Deck 5: Campaigns and Elections

Question 1

In which case did the Supreme Court overturn a ban on unlimited independent expenditures made by corporations, unions, and nonprofit organizations in federal elections?

A) Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
B) McConnell v. FEC (2003)
C) Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
D) Bush v. Gore (2000)

Answer 1

C

Question 2

La Raza Unida Party was founded by several Latino leaders in order to

A) support the Democratic Party and its candidates.
B) field candidates for office and mobilize Mexican-American voters.
C) undermine the primary elections of the Republican party.
D) offer an alternative to political participation for Latino voters.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The principal political activity of most Texans consists of

A) voting in elections.
B) calling their elected officials.
C) writing letters to elected officials.
D) going on Talk Radio to complain.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is the most likely reason that La Raza Unida did not continue to be politically effective?

A) Third parties are not legally allowed to participate in Texas politics.
B) The Texas Democratic Party has adopted issues appealing to Hispanic voters.
C) The Republican Party has pushed all other parties out of existence.
D) The Hispanic population in Texas has declined since the 1970s.

Question 5

Most voters in Texas learn about candidates for office through

A) Twitter.
B) television ads.
C) newspaper ads.
D) debates.

Question 6

Prior to 1990, how many women had been elected to statewide office in Texas?

A) None
B) 4
C) 14
D) 40

Question 7

The increased presence of women in policymaking positions has resulted in such changes as

A) increased punishments for family violence and sexual abuse of children.
B) fewer restrictions on the rights of gun owners.
C) increased use of the death penalty.
D) decreases in funding to education and social services.

Question 8

Organizations created to collect and distribute contributions to political campaigns are referred to as

A) federal reserve banks.
B) political interest groups.
C) lobbies.
D) political action committees.

Question 9

The first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city was

A) Annise Parker, sworn in as mayor of Houston in 2010.
B) Harvey Milk, sworn in as mayor of San Francisco in 1974.
C) Barney Frank, sworn in as mayor of Boston in 1980.
D) Reginald Dwight, sworn in as mayor of Dallas in 1992.

Question 10

According to studies, negative commercials

A) are generally not aired by the networks.
B) draw voter preference away from the candidate being attacked.
C) result in a decrease of support for the candidate financing the ads.
D) have no measurable effect on voter support.

Question 11

Independent, expenditure-only committees that may raise unlimited sums of money to support or oppose political candidates are known as

A) SuperPACs.
B) SixPACs.
C) political parties.
D) interest groups.

Question 12

Texas's Latino and African American populations combined comprise

A) less than half of the white population.
B) more than twice the white population.
C) more than half of the state's total population.
D) about the same as the Anglo population.

Question 13

Which of the following is not true of Texas campaign finance regulations for state offices?

A) Restrictions on donation amounts apply only to some judicial candidates.
B) There are no disclosure requirements by candidates.
C) Lawmakers may not lobby for clients before state agencies.
D) Treasurers of campaign committees are required to file periodically with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Question 14

Which of the following is not a reason that fewer women than men seek elected office?

A) Women are not allowed to run for elected office unless they have completed a graduate degree.
B) Women face greater difficulty in raising money to pay campaign expenses.
C) Women tend to shoulder more responsibilities for home and family than men do.
D) Women face age-old prejudices.

Question 15

Which of the following statements regarding the Campaign Reform Act of 2002 is false?

A) It prohibits soft money to political parties.
B) It has increased individual hard money contribution limits.
C) It restricted the ability of corporations to run certain "electioneering"ads.
D) none of its provisions have been overturned by the Supreme Court.

Question 16

By 2015, Texans had elected Latino candidates to which offices?

A) State Board of Education and agriculture commissioner
B) Texas legislature, governor, and attorney general
C) Only local governments
D) The state Supreme Court, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Texas legislature

Question 17

Literacy tests were implemented to ensure

A) voters cast an informed ballot.
B) minorities could not vote.
C) the financial stability of the voter.
D) voters were citizens.

Question 18

What percentage of Texas's African American citizens say that they are Democrats?

A) 20 percent
B) 45 percent
C) 80 percent
D) 95 percent

Question 19

The ability of almost all citizens 18 years of age and older to vote is referred to as

A) due process of law.
B) popular sovereignty.
C) selective franchise.
D) universal suffrage.

