Deck 9: Elections

Question 1

The winner of the general election for president is not necessarily the person who receives the most popular votes.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Retrospective evaluations make incumbents less responsive to constituent demands.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Turnout for presidential elections is typically higher than turnout for congressional elections in midterm election years.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Soft money contributions are donations that are used to help elect or defeat a particular candidate.

Question 5

The process of campaigning for legislative office begins immediately after the most recent election ends.

Question 6

The Republican Party reserves a number of convention delegate spots for party elites, called "superdelegates."

Question 7

Campaigns have not started using social media yet as a way of mobilizing voters.

Question 8

The procedures for counting disputed ballots are set forth by law, making it possible to determine the winner of a specific race, as long as there is a hand count.

Question 9

The use of proportional allocation for convention delegates can cause the primary season to be more competitive and last longer.

Question 10

In most U.S. House and Senate contests, the winner is the candidate who wins a majority of votes.

Question 11

The main reason for the expense of American political campaigns is the increased use of television advertising.

Question 12

The voting technology used for counting ballots does not influence election outcomes.

Question 13

Candidates usually appeal to voters by trying to educate the public and making complex promises about public policies.

Question 14

Voting cues include the candidate's incumbency status, partisanship, performance, and personal characteristics.

Question 15

Senator Bedfellow has decided to run for president of the country. In this case, Senator Bedfellow would be the "incumbent" in the presidential election.

Question 16

A push poll is designed to sound like a voter survey but is actually used to spread false or misleading information about an opponent.

Question 17

The "incumbent" is the person who currently holds the office and is running for reelection.

Question 18

The electoral college accords each state a number of electoral votes, which are equal to the state's representation in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Question 19

Early voting has had a clear and significant effect on the outcome of elections in recent years.

Question 20

Different methods of voting show different numbers of undervotes, or the number of ballots on which votes are not marked.

Question 21

The 2014 election was a ________ election; the 2012 election was a ________ election.

A) midterm; presidential
B) general; presidential
C) primary; general
D) general; primary
E) presidential; midterm

Question 22

Which state holds their elections entirely by mail?

A) Oregon
B) Alaska
C) Maine
D) Massachusetts
E) Arizona

Question 23

Voters hold incumbents accountable through which kind of evaluation?

A) personal
B) prospective
C) retrospective
D) campaign
E) registration

Question 24

An election in which any registered voter can participate in selecting a party nominee is called a(n):

A) open primary.
B) blanket primary.
C) general election.
D) closed primary.
E) runoff election.

Question 25

Which of the following restrictions on voter eligibility is true for all Americans regardless of what state they live in?

A) must be 18 years or older
B) must be mentally competent
C) must swear an oath to the Constitution
D) cannot be a convicted felon
E) cannot be in jail on Election Day

Question 26

When Bob goes to vote, he often thinks about questions like "Has my current member of Congress done a good job?" and "Does my current member of Congress handle issues I care about properly?" This is an example of what kind of evaluation?

A) personal
B) prospective
C) retrospective
D) campaign
E) registration

Question 27

Which of the following does NOT help a candidate survive early primary contests?

A) campaign contributions
B) campaign volunteers
C) political endorsements
D) superdelegates
E) media coverage

Question 28

What does it mean to be a "representative" democracy?

A) People vote directly on important bills.
B) There are multiple parties who compete for votes.
C) Some of the time people who get the most votes do not win.
D) Each vote represents the will of one, and only one, person.
E) Citizens have an indirect say on policy by voting in elections.

Question 29

If your senator decides to run for reelection, then he or she would be considered the ________ in that election.

A) challenger
B) party leader
C) incumbent
D) pollster
E) primary candidate

Question 30

While the ________ use(s) proportional allocation rules in all primaries and caucuses, the ________ uses a combination of proportional allocation and winner-take-all to determine convention delegates.

A) Democratic Party; Republican Party
B) Republican Party; Democratic Party
C) states; electoral college
D) electoral college; state
E) Green Party; electoral college

Question 31

Which of the following is a recent trend in American general elections?

A) frontloading
B) early voting
C) nationalized balloting
D) regional elections
E) blanket primaries

Question 32

What kind of election is it when legislative reelection rates are high and the issues are relatively local?

A) a popular election
B) an incumbent election
C) a normal election
D) a nationalized election
E) a primary election

Question 33

A voting system in which the candidate with the most votes wins is called:

A) proportional voting.
B) majority voting.
C) plurality voting.
D) democratic.
E) republican.

Question 34

A normal election takes place when ________, while a nationalized election takes place when ________.

