Deck 10: Elections and Campaigns

Question 1

Concerned about the shortened length of campaigns,parties have begun to

A)reduce frontloading of primary elections and reduce delegates from early states.
B)move up early voting by giving more delegates to early states.
C)move back their conventions to later in the year.
D)do nothing.
E)None of these choices is true.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

By the time the 2012 presidential election was completed,the Obama campaign and the Romney campaign,together with a dozen other contenders for the presidency,had raised and spent approximately

A)$600 million.
B)$4 billion.
C)$1.3 billion.
D)$800 million.
E)$500 million.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

After the last two census adjustments,which state has benefited the most by gaining the highest number of seats in the House?

A)California
B)New York
C)Florida
D)Texas
E)Illinois

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A comprehensive study on political advertisements found that the largest number emphasized

A)stirring positive emotions.
B)voters' fears.
C)civic duty.
D)nonpartisan cooperation.
E)candidates' personal qualities.

Question 5

The biggest challenge in the presidential primary is for a candidate is

A)that they are unknown to the public.
B)that incumbents are hard to unseat.
C)gaining the support of the party organization.
D)choosing a Vice-President.
E)deciding when to run.

Question 6

Since 1962,the incumbent reelection percentage in the House has never dropped below

A)60 percent.
B)65 percent.
C)75 percent.
D)80 percent.
E)90 percent.

Question 7

A major difference between presidential campaigns and congressional campaigns is that

A)fewer people vote in presidential elections.
B)presidential incumbents can better serve their constituents.
C)presidential incumbents can more easily avoid responsibility.
D)presidential races are generally more competitive.
E)congressional incumbents are more likely to be defeated.

Question 8

Most of the money that individual candidates spend during the course of a campaign is directed toward

A)media-related activities.
B)campaign staff and advisors.
C)travel-related expenses.
D)campaign literature.
E)the national convention.

Question 9

The effect of winning early elections on candidate support is called

A)recognition.
B)caucusing.
C)momentum or the bandwagon effect.
D)activating latent partisanship.
E)media coverage.

Question 10

When a district is drawn in a bizarre or unusual shape to assist a candidate,it is

A)malapportioned.
B)reapportioned.
C)regressed.
D)gerrymandered.
E)disbarred.

Question 11

After party caucuses when national nominating conventions dominated,the real power,in selecting presidential nominees,was wielded by

A)the voters in primary elections.
B)local party leaders.
C)political pundits.
D)nonpartisan groups that sought to pick the best candidates.
E)the voters in caucus elections.

Question 12

When Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1968,he did so

A)without spending money on advertising.
B)with considerable assistance from Republican voters.
C)without raising money.
D)in spite of opposition from party bosses.
E)without competing in a single state primary.

Question 13

The text suggests that the term campaigning has become a synonym for

A)calculating.
B)mobilizing.
C)communicating.
D)reflecting.
E)fundraising.

Question 14

The quintessential summary of retrospective voting,according to Ronald Reagan,was,

A)"All politics is local."
B)"Events,dear boy,events."
C)"Government is not the solution to our problem;government is the problem."
D)"Every man a king,but no one wears the crown."
E)"Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Question 15

The most important factor in winning the Presidency is

A)partisanship.
B)the health of the nation.
C)candidate character.
D)fundraising.
E)organization.

Question 16

When a district is so unequal that the votes of citizens are unequal in size

A)malapportioned.
B)reapportioned.
C)regressed.
D)gerrymandered.
E)disbarred.

Question 17

According to the text,campaign matter for

A)assigning credit and blame for the state of the nation.
B)activating latent partisanship.
C)judging qualities of candidates.
D)Assigning credit and blame,activating latent partisanship,and judging qualities of candidates are all true.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 18

Electoral coattails refers to

A)the formal attire of presidential candidates.
B)coordinated campaigns between different offices in the same party.
C)competition between the two main parties.
D)how better looking candidates perform better in national elections.
E)the winning presidential candidate's positive effect on congressional elections.

Question 19

Since 1911 the size of the House of Representatives has been fixed at members.

A)100
B)217
C)400
D)435
E)437

Question 20

Originally,presidential candidates were chosen by

A)lottery.
B)conventions.
C)congressional caucus.
D)state legislatures.
E)governors.

Question 21

Disputed congressional elections are decided by

A)the Supreme Court.
B)the state supreme courts.
C)Congress.
D)the state legislatures.
E)state governors.

Question 22

Most demographic groups favor one party or the other by

A)25% or more
B)20%
C)15%
D)10%
E)5% or less

Question 23

The Constitution's doctrine of "privileged speech" has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean

A)that members of Congress cannot be sued or prosecuted for anything that they say or write in connection with their legislative duties.
B)that members of Congress do not have privileged status protecting their legislative speech.
C)that members of Congress can issue press releases that are libelous.
D)that members of Congress can issue press releases with information from classified documents.
E)that members of Congress can be sued or prosecuted for what they have read into the Congressional Record.

