Deck 10: Elections

Question 1

Elections can serve to enlist people and manifest participation whether or not they have a meaningful role in selecting or changing leadership groups.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Elections perform functions other than electing leaders.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Proportional representation systems:

A) usually have several political parties elected to parliament
B) are considered unfair and undemocratic
C) are found in Britain and Canada
D) award a legislative seat only to the person/party that comes in first in a district
E) are rare in Europe

Answer 3

A

Question 4

As the number of choices on a ballot increases, the number of _____________ (choose one: "well-informed" or "poorly informed" voters also increases.

Question 5

Of the following groups, which usually has the highest voter turnout?

A) Migrant workers
B) Ethnic minorities
C) Poor people
D) Well-educated people
E) Young people

Question 6

Nigeria has a _________________ electoral system.

Question 7

The list PR system has the advantage that each elected official feels a direct link with a small and well defined geographic constituency.

Question 8

The proportional representation system does more to insure that minority parties are represented in government.

Question 9

Of the following groups, which usually has the lowest voter turnout?

A) Suburban residents
B) Well-educated people
C) Well-off people
D) Young people
E) Old people

Question 10

Which of the following statements about SMDP and PR systems is true?

A) PR systems are more likely than SMDP systems to have legislators that feel strongly tied to a particular region
B) PR systems provide fewer choices for voters than SMDP systems do
C) SMDP systems are more common than PR systems
D) Neither the SMDP system nor the PR system is effective in promoting democracy
E) Voters in a SMDP system can feel like they are "wasting" their votes

Question 11

The Knesset is the name for the _________________ in Israel.

Question 12

Which American state is well-known for putting referenda and similar measures to the voters in large numbers?

A) Georgia
B) Minnesota
C) California
D) Texas
E) Utah

Question 13

What percentage of those eligible to vote in the 2012 American presidential election actually did so?

A) 43%
B) 58%
C) 71%
D) 79%
E) 88%

Question 14

Elections are found exclusively in democratic political systems.

Question 15

How many large parties are there, on average, in a country with single-member-district plurality system

A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
E) Five

Question 16

An election where the voters select among policies, not candidates, is called a ___________________.

Question 17

Your vote is not likely to matter (determine the outcome of an election) and you reason that it is irrational to take the time and spend the energy to vote. Others reason similarly and shrink from voting. But if everyone exercises the same logic and only a few people vote, then your vote does have muscle and does matter. This situation is labeled the
_________________________________.

Question 18

An electoral system is something that is seldom designated in a state's constitution.

Question 19

Many people in democracies who have little sense that their votes will make a difference, nonetheless vote and feel a sense of support for the system and relish their participation in it.

Question 20

SMDP stands for Single Member District _____________.

Question 21

PR systems generally allow for more political parties to exist and persist and, given that, voters tend to have a larger number of choices.

Question 22

Critical Thinking
How much voter participation is optimal? Very different answers are possible - some driven by ideological differences. Some political systems legally require a citizen to vote. What are your thoughts about that? And do you imagine a direct relationship between amount of voter participation and the quality of participation? That is, if more people vote, do we get a result based on less information and thinking or more information and thinking?

Question 23

Systems that use referenda find that they must approach the public with policy choices on a regular basis if the system is to have any public legitimacy.

Question 24

Write an essay in which you compare, contrast, and analyze SMDP systems and PR systems. What are the key characteristics of each? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? Which do you think is best, and why?

Question 25

What are the key factors that determine electoral participation?

Question 26

What are the factors that can keep elections from reflecting the will of the general population?

Question 27

Electoral participation is higher in PR systems than in SMDP systems.