30 questions
The most successful tactic that civil rights and environmental groups have used to influence policy is
Litigation
Lobbying
Protest demonstrations
Media advertising
The key term in the definition of a political party is
Organization with the purpose of giving the party clout
Ideology, to provide clear policy choices for the party
Label, to give a candidate party identification
Allegiance, to enhance party strength
The three key cases of realignment include all of the following elections EXCEPT
1860
1896
1932
1992
The Constitution requires reapportionment every ___ years
5
10
15
20
In which type of primary must you declare which political party you belong to before the vote
An open primary
A blanket primary
A closed primary
A caucus
Which of the following statements about party identification and voting are true?
Democrats vote more often than Republicans
Republicans vote more often than Democrats
Democrats are more firmly wedded to their party
Democrats do better with independent voters
The rise in interest groups can best be explained by all of the following EXCEPT
broad economic developments that create new interests & redefine old ones
government policy
the decrease in activities performed by the government
someone exer. leadership often at a great personal cost
The ratings of legislators produced by interest groups are often problematic because they
exclude many legislators
are biased by arbitrary standards
are produced semiannually
are given little attention in the media
Which of the following statements about PACs and PAC money is true?
Campaign finance laws passed in 1974 decreased the # of PACs
Very few PACs are sponsored by corporations
Both parties have become dependent on PACs
Ideological PACs spend more $ on campaigns & less on candidates
When the media controls which subjects become national political issues it is acting as
Gatekeeper
Scorekeeper
Watchdog
Muckraker
Research shows that the avg. length of a pres. sound bite dropped from 42 sec.s in 1968 to...
30 seconds in 2000
22 seconds in 2000
17 in 2000
9 in 2000
Obstacles to third parties success include all of the following EXCEPT
the winner take all rule
lack of adequate funding from interest groups
inability to get media attention or into the debates
all of these
Which state's presidential primary traditionally receives the most media coverage?
Iowa
New Hampshire
Ohio
Florida
Superdelegates are
Used more often by Democrats than Republicans
not able to vote at the national convention
elected or nominated officials within the Democratic party
A caucus, like the ones that occur in Nevada or Iowa is...
held at the national level to select a nominee
a closed door meeting of party regulars who choose a pres. cand.
open to all who want to participate
a meeting of members of Congress
Which of the following do interest groups often use in litigation?
amicus curiae briefs
online petitions
witness testimonials
torts
Which of the following interest groups is known to be the largest in membership size?
The NRA
The American Association of Retired Persons
The League of Women Voters
The Sierra Club
Which of the following interest groups has become the most influential in recent years?
The AARP
The AFL-CIO
The NRA
The Pipefitters Union
All of the following are commonly used by interest groups to influence the political process EXCEPT
Lobbying
Contributing money to Congress
Nominating candidates
Filing lawsuits
Political action committee money goes overwhelmingly to...
Challengers
Incumbents
Democrats
Republicans
Which of the following amendments extended the vote to 18 year olds?
15th
19th
21st
26th
Which of the following is the best example of the free rider problem?
Interest groups seeking funding from their members without serving them
People benefiting from an interest group without paying for the services
Interest groups engaging in social media to campaign for free
None of these
Which of the following models of democracy was Madison asserting in Federalist 10?
Elitism
Hyperpluralism
Pluralism
Participatory Democracy
Which of the following is not a practice of interest groups?
Lobbying
Electioneering
Litigation
Nominating candidates
What sort of republic did Madison feel was better to control the "violence of factions?"
A small republic
A democratic republic
A large republic
One led by the Democrat-Republicans
In what sort of election are candidates competing against those within their own party?
A general election
A primary
A caucus
A midterm election
Which of the following established a national government agency to regulate elections?
The FECA
The BCRA
The McCain-Feingold Act
The Tillman Act
Which of the following was designed to eliminate soft money in federal elections?
The FECA
The BCRA
The Tillman Act
Watergate
Where is the Democrat and Republican presidential officially nominated by their party?
At the last state they win in
At the capitol in front of both houses of Congress
At the national party convention
At the Washington Memorial
The fact that there are more Americans identifying as independents today is a sign of
Dealignment
Realignment
Bipartisanship
Polarization