Deck 10: Political Participation

Question 1

Since voting is a costly activity and since any individual's vote is unlikely to influence the outcome of most elections,citizens' decisions about whether or not to participate in an election may constitute a/an ____________________.

A) coordination problem
B) Prisoner's Dilemma
C) principal-agent problem
D) unstable coalition
E) collective-action problem

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Which term denotes a person's general understanding of how the political system works and who runs the government?

A) political awareness
B) political sophistication
C) political knowledge
D) political intelligence
E) street smarts

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which term denotes the activities citizens undertake to influence government behavior?

A) political participation
B) popular sovereignty
C) mobilization
D) political outreach
E) polling

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is true about voting behavior?

A) Poorer, less educated people vote in higher proportions than wealthier, more educated people.
B) Northerners vote in higher proportions than southerners.
C) African Americans and Latinos vote in higher numbers than whites.
D) Catholics and Protestants are more likely to turn out than Jews.
E) Young people vote in higher numbers than older people.

Question 5

Sit-ins,strikes,and even violent revolts against an oppressive government,though extreme and unconventional,are nevertheless forms of ____________________.

A) partisanship
B) polling
C) political participation
D) political science
E) social networking

Question 6

The so-called Motor Voter Law,enacted in 1994,required states to permit an individual to register to vote ____________________.

A) when he or she rents a motor vehicle
B) when he or she purchases a car
C) at rest areas on federal interstate highways
D) when he or she applies for a driver's license
E) at federally licensed automobile repair centers

Question 7

Some people like to follow politics,but most rely on friends or coworkers,or on simple "cues" from news stories or advertisements,to get the information they need to make political choices.Many people pay virtually no attention to politics.For these reasons,the level of ____________________ varies widely within the population.

A) political awareness
B) political sophistication
C) political intelligence
D) political knowledge
E) street smarts

Question 8

Charlie,Dylan,and Joe disagree with American foreign policy decisions and do not like the current direction the U.S.is headed.They decide to take matters into their own hands and start an insurgency.They have engaged in ____________________.

A) a conventional form of political participation
B) an unconventional form of political participation
C) an unconventional form of social networking
D) a legitimate form of political participation
E) a conventional form of social networking

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT an acceptable reason for few people to participate in politics?

A) Low levels of political participation means people are generally satisfied with government.
B) Citizens do not speak out about government or vote because they like things as they are.
C) The absence of overt dissent signifies the absence of grievances.
D) Uninformed voters choose not to participate and leave decisions to those who choose to become informed.
E) Low levels of political participation are concentrated in the segments of the population who arguably face individual barriers to participation and who are rarely encouraged to participate.

Question 10

Shelly wants to vote in the upcoming election.Before she will be eligible to vote,Shelly knows that she must fill out forms and provide personal information to her state government.This process is called ____________________.

A) voter enrollment
B) voter registration
C) suffrage
D) civic license
E) political license

Question 11

The 1960s sit-ins by students at lunch counters in Greensboro,North Carolina,to protest "whites-only" seating at restaurants and other Jim Crow barriers,were considered ____________________ at the time.Today,we may consider these actions ____________________.

A) legitimate acts of political participation; illegitimate acts of political participation
B) legitimate acts of political participation; legitimate acts of political participation
C) illegitimate acts of political participation; legitimate acts of political participation
D) illegitimate acts of political participation; illegitimate acts of political participation
E) civil obedience; civil disobedience

Question 12

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 caused states to ____________________.

A) increase the number of voting precincts by almost 40 percent
B) increase the use of paper ballots to preserve permanent records of each vote cast
C) relocate polling places to venues that could support new voting machines in nearly 40 percent of all precincts
D) increase the amount of time available for citizens to register to vote
E) decrease the number of polling places by almost 40 percent

Question 13

Mary is concerned about plans to build a waste-to-energy facility in her district.She decides to write a letter to her member of Congress expressing her displeasure with the current proposal.Mary has engaged in ____________________.

A) a conventional form of political participation
B) an unconventional form of political participation
C) an act of civil disobedience
D) an illegitimate form of political participation
E) a conventional form of social networking

Question 14

Which is the process by which citizens enroll themselves with the government to gain permission to vote in an election?

