AP Gov Chapters 6-10 Test

Since 1972, voters in presidential elections have

(A) become more focused on individual candidates

The main intent of "motor voter" laws is to

(A) increase voter registration

Which of the following describes a fundamental difference between political parties and interest groups?

(B) Political parties represent broad arrays of issues, whereas interest groups are more likely to focus on narrow sets of issues.

Which of the following is true of political action committees (PACs)?

(B) They make campaign contributions to gain access to legislators.

Since the early 1980s, the Republican Party platform has been increasingly influenced by

(B) evangelical Christians

Which of the following is true of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ?

(C) It has been a major instrument for increasing the number of African American and other minority voters.

Which of the following best describes the difference between an open and closed primary?

(C) Only voters who register as members of a political party may vote in that party's closed primary, while independents and others may be eligible to vote in open primaries.

Which of the following is the leading predictor of how an individual will vote in a congressional election?

(C) Partisanship

Explanations for low voter turnout include all or the following EXCEPT

(C) laws protecting voting rights for minorities

One reason for the persistence of a two-party system in the United States is

(C) the single-member district electoral system

Which of the following best describes the concept of political efficacy?

(D) It is the belief that one can make a difference in politics by expressing an opinion and acting politically.

The table above supports which of the following statements about partisanship and the 1984 presidential election?

(D) Partisanship was a good predictor of the way a person voted.

In the process and structure of public policymaking, "iron triangles" refer to the

(D) networks of congressional committees, bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups that strongly influence the policy process

Which of the following is NOT a way in which the federal government regulates campaigns?

(E) By prohibitions on negative advertising

How is a president chosen when none of the candidates receives a majority of the electoral college vote?

(E) The House chooses a new president by a majority vote of its state delegations.

Which of the following statements about political parties and the United States Constitution is true?

(E) The issue of political parties is not addressed in the Constitution.

Which of the following describes a consequence of the growing concentration of ownership of the news media?

(E) There is increased similarity of network news coverage.

Compared to the general population, delegates to presidential nomination conventions are

(E) more ideological

Interest groups engage in all of the following activities EXCEPT

(E) using the franking privilege

A primary election in which voters are required to identify a party preference before the election are called

A closed primary

A corporate lobbyist would be LEAST likely to have an informal discussion about a pending policy matter with which of the following

A federal judge in whose court a case important to the corporation is being heard

An election involving more than two candidates in which the person who receives the most votes is the winner is called

A plurality election

When selecting a vice presidential candidate, a presidential nominee is usually concerned primarily with choosing a running mate who

Adds balance and appeal to the national ticket

Which of the following generalizations about group voting tendencies is true

African American Democrats tend to support the more liberal candidates within their party

PACs representing which of the following groups have increased in number most substantially since the mid 1970s

Business

Which of the following is a result of the electoral college system

Candidates focus on the states with the largest populations

Which of the following about voting behavior in the US is correct

College graduates are more likely to vote than those who have at most a high school diploma

The largest amount of political coverage in newspapers during presidential campaigns is devoted to

Day-to-day campaign activities

An electoral system based on single member districts is usually characterized by

Domination of the legislature by two political parties

Which of the following is not a core value of US political culture

Economic equality

Which of the following form an "iron triangle"

Executive department, Congressional committee, interest group

The table above supports

III only

Which of the following is a provision of federal election law

In areas with significant populations of linguistic minorities, voting materials must be made available in the preferred languages of the population

Which of the following is a significant trend in the presidential nominating process over the past three decades

Increasing importance of presidential primaries rather than state conventions

Which of the following is generally true of gerry mandering

It creates districts that favor one political party over another

In the 1992 election, the membership of Congress was altered significantly by an increase in the number of

Liberal Republicans

Interest groups and political parties both promote U.S. democracy by

Linking citizens to the political process

Which of the following is the most important influence on the choice made by voters in presidential elections

Partisan identification

The concept of critical elections is most closely associated with

Party realignment

Which of the following statements is best supported by the data in the table above?

Party than are Latinos of Mexican or Puerto Rican descent.

The graph above supports which of the following statements?

People with higher incomes are more likely to think of themselves as conservative than are those with lower incomes

Political Socialization is the process by which

Political values are passed to the next generation

Lobbyists try to influence legislators mainly through

Providing legislators with information on technical issues

Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the two major political parties in the US

Separate and largely independent party organizations exist at all levels of gvt

A state has 11 electoral votes. In a presidential election, the Democratic candidate receives 48% of that state's popular vote.....

The Democratic candidate will receive all 11 electoral votes

Which of the following best explains the trend depicted in the chart

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Considering all elections at all levels of government, which of the following best describes electoral behavior in the U.S.

The majority of the electorate does not vote in most elections

Which of the following is them most accurate statement about political parties in the US

The percentage of voters identifying themselves as either Dem or Rep has been declining since the 1970s

The boundaries of U.S. congressional districts are usually determined by

The state legislatures

Which of the following took place after Truman Nixon and Clinton won only pluralities of the popular vote

The winning candidate took office after receiving less than 50% of the popular votes cast

Which of the following is true of amicus curiae briefs

They are used by interest groups to lobby courts

When 18 to 21 year olds received the right to vote in 1971, in the 1982 national elections they did which of the following

Turned out at a lower rate than the rest of electorate

TABLE QUESTIONS

Women were more likely than men to vote Democratic /// the vote in the Midwest predicted the outcome rather consistently

The term horse race journalism refers to the tendency of the media to

cover campaigns by emphasizing the relative standings of the candidates in the polls rather than the issues they discuss

TABLE

people with strong democratic party identification tend to vote for the dem party

The table best supports

pure independents were less likely to vote for the Dem presidential candidate in 1988 than dem house candidates in 1990

The primary function of a PAC is to

raise campaign funds to support favored candidates

The most important role of political socialization is played by

the family

Critical elections in the U.S. typically have occurred

when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party loyalties