Pol 101 Burnett Quizzes 3-5 – Flashcards
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The process of redrawing congressional districts to match population shifts in states with more then one representative is called:
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Redistricting
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When deciding whether to run for a seat in Congress, strategic politicians will ask al of the following questions EXCEPT:
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Will this seat lead to the presidency?
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It has been increasingly difficult for the parties to work together in Congress in recent years because of:
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Increasing party polarization and hyperpartisanship
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The public disliked Congress for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
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There has been an increase in corruption among members of Congress in recent years
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Congress finds it difficult to make policy that solves national problems because
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Constituents reward them for taking care of their individual interests
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The founders created the congressional decision making process to be:
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slow and deliberate
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According to the textbook, presidents have difficulty surviving two terms in office and maintaining their popularity because:
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Presidents have too little power to meet public expectation
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The president's authority over foreign and defense policy comes from all of the following EXCEPT his power:
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To declare war
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The cycle effect refers to the tendency for presidents to:
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Experience predictable shifts in their popularity over the course of their presidency
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The president's public approval rating tends to b affected by all of the following EXCEPT:
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The population of the first lady
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Divided government occurs when:
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One party controls the presidency while the other party controls at least one house of Congress
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All of the following are duties of the President of the United States EXCEPT:
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Head justice of the Supreme Court
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Presidents have a hard time maintaining support while in office because:
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A gap exists between what presidents promise and what the power of the office allows them to do
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According to the text, an effective head of government is expected to do all of the following EXCEPT:
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Act as a symbol for all American
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The cycle effect on president popularity is caused by the:
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Fact that almost every decision a president makes will be unpopular with some people, and the number of people angry with him grows over time as he makes more decisions
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Among the president's legislation powers are all of the following EXCEPT:
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The line-item veto
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The major reason presidents re not as successful in a divided government is:
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Republicans and Democrats stand for different approaches and solutions to the nation's problems
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Which of the following statements concerning the functions of the law is incorrect?
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The weakness of the law is that we can easily break a rule that we do not know exist
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The legal system of the United States is
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largely a common law tradition with elements of the civil law traditional
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Criminal law deals with harm to ______, whereas civil law involves harm to____.
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Society; individuals
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The powers of the supreme Court listed in the constitution
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are not clearly spelled out
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The characteristics that help determine which court has jurisdiction over a case include all of the following EXCEPT:
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the expressed wishes of the pesident
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Senatorial courtesy refers to the
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tradition of granting senators considerable power over federal judicial appointments in their home states
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According to the text, which of the following is NOT criteria used by presidents in choosing Supreme Court nominees?
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Endorsements receive by national news media
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A writ of certiorari is
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a petition by the losing side in a lower court for the Supreme Court to hear an appeal
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All of the following statements are true concerning the common law traditionEXCEPT:
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Most of the United States uses the common law tradition as the basis of its legal system
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Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the American legal system?
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It focuses on procedural due process more than substantive outcomes
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Marshal justified the claim that the Court has the power of judicial review on the ground that
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it is within the province of the courts to say what the law is
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Based on the discussion in the textbook, we can conclude that getting a case before the U.S. Supreme Court is
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very difficult
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Elections perform all of the following functions EXCEPT
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decreasing political efficacy.
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Citizens' feelings of effectiveness in political affairs is called
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political efficacy.
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What method has increased voter registration in some states in recent years?
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Motor Voter registration bills (voters are registered when they register for their driver's license)
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Those who are LESS likely to vote tend to be
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poor rather than wealthy.
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A party's effort to inform potential voters and persuade them to vote for that party is known as
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voter mobilization.
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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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______ is the idealized voting behavior, but _______ more realistically reflects how policy considerations influence voters' decisions.
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Prospective voting; retrospective voting
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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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Typically the three important tasks of the presidential convention are to pick the presidential candidate,
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select the president and vice presidential candidate, and write the party's platform.
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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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A valence issue is an issue
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on which most voters and candidates share the same position.
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A _______ issue is one on which the parties differ in their perspectives and their proposed solutions.
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position
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Wedge issues are controversial matters
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that one party uses to split voters in the other party.