A) voter registration
B) voter enrollment
C) suffrage
D) civic license
E) political license

Question 15

Writing letters to a member of Congress,attending a political rally,and donating money to a political campaign are examples of ____________________.

A) partisanship
B) polling
C) political participation
D) political science
E) social networking

Question 16

Which is the principle that the authority to make decisions on behalf of society belongs to the people?

A) popular voice
B) popular sovereignty
C) democracy
D) autocracy
E) republicanism

Question 17

Why do countries like Iran,Pakistan,and Zimbabwe consider themselves "democracies?"

A) They allow citizens to petition political leaders.
B) They allow citizens to organize political parties as rivals to the government.
C) They allow citizens to vote.
D) They allow citizens to openly express their frustration with the government.
E) They allow citizens to openly express their anger with the government.

Question 18

The "paradox of voting" refers to the ____________________ that emerges in the context of mass electoral participation.

A) coordination problem
B) Prisoner's Dilemma
C) principal-agent problem
D) unstable coalition
E) collective-action problem

Question 19

The probability of a grave accident while attempting to get to the polls is higher than the probability of swaying a national election with a single vote.This leads scholars to ask,"Why does anyone even bother to vote in mass elections?" This is an example of ____________________.

A) the problem of participation
B) the paradox of voting
C) the voters' dilemma
D) the ballot burden
E) ballot fatigue

Question 20

What does the inequality between the costs of voting and citizens' expected rewards from voting create?

A) problem of participation
B) paradox of voting
C) voters' dilemma
D) ballot burden
E) ballot fatigue

Question 21

Which of the following is another term for the right to vote?

A) suffrage
B) polling
C) verdict
D) conflagration
E) conjunction

Question 22

Today it is common for the two major parties to disagree over proposed reforms that might affect the costs of voting.Not surprisingly,____________________ reforms aimed at making it easier to vote or to register to vote are frequently opposed by ____________________.

A) Republican-sponsored; Democrats
B) Democrat-sponsored; Republicans
C) conservative-sponsored; liberals
D) Independent-sponsored; moderates
E) Democrat-sponsored; Libertarians

Question 23

Today,voting rates among blacks across the country ____________________ those of other racial groups.

A) exceed
B) fall short of
C) largely match
D) double
E) triple

Question 24

____________________ is the most fundamental participatory act in any democracy.

A) Talking to other people about politics
B) Writing or contacting political representatives
C) Attending meetings of political organizations
D) Voting
E) Giving money to campaigns

Question 25

Which are efforts made by organizations to facilitate or encourage voting?

A) voter mobilization
B) collective suffrage
C) electoral enrollment
D) voting suffrage
E) voter coordination

Question 26

In recent years there has been intense controversy over the implementation of voter ID requirements at the polls.However,some version of the reform has been passed by ____________________ of the states and requires that voters present a government-issued photo identification in order to prove identity and eligibility.

A) a quarter
B) half
C) two-thirds
D) three-quarters
E) all

Question 27

Americans ____________________ at lower rates than people in most other democracies.

A) participate in campaigns
B) donate money to campaigns
C) wear campaign buttons
D) write letters to political representatives
E) vote in national elections

Question 28

Democracies all over the world set boundaries on who can and cannot vote.In the American political system,the ____________________ formally control the franchise,but must conform to ____________________.

A) the national government; state laws
B) states; federal law and the Constitution
C) the national government; federal law and the Constitution
D) states; international laws
E) the national government; international laws

Question 29

The study of political participation is ____________________ in the social sciences.

A) underdeveloped
B) quite advanced
C) on par with most other disciplines
D) unimportant
E) practically ignored

Question 30

The League of Women Voters regularly attempts to register new voters at public gatherings like fairs,parades,and athletic events.How would these efforts best be characterized?

A) voter mobilization
B) collective suffrage
C) electoral enrollment
D) voting suffrage
E) voter coordination

Question 31

Which region of the country tends to have lower voter turnout?

A) northeast
B) west
C) mid-atlantic
D) south
E) mid-west

Question 32

Which is a program that allows voters to mail in their ballots rather than appearing in person at a polling place?

