question

Who is considered the founder of modern-day polling?

answer

George Gallup

question

Unscientific surveys used to gauge public opinion on a variety of issues are known as what?

answer

straw surveys

question

Since 1952, researchers at the University of Michigan have conducted surveys to assess the political attitudes and behavior of the American electorate. By what name is this research known?

answer

National Election Studies

question

What is the purpose of a "name recognition survey"?

answer

to discover how many people have heard of a potential candidate for office

question

Although campaign organizations generally deny conducting push polls, research indicates that push polls have indeed targeted political candidates. How many candidates have been targeted by this type of polling?

answer

more than three-quarters

question

What is the difference between simple random sampling and stratified sampling?

answer

Stratified sampling combines random selection with predetermined weighting of a population's demographic characteristics, whereas random sampling does not.

question

The most common form of the telephone poll is the random-digit dialing survey.

answer

True

question

How are exit polls conducted?

answer

in person

question

The __________ is a measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll.

answer

margin of error

question

Two types of errors are common to polls. What are they?

answer

margin of error and sampling error

question

In a random sample of 1,000 high-school students, 29 percent indicated that they had read the Declaration of Independence at least once. If the margin of error is calculated to be 4 percent, which of the following statements is more likely than the others to be true?

answer

If the poll were conducted again, the percentage of those questioned who have read the Declaration of Independence would likely be between 25 and 33 percent.

question

As a pollster for Smart Polling, you are concerned about gauging the public's attitudes about arms-control policy, because you believe that the public not only has little information on this complex topic but also has thought little about it. What procedure might you implement to decrease the inaccuracy of your polling data because of this lack of information?

answer

a screening procedure

question

Of the following, which is considered a demographic characteristic?

answer

gender

question

In the United States today, race and ethnicity are totally insignificant factors in the study of public opinion.

answer

False

question

Gaps in the way that citizens view government, political leaders, and public policies may be the result of gender, race, age, party, and religion, which are collectively known as what?

answer

demographic characteristics

question

Which of the following statements about the relationship between political knowledge and political participation is true?

answer

Increases in political knowledge lead to increases in political participation.

question

"All government rests on public opinion." Where is this sentiment expressed?

answer

in The Federalist Papers

question

You are in a political science class. There is an argument about how to define the target population for a survey to determine if families with children would use school vouchers to send their children to charter schools. From which of the following populations should you select a sample?

answer

parents of children under age 18

question

Why does the United States have a two-party system?

answer

It developed in the struggle between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.

question

Who was the first chief executive to win the White House as the nominee of a truly national, popularly based political party following the first national party convention in 1832?

answer

Andrew Jackson

question

Which entity has the responsibility of establishing a cohesive vision for partisan identifiers nationwide?

answer

the national party organization

question

Members of partisan think tanks are primarily responsible for writing the national party platforms.

answer

False

question

When can a party change its platform?

answer

during the national party convention.

question

What is the single greatest influence in establishing a person's first party identification?

answer

parents

question

When questioned about their views of politics in Congress, the majority of__________ expressed their desire for compromise over standing firm in their beliefs.

answer

Americans

question

What institutional feature of U.S. politics prevents the success of third parties?

answer

the electoral college

question

The U.S. electoral system is capable of producing a major third party. What features largely account for it failing to do so?

answer

single-member districts and a plurality (first-past-the-post) voting system

question

A command, indicated by an electorate's votes, for the elected officials to carry out a party platform or policy agenda is known as a(n) __________.

answer

mandate

question

If you are competing for your party's nomination for office, you must first participate in a(n) __________.

answer

primary election

question

Why has there been a growing use of recall elections in recent years?

answer

New technology has made it easier to organize and raise money for recall campaigns.

question

Democrats no longer use the winner-take-all primary because __________.

answer

it was generally less representative

question

If proportional representation primaries are fairer to the public, why might some state parties choose not to adopt them?

answer

They can lengthen the nomination process.

question

Caucuses tend to provide voters with more in-depth information about candidates than primaries.

answer

True

question

What institution is responsible for electing the president of the United States?

answer

electoral college

question

Which of the following is a problem presented by the Electoral College?

answer

The winner of a popular vote can still fail to be elected.

question

Which of the following is the least likely reform to occur with respect to the Electoral College?

answer

determining the president through popular vote

question

The incumbency advantage includes which of the following?

answer

greater visibility

question

How can redistricting threaten incumbent members of Congress?

answer

It can pit incumbents against one another

question

When does party identification matter most in voting?

answer

in a low visibility election

question

One explanation for low voter turnout is that the burden of voter registration falls on the state and not the individual citizen.

answer

False

question

Prospective judgment is voting based upon __________.

answer

the candidate's policy promises

question

How does the institutional weakness of political parties affect voter turnout?

answer

voters are distant from and do not identify with weak parties

question

If you wanted to improve voter turnout, which of the following would you suggest?

answer

turning Election Day into a national holiday

question

When a citizen votes for candidates from different parties in the same election he or she is __________.

answer

ticket-splitting

question

Which Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowered the voting age to eighteen?

answer

Twenty-Sixth

question

In general, women who vote favor which party?

answer

Democrats

question

Which is true of citizens who are highly interested in politics?

answer

They constitute a small percentage of the population.

question

Why might being a member of a civic group make you more likely to vote?

answer

Civic groups provide opportunities to learn important political skills

question

Most elections follow the same structure, consisting of a(n) _________.

answer

nomination campaign and general election campaign

question

Nomination campaigns __________.

answer

involve candidates of the same political party

question

Most candidates running in a general election tend to move their campaigns toward the __________.

answer

ideological center

question

One reason that candidates visit many localities is to __________.

answer

motivate locate activists

question

The person closest to the candidate who makes the essential day-to-day decisions is the __________.

answer

campaign manager

question

The __________ is the bureaucratic agency in charge of monitoring campaign activity.

answer

Federal Election Commission

question

What 1907 legislation prohibited corporations from making direct contributions to candidates for federal office?

answer

Tillman Act

question

What Supreme Court decision determined that no limits could be placed on the amount of his or her own money a candidate spends in an election?

answer

Buckley v. Valeo

question

Until 2002, the primary federal regulation of campaign finance occurred according to the __________.

answer

Federal Election Campaign Act

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