GOVT FINAL PT 2
The boundaries of legislative districts in the United States are to be redrawn every ________ years.
10
When Joe Biden won the plurality of votes in California during the 2020 election, and California had 53 representatives in the House of Representatives, how many electoral votes from California did he win?
55
Which of the following is an example of the coattail effect?
A presidential candidate's popularity leading to increased support for candidates from the same party in Congressional elections
What nomination system consists of party members attending a meeting and discussing candidates before voting?
Caucuses
What kind of primary only allows registered party members to participate?
Closed
During the earliest years of the United States, who nominated the candidates for president?
Each party's congressional caucus controlled nominations.
Which of the following best accounts for the lack of success generally encountered by minor political parties in electing members to the House or Senate?
General elections in the United States are based on the winner-take-all principle.
________ involves purposefully drawing district boundaries to unfairly advantage one group or party.
Gerrymandering
When none of the presidential candidates receives a majority of the votes in the electoral college, the winner is chosen by the-
House of Representatives only
Which of the following statements about campaign spending in Senate elections is true?
Incumbents generally spend more money than challengers in Senate campaigns
Which of these is true of the modern candidate nominating system?
It has resulted in caucus and primary voters with more extreme views
Which of the following statements is best supported by the data in the table ?
Latinos of Cuban descent are more supportive of the Republican Party than are Latinos of Mexican or Puerto Rican descent.
Based on the data in the chart, which of the following strategies would best help third-party candidates like Jill Stein and Gary Johnson increase their chances of winning elected office?
Lobbying state legislatures to shift from a winner-take-all system to a proportional voting system
Minor parties make important contributions to the United States political system in spite of the institutional obstacles to their candidates' success. Describe two of these contributions.
One of the two contributions third-parties, is that the introduce new ideas and press for certain issues. The second contribution is influence the outcome of elections. In addition to those, it gives the people another option to choose from if their believes are not completely catered to them by neither the Republican or Democrat Party.
Which of the following makes a correct comparison between political parties and interest groups in the United States?
Political parties recruit and run candidates in elections and Interest groups seek to influence public policy
Which of the following public policies would Republicans be most likely to support?
Reducing national government involvement in education
Where is a presidential candidate more likely to campaign?
States where the election is close
A state has 11 electoral votes. In a presidential election, the Democratic candidate receives 48 percent of that state's popular vote, the Republican candidate receives 40 percent of the vote, and an independent candidate receives 12 percent of the vote. If the state is similar to most other states, how will the electoral votes most likely be allocated?
The Democratic candidate will receive all 11 electoral votes.
Who actually elects the president and the vice president?
The Electoral College
When is Election Day?
The first Tuesday after the first Monday of November
Identify and explain how the rules of the United States electoral system act as obstacles to minor-party candidates winning elections.
The rules of the United States electoral system act as an obstacle to minor-party candidates winning elections because they are less likely to be on ballots. In many states for there to be a third-party on a ballot they have to pass the legal barriers. In continuation, third-party's have a lot of influence if they turn out to be sucessful and may influence the outcome of elections.
Which of the following is an accurate comparison between the relative functions and electoral success of the two major political parties (Democratic and Republican) and third parties?
The rules of the electoral college favor the major-party candidates in presidential elections. Winner-take-all voting districts hinder the electoral success of third-party candidates.
Which of the following is LEAST characteristic of the history of political parties in the United States during the twentieth century?
The splitting of the two major parties into a multiparty system
Describe the point of view expressed about minor parties in the political cartoon above.
The two-party system believes that third parties are wasting votes or as stated in the cartoon "throwing away" votes. This is demostrated by showing an individual putting a "vote" into what is represented as a trashcan titled "Green Party Votes."
Critics of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college are most likely to make which of the following arguments?
The winner-take-all system of the electoral college encourages presidential candidates to focus their time and effort disproportionately on battleground states or swing states with larger populations.
Which of the following took place after presidential candidates Truman in 1948, Nixon in 1968, and Clinton in 1992 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 newspaper headlines best summarizes the excerpt from Washington's Farewell Address?
Washington Warns of Dangerous Party Factions
How is the initiative process usually started?
a petition drive
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.
A ________ is an effort by political candidates and their staffs to win backing and support by voters in the quest for political office.
campaign
In the so-called top-two primary system
candidates from all parties run against one another and the top two face each other in the general election
A(n) ________ occurs when a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party's election.
closed primary
An election in which there is a significant shift in the bases of electoral support from one political party to another is called a
critical election
An electoral system based on single-member districts is usually characterized by
domination of the legislature by two political parties
National elections are held in the United States on the first Tuesday of November ________ year(s).
every other
Which of the following political officers is/are subject to recall elections?
governors and other state officials
When contributing to congressional campaigns, political action committees (PACs) are most likely to contribute to
incumbents of both major parties
What is an initiative?
it allows the people to enact laws directly
During midterm elections, voters are selecting
members of Congress.
In addition to nominating a presidential candidate, national party conventions are important because they
nominate candidates for other important elections, including the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate
A(n) ________ occurs when a voter can wait until the day of the primary to choose which party to enroll in to select candidates for the general election.
open primary
Which three types of factors influence the decisions of voters at the polls?
partisan loyalty, issues, and the characteristics of candidates
Generally speaking, a recall effort begins with a
petition campaign
A referendum is the
practice of referring a proposed law passed by a legislature to the vote of the electorate for approval or rejection.
In order for a political party to select a candidate to run in the general election, it holds a(n)
primary election
Political scientists call voters' choices that focus on future behavior ________ voting, while those based on past performances are called ________ voting.
prospective; retrospective
Which of the following is the best example of direct democracy in the United States?
referendum
Who is an incumbent?
the current officeholder running for re-election
the concept of realignment refers to changes in-
the social bases of the parties' voting support
Critical elections in the United States typically have occurred
when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party loyalties
