Deck 9: Nominations, Elections, and Campaigns

Question 1

Study of top-two ​primaries in the 2012 election cycle showed that  ___________ than under more traditional primary election methods.

A)voting turnout was lower 
B)​candidates were less polarized
C)​there was a larger impact on the ideological nature of candidates' campaigns
D)​voting turnout was higher
E)​this type of election produced better, more competent elected officials

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Each state has one vote in the electoral college for

A)the number of senators and representatives on the federal election nomination committee.
B)each of its representatives in the U.S. House.
C)every 10,000 registered voters.
D)each of its citizens.
E)each of its representatives and senators.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

One effect of adoption of proportional rules in Republican primaries​ in 2012 was

A)​greater influence exerted by the party establishment.
B)to ​delay conclusion of the nominating process.
C)more challenges filed by losers, who felt they had not gotten the votes they deserved.
D)​quicker selection of the final nominee.
E)​reduced power of GOP party elites.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A __________ is a preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for office.​

A)Special election
B)General election
C)​Municipal election
D)Primary election
E)​Caucus election

Question 5

Until the 1950s,political campaigns were conducted primarily

A)through the mass media.
B)through political party organizations.
C)through quiet appeals to elite electors.
D)by individual candidates with very little staff or assistance.
E)by interest groups.

Question 6

According to the text,American presidential elections seem to last so long chiefly because​

A)​they are consistently held every four years.
B)​the media spend so much time covering them.
C)​political parties spend so many resources keeping presidential candidates in the public eye.
D)​this is simply the way the world holds elections these days, and we are like other countries who have the same problem.
E)​front-loading primaries makes the elections seem like they last a long time.

Question 7

​Among the lessons learned since primaries became the predominant method of choosing presidential candidates,one is ______________.

A)​Iowa and New Hampshire have been emphasized by the media far out of proportion to their actual importance to the process.
B)​incumbent presidents now face more opposition than under the older system.
C)​that candidates have become more reliant on support of their national parties.
D)​the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary do matter.
E)​primaries are subject to more charges of electoral irregularities than the convention system that preceded primaries.

Question 8

By national law,_________ of the seats in the House of Representatives and ____ of the seats in the Senate are filled in a general election held every even-numbered year.

A)all; one-third
B)one-third; one-third
C)all; all
D)one-third; all
E)one-half; two-thirds

Question 9

Which of the following statements is not true concerning the 2012 Republican presidential nomination?

A)While Mitt Romney received more delegates, Rick Santorum actually captured a greater number of popular votes.
B)Three different candidates won the first three contests.
C)After the first two contests, only four major candidates remained.
D)It was the longest presidential primary season in history.
E)The initial outcome in the Iowa caucus was overturned after a recount.

Question 10

A method of delegate selection that begins with local meetings and culminates in a state convention is also known as the

A)open primary.
B)frontloading method.
C)caucus method.
D)closed primary.
E)deliberation.

Question 11

​After the 2010 and 2012 elections,Republican party establishment leaders tried to limit the success of tea party candidates by

A)​choosing more candidates in party conventions rather than primaries.
B)​banning candidates they declared to be "extremist" from party activities.
C)​increasing the cost of entry into primaries.
D)strategically campaigns of Democrats.
E)choosing more candidates in primaries rather than party conventions.​

Question 12

A state moves its primary to an earlier date to encourage presidential candidates who would otherwise have skipped that state to campaign there.This is known as

A)a horse race.
B)a silent primary.
C)front-loading.
D)first-past-the-post.
E)early entry.

Question 13

A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot is a(n)________ primary.

A)blanket
B)open
C)closed
D)challenge
E)presidential preference

Question 14

In 2000,Republican George W.Bush won the presidency despite

A)his failure to win his party's nomination.
B)winning fewer electoral college votes than Democrat Al Gore.
C)not being on the ballot in five states.
D)receiving fewer popular votes than Al Gore.
E)losing more states than Al Gore.

Question 15

Successful candidates for party nominations for the presidency owe their nominations primarily to

A)their own personal campaign organizations.
B)the backing of the national party organization.
C)endorsements from newspapers and television stations.
D)interest group endorsements and support.
E)the Internet and e-campaign technologies.

Question 16

__________ weaken parties more because it allows voters to float between parties rather than require the voters to participate in the party in which they are registered.

