Political Science 101 S.T.C. American political party, vote, candidates
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________is the single most important political act for most Americans.
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Voting
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What was the primary venue for citizen participation in national politics until the early 1900s?
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U.S. House elections
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The digital divide refers to the
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line separating citizens with Internet access from those without.
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Nearly ________percent of Americans lack high-speed Internet access in their homes.
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33
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About ________ percent of eligible voters turn out for midterm congressional elections.
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33
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When did African Americans truly gain voting rights in the United States without fear of reprisal?
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1965
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The main goal of the group Rock the Vote is to
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draw young voters into participating politically.
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About ________ percent of African Americans voted for Barack Obama in 2008.
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95
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What bloc of voters has recently been called "the sleeping giant"?
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Latino Americans
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On average, more women vote for ________ candidates and more men vote for ________ candidates
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Democratic; Republican
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About ________ percent of U.S. senators and U.S. representatives serving in Congress are women.
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17
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Which of the following characteristics constitutes one's socioeconomic status?
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level of education, level of political participation, and age
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An example of the phenomenon called the gender gap would be that
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more women than men vote for Democrats.
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Which of the following statements is true about political participation?
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Young people are far less likely to participate in politics than older people.
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Studies show that people are most likely to participate in politics when
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someone asks them to get involved.
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During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the criteria for determining one's eligibility to vote were established by ________.
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state governments
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Under the Constitution, ________ has/have the power to regulate elections.
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state legislatures
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According to political scientists, voter registration requirements reduce voter turnout by as much as ________ percent.
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50
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Compared with western Europe, the United States has a(n) ________ turnout in elections.
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lower
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Which of the following statements about voting rights is correct?
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Many states have laws restricting the voting rights of persons convicted of felonies.
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A political party is an organization
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that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office.
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Throughout its history, American politics has been dominated by ________ major political party/parties.
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Two
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One important cause of the United States' two-party system is
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single-member electoral districts.
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Third-party candidates are better off under ________.
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proportional representation
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What is the ultimate goal of a political party?
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winning elections
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Incumbents in Congress
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typically raise three times the money for their political campaigns than challengers.
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In 2012, both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney raised about ________ each in their respective campaigns.
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$1 billion
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A ________ is a closed meeting of a political group's members who gather to determine strategy and select candidates.
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caucus
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A party's ________ contains its philosophy, principles, and policy positions.
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Platform
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Which of the following is the best definition of soft money?
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money contributed directly to political parties and other organizations at the state and local levels for political activities that are not regulated by federal campaign spending laws
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527 committees are an important part of the American political system because they
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are able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they do not coordinate their activities with a political party.
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Which of the following statements about partisan identification in the United States is most accurate?
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Party identification varies significantly by income, race, and gender.
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An individual's psychological attachment to one party or another is called a party ________.
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Identification
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Since the 1930s, African Americans have identified as ________.
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Democrats
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In 2012, about ________ percent of Latino Americans voted for Barack Obama.
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70
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Women in the United States are ________ the ________ Party.
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somewhat more likely to support; Democratic
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Men in the United States are ________ the ________ Party.
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somewhat more likely to support; Republican
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Which of the following groups is most likely to support the Republican Party?
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the wealthy
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________ occurs when one party controls the presidency while another party controls one or both houses of Congress.
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Divided party government
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Issues such as the environment, health care, retirement benefits, and taxation are on the political agenda in the United States because
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contemporary political parties mainly compete for the support of middle-class Americans and these issues are important to the middle class.
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Third parties in the United States typically represent
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social and economic interests that are disregarded by the two major parties for certain reasons.
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A(n) ________ does NOT coincide with a presidential election.
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midterm election
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The primary responsibility for conducting public elections rests with ________.
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state and local governments
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During midterm elections, voters are selecting ________.
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members of Congress
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Primary elections were introduced by
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reformers who hoped to weaken the power of party leaders.
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In order for a political party to select a candidate to run in the general election, it holds a(n) ________.
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primary election
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________ occurs when a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party's election.
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A closed primary
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Party activists who are elected to vote at a party's national convention are called ________.
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delegates
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If the winner of an election is whoever receives the most votes, regardless of the percentage of votes received, the candidates are running under a ________ system.
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Plurality
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When American voters support only one party's candidates, they are said to be voting a ________ ticket.
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Straight
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If a citizen votes for a Republican for president and a Democrat for senator, he or she has engaged in ________.
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split-ticket voting
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What did the Supreme Court justices mean by the principle "one person, one vote"?
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Within a state, electoral districts must have roughly equal populations.
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The practice of ________ means that district boundaries have been purposefully drawn to unfairly advantage one group or party.
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gerrymandering
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The ________ is the last example of indirect voting in national elections.
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electoral college
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What is a referendum?
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It is the practice of voting directly for proposed laws.
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Smaller and weaker parties are most likely to have electoral success under which system of elections?
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the proportional representation system
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Which of the following is the best example of direct democracy in practice in the United States?
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initiative petition
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Who is the incumbent?
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the current officeholder, running for re-election
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The themes, issues, and messages that candidates present during a campaign are generally based on
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polls and focus groups.
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A(n) ________ is a media format in which candidates meet with ordinary citizens, without the input of journalists or commentators.
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town hall meeting
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The Supreme Court justices ruled that the government could not restrict independent expenditures by corporations or unions to political campaigns in ________.
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Buckley v. Valeo
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A citizen can currently give no more than ________ per candidate for federal office per election in a given two-year election cycle.
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$2,600
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Which of the following statements is most accurate?
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When voters are dissatisfied with their economic prospects, they tend to vote for Republican candidates.
