Deck 6: Campaigns That Matter

Question 1

Which criticism of media-based campaigns has been substantiated by empirical research?

A) They manipulate voters.
B) They fail to deliver information on the issues.
C) They encourage voters to defect from their party.
D) They provide insufficient information about candidate viability.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The effects of campaigns include

A) making voters sensitive to their long-standing political loyalties.
B) making voters vote in line with their beliefs about the state of the economy.
C) making voters vote consistently with their evaluations of the incumbent administration.
D) All of these are correct.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The concept of momentum refers to

A) early primaries as key factors that determine a candidate's viability for securing the nomination.
B) the inexorable reality that a candidate must be more ideologically extreme in the primaries.
C) the boost candidates get from "going negative" in early ads.
D) None of these are correct.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is not typically considered in forecasting models?

A) the tone of the ad campaign
B) the popularity of the incumbent president
C) the state of the economy
D) whether the nation is at war

Question 5

The reinforcing effects of campaigns have increased over the years because of

A) increased party conflict over policy issues.
B) the sorting of Democrats and Republicans into their respective ideological camps.
C) a more intense sense of party identity.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 6

Which of these best describes the effects of candidate debates on the audience?

A) Voters react objectively to the candidates' verbal performance.
B) Voters react mainly to the candidates' nonverbal performance.
C) Voters react to the news media's interpretations of the candidates' performance.
D) Voters do not react at all.

Question 7

Experimental studies show that the effects of attack ads include

A) convincing voters to switch to the targeted candidate.
B) convincing voters to switch away from the targeted candidate.
C) weakening the motivation to vote.
D) strengthening the motivation to vote.

Question 8

Which of the following is key to forecasting presidential elections?

A) voter assessments of the past state of the economy
B) voter assessments of the future state of the economy
C) candidate performance in televised debates
D) the level of negative advertising

Question 9

Which of the following is supported by empirical evidence?

A) Televised debates typically persuade 5 to 10 percent of the viewing audience to switch candidates.
B) Candidates who commit a gaffe lose support in the polls right after the debate.
C) Candidates who commit a gaffe lose support, but only if the news media highlights their performance in the days after the debate.
D) Televised debates have no effects at all on the viewing audience.