Deck 10: Campaigns and Elections

Question 1

Before the 1890s, who was responsible for printing election ballots?

A)the federal government
B)state governments
C)political parties
D)voters

Answer 1

C

Question 2

________ currently use(s) the so-called top-two primary system.

A)Every state in the country
B)Twenty-two states
C)Two states (California and Washington)
D)One state (Washington)

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A candidate who received 20 percent of the overall vote could

A)not win the election under any set of democratic electoral rules.
B)win the election only if the election were held in a majority system.
C)win the election only if the election were held in a plurality system.
D)win the election in either a majority or plurality system.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

For the presidential primaries, most but not all state parties use what type of election?

A)winner-take-all
B)proportional representation
C)majority rules
D)plurality

Question 5

National elections are held in the United States on the first Tuesday of November ________ year(s).

A)every
B)every other
C)every three
D)every four

Question 6

A runoff election is MOST likely to occur in which kind of electoral system?

A)a proportional representation system
B)a majority system
C)a plurality system
D)a ranked choice voting system

Question 7

The ________ is the MOST common electoral system used in general elections in the United States.

A)majority system
B)plurality system
C)proportional representation system
D)referendum

Question 8

A(n) ________ occurs when a voter can wait until the day of the primary to choose which party to enroll in to select candidates for the general election.

A)open primary
B)closed primary
C)majority system
D)referendum

Question 9

During midterm elections, voters are selecting

A)federal judges.
B)members of Congress.
C)the president.
D)national-level referendums.

Question 10

When an American voter supports only one party's candidates, he or she is said to be voting a ________ ticket.

A)dual
B)single
C)straight
D)split

Question 11

Most European nations utilize a

A)majority system.
B)system of proportional representation.
C)blanket primary.
D)closed primary.

Question 12

Primary elections were introduced by

A)the Federalists in the late eighteenth century.
B)the Democrats in the 1830s.
C)the Republicans in the 1870s.
D)reformers at the start of the 1900s, who hoped to weaken the power of party leaders.

Question 13

In the so-called top-two primary system

A)political parties are allowed to place two candidates for the general election on the ballot if both receive at least 25 percent of the overall primary vote.
B)candidates from all parties run against one another and the top two face each other in the general election.
C)candidates must win two separate primary elections before being officially nominated for the general election.
D)voters are allowed to vote for their two favorite candidates, regardless of the candidates' party affiliation.

Question 14

A(n) ________ occurs when a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party's election.

A)open primary
B)closed primary
C)majority system
D)referendum

Question 15

The primary responsibility for conducting public elections rests with

A)the federal government.
B)state and local governments.
C)political parties.
D)the candidates running for office.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about primary elections is MOST accurate?

A)The United States is one of the few nations in the world to hold primary elections.
B)About half of the countries in the world hold primary elections.
C)Approximately three-quarters of the countries in the world hold primary elections.
D)Every country in the world holds primary elections.

Question 17

A majority system, which is used on a limited basis in the United States, requires that a candidate must win ________ to win an election.

A)at least 33 percent of all votes cast
B)at least 40 percent of all votes cast
C)50 percent plus one of all votes cast
D)at least 60 percent of all votes cast, plus a percentage of absentee ballots

Question 18

In order for a political party to select a candidate to run in the general election, it holds a(n)

A)primary election.
B)referendum.
C)midterm election.
D)exploratory committee.

Question 19

An election where the winner is the person who receives the most votes, regardless of the percentage of votes received, is called a ________ system.

A)majority
B)plurality
C)proportionality
D)primary

Question 20

A "second-round" election in which voters choose between the top two candidates from the first round is called a

A)top-two primary.
B)plurality election.
C)referendum.
D)runoff election.

Question 21

During the earliest years of the United States, who nominated the candidates for president?

A)The incumbent president chose both candidates.
B)Members of the major political parties chose their own nominees.
C)Each party's congressional caucus controlled nominations.
D)State legislatures selected one candidate from each party.

Question 22

"Packing" occurs when

A)legislative districts are redrawn in a way that concentrates members of a particular party in as few districts as possible, thereby limiting the overall number of seats that party might win.
B)legislative districts are redrawn in a way that disperses members of a particular party across multiple districts, thereby reducing that party's chances of winning any seats.
C)a legislative candidate wins election with more than 50 percent of the vote in a three-candidate race.
D)a legislative district votes to elect a member of one party to serve in the House of Representatives but also elects a member of a different party to serve in the state legislature.

Question 23

The principle of "one person, one vote" was established by the Supreme Court in the

A)1820s.
B)1870s.
C)1930s.
D)1960s.

