American Government Ch.12 – Flashcards

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What is the minimum number of electoral votes needed to win a presidential election?
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270
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In recent presidential elections, voter turnout has been
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rising
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Those who are LESS likely to vote tend to be
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men rather than women
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The single biggest factor accounting for how people decide to vote is
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party identification
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. ______ voting occurs when people base their voting decisions on well‐informed opinions and consideration of the future consequences of their votes.
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prospective
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______ voting occurs when people use their judgment of the current political situation along with the past performance of the incumbents.
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retrospective
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Major‐party presidential nominations are now determined primarily by
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convention delegates selected in party primaries, caucuses, and state conventions.
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A party caucus is a meeting of
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local party members who choose delegates for the national convention.
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Front-loading is the process of
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scheduling presidential primaries earlier in the primary season.
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Politicians who are thinking about running for the presidency begin their run by
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testing the waters unofficially
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. ______ determine(s) how delegates are distributed by the primaries
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party rules
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Delegates to the national conventions are chosen
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in primary elections and caucuses.
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Typically, the three important tasks of the presidential convention are to pick the presidential candidate,
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select the vice presidential candidate, and write the party's platform.
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All of the following statements about the choice of a vice presidential candidate are true EXCEPT
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Traditionally the vice presidential candidate is from the same region and wing of the party as the presidential candidate
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The term "convention bump" refers to
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. the opinion poll spike that most candidates enjoy immediately after the convention.
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According to the text, for candidates, the goal of presidential campaigns is to
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mobilize their base and entice swing voters to vote for them
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Swing voters are
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people who have not made up their minds at the start of the campaign.
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The constitution dictates that each state
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has one elector for each senator and representative
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According to the text, "faithless electors" are electors who
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vote their conscience rather than for the candidate they were pledged to support in the Electoral College.
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All of the following statements concerning the Electoral College are true EXCEPT
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The rules of the Electoral College give all the states importance in presidential elections.
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The disproportionate amount of attention politicians pay to members of the middle and upper classes may best be attributed to the fact that
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these voters go to the polls at substantially higher rates than do members of other classes.
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Politicians probably won't pass major electoral reforms that might increase participation, because current politicians
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won in the current system and are concerned about whom the beneficiaries of such changes might be.
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To win a presidency, one must do all of the following EXCEPT
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pick a vice presidential candidate who will win large numbers of votes.
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Modern campaigns are run by a professional staff because
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the party campaign committee cannot provide the technical services needed in the modern campaign.
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What is a key effect of Electoral College votes being counted on a winner‐take‐all basis in all but two states?
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The electoral vote margin exaggerates the popular vote margin, which legitimizes the winner's victory.
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