A)Open primaries
B)Caucus primaries
C)Presidential primaries
D)Congressional primaries
E)Closed primaries

Question 17

The New Hampshire presidential primary gathers the lion's share of political and media attention because

A)the New Hampshire primary is the last one to occur each election year.
B)New Hampshire's population is a good cross-section of the entire nation.
C)New Hampshire has more restrictive campaign laws than other states.
D)New Hampshire is a large, populous state.
E)the New Hampshire primary is the first one to occur each election year.

Question 18

In modern elections,candidates _______________ to learn about voters' interests.​

A)​consult local party officials
B)​commission public opinion polls
C)​canvass door-to-door noting reactions they receive
D)rely on national party organizations
E)​depend on media coverage

Question 19

What fraction of the voting-age population will vote in a primary election?

A)One-tenth
B)One-quarter
C)One-half
D)Two-thirds
E)Three-fourths

Question 20

One result of ​____________ was the direct primary,in which candidate must campaign not only for election,but also for the nomination of their party.

A)​the Civil War
B)​the post World War II desire for greater personal power
C)​the Progressive movement in the 1920s
D)​adoption of the Constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation
E)​Andrew Jackson's popularization of political activity

Question 21

One notable feature of first-past-the-post elections is that

A)candidates usually cannot win them unless they capture more than a majority of the popular vote.
B)they require at least three candidates running for the same office.
C)they originated as a voting system in ancient Greece.
D)they produce sizable discrepancies between votes won and seats won.
E)they tend to favor candidates with lower name recognition.

Question 22

Which of the following arguments has not been raised as a defense of the electoral college?

A)It upholds federalism by giving smaller states more voting weight.
B)It encourages candidates to campaign on foot and in rural areas.
C)It reduces the risk of requiring a nationwide recount of votes.
D)Historically, polls show public opinion in favor of keeping it.
E)It tends to magnify popular vote victories and further increase the legitimacy of winners.

Question 23

We elect the president via 50 state elections combined into the electoral college; thus,presidential elections are best described as ________ elections.

A)​national
B)​majoritarian
C)​federal
D)​unfair
E)​elitist

Question 24

"Independent,expenditures-only political committees" are a legal term by the Federal Elections Committee (FEC)more commonly referred to as

A)political action committees (PACs).
B)501(c)4 social welfare organizations.
C)527 committees.
D)independent advocacy organizations (IAOs).
E)Super PACs.

Question 25

If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes,the election is decided by

A)the president.
B)the House of Representatives.
C)the Senate.
D)votes in the fifty state legislatures.
E)the U.S. Supreme Court.

Question 26

Until 2000,the last time a candidate won most of the popular votes but did not win the presidency was in _____.

A)1864
B)1988
C)1920
D)1968
E)1888

Question 27

Incumbents in the House of Representatives historically have won

A)more than 50 percent of the time.
B)more than 95 percent of the time.
C)less often than incumbents in the Senate.
D)at about the same rate as challengers.
E)less than 30 percent of the time.

Question 28

The number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency

A)is 135.
B)is 270.
C)is 535.
D)varies based on whether it is an even- or odd-numbered year.
E)goes up every election.

Question 29

The current limit for individual contributions to a candidate in an election,as of 2013-2014,is

A)$1,000.
B)$2,600.
C)$5,000.
D)$10,000.
E)not set by law.

Question 30

The current limit for PAC contributions to candidates in an election is

A)$1,000.
B)$2,600.
C)$5,000.
D)$10,000.
E)not set by law.

Question 31

Of 2,175 congressional elections in the 2000s,about _________ were decided by 2 percentage points or fewer.

A)2 percent
B)10 percent
C)25 percent
D)48 percent
E)71 percent

Question 32

A voter who voted for a Republican for senator and Barack Obama for president in 2012

A)voted a split ticket.
B)voted a straight ticket.
C)exhibited the first-past-the-post phenomenon.
D)voted in an open election.
E)caused Congress and the president to be unable to reach compromise.

Question 33

Which statement is true about most congressional elections today?

A)Incumbents lose reelection most of the time.
B)Incumbents don't get much attention from the media.
C)Incumbency has no effect on the outcome of elections.
D)The challenger does not need to raise a lot of money.
E)Most congressional elections are not very competitive.

Question 34

Which of the following presidents failed to win a majority of the popular vote?