Question 24

When states vie for influence by holding their nominating processes earlier, it is called

A)gerrymandering.
B)the winner-take-all system.
C)open caucusing.
D)front loading.

Question 25

In ________, the Supreme Court determined that purposefully drawing districts where the majority of voters were members of a single minority group, in order to ensure minority
Representation, was unlawful.

A)Reynolds v.Sims (1964)
B)Bush v.Gore (2000)
C)Shaw v.Reno (1993)
D)United States v.Nixon (1974)

Question 26

Though traditional party conventions were ________, contemporary party conventions are ________.

A)deliberative assemblies to determine nominations; simple ratifications of nominations that have already been determined
B)simple ratifications of nominations that had already been determined; deliberative assemblies to determine nominations
C)financed solely by the federal government; financed by interest groups, private donors, and corporations
D)financed by interest groups, private donors, and corporations; financed solely by the federal government

Question 27

"Cracking" occurs when

A)legislative districts are redrawn in a way that concentrates members of a particular party in as few districts as possible, thereby limiting the overall number of seats that party might win.
B)legislative districts are redrawn in a way that disperses members of a particular party across multiple districts, thereby reducing that party's chances of winning any seats.
C)a legislative candidate wins election with less than 50 percent of the vote in a three-candidate race.
D)a legislative district votes to elect a member of one party to serve in the House of Representatives but also elects a member of a different party to serve in the state legislature.

Question 28

________ involves purposefully drawing district boundaries to unfairly advantage one group or party.

A)Proportional representation
B)Gerrymandering
C)Balloting
D)Recall

Question 29

State legislative districts

A)are drawn to include a minimum of 100,000 people in all states.
B)are constitutionally required to include no more than 500,000 people.
C)are constitutionally required to include no more than 1 million people.
D)vary from a few thousand people in some states to nearly a million in California.

Question 30

The boundaries of legislative districts in the United States are to be redrawn every ________ years.

A)4
B)6
C)10
D)15

Question 31

The original gerrymander is attributed to

A)Thomas Jefferson.
B)James Madison.
C)Alexander Hamilton.
D)Elbridge Gerry.

Question 32

If a citizen votes for a Republican for president and a Democrat for senator, he or she has engaged in

A)an open primary.
B)split-ticket voting.
C)the coattail effect.
D)a closed primary.

Question 33

What did the Supreme Court mean by "one person, one vote"?

A)Voters may only vote once in an election.
B)Within a state, electoral districts must have roughly equal populations.
C)No one could be denied suffrage on the basis of race or gender.
D)Voting was an individual right, not a group right.

Question 34

Retail politics refers to

A)the practice of legislators trading their votes on legislation for campaign contributions.
B)the fact that politicians often adopt marketing strategies that attempt to "sell" their candidacies to potential voters.
C)political campaigns that operate at the local level and use face-to-face communication to generate interest and momentum among voters.
D)the campaigning and lobbying in which private corporations engage around business regulation and trade policy.

Question 35

In Baker v.Carr (1962), the Supreme Court ruled that

A)federal courts can constitutionally intervene on the issue of drawing legislative districts.
B)federal courts cannot constitutionally intervene on the issue of drawing legislative districts.
C)districting based exclusively on racial criteria is lawful.
D)districting based exclusively on racial criteria is unlawful.

Question 36

The ________ is the last example of indirect voting in national elections.

A)referendum
B)electoral college
C)open primary
D)closed primary

Question 37

The average U.S.House district currently has roughly ________ people.

A)200,000
B)700,000
C)1 million
D)2 million

Question 38

"King Caucus" refers to

A)the significance of Iowa as the first caucus of the presidential campaign.
B)the use of each party's congressional caucus to nominate presidential candidates during the early nineteenth century.
C)Daniel Webster, who had unrivaled influence over the presidential nominating process during the 1820s and 1830s.
D)the fact that caucuses are inherently undemocratic methods of selecting nominees for national political office.

Question 39

The first caucus in the presidential primary campaign is held in ________, while the first primary election in the presidential primary campaign is held in ________.

A)Connecticut; Iowa
B)Iowa; Connecticut
C)Iowa; New Hampshire
D)New Hampshire; Iowa

Question 40

The Help Americans Vote Act of 2003

A)authorized $1 billion for civic education in order to increase voter turnout in national elections.
B)financed the creation of 2,000 additional polling places across the country for midterm and presidential elections.
C)required state governments to introduce computerized voting systems.
D)eliminated state-level voter registration requirements.

Question 41

Generally speaking, a recall effort begins with a

A)petition campaign.
B)lawsuit.
C)law passed by the state legislature.
D)decree by the governor.

