represented in a list of the top interest groups in Texas
The enviroment
If an interest group "gets on the late train," it means
An interest group gives contributions after the election to a winning candidate the group has earlier opposed
The voting rights act has been renewed several times since 1965, and new provisions have been added since then. For example,
Bilingual ballots are now in certain areas where more than 5 percent of voters speak another language
Conservative Democrats in Texas are also know as
Blue Dog Democrats
The practice of combining several indivduals campaign contributions into one larger contribution from a group in order to increase the group's impact is know as
Bundling
Most political action committee spending in Texas represents
Business
One major way for interest groups to promote the political interests of elected officials who support their viewpoints and oppose the interests of those who do NOT is engaged in
Campaign Contributions
All of the following are modern-day tactics for preventing certain groups from voting EXCEPT
Canceling an election at the last minute
In Texas elections, the __________ plays the largest role ib the running campaigns.
Candidates
Which is NOT a reason for forming a political action committee
Candidates are more likely to allow political action committee to purchase media access during election seasons
One effects of the high cost of campaigns in Texas is that
Candidates are often very wealthy individuals willing to use their own money in campaigns
Which of the following is NOT a common way for interest groups to gain access to politicans and policy makers
Chemicak company lobbyist
Which U.S. Supreme Court case in 2009 created the oppurtunity for organizations that opposed powerful incumbents to NOT disclose their donors
Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission
The Dixiecrats abandoned the national Democratic Party in the 1948 presidential election over the issue of
Civil rights
Which of the following groups have had notable political success by litigationg in Federal courts
Civil rights group
Which of the following is the bet example of public interest groups
Common Cause
Texas trial lawyers frequently ally with
Consumer interest groups
The main role of the precinct conventions is to select delegates to the __________ and possibly to submit resolution that may eventually become part of the party platform.
Country convention
What party dominated Texas politics throughout most of the twentieth century
Democratic
Redistricting in Texas occurs
Every 10 years
When intraparty disputes split members into different groups, these groups are referred to as
Factions
The Libertarian Party can be considered
Fiscal conservatives and social liberals
Texas requires parties that did not get 5 percent of the vote in a previous statewide race to do all of the following EXCEPT
Form third parties in the spring of the election years and complete the intent form.
One important way for interest groups to gain access to those in Texas government is to employ __________ as lobbyists
Former legislatores and government officals
For an independent candidate to get on the ballot in Texas, which requirement must they meet
He or she must gain petition signatures from registered voters who did not previously participate in any political party primary election.
The fastest-growing demographic group in Texas is __________, the majority of whom vote __________.
Hispanic; Democrats
Battleground Texas is the latest attempt by the Democratic Party to do all of the folowing EXCEPT
Identify potential candidates
In Texas, special elections are held for all of the following reasons EXCEPT to
Impeach a corrupt politician
The two most important factors that determine whether someone votes are
Income level and education
Which of the following third-party movement had the most success in winning elections in the post World War II era?
La Raza Unida
__________ is the traditional start of the general election campaign in Texas.
Labor Day
Which political action committee spend the least amount of money in Texas elections
Labor Unions
One of the Republican Parties greatest weakness in Texas is its lack of support among
Latinos
Although the democratic party dominated state politics for much of the twentieth century, by the 1950's it faced internal division between __________ and __________ Democrats.
Liberal; Conservative
State and local party organizations do all of the following EXCEPT
Litigate against unfavorable policies
Why might parties at the state level have less power then that at the national level?
Local issues are usually not ideological in nature.
In Texas, primary elections are usually held in
March
The most costly item for most political campaigns is
Media advertising
There is no questions that __________ is/are important for candidates success in Texas.
Money
By about the 1940's, a split between liberal and conservatives developed in the Democratic Party that focused on
New Deal economic policies and civil rights measures
The largest and most effective public employee interest group in Texas is mad up of
Teachers
Which of the following is the farmers interest group that influenced the writing of the Texas Constitution of 1876
The Grange
The latest new party formed in the United States in an election year was
The Neutral Law Party
The Democratic Party in the state shrank to become the minority party when
The Reagan Revolution reached Texas
Which movement has had the largest impact on state legislative races in recent years?
The Tea party movement
Scandals about the "streak men", Bo Piligrim, and Frib Lewis resulted in
The creation of a state ethic commission
In Texas, __________ is/are responsible for redistricting
The legislature
Runoff primaries are generally held
The second Tuesday in April
What do interest groups want from policy makers
They want policy that is beneficial for their groups
What was the problem Speaker Sam Rayburn identified with the "steak men" at the beginning of the twentieth century
They were legislators who would "sell" their votes on a bill for free steak dinners
What is the purpose of a primary election
To select a party's candidate for the general election
The general election is held the first
Tuesday following the Monday in November of even numbered years.
The poll tax was made illegal in federal elections with the passing of the
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Preclearance is required by the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The most important federal law involved in the expansion of the franchise in Texas was the
Voting Rights Act of 1972
The Occupy movement is a political movement interested in limiting the influence of __________ in America
Wall street and big business
Texas has __________ laws dealing with lobbying by former government officals
Weak
Which demographic group has the largest percentage share of voters in Texas
Whites
Today, the Texas Democratic party's base is made up of all the following EXCEPT
Whites in East Texas
__________ was the first Republican to hold the office of Texas governor sice the end of Reconstruction
William R. Clements
Which statement concerning women's suffrage is correct
Women were permitted to vote in all elections in Texas with the ratification of the nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
As in the U.S. Congress, most campaign contributiuons inTexas go to
incumbents
