reader ch 3
The US Census is conducted every ___ years.
10
By granting members of Congress who ran unopposed in 1960 100% of the vote for their district, the average margin of victory for House races in 1960 was ___ compared to the average margin of victory in House elections in 2012.
10% less NOT 6% less NOT roughly the same
In 2010, North Carolina was covered by Section ___ of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which required states that had a history of electoral discrimination against minorities have their electoral maps approved (or precleared) by either a federal court or the Department of Justice.
3 NOT 4 OR 2
Following the 2010 Census, ___ states gained new congressional districts, while ___ states lost congressional districts in the reapportionment process. (Select the answer in which the numbers appear in the appropriate order for the blanks indicated in the question.)
8, 10 NOT 10, 10
According to the article written by Philip Bump, what percentage of the 391 members of Congress who ran for reelection in 2012 won their reelection bids? (Select the BEST answer.)
90% NOT 80% NOT 50%
In today's congressional districts, a member of Congress is most likely to face a challenge in the primary election from which of the following positions?
A Member of Congress is most likely to face a primary challenge from a person more ideologically extreme than the incumbent. NOT A Member of Congress is most likely to face a primary challenge from a member of the opposite party. NOT A Member of Congress is most likely to face a primary challenge from a person more ideologically moderate than the incumbent.
In addition to gerrymandered districts, the Cook Political Report addressed by Bump cites ___ as one of the reasons for declining numbers of close races for Congressional seats.
A growing geographical partisan division of the last decade or two, whereby communities have become increasingly politically homogenous
The day after the election, which of the following was the approximate vote differential between candidates Gore and Bush in the state at issue?
Bush was ahead by approximately 2,000 votes
Which state had the greatest proportion of Democrats who had incomes that fell into the middle-income tax brackets (between $30k and $75k/year)?
Colorado NOT Oregon
Gimpel and Schuknecht indicate that ___ explanations for differences between states have generally been understood "in terms of local communication and socialization patterns that disrupt or otherwise alter the usually smooth linkage between ... traits and political attitudes and behavior"
Contextual
Which of the following is NOT a requirement imposed on entities who are responsible for drawing legislative district boundaries?
Districts must be drawn so that the incumbent official (currently in office) remains in the district which they currently represent NOT Districts ought to preserve communities of interest
The Supreme Court, in Bush v. Gore, determined that the recount scheme involved was unconstitutional as it violated the ____ clause.
Equal Protection
The primary purpose of state and congressional legislative redistricting is which of the following?
Equalizing the population across legislative districts NOT Gaining partisan advantage
According to Gimpel and Schuknecht, the regional differences within states are generally easy to understand, being differences that are easily reducible to one or two population characteristics common to all states.
False
In Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court's decision ultimately upheld the state Supreme Court's decision that no further recounts were to be permitted past the deadline established by state statute.
False
In her push to regain the Speakership that she lost in 2010, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) pursued a "Fair Districts" referendum that would apply in all states equally and discourage partisan redistricting by the states.
False
True or False: Although racial gerrymandering to dilute or reduce the influence of racial minorities is unconstitutional, drawing districts that intend to INCREASE the influence of racial minorities is constitutionally permitted.
False
True or False: Gimpel and Schuknecht find that economic cleavages in the electorate (independent of partisan or ideological differences) have a significant impact in each of the states included in the study, thus concluding that economic cleavages are as important as partisan or ideological differences in determining the vote outcome in all states.
False
True or False: The bipartisan California Citizens Redistricting Commission which developed the state's boundaries for the 2012 election produced more competitive congressional districts than the districts previously in effect, which were drawn by a partisan legislature.
False
True or False: The following scenario is unconstitutional. "Following redistricting in 2000, the federal courts review a state's legislative maps and find that the new district the state created is 80% African American, but that the packing performed is based on partisan affiliation and not race."
False
True or False: The practice of politically motivated redistricting is a new development in American politics, made possible by the complex, precinct-level voting data available to state legislatures and political consultants.
False
In which state did the controversy at issue in Bush v. Gore originate?
Florida
Which state has the greatest proportion of Republicans who self-identify as conservative Protestants?
Florida NOT Texas NOT Connecticut
The concept of Gerrymandering ads which of the following to the concept of redistricting?
Gerrymandering intends to advantage one group over another while drawing district lines
Which of the following was the PRIMARY concern and controversy at issue in the Bush v. Gore case?
Length of time to allow for the recounting of contested ballots
Which strategy is being used in a partisan gerrymander if a bloc of Republican voters who all live near one another are broken into 4 distinct districts where they make up a minority of voters in each of the districts and Democrats make up the majority?
Sweetheart NOT Packing NOT Cracking
According to Tom Hoffeller, which state's congressional district maps drawn after the 2010 census were too reckless, standing in contrast to other states' who he helped engineer?
Texas NOT North Carolina NOT Alabama
True or False: In the 2012 Congressional elections, Democrats had a larger percentage of the national vote share than the percentage of seats that they won in Congress.
True
True or False: Until the 1960s, states were not compelled to draw the boundaries of congressional districts in such a way as to ensure roughly equal numbers of constituents for all districts.
True
With respect to the question regarding whether or not the state Supreme Court unconstitutionally made new election law(s) by establishing standards for counting votes as valid or intended votes, the Supreme Court made no official ruling.
True
Gimpel and Schuknecht use presidential votes as the focus for their study primary because ___.
Using presidential votes allows us to consider each state on the same dimension because they each face(d) the same choices as one another NOT Using gubernatorial votes would have been preferable, but the data simply was not available in a reliable form
