Exam 2
civil society
. Churches, clubs, businesses, and soccer leagues are all elements of
Single-member district electoral systems tend to produce
2 or 2 plus party systems
In democratic societies, large political parties are typically__________.
2 plus party systems aimed at the idea that parties are coalitions of interest groups
public opinion
Citizens' reactions to current, specific issues and events is called
Which is a major shortcoming of a government that is heavily influenced by interest groups?
many people do not have the resources to organize into a group that can influence the government
Under which of these systems is party discipline likely to be highest?
a highly centralized system in which candidate selection is in the hands of party leadership
interest groups typically approach ___ looking for a favorable interpretation of existing rules and regulations
administration
. In the United States today, which of the following factors would make a person more likely to vote?
age (young), education, how far away a poll place is, males voting less, weekday voting, politics is boring, negative ads
In proportional representation systems that use party lists, what types of individuals can expect to be put at the top of those party lists?
people with long term party experience, loyalty
What is one reason that in most of the world, cities have higher voter turnouts than rural areas
urbanites tend to be better educated
retrospective voting
voting" refers to voters choosing whether or not to vote for a candidate based on overall incumbent performance, especially in regard to the economy.
if you were interesting in designing a country with moderate, centrist, and pragmatic politics, what feature would you be most likely to support?
single member districts
Which of the following is not a potential negative effect of interest groups playing an active role in politics?
skewing policy, stalemating political power, scandal
If a "first-past-the-post" country has three viable political parties, but no one ever reaches 50 percent of the vote, what is the most likely result over time?
smaller parties will merge with one another
which method of polling is best but is very expensive and time-intensive
surveying responders in person
Which of the following is a product of a single-member district electoral system?
the first-past-the-post two party system
Which of these changes is likely to have the greatest impact on the number of parties in a country's political system?
the introduction of proportional representation system
Single-member districts produce winners based on __________.
the plurality of votes
single member districts produce winners based on
the plurality of votes
What group or groups do interest groups tend to over-represent?
the wealthy and businesses
more women than men have voted in recent u.s. elections, reflecting the task that
they have higher education/ went to college
Which of the following is true about the average ballot in Europe?
80% turnout, choice of party, limit advertising, automatic registration, elections on sundays
Interest groups
Definition-Groups of people who work together for similar interests or goals Goals-Influence policy numbers-thousands to 10 thousands what kind?-narrow Roles-formed to promote the interests or concerns of their members. They are primarily concerned with influencing public policy.
how does education affect the likelihood that people will vote
Education increases the sense of participation, which makes people more likely to follow political news and more likely to vote.
Which statement explains why public opinion is an important consideration for both democratic and authoritarian governments?
Strong public dissent can lead to an electoral defeat or the collapse of the regime.
political culture
Studies of ___________ look for basic, general values on politics and government.
Which statement helps to explain why Sweden has a higher voter turnout rate than the United States?
Sweden has a rather complete political spectrum
interest groups in the united states tend to over-represent
business interests and wealthy people
In most democratic countries, major parties attempt to be _________ to win a large number of votes
catchall
According to Sartori, parties become more moderate when competing in a ____________ manner
center seeking
When the number of parties is greater than five or six, Sartori finds that parties compete in a ________ manner.
center-fleeing
On a left-right ideological spectrum, which types of parties are the farthest left?
communist party
party systems are most easily categorized by the number of parties in them. a system with several parties contesting elections but only one of them ever winning is called a ___ system
dominate party
__________________ details, legally, how elections are run.
electoral system
To prevent interest groups from influencing politics, it would be necessary to curtail their __________.
freedom of expression
Elections rarely show __________.
how voters feel about specific issues
What range below contains the ideal number of survey respondents for an accurate reflection of public opinion in a large population of millions of people?
in the thousands
Which of the following is a disadvantage of single-member district electoral systems?
inaccurate, unfair, boring
People with more __________ and higher __________ are more likely to vote and participate in politics.
income; education
A surveyor/pollster can decrease a survey's/poll's margin of error by __________.
increasing the sample size
Which of the following is a reason that the telephone survey is the most common polling method in the United States?
inexpensive
What does public opinion polling provide that election results cannot?
insight into citizens' views on specific issues
is a non-publicly accountable organization that attempts to promote a shared private interest by influencing public policy outcomes.
interest group
Public Opinion
look(s) for individuals' views about specific leaders, events, and issues.
Countries that use single-member districts tend to have __________ systems.
majoritarian
Which of the following would you expect to see in a country with routinely high voter turnout?
may have a sort of political fever in which partisan politics may become too intense
in the USA Today, cities have ____ turnouts than rural areas because _____
more, they are closer to voting polls
Which of the following is not a result of proportional representation electoral systems?
multimember districts- each district sends several representatives to parliament instead of just one party lists
Political parties differ from interest groups because parties
must win elections to influence policy
What is American voters' general response to ballots?
never a high voter turnout
Which of the following is not a function of political parties?
nominate candidates
Which of these is a practice that interest groups tend not to employ?
nominating a candidate to run for public office
. Which of the following is viewed as a disadvantage of proportional representation electoral systems?
not accountable, not stable, parties splinter
Suppose you belong to a single-issue interest group with very little funding. Which of these is your best approach to influencing public policy?
perform high profile acts of civil disobedience
Which term describes a democratic system where all kinds of people with different opinions and values compete to influence government policy?
pluralist society
Which of these statements describes the theory of countervailing power regarding interest groups?
pluralist theory- interest groups face off against each other and are forced to come to a consensus
Which statement explains why the issue of access challenges the pluralist theory?
pluralists assume that all groups have access to policy makers when some groups are actually shut out of the system almost entirely
Which of these is a characteristic of single-party systems?
political system in which a single party controls every level of government and is the only legal party and elections are rarely competitive
in the united states today, which of the following factors would make a person more likely to vote
race& ethnicity ; older, educated, wealthy, urban/suburban, female, registered, non minority
. The most accurate public opinion polls/surveys utilize which of the following methods?
random sampling (mail/online/phone)
Polls/surveys can track public opinion as well as __________.
shape it
