Exam 3- Final Review – Flashcards
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Who is considered the founder of modern-day polling?
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George Gallup
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Unscientific surveys used to gauge public opinion on a variety of issues are known as what?
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straw surveys
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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?
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National Election Studies
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What is the purpose of a "name recognition survey"?
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to discover how many people have heard of a potential candidate for office
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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?
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more than three-quarters
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What is the difference between simple random sampling and stratified sampling?
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Stratified sampling combines random selection with predetermined weighting of a population's demographic characteristics, whereas random sampling does not.
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The most common form of the telephone poll is the random-digit dialing survey.
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True
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How are exit polls conducted?
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in person
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The __________ is a measure of the accuracy of a public opinion poll.
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margin of error
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Two types of errors are common to polls. What are they?
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margin of error and sampling error
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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?
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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.
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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?
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a screening procedure
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Of the following, which is considered a demographic characteristic?
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gender
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In the United States today, race and ethnicity are totally insignificant factors in the study of public opinion.
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False
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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?
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demographic characteristics
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Which of the following statements about the relationship between political knowledge and political participation is true?
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Increases in political knowledge lead to increases in political participation.
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"All government rests on public opinion." Where is this sentiment expressed?
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in The Federalist Papers
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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?
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parents of children under age 18
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Why does the United States have a two-party system?
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It developed in the struggle between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.
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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?
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Andrew Jackson
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Which entity has the responsibility of establishing a cohesive vision for partisan identifiers nationwide?
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the national party organization
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Members of partisan think tanks are primarily responsible for writing the national party platforms.
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False
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When can a party change its platform?
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during the national party convention.
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What is the single greatest influence in establishing a person's first party identification?
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parents
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When questioned about their views of politics in Congress, the majority of__________ expressed their desire for compromise over standing firm in their beliefs.
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Americans
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What institutional feature of U.S. politics prevents the success of third parties?
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the electoral college
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The U.S. electoral system is capable of producing a major third party. What features largely account for it failing to do so?
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single-member districts and a plurality (first-past-the-post) voting system
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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) __________.
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mandate
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If you are competing for your party's nomination for office, you must first participate in a(n) __________.
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primary election
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Why has there been a growing use of recall elections in recent years?
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New technology has made it easier to organize and raise money for recall campaigns.
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Democrats no longer use the winner-take-all primary because __________.
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it was generally less representative
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If proportional representation primaries are fairer to the public, why might some state parties choose not to adopt them?
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They can lengthen the nomination process.
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Caucuses tend to provide voters with more in-depth information about candidates than primaries.
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True
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What institution is responsible for electing the president of the United States?
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electoral college
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Which of the following is a problem presented by the Electoral College?
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The winner of a popular vote can still fail to be elected.
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Which of the following is the least likely reform to occur with respect to the Electoral College?
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determining the president through popular vote
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The incumbency advantage includes which of the following?
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greater visibility
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How can redistricting threaten incumbent members of Congress?
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It can pit incumbents against one another
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When does party identification matter most in voting?
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in a low visibility election
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One explanation for low voter turnout is that the burden of voter registration falls on the state and not the individual citizen.
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False
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Prospective judgment is voting based upon __________.
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the candidate's policy promises
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How does the institutional weakness of political parties affect voter turnout?
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voters are distant from and do not identify with weak parties
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If you wanted to improve voter turnout, which of the following would you suggest?
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turning Election Day into a national holiday
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When a citizen votes for candidates from different parties in the same election he or she is __________.
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ticket-splitting
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Which Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowered the voting age to eighteen?
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Twenty-Sixth
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In general, women who vote favor which party?
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Democrats
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Which is true of citizens who are highly interested in politics?
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They constitute a small percentage of the population.
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Why might being a member of a civic group make you more likely to vote?
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Civic groups provide opportunities to learn important political skills
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Most elections follow the same structure, consisting of a(n) _________.
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nomination campaign and general election campaign
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Nomination campaigns __________.
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involve candidates of the same political party
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Most candidates running in a general election tend to move their campaigns toward the __________.
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ideological center
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One reason that candidates visit many localities is to __________.
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motivate locate activists
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The person closest to the candidate who makes the essential day-to-day decisions is the __________.
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campaign manager
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The __________ is the bureaucratic agency in charge of monitoring campaign activity.
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Federal Election Commission
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What 1907 legislation prohibited corporations from making direct contributions to candidates for federal office?
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Tillman Act
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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?
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Buckley v. Valeo
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Until 2002, the primary federal regulation of campaign finance occurred according to the __________.
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Federal Election Campaign Act