A)Clinton (first term)
B)Clinton (second term)
C)George W. Bush (first term)
D)John F. Kennedy
E)All of these choices are true.

Question 35

Congressional campaign finance laws regulating elections were significantly strengthened after

A)scandals involving labor union contributions in 1952.
B)the resignation of John F. Kennedy's vice president for accepting bribes.
C)financial misdeeds during Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign.
D)Jimmy Carter's Secretary of State was convicted for bribery.
E)Ronald Reagan heavily outspent Carter in the 1980 election.

Question 36

One shift in the electoral concentration of votes has been from the ________ to the _________.

A)west; northwest
B)northeast; south
C)midwest; east
D)north; midwest
E)east coast; north central United States

Question 37

Which of the​ following is not included in the responsibilities of the Federal Election Commission (FEC)?

A)Guaranteeing rough equality in fundraising between Republicans and Democrats.
B)​Administering public financing of presidential campaigns.
C)​Requiring full disclosure of campaign spending.
D)​Enforcing limits on contributions to federal campaigns.
E)​All of these choices are part of the FECs responsibilities.

Question 38

Campaign finance laws are challenged as a violation of the _________ Amendment.

A)First
B)Fourth
C)Fifth
D)Fourteenth
E)Twenty-second

Question 39

In the 2000 presidential election,after more than a month of ballot counting,recounting,lawsuits,and court decisions,Bush was certified as the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes by __________ popular votes.

A)537
B)1055
C)1924
D)2113
E)3051

Question 40

In the 2004 presidential election,one of Minnesota's ten electors voted for vice presidential candidate John Edwards for president instead of presidential candidate John Kerry.This is known as a(n)

A)faithless elector.
B)illegal elector.
C)secret elector.
D)state's rights elector.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 41

Entering the 2012 general election,Obama and Romney both focused on nine states that voted for Bush in 2004 but for Obama in 2008.Closely contested states like these are known as

A)swing states.
B)battleground states.
C)consultant states.
D)leverage states.
E)swing states and battleground states.

Question 42

Since 1952,Democrats have generally been a majority of the electorate,but Republicans have won more presidential elections,because according to the text,_____________.

A)polls estimating the Democrat voter population are faulty
B)Republican party identification has changed over the years
C)​Democrats are more likely to "defect" on the basis of candidates' attributes and the issues
D)Democrats have failed to field candidates in some elections
E)voters are disenchanted with the Democrats' perennial fundraising advantage over Republicans

Question 43

Studies of the party identification and ideological orientation of voters show that

A)voters often align with parties that contradict their ideological leanings.
B)voters tend to identify with the party that most reflects their ideological orientation.
C)there appears to be no consistent relationship between party identification and ideology.
D)parties have no consistent ideological positions.
E)most voters do not have a solid party identification.

Question 44

The first objective of campaign advertising is to

A)raise the social consciousness of voters.
B)give voters a detailed biography of a candidate.
C)ensure that a candidate has a high level of name recognition among voters.
D)get across to voters some basic issue stands.
E)define the challenger.

Question 45

Campaigns use polls to

A)get feedback about the success or failure of various campaign tactics.
B)discover voters' perceptions of candidates.
C)devise adjusted strategies.
D)discover voters' opinions about certain issues.
E)All of these choices are true.

Question 46

According to the text,________ played a significant role in Mitt Romney's ability to virtually erase Obama's lead in polls before the November election.

A)​superior performance in placement of political advertising
B)​negative repercussions from publicity around Obama's excessive campaign spending
C)​structural advantages giving Romney more electoral college votes in "sure thing" states
D)far-​better-than-expected support in battleground states
E)​the presidential debates

Question 47

According to democratic theory,the most important factor in determining voter choice in an election should be

A)believability and reliability of the candidate.
B)party identification.
C)polling results.
D)amount of media coverage.
E)past performance and proposed policies.

Question 48

A voter who determines which candidate he or she will vote for very early in the campaign most likely has based that decision on

A)the media's perception of the front-runner.
B)the candidate's stand on a particular issue of importance.
C)party identification.
D)the candidate's foreign policy experience.
E)the candidate's projected image.