Question 42

The winner of the electoral college vote has NOT won the popular vote ________ time(s) in American history.

A)1
B)4
C)10
D)34

Question 43

A referendum is the

A)congressional election held between presidential elections.
B)power to remove an elected official from office during the middle of his or her term.
C)practice of referring a proposed law passed by a legislature to the vote of the electorate for approval or rejection.
D)process by which a party selects its candidates for the general election.

Question 44

Which of the following is a difference between Democratic and Republican primaries?

A)The Democratic Party requires that state presidential primaries allocate delegates on the basis of a winner-take-all system, while the Republican Party does not.
B)The Democratic Party requires that state presidential primaries allocate delegates on the basis of proportional representation, while the Republican Party does not.
C)The Republican Party requires that state presidential primaries allocate delegates on the basis of proportional representation, while the Democratic Party does not.
D)The Republican Party requires a two-thirds majority vote in a state to secure delegates, while the Democratic Party does not.

Question 45

Which of the following politicians was successfully recalled from office?

A)President Warren Harding (1921)
B)Wisconsin governor Scott Walker (2012)
C)California governor Gray Davis (2003)
D)President Richard Nixon (1972)

Question 46

Party elites who are not bound to the voting results in their state primaries and can vote as they wish are called

A)whips.
B)ombudsmen.
C)superdelegates.
D)policy entrepreneurs.

Question 47

Which of the following political officers is/are subject to recall elections?

A)the president
B)members of the House of Representatives
C)federal judges
D)governors and other state officials

Question 48

Superdelegates

A)are currently used in the Republican Party presidential primary only.
B)are currently used in the Democratic Party presidential primary only.
C)are currently used in both the Republican and Democratic Party primaries.
D)have been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Question 49

Currently, ________ states have agreed to the compact specified by the National Popular Vote plan.

A)2
B)10
C)19
D)24

Question 50

When Hillary Clinton won the plurality of votes in California during the 2016 election, and California had 53 representatives in the House of Representatives, how many electoral votes
From California did she win?

A)53
B)55
C)62
D)77

Question 51

Plurality and majority systems tend to

A)increase the number of political parties.
B)decrease the number of political parties.
C)evolve into single-party systems.
D)devolve into anarchy.

Question 52

In addition to nominating a presidential candidate, national party conventions are important because they

A)write the bills that will be introduced in state legislatures around the country.
B)assign current members of the U.S.House of Representatives and U.S.Senate to congressional committee positions.
C)nominate candidates for other important elections, including the U.S.House of Representatives and U.S.Senate.
D)make rules concerning delegate selection for future primaries and draft the party's platform.

Question 53

Early presidential primaries and caucuses are more important because they

A)allocate more than 85 percent of all delegates in the nomination process.
B)encourage more candidates to run for the nomination in later primaries and caucuses.
C)can help a candidate secure media attention and financial support.
D)are held in the largest, most populated states.

Question 54

Which of the following is the best example of direct democracy in the United States?

A)gerrymandering
B)retrospective voting
C)prospective voting
D)referendum

Question 55

Smaller and weaker parties are MOST likely to have electoral success under the ________ system of elections.

A)proportional representation
B)majority
C)plurality
D)unitary

Question 56

Under the National Popular Vote plan

A)the electoral college would be abolished and the candidate with the most votes in the country overall would become president.
B)a state's electoral college votes would go to the candidate who won the national popular vote, not the candidate with a plurality of votes in that specific state.
C)the individual state-level caucus and primary elections during the nomination stage would be replaced with a national primary to be held on the first Tuesday of March during a presidential election year.
D)members of the Senate would be elected by the country on the whole instead of by individual states.

Question 57

The advent of the Australian ballot in the early twentieth century was significant because it

A)removed all party labels from the voting process.
B)allowed voters to rank order each of the candidates running for a given office.
C)provided voters with the ability to write in candidates who did not have their names printed on the ballot.
D)enabled voters to make their choices on the basis of the individual candidate rather than the collective merits of a party's candidates.

Question 58

Currently, there are ________ states that have the legislative referendum and ________ states that provide for the initiative process.

A)24; 50
B)50; 24
C)24; 24
D)50; 50

Question 59

A proposed law or policy change that is placed on the ballot by citizens or interest groups for a popular vote is called a

A)ballot initiative.
B)grassroots amendment.
C)people's compact.
D)popular directive.

Question 60

In order to win the presidency, a candidate must win

A)at least 270 electoral votes.
B)a majority of the popular vote.
C)at least 26 state-level presidential elections.
D)at least 300 electoral votes.

Question 61

In ________, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could not restrict independent expenditures by corporations or unions in support of candidates.