Question 20

In modern elections, candidates increasingly rely on which of the following to communicate information to voters?

A) Social media such as Facebook and Twitter
B) Newspaper advertisements
C) Interviews on network television and radio stations
D) Direct mail

Question 21

Which U.S. amendment prevents states from requiring payment of a poll tax as a condition for voting?

A) Fifteenth Amendment
B) Thirteenth Amendment
C) Twenty-Fourth Amendment
D) Fourteenth Amendment

Question 22

Which of the following accurately describes trends in suffrage in the United States?

A) Voting rights have progressed to the point that no one over 18 in the United States is excluded from the right to vote, and state voting policies have all become identical to one another.
B) There has been little change over time in voting rights and voting policies among states.
C) Voting rights have steadily expanded and there has been a movement toward uniformity of voting policies among states.
D) More and more groups have been excluded from the right to vote over time, and state voting policies have become increasingly different from one another.

Question 23

In Texas, the responsibility of redistricting rests with the

A) governor.
B) state legislature.
C) sunset advisory board.
D) steering committee of the majority party.

Question 24

Low voter turnout in Texas is attributed to all of the following, except

A) voter fatigue from too many elections.
B) negative campaigning by candidates.
C) lack of information about candidates.
D) the repeal of laws that expanded suffrage.

Question 25

Of the various socioeconomic factors that influence voter turnout, which is considered the strongest?

A) Gender
B) Religion
C) Party affiliation
D) Education

Question 26

A political district from which two or more representatives are elected is

A) unconstitutional.
B) rarely used.
C) a non-single-member district.
D) an at-large majority district.

Question 27

In the U.S. Supreme Court case of Guinn v. United States (1915), the court ruled that

A) poll taxes were illegal.
B) literacy tests were constitutional.
C) the grandfather clause was illegal.
D) the Fifteenth Amendment was unconstitutional.

Question 28

Among the key factors that affect voter turnout are

A) credit history and available credit.
B) sexual orientation and hair and eye color.
C) income, age, gender, and ethnicity.
D) social status, religion, and party affiliation.

Question 29

Protection of the right to vote for African Americans was the intention behind which amendments to the U. S. Constitution?

A) Fourteenth and Fifteenth
B) Thirteenth and Fifteenth
C) Nineteenth and Fourteenth
D) Eighteenth and Nineteenth

Question 30

Which of the following amendments to the U.S. Constitution broadened the franchise, extending the right to vote to new groups?

A) Thirteenth, Eighteenth, and Twenty-Second.
B) Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twentieth.
C) Nineteenth, Twenty-First, and Twenty-Third
D) Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-Sixth.

Question 31

Which of the following are not now required by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent amendments?

A) The abolition of literacy tests in voter registration.
B) A formula for determining which jurisdictions need preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice.
C) Some jurisdictions must use bilingual ballots and other election materials.
D) States must provide some form of absentee or early voting.

Question 32

The primary purpose of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (Motor Voter Law) was to

A) require states to make voter registration available at driver licensing, military recruitment, welfare, and disability offices.
B) prohibit states from setting payment of a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting.
C) forbid states from creating permanent systems of voter registration.
D) require states to allow voter registration over the Internet.

Question 33

Manipulating legislative district lines to favor a political party or group is referred to as

A) grandfathering.
B) gerrymandering.
C) cracking and packing.
D) carpetbagging.

Question 34

Compared to the rest of the country, voter turnout in Texas is

A) higher than the national average.
B) about the same as the national average.
C) lower than the national average.
D) not calculated.

Question 35

Why was the white primary so effective at preventing minorities from exercising their right to vote?

A) People who do not vote in the primary are not allowed to vote in the general election.
B) White Democrats nominated white candidates who virtually always won the general elections in the south.
C) It made primary elections too expensive for minorities to afford.
D) White primaries were really organizing meetings for the Ku Klux Klan.

Question 36

Which of the following was not a device used in Texas to prevent many lower-income persons and blacks from voting after the Civil War?

