question

Which of the following raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to political parties?

answer

Political Action Committees (PACs)

question

What is an organization that seeks to influence public policy?

answer

Interest Group

question

What is a public interest group?

answer

A group that works to gain benefits for society as whole

question

What institution is responsible for electing the president of the US?

answer

Electoral College

question

How many electoral votes are needed to be elected president?

answer

270

question

What is front-loading?

answer

The tendency of states to choose an early date on the nomination/primary calendar

question

Why do Democrats no longer use the winner-take-all primary?

answer

It was generally less representative

question

If you want to crossover vote that primary must be a(n) ____

answer

Open primary

question

What is said of a successful presidential candidate who helps members of Congress get elected as well?

answer

The president has long coattails

question

What is one reason why incumbents have the advantage in elections?

answer

Incumbents tend to have greater amounts of money to spend on campaigns

question

Why is redistricting an issue for incumbents?

answer

It can put an incumbent against another incumbent in the next election cycle

question

What is the greatest threat to incumbents of the president's party?

answer

Midterm election

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

What amendment in the US Constitution lowered the voting age to 18?

answer

26

question

Voting is a form of ______ participation

answer

Conventional

question

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

answer

Winner of the popular vote can still lose presidency

question

Attempting to influence the political process through extreme measures such as boycotts, is an example of _______ political participation

answer

Unconventional

question

When a citizen votes for candidates from different parties in the same election (s)he is ______

answer

ticket splitting

question

Voting for a candidate based on the candidate's policy promises is called

answer

prospective voting

question

What is a criticism of early voting?

answer

It decreases the importance of campaigns

question

What is the name of the process by which citizens propose legislation or constitutional amendments, through petition followed by popular vote?

answer

Initiative

question

How do most citizens in Washington and Oregon vote?

answer

mail

question

One of the primary dangers of the nomination campaign is that

answer

candidates can become too ideologically extreme

question

What is a media effect?

answer

Agenda setting

question

What is the future of political participation going to look like?

answer

In America it will go down

question

What is lobbying?

answer

Communicating with government officials to persuade them to support a particular policy position

question

One of the various ways in which parties contribute to democratic governance is by

answer

running candidates

question

The most visible instrument that parties use to formulate, convey, and promote public policy is

answer

platform

question

Modern national party conventions serve what ends?

answer

They mobilize supporters for the nominee, who has basically already been decided.

question

What serves as the glue that holds together the disparate elements of the US governmental and political apparatus

answer

The political parties

question

Although national committee activities attract most of the media attention, the roots of the party lie in

answer

the states and localities

question

To which of the following might PACs invest their contributions in order to maximize their political influence

answer

campaigns of incumbents

question

The ______ is the bureaucratic agency in charge of monitoring campaign activity

answer

Federal Election Commission

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

The ability of an office holder to fend off challengers is known as the

answer

scare-off effect

question

Most election follow the same structure, consisting of a(n)

answer

nomination campaign and general election campaign

question

Which of the following is a characteristic of negative ads?

answer

They sometimes do no mention the sponsor of the ads

question

What is one strategy that campaigns use to control the media?

answer

Staging media events

question

If you wanted to have the most informed voters during a party nomination, you would use which nomination system?

answer

Caucus

question

Front loading benefits

answer

Front runners

question

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

answer

primary election

question

If you are challenging an incumbent and looking for PAC money to support your campaign. you can expect to receive

answer

significantly less money than if you were an incumbent

question

If a state wanted to increase its influence in the presidential nomination, what could the state do?

answer

Frontload the primaries

question

A campaign manager who was attempting to make clear that his candidate was suitable for the presidency would most likely

answer

Prepare his candidate for televised debates

question

T or F: The nomination campaign may begin years before the actual election

answer

True

question

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

answer

Federal Election Campaign Act

question

T or F: During the same time period that legislators attempted to reform campaign finance, the number of PACs grew at a rapid rate

answer

True

question

Nonprofit, tax-exempt groups that can expressly advocate for candidates and are not required to disclose the names of contributors are called

answer

501(c) groups

question

The role of campaign consultants has become so important in today's campaigns because

answer

candidates need specialists to help them make the most of fund-raising, media relations, and Internet outreach.

question

T or F: If a small newspaper writes an incendiary expose about a candidate, the person on staff who most needs to be made aware of it is the communications director

answer

True

question

In one recent election, researchers found that individual donors accounted for what percent of contributions to presidential candidates?

answer

85

question

The incumbency advantage includes which of the following

answer

Greater visibility

question

Roughly what percentage of Americans rarely or never vote

answer

35%

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

Candidate debates became a regular part of presidential campaigns in which decade?