A)Buckley v.Valeo (1976)
B)Bush v.Gore (2000)
C)Citizens United v.Federal Election Commission (2010)
D)FCC v.Pacifica Foundation (1978)

Question 62

Local election campaigns tend to be ________, while statewide elections tend to be ________.

A)caucuses; primaries
B)organizationally driven and labor intensive; media driven and capital intensive
C)front loaded; back loaded
D)back loaded; front loaded

Question 63

The majority of political action committees represent

A)working-class and poor people.
B)business and professional groups.
C)Republicans and Democrats.
D)environmental groups and religious organizations.

Question 64

Who is an incumbent?

A)the current officeholder running for re-election
B)the candidate who raises the most money during the campaign
C)whoever is leading in the polls on the day of the election
D)a candidate who is running against a current officeholder in an election

Question 65

The idea behind micro-targeting is to

A)send different campaign messages to different demographic groups of voters.
B)send hundreds of very short messages to the largest possible number of voters.
C)spend as little money as possible on advertising and, instead, to maximize "free media" coverage.
D)raise money through thousands of small donations rather than a small number of large donations.

Question 66

Which of the following statements about campaign finance is MOST accurate?

A)Similar to the United States, most democratic countries allow candidates to raise unlimited sums of money to spend on their campaigns with no restrictions on when the money can be spent.
B)Unlike the United States, most democratic countries provide public financing for their elections.
C)There is no democratic country in the world that currently provides public financing for its elections.
D)The United States prohibits candidates from raising unlimited sums of money to spend on their campaigns.

Question 67

By using donor lists or magazine subscription lists, candidates are able to engage in

A)direct-mail solicitations.
B)town meetings.
C)redlining.
D)benign gerrymandering.

Question 68

Approximately ________ is needed for a candidate to have a reasonable chance of winning a seat in the House of Representatives.

A)$100,000
B)$250,000
C)$1 million
D)$5 million

Question 69

Research shows that

A)negative ads tend to focus on important policy differences, while positive ads tend to focus on candidates' personal characteristics.
B)negative ads tend to focus on candidates' personal characteristics, while positive ads tend to focus on important policy differences.
C)both positive and negative ads focus almost entirely on important policy differences.
D)both positive and negative ads focus almost entirely on candidates' personal characteristics.

Question 70

Which of the following statements about campaign spending in Senate elections is true?

A)Incumbents generally spend less money than challengers in Senate campaigns.
B)Incumbents and challengers generally spend the same amount of money in Senate campaigns.
C)Incumbents generally spend more money than challengers in Senate campaigns.
D)Incumbents and challengers in Senate campaigns are legally limited to spending only $2 million.

Question 71

A major factor in John F.Kennedy's 1960 presidential victory over Richard Nixon was

A)the fact that, unlike Nixon, Kennedy had hired a professional political consultant.
B)that Kennedy had a much stronger performance than Nixon during televised debates.
C)Nixon's failure to develop infomercials.
D)Kennedy's aggressive use of push polls, especially in the Northeast.

Question 72

When a politician forms a political action committee to donate campaign funds to his or her political allies, it is referred to as a

A)527 committee.
B)"light money" organization.
C)"dark money" organization.
D)leadership PAC.

Question 73

During the 1880s, as many as ________ people worked on political campaigns.

A)50,000
B)100,000
C)1 million
D)2.5 million

Question 74

If a registered Democratic voter was opposed to abortion and rejected the Democratic Party's pro-choice platform, abortion would be a ________ issue for the voter.

A)pocketbook
B)retrospective
C)prospective
D)wedge

Question 75

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, election campaigns tended to be

A)capital intensive.
B)labor intensive.
C)media driven.
D)guided by campaign consultants.

Question 76

When does public-opinion polling take place during a campaign?

A)at the very beginning
B)only toward the end of the campaign
C)throughout the entire campaign
D)never

Question 77

________ are sums of money spent to influence an election, but the donating organization is not allowed to coordinate with a candidate's official campaign.

A)Seed money donations
B)Hard money donations
C)Soft money donations
D)Independent expenditures

Question 78

Private groups that raise and distribute funds for election campaigns are called

A)corporations.
B)political parties.
C)political action committees.
D)political consulting firms.

Question 79

When candidates for office sponsor hearings, undertake inspection tours of disaster areas, or meet with foreign dignitaries, the form of publicity they receive is called

A)a press junket.
B)free media.
C)the C-SPAN effect.
D)a spot advertisement.

Question 80

A ________ is an effort by political candidates and their staffs to win backing and support by voters in the quest for political office.

A)gerrymander
B)campaign
C)caucus
D)national convention