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____________________ refers to the leading candidate and expected winner of a nomination or election.
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the frontrunner
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All of the following are reasons why Americans don't vote EXCEPT.
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being well educated
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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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All of the following statements concerning the legal obstacles to voting in the United States are true EXCEPT
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Politicians have been eager to pass major electoral reforms in order to build a stronger base for their parties.
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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 by asking friends and other politicians whether they think that their odds of winning are good.
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Front-loading affects the selection of a nominee by
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making success in earlier primaries all the more important in gaining and keeping momentum.
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Because of the Electoral College, presidential candidates generally spend most of their time and resources in
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competitive states, especially large ones.
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Which of the following news sources has experienced a steady decline in popularity and use?
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Newspapers
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Most politicians like radio and television because these media
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allow politicians to reach a broad audience without the adversarial questions of print reporters.
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The advent of cable and satellite television providers has had all of the following effects EXCEPT
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increasing numbers of channels which are devoted to reporting on a broad spectrum of topics.
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Although the Internet provides people with enormous amounts of information,
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it is difficult to sort and evaluate the available information.
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Which of the following types of news consumers is the least likely to be informed about or interested in politics?
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the disengaged
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Which of the following type of media is the most interactive in that users can actively choose the content that they want to learn about?
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the internet
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Public opinion not only should matter but does matter in American politics because
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politicians act as if the public is keeping tabs on them
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American voter turnout for national elections is:
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The lowest, or among the lowest, among industrialized nations
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All of the following are criteria for ideal democratic citizens EXCEPT
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knowledge of the English language
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All of the following are identified in the text as agents of political socialization EXCEPT
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the internet
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According to studies, Americans tend to be
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not very knowledgable about politics
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Regarding tolerance, Americans are generally
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supportive of general issues such as free speech but less supportive when asked to extend rights to unpopular groups
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Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States ranks____in voter participation.
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near the bottom
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A citizen's ability to hold democratic beliefs, including the acceptance that politics is about compromise, is called
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Democratic enlightenment
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Rational ignorance refers to
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the state of being uninformed about politics because the cost in time and energy does not produce tangible or measurable results
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The process by which citizens take their political cues from more well-informed opinion leaders is known as
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the two-step flow of information
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he tendency for men and women to take different issue positions and to evaluate political figures differently is known as
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the gender gap
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When a population sample is not chosen randomly and scientifically and has too many people in it from one portion of the population, we observe the problem of___
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sample bias
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Pseudo polls that present hypothetical, often negative, information in order to elicit a response from the respondent being polled are called
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push polls
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The ability to receive and evaluate information as events happen allow us to remember evaluation even if we forget the specific events that caused it is called ____
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Online processing
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Political gridlock occurs when
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A stalemate that results when rival parties stubbornly refuse to budge from their positions to achieve a compromise in the public interees
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Parties help overcome the problem of ____ created by the constitution
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Fragmented government
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Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the responsible party model?
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Each party should act in a polarized fashion to such an extent that their behavior impedes government functions
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The party that usually gets the most votes is the party that
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best appeals to moderate voters
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Primary voters, party activists, and big-money donors
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tend to be more ideological extreme and issue oriented than the voters in the general election
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According to James Madison, political parties were
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a dangerous version of factions
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The system in which successful party candidates supporters with jobs or favors is called
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patronage
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Electioneering refers to
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the process of getting a person elected to public office
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Parties take part in selecting candidates (electioneering) to run for office by engaging in all of the following EXCEPT
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providing the bulk of the money candidates use to run for office
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The party activity of governing involves ___ and ___.
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Controlling government; enacting the party's policy agenda
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Since the activists tend to be more extreme in their ideologies, they pull party policy agends
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back to their exremes
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All of the following statements concerning parties in American democracy are true EXCEPT
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They have become an impediment to the operation of modern democracy
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The two functions of parties are
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electioneering and governing
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Party officials complain about the open primary because
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members of the other party can contaminate the nomination process
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The dilemma that candidates face is that they must appeal to ____ during the primaries and then turn around and appeal to ____ during the general election.
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party activists; moderates
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