Question 49

Analysis of Super PAC ads during the 2012 Republican nomination shows that they

A)spent over 80 percent of their money on positive ads supporting their most aligned Republican candidates.
B)spent over 70 percent of their money on negative ads attacking other candidates.
C)split about 50-50 between ads supporting candidates and negative advertising.
D)were highly idiosyncratic and showed no consistent pattern of positive or negative spending.
E)began by spending heavily on positive ads in favor of candidates, but then moved to overwhelmingly negative attack ads by the middle of February.

Question 50

In 2008,direct remarks from the two major presidential candidates on network news programs averaged about

A)9 seconds.
B)one minute.
C)90 seconds.
D)three minutes.
E)four minutes 30 seconds.

Question 51

An ad that criticizes an opponent and advocates policies of the sponsoring candidate is an example of a(n)__________ ad.

A)negative
B)dilatory
C)flip-flop
D)contrast
E)attack

Question 52

In the 2008 presidential election

A)neither Barack Obama nor John McCain agreed to accept public funds for the general election.
B)Barack Obama accepted public funds, but John McCain did not.
C)John McCain accepted public funds, but Barack Obama did not.
D)both Barack Obama and John McCain accepted public funds for the general election, but not in the primary.
E)neither Barack Obama nor John McCain accepted public funds for the general election, but they did accept public funding during their primaries.

Question 53

A national survey in January 2012 found that people were most likely to say they "learned something" about the presidential campaign or candidates from

A)cable news.
B)local TV news.
C)network news.
D)the Internet.
E)newspapers.

Question 54

During the 2011-2012 election cycle, non-party groups (Super PACs,etc.)spent over _______ .

A)$50 million
B)$100 million
C)$600 million
D)$900 million
E)$1.2 billion

Question 55

In the text the authors assert that the majority of voters are ideologically more ________ than the voting records of members of Congress would indicate.

A)​moderate
B)​liberal
C)​conservative
D)libertarian
E)inflexible

Question 56

Research suggests that "negative ads" appear to

A)benefit incumbents more than challengers.
B)benefit challengers more than incumbents.
C)benefit no one.
D)increase voter turnout.
E)benefit incumbents more than challengers and increase voter turnout.

Question 57

Because ____________,the Supreme Court has struck down most of the Congressionally-mandated​ limits on campaign contributions.

A)contributions often favored one party over another
B)​it has not yet decided how political spending should be regulated
C)​it has ruled that Congress was acting in a self-serving manner
D)spending money on political campaigns is a form of speech
E)European democracies have fairer elections without including limits on campaign spending

Question 58

The SpeechNow.org v.FEC decision ​legalized _________.

A)​527 groups
B)​Super PACs
C)corporate spending advocating specific candidates
D)​501(c)4 social welfare organizations
E)​Congressional election committees

Question 59

In February 2012,Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul raised the second-most amount of money ($26 million)after Mitt Romney ($56 million)chiefly by using

A)television advertising.
B)the Internet.
C)the Democratic Party fundraising machine.
D)media infomercials.
E)a negative campaign strategy.

Question 60

Beginning with the 2010 election,corporations were free to run ads directly advocating a candidate's election for the first time since 1907,when Congress first banned using general corporate funds in federal election campaigns.This occurred based on which 2010 U.S.Supreme Court decision?

A)Federal Election Commission v. McCain
B)Feingold v. McConnell
C)Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
D)BCRA v. Fox News
E)None of the above is true.

Question 61

Describe the three basic campaign strategies,and generalize about when each would be appropriate.

Question 62

Explain what Super PACs are and how recent Supreme Court decisions legalized their formation.

Question 63

Discuss the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire to the presidential nominating process.

Question 64

Explain the difference between a party-centered campaign and a candidate-centered campaign,and why the United States has moved from the former to the latter.

Question 65

Discuss what we know about how voters make choices about which candidates they support.​

Question 66

Present three arguments for selecting a president by electoral votes rather than by popular vote.

Question 67

Is the way parties operate more representative of the majoritarian or the pluralist model of democracy? Why?

Question 68

Summarize the story of the Florida recount in the 2000 election.

Question 69

Identify the different types of primary elections and describe their impact on elections and political parties.​

Question 70

Explain how electoral votes are apportioned and which parts of the nation have seen their state's electoral votes either increase or decrease.

Question 71

​American political parties operate more in keeping with the ____________ model of democracy.

A)​majoritarian
B)​party-centered
C)​ideological
D)​pluralist
E)​idealistic