Question 24

In recent elections,candidates have relied increasingly on

A)appearances at malls to reach potential voters.
B)large parades and rallies to reach potential voters.
C)whistlestop train tours to reach potential voters.
D)appearances at factories to reach potential voters.
E)broadcasting to reach potential voters.

Question 25

Which of the following is true of political advertising?

A)They are a cheap method of informing voters.
B)They are massively effective and changing voter's minds.
C)They have long lasting effects.
D)Candidates do not counter-advertise.
E)None of these answers are true.

Question 26

The following is an example of a valence issue.

A)Richard Nixon being more supportive of anticrime measures than his rival
B)Jimmy Carter appearing to favor honesty in government more than his opponent
C)Ronald Reagan being more closely identified with a strong economy than his opponent
D)George H.W.Bush being more closely linked to patriotism than his opponent
E)All of these choices are true.

Question 27

Campaign finance reforms

A)required candidates to raise money from many small donors.
B)required donations to be reported to the FEC.
C)made the media more powerful in elections.
D)benefited incumbent politicians.
E)All of these choices are true.

Question 28

To be president,a person must be

A)a natural born citizen.
B)45 years old.
C)a legalized citizen.
D)40 years old.
E)a veteran.

Question 29

Since 1964,African Americans have voted Democratic by at least

A)50%.
B)60%.
C)70%.
D)80%.
E)90%.

Question 30

In the 1980 presidential election,many people voted for Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter as a vote against Carter's performance.This is an example of an)

A)spin vote.
B)retrospective vote.
C)prospective vote.
D)informed vote.
E)inclined vote.

Question 31

Nearly everyone is in agreement over a issue,and the candidate fully supports the public's view.

A)valence
B)primary
C)secondary
D)position
E)residual

Question 32

Presidential elections are held every

A)2 years.
B)4 years.
C)6 years.
D)8 years.
E)10 years.

Question 33

A issue is one in which the rival candidates have opposing views on a question that also divides the voters.

A)valence
B)primary
C)secondary
D)residual
E)position

Question 34

The federal government provides matching funds,dollar for dollar,for money raised by small donors for what types of elections?

A)Congressional elections
B)Presidential elections
C)Governor's elections
D)State legislative elections
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 35

To be a member of the House of Representatives,a person must be

A)20 years old.
B)25 years old.
C)30 years old.
D)35 years old.
E)40 years old.

Question 36

Democrats who participate in the Iowa caucus tend to be

A)more liberal than Democrats generally.
B)more conservative than Democrats generally.
C)less likely to win the nomination compared to other candidates who do not participate.
D)more moderate than Democrats generally.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 37

Which of the following is not considered a pivotal state in presidential elections?

A)Florida.
B)California.
C)Pennsylvania.
D)Colorado.
E)Iowa.

Question 38

Congressional elections are held every

A)2 years.
B)4 years.
C)6 years.
D)8 years.
E)10 years.

Question 39

Most political ads are

A)negative.
B)positive.
C)neither negative nor positive.
D)related to the issues of the campaign.
E)ineffective.

Question 40

In general,the president's party in off­year midterm elections.

A)gains votes
B)keeps the same number of votes
C)loses votes
D)gains or loses votes with no apparent pattern
E)gains or loses votes based on the fundamentals.

Question 41

Based on research,presidential debates seem to

A)determine elections.
B)be pivotal events.
C)be watched by only a few insiders.
D)matter for the remaining undecideds.
E)help incumbents.

Question 42

In a strong party parliamentary system,once a party wins office

A)it can implement its platform line by line.
B)it can only implement its platform if all the parties agree.
C)it must get approval of its platform from another branch of government.
D)it cannot undo previous parties' laws.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 43

Unlimited money given to political parties,but not used to back candidates directly,is

A)hard money.
B)soft money.
C)issue advocacy.
D)PAC money.
E)public funding.

Question 44

The campaign finance law created in the 1970s was the direct by-product of

A)the Watergate scandal.
B)the passage of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment.
C)decreasing vote turnout.
D)wage and price controls.
E)riots in Chicago.

Question 45

In Federal Election Commission v.Wisconsin Right to Life,the Supreme Court held that

A)McCain-Feingold,a campaign finance law,was constitutional.
B)issue advocacy was not protected by the First Amendment and could be banned.
C)issue advocacy was protected by the First Amendment and could not be banned.
D)speech required money,and so campaign finance laws were illegal.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 46

Ordinary advertising directed at or against a candidate,but not by any candidate's wish,is

A)"independent expenditure."
B)illegal.
C)only present at the state level.
D)"political action."
E)"soft money."