A) Grandfather clause
B) Terrorist tactics by the Ku Klux Klan and other lawless groups
C) Poll tax
D) White primary

Question 37

As a result of the Shelby v. Holder case, the state of Texas

A) may once again institute a poll tax or voter registration fee.
B) is no longer required to obtain preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice for its electoral district maps.
C) must create multi-member, at-large election districts for seats in the state legislature.
D) must now require that voters register more than once every five years.

Question 38

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court disallow racial gerrymandering?

A) Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
B) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
C) U.S. v. Jones (2012)
D) Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Question 39

In the case of Smith v. Allwright, the U.S. Supreme Courtoverturned the

A) Plessey v. Ferguson decision.
B) Arizona Immigration law (SB 1070).
C) white-only primary elections in Texas.
D) 1923 Texas law that allowed blacks to vote.

Question 40

The amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibited the states from denying the vote due to race was the

A) Thirteenth Amendment.
B) Fifteenth Amendment.
C) Nineteenth Amendment.
D) Twenty-Sixth Amendment.

Question 41

An election in which party members choose a candidate to run for office in a general election is a

A) special election.
B) primary election.
C) general election.
D) proposition election.

Question 42

The basic geographic area for conducting national, state, district, and county elections is the

A) congressional district.
B) voting precinct.
C) county commissioner precinct.
D) municipality.

Question 43

Normally, the first primary election in Texas is held on the

A) second Saturday in May of even-numbered years.
B) fourth Saturday in July of even-numbered years.
C) second Tuesday in April of even-numbered years.
D) first Tuesday in March of even-numbered years.

Question 44

The purpose of a general election is to

A) elect officeholders.
B) determine platform issues.
C) nominate candidates to run for office.
D) assign voter party affiliation.

Question 45

A major requirement of the 1975 extension of the Voting Rights Act is that ballots in all Texas counties must be

A) on a touch screen machine.
B) available in braille.
C) bilingual.
D) counted by a bipartisan commission.

Question 46

Which of the following would not be eligible to vote in Texas?

A) A convicted felon who has completed every aspect of his sentence
B) A person who had her 18th birthday 10 days before Election Day
C) A person who has been declared mentally incompetent by a court of law
D) An immigrant who has officially become a naturalized citizen

Question 47

Political parties in Texas are required to conduct direct primaries if they

A) expect to run candidates for more than three statewide offices.
B) will have a slate of candidates for presidential electors.
C) have run statewide candidates in three of the last five gubernatorial elections.
D) received 20 percent or more of the votes in the most recent gubernatorial election.

Question 48

Preparing the official ballot for general elections is done by the county

A) clerk or elections administrator.
B) sheriff or constable.
C) elections board.
D) commissioners court.

Question 49

According to a recent change in the law in Texas, voters must

A) show a valid photo ID in order to cast a ballot.
B) register and vote by mail.
C) pay an annual poll tax.
D) perform community service in order to vote.

Question 50

A primary system in which voters must declare their party affiliation when they register to vote is referred to as a(n)

A) blanket primary.
B) open primary.
C) closed primary
D) runoff primary.

Question 51

Which type of voting system is no longer used by any Texas counties?

A) Punchcard ballots
B) Paper ballots
C) Optical scan
D) Direct-record electronic (touch screen)

Question 52

The practice of many Texans of voting in the Democratic primary and then voting Republican at the general election is called

A) raiding.
B) crossover voting.
C) swing voting.
D) carpetbagging.

Question 53

In order to obtain a primary nomination in Texas, a candidate must receive what part of the popular vote?

A) A plurality
B) An absolute majority
C) Sixty percent
D) A two-thirds majority

Question 54

The main reason for the development of direct primaries was

A) protection of party decisions from the influence of uninformed voters.
B) decreasing the domination of party bosses and allowing more participation by party members.
C) ending the interference of progressives in party business.
D) saving money and making things more efficient.

Question 55

The cost of primary elections in Texas is paid for by

A) filing fees charged to candidates, subsidized by state funds.
B) state funds only.
C) candidate filing fees only.
D) an admission fee charged each voter.

Question 56

Voting precincts in the 254 Texas counties are drawn by

A) city councils.
B) election judges.
C) the secretary of state.
D) the county commissioners courts.