A) voting by mail
B) straight ticket voting
C) proxy voting
D) correspondent elections
E) electoral college

Question 33

By the 1860s,the United States had the most expansive franchise in the world,meaning that ____________________.

A) the market economy was freer than anywhere else
B) there was more competition in the business section than anywhere else
C) larger percentages of the male population were allowed to vote than anywhere else
D) more restrictions were placed upon voting rights than anywhere else
E) unlike in other countries, all American citizens were eligible to vote

Question 34

In the late 1960s,college students in California launched a campaign called "Let Us Vote," or "LUV," to lower the minimum legal voting age from 21 to 18.Congress passed a law that mandated voting rights for eighteen- to twenty-one-year-olds.However,the Supreme Court ruled that states had the right to set their own voting age restrictions.Some states set the voting age at 18,while others left it at 21.As a result,many young people on Election Day had to be given separate ballots because they were only permitted to vote for federal offices.This is an example of a ____________________.

A) Prisoner's Dilemma
B) collective-action problem
C) coordination problem
D) unstable coalition
E) principal-agent problem

Question 35

All else being equal,which profession would typically confer the highest socioeconomic status on its members?

A) custodian
B) accountant
C) teacher
D) medical doctor
E) police officer

Question 36

Which is NOT currently a "cost" of voting in American national elections?

A) registering to vote
B) gathering information on candidates and parties
C) identifying and locating the correct polling place
D) time spent casting a ballot
E) payment of an actual poll tax

Question 37

Americans ____________________ at higher rates than people in most other democracies.

A) participate in campaigns
B) vote in national elections
C) are active in political parties
D) register to vote
E) go to the ballot box

Question 38

What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 do?

A) mandated voting rights at age 21 for all elections, including state and local contests
B) granted women the right to vote in all federal and state elections
C) stated that voting rights could not be denied on the basis of sex
D) devised a wide-ranging set of federal protections of voting rights for minorities, especially in the South
E) mandated that people 18 years of age and older had the right to vote in federal, state, and local elections

Question 39

Which of the following could be considered an unintentional barrier to voting?

A) implementing a poll tax
B) requiring voters to pass a literacy test
C) having fewer voting machines in precincts in poorer neighborhoods
D) establishing Jim Crow laws
E) having up-to-date technologies for voting in precincts in wealthy neighborhoods

Question 40

Socioeconomic status is a measure of the way that individuals are regarded in society by virtue of their wealth,incomes,education,and ____________________.

A) religion
B) race
C) profession
D) height
E) morality

Question 41

How do rates of voting in the United States compare to those in other democratic countries? What about rates of other forms of political participation? What accounts for any differences that may be observed in the rates of various types of political participation in the United States and other democracies?

Question 42

What is socioeconomic status (SES)? What are identifiable components of SES? What is the relationship between SES and political participation in the United States? Is the relationship between SES and participation generally different in other democracies?

Question 43

How do interest groups and other organizations work to mobilize voters? How do these mobilization efforts relate to the paradox of voting? In other words,how do these activities help potential voters overcome forces that may prevent them from voting?

Question 44

Recent studies using experimental methods confirm that ____________________ increase voter turnout more than ____________________.

A) appeals on the radio; appeals on television
B) appeals on the radio; in-person contacts
C) appeals on television; in-person contacts
D) internet advertisements; appeals on television
E) in-person contacts; appeals on television

Question 45

Voter turnout in the United States ______________________.

A) has declined steadily since the late nineteenth century
B) declined steadily between the late nineteenth century and 2000 and has increased somewhat since
C) has increased steadily since the late nineteenth century
D) increased steadily between the late nineteenth century and 2000 and has decreased somewhat since
E) has remained relatively stable since the late nineteenth century

Question 46

Explain the paradox of voting.What is paradoxical or puzzling about individuals' decisions to cast a ballot? What accounts for the fact that some individuals ultimately do vote,overcoming the paradox,while others do not?

Question 47

Explain the significance of the Fifteenth,Nineteenth,and Twenty-Sixth amendments to the Constitution.What historical developments motivated Congress to propose and the states to adopt these constitutional reforms? Have the states respected these amendments to the federal constitution? If not,what actions has the federal government taken to ensure their enforcement?