Question 47

Many scholars argue that the foremost factor in determining how people vote is

A)debate performance.
B)perception of the best candidate.
C)campaign spending.
D)a candidate's image.
E)party identification.

Question 48

The experience with 527 organizations in the 2004 elections suggests that campaign finance laws

A)are an effective way to minimize interest group participation.
B)are an effective way to reduce campaign spending.
C)facilitate coordination of efforts between candidates and groups.
D)are not likely to take money out of politics.
E)have restricted speech considerably.

Question 49

Most of the money for congressional candidates comes from

A)PACs.
B)major corporations.
C)small businesses.
D)multinational corporations.
E)individuals.

Question 50

When a voter votes for the candidate whom he or she considers more likely to do a better job in office,that voting is referred to as

A)"clothespin" voting.
B)ideological voting.
C)prospective voting.
D)retrospective voting.
E)sociotropic voting.

Question 51

The text argues that the U.S.constitutional system was designed to make the adoption of radical departures in policy

A)efficient.
B)easy.
C)impossible.
D)unnecessary.
E)difficult.

Question 52

Democrats could be predicted to win every presidential election if the only factor were

A)candidate appeal.
B)campaign issues.
C)debate performance.
D)money spent.
E)party identification.

Question 53

After the 1964 election gave Democrats large majorities in Congress and the Presidency

A)they created a new cabinet level Department of Housing and Urban Development.
B)they created Medicare and Medicaid.
C)they passed a number of environmental and consumer protection laws.
D)they created a new cabinet level office,Medicare and Medicaid,environmental and consumer protection laws,and an extraordinary number of other policies.
E)None of these choices are true.

Question 54

The agency responsible for monitoring federal elections and campaign finance is the

A)United States Congress
B)United States Department of State
C)United State Department of Justice
D)State Departments of State
E)Federal Election Commission

Question 55

Which type of voting requires a lot of information about candidates and issues?

A)Issueless voting
B)Ideological voting
C)Prospective voting
D)Retrospective voting
E)Sociotropic voting

Question 56

One advantage that incumbents always have over challengers is

A)their larger share of federal campaign monies.
B)the political advantage of riding the president's coattails.
C)their use of free mailings,or franks.
D)their freedom from FEC regulations.
E)their freedom from libelous laws.

Question 57

Funding of congressional elections comes from

A)public sources only.
B)private sources only.
C)party sources only.
D)a combination of public,party,and private sources.
E)the parties and public sources.

Question 58

Soft money is money that is obtained by

A)political parties.
B)incumbents.
C)challengers.
D)party leaders.
E)party leaders' PACs.

Question 59

The text suggests that elections are decided by voters.

A)"clothespin"
B)ideological
C)prospective
D)retrospective
E)sociotropic

Question 60

Which of the following does the text suggest is a critical factor in presidential elections?

A)The vice-presidential nominee
B)Political reporting
C)The religion of the candidates
D)The candidates' positions on abortion
E)None of the above is true.

Question 61

During ordinary times,every election is critical and forces the parties to fight over a single dominant issue.

Question 62

Most of the money that candidates spend today is media related.

Question 63

A position issue is an issue that does not divide voters.

Question 64

Research has found that highly emotional ads have the most effect on people who know the least about politics.

Question 65

The President's party tends to do well in off­year elections.

Question 66

Discuss the benefits of incumbency for Congressional elections.

Question 67

The effect of gerrymandering on Congressional elections is much larger than many claim.

Question 68

It is unconstitutional to restrict the expenditures of a candidate's campaigns,but contributions to campaigns can be
limited.

Question 69

The authors suggest that campaigns focus on assigning credit and blame for the state of the nation,activating latent
partisanship,and introducing and judging the candidates' characters.

Question 70

Discuss how presidential candidates have to fundraise more today than in the past.Be sure to reference the 2012 election.

Question 71

Presidential campaigning has changed drastically;and fundraising has lost its importance.

Question 72

Trade and corporate PAC money tends to flow exclusively to ideologically similar parties.

Question 73

In Israel and the Netherlands,the names of candidates for the legislature do not even appear on the ballot.

Question 74

Malapportionment is when districts are drawn for pure political reasons.

Question 75

A U.S.Senator must be at least 30 years old.

Question 76

Presidential candidates must accept public funding.

Question 77

Presidential candidates were first nominated by national conventions.

Question 78

In the 1800s,most people voted straight party ticket.

Question 79

If you run for a seat in the House against the incumbent,the odds are very much against you.

Question 80

The current size of the House at 435 members was set in the year 1911.