Question 57

Early or absentee voting in Texas for general elections begins how many days prior to the actual date of the election?

A) 7 days
B) 17 days
C) 30 days
D) 14 days

Question 58

In order to be qualified to vote in Texas, one must meet all of the following qualifications except be

A) 18 years of age on Election Day.
B) a citizen of the United States.
C) a registered voter for at least 30 days prior to the election.
D) a two-year resident of the state.

Question 59

The Texas Election Code requires that primary voters

A) keep their party affiliation secret until all votes have been counted.
B) never declare their party affiliation.
C) declare their party affiliation when registering to vote.
D) declare their party affiliation at the time of voting in the party's primary.

Question 60

A Texas citizen's status as a registered voter is suspended if she

A) changes her permanent address to another county and fails to notify the voting registrar within three years.
B) regularly visits a psychiatrist.
C) receives three or more parking tickets.
D) receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Question 61

Describe the efforts of the Democratic and Republican parties to win the votes of Latinos and African Americans in Texas.

Question 62

Discuss differences in voting behavior among groups in Texas. Which groups vote more than others and why? What might be done to make voting rates more equal among the various groups in Texas?

Question 63

In Texas, special elections are called

A) every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.
B) to elect a new governor or lieutenant governor.
C) to fill interim vacancies in legislative and congressional districts.
D) only when natural disasters prevent voting on the regular election day.

Question 64

If a candidate wins a plurality but not a majority of votes cast in a special election in Texas,

A) she still wins the special election.
B) a runoff contest between the two top contenders must be conducted.
C) she loses the election.
D) runoff contests must be conducted until one candidate wins at least a three-fourths majority.

Question 65

For a candidate to win a general election, she must receive a ________ of the total votes cast.

A) plurality
B) simple majority
C) two-thirds majority
D) three-fourths majority

Question 66

Describe the historical progress made by women seeking elected office in Texas. What challenges do female candidates still face in running for office? What might be done to increase the representation of women in state government? Why might it be important for women to be more equally represented?

Question 67

Describe the provisions in the Texas Election Code relating to the conducting, financing, and scheduling for primary, general, and special elections.

Question 68

Why is voter turnout so low in Texas? What steps have been taken to increase voter turnout, and what further steps do you think might be taken? Do you vote? Explain why or why not.

Question 69

The date of general elections in Texas is the

A) first Tuesday in December of even-numbered years.
B) first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of even-numbered years.
C) second Tuesday in March of even-numbered years.
D) date set by the state legislature after every regular session.

Question 70

Briefly explain how television and social media have transformed electoral politics.

Question 71

Why have recent redistricting efforts in Texas been so controversial?

Question 72

Why are Latinos such an important factor in Texas electoral politics? What progress have they made in electoral politics, and what obstacles still remain to exercising their political power? How do you think the growing Latino population will change elections in Texas in the future?

Question 73

The term midterm electionrefers to those

A) elections held by a political party to nominate candidates.
B) general elections held in non-presidential election years.
C) elections for purpose of filling office vacancies.
D) elections for purposes of recalling a government official.

Question 74

Trace the progress of women in winning electoral office in Texas.

Question 75

How are primary elections funded in Texas?

Question 76

Discuss the three types of elections, i.e., primary, general, and special. Explain the purpose of each and describe how each is administered and regulated. Describe when they occur.

Question 77

Describe the official qualifications to register and vote in the state of Texas. What changes would you suggest to the official qualifications and why? If you would not suggest any changes, explain why you think Texas has the best possible voter qualification requirements.

Question 78

Explain how considerations of race and ethnicity factor into elections in Texas. Are traditional minorities adequately represented in the voting population? What steps have been taken to address this issue? Do you think additional steps are necessary?

Question 79

Describe how potential voters in Texas learn about candidates and issues. What appear to be the primary factors in voter choices (deciding who to vote for)?Do you think voters get accurate and unbiased information? How might voters become better informed?

Question 80

Describe what candidates in Texas must do to run a successful campaign for office. Include in your discussion a consideration of the need to both raise funds and communicate with voters. Explain one reform that might improve the system, or explain why you think the system needs no reform.