answer

the 1980s

question

T or F: Congressional incumbents tend to have a low change of reelection

answer

False

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

Why did the original Electoral College hold separate elections for president and vice-president

answer

The Framers anticipated that partisanship would have little influence

question

If you wanted to improve voter turnout for busy people you would

answer

Turn election day into a national holiday

question

T or F: One explanation for low voter turnout is that the burden of vote registration falls on the state and not the individual citizen

answer

False

question

What is true about the relationship between the political knowledge and political participation

answer

Increases in political knowledge lead to increases in political participation

question

What is a correct statement about PACs

answer

The amount of money that PACs can contribute directly to an individual candidate is limited by law

question

The use of direct primaries instead of the convention system in selecting presidential candidates results in what

answer

A weakening of party control over nominations. An increase in the number of people involved in the choice of candidates

question

What is a factor that best accounts for the rise of interest groups and the decline of political parties in recent years

answer

Interest groups are better able to articulate specific policy positions than are political parties

question

Over the past 20 years, reforms of the presidential nomination process have had the this effect

answer

The number of female delegates and minority group delegates at Democratic national conventions has grown substantially

question

What is true of the electoral college system

answer

It encourages candidates to concentrate their campaigns in competitive, populous states

question

The primary reason for the current existence of only two major political parties in the US is

answer

a winner-take-all electoral system makes it difficult for new parties to emerge and survive

question

An interest group would likely have the greatest influence on policy matters involving

answer

narrow issues, only a few interest groups, and technical information

question

What characterizes the main different between elite theories and pluralist theories of politics in the US

answer

Elite theories argue that a single minority dominates politics in all policy areas; pluralist theories argue that many minorities compete for power in different policy areas

question

Political parties serve what function in the US

answer

Informing the public about political issues, mobilizing voters and getting them to the polls, organizing diverse interests within society

question

The primary election system of selecting presidential candidates has had what effect

answer

It has loosened the hold of party leaders over the nomination process

question

An interest group is most likely to have influence in Congress when the issue at stake

answer

is narrow in scope and low in public visibility

question

A primary election in which voters are required to identify a party preference before the election and are not allowed to split their ticket is called

answer

a closed primary

question

Registered voters directly elect whom?

answer

Members of the senate and house of representatives

question

What is a significant trend in the presidential nominating process over the past three decades

answer

Increasing importance of presidential primaries rather than state conventions

question

Interest groups and political parties both promote US democracy by

answer

linking citizens to the political process

question

Critical elections in the US typically have occurred

answer

when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party

question

Who form the "iron triangle"

answer

Executive department, congressional committee, interest groups

question

An election involving more than two candidates in which the person who receives the most votes is the winner is called

answer

plurality election

question

The statement "America has a pluralistic political system" means

answer

many interest groups compete in the political arena to influence public policy

question

What reflects an elitist view of American politics

answer

American politics are dominated by the military-industrial complex

question

In a single=member district, plurality vote system

answer

the candidate with the most votes represents the district

question

What is a false statement about the Democratic Party's national convention

answer

It selects the state party chairmen

question

What is not possible due to the electing of a president

answer

A presidential candidate with a majority of the electoral vote fails to be elected president

question

The term "minority majority" refers to the fact that

answer

America will soon cease to have a white majority and together the minority groups will become a majority

question

The largest amount of political coverage in newspapers during presidential campaigns is devoted to

answer

day-today campaign activities

question

The Federal Election Campaign Act established all of the following except

answer

a fund for public donations to congressional campaigns

question

Not a criticism of the nomination system

answer

Few citizens are permitted to participate in the nomination process

question

The boundary lines of congressional districts must be redrawn every ten years in order to

answer

reflect population shifts indicated by the national census

question

Why does the US have a two party system

answer

seats in congress are awarded an a winner take all basis

question

Ticket splitting

answer

Voters choose the presidential nominee of one major part but chooses congressional of other major party.

question

Voters who rely exclusively on tv network news coverage of national elections are most likely to be aware of

answer

the relative strength of each candidate's support, as indicated by public opinion polls

question

The concept of critical elections is closely associated with

answer

party realignment

question

The task of writing a party's political platform is left to

answer

the national convention

question

Political parties over the past 40 years

answer

party loyalty gas decreased over that period

question

Linkage institution

answer

the way in which cities policy preferences are converted into policy initiatives

question

The two major political parties in the US are described as

answer

separate and largely independent party organizations exist at national, state, and local levels

question

Who is the audience of the media

answer

the masses

question

Allows voters to select both parties on the primary

answer

blanket primary

question

Party dealignment

answer

the loss of party members as more people identify as independents

question

One who votes democrat because they are minority and democrat supports minority is called

answer

group benefits voter

question

An electoral system based on single-member districts is usually characterized by

answer

domination of the legislature by two political parties

question

Horse race journalism

answer

cover campaigns by emphasizing the relative standing of the candidates the polls rather than the issues they discuss

question

Which state was the first in the nation caucus

answer

Iowa

question

Significant trend in the presidential nominating process over the past 30 years

answer

Decreasing cost of campaigns

question

Most important influence on the choice made by voters in presidential elections

answer

partisan identification

question

The advantages incumbents have in congressional elections

answer

Incumbents receive more campaign contributions than do challengers and are able to provide important services for individual voters

question

The bounders of US congressional districts are usually determined by

answer

state legislatures

question

Critical elections in the US typically have occurred

answer

when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party loyalties

question

When 18 to 21 year olds received the right to vote the did what

answer

turned out at a lower rate than the rest of the electorate

question

Considering all the elections which describes the electoral behavior in the US

answer

the majority of the electorate does not got in most elections

question

What is generally true of gerrymandering of congressional districts

answer

It creates districts that favor one political party over another

question

What is a provision of federal election laws

answer

In areas with significant populations of linguistic minorities, voting materials must be made available in the preferred languages of the population

question

Voter turnout between US and other western democracies

answer

Voter turnout is lower in the US

question

Which would result from the direct election of presidential candidates

answer

The electoral college would become more influential in the electoral process

Gov Chapters 12&13 – Flashcards

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