A) there is a legislative election; there is a presidential election
B) there are high reelection rates; reelection rates are relatively low and there is an important national issue or issues
C) there is a presidential election; there is a legislative election
D) reelection rates are relatively low and there is an important national issue; there are high reelection rates
E) there is a legislative election; reelection rates are relatively low and there is an important national issue.

Question 35

How are presidential primaries different from presidential caucuses?

A) Only northern states use primaries.
B) Caucuses involve voting on a specific day, whereas primaries take place over the course of a week.
C) Caucuses are secret while primaries are open to the public.
D) Primaries involve voting by ballot, whereas caucuses take place in a local meeting.
E) In caucuses anyone can participate, whereas in primaries only registered party supporters may do so.

Question 36

Which of the following most directly contributes to an incumbent president facing competition for the party's nomination during a reelection bid?

A) open primaries
B) low approval ratings
C) closed primaries
D) frontloading
E) the president's schedule not allowing time to campaign

Question 37

In the fictional country of Atlantis they use a system of elections where if no one gets more than 50 percent of the votes they eliminate everyone but the top two contenders and then vote again. This is an example of what kind of election system?

A) plurality with run-off
B) majority without run-off
C) plurality without run-off
D) majority with run-off
E) proportional representation

Question 38

Why do election rules and their implementation matter?

A) There is no legal way to challenge the outcome of an election.
B) In close races, small changes to rules can change electoral outcomes.
C) An election must be held a second time if the rules are not followed.
D) There are different rules that must be used if voter turnout is higher than expected.
E) The Supreme Court refuses to hear cases about election rules.

Question 39

Which of the following illustrates the importance of ballot design?

A) passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
B) the "butterfly" ballot in Florida in 2000
C) Al Franken's defeat of Norm Coleman for the Minnesota Senate seat in 2008
D) Ned Lamont's defeat of Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut
E) open primaries

Question 40

If an election is close enough, usually within 1 percent, a state may allow a(n):

A) incumbent.
B) revote.
C) recount.
D) primary.
E) run-off.

Question 41

Why are swing states so important to a campaign strategy?

A) They obviously favor one party's candidate over another, which saves the favored candidate money to campaign elsewhere.
B) They provide better opportunities for fund-raising.
C) They can be ignored.
D) They can potentially be won by either major party candidate.
E) They are always small states, so they do not provide that many electoral college votes.

Question 42

________ involves candidates reaching out to voters directly; ________ involves candidates contacting voters indirectly through mass media.

A) The permanent campaign; advertising
B) Wholesale politics; retail politics
C) Name recognition; advertising
D) Retail politics; wholesale politics
E) Advertising; the permanent campaign

Question 43

What is frontloading?

A) the trend toward holding more primaries and caucuses on the same day
B) the increasingly early scheduling of primaries and caucuses
C) the insistence on holding New Hampshire's and Iowa's contests early in the nomination calendar
D) having candidates spend more money early in the general election in order to build an insurmountable lead
E) the trend to hold more regional primaries

Question 44

The rise in the use of television advertising in campaigns is an important component of what kind of politics?

A) split ticket
B) wholesale
C) mobilization
D) challenger
E) retail

Question 45

An important activity of any campaign is ________, which most directly involves ________.

A) mobilizing supporters; the ground game
B) converting opponents into supporters; the ground game
C) mobilizing supporters; name recognition
D) converting opponents into supporters; campaign platforms
E) name recognition; campaign platforms

Question 46

Which state traditionally holds the first caucus in the nation?

A) New Hampshire
B) Iowa
C) Ohio
D) Nevada
E) South Carolina

Question 47

What happens if no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes?

A) Nothing; the candidate with the most votes wins.
B) The votes are recalculated after dropping out candidates with less than 1 percent of the vote; this repeats until someone has a majority.
C) The House of Representatives decides who wins, with each state getting one vote, and voting continues until someone gets a majority of the votes.
D) The current sitting vice president, in his role as the president of the Senate, chooses the next president.
E) Both the House and the Senate decide who wins with a simple majority vote.

Question 48

What is the most likely way that a presidential candidate would win the presidency without winning a majority of the popular vote?

A) A third party candidate wins enough votes to deny any one candidate a majority.
B) There is an exact 50-50 tie between the top two candidates.
C) Many of the electors choose not to vote in protest of the electoral college.
D) Turnout is especially low for a presidential election.
E) Party conventions are unable to come up with a nominee in time for the election.

Question 49

What is it called when a district has no sitting legislator running for reelection?

A) an open seat
B) a closed seat
C) a party seat
D) a safe seat
E) a contested seat

Question 50

Michelle is running for Congress. She spends a lot of her time attending town halls and meeting with individual voters to talk about their concerns. These are examples of:

A) inside strategies.
B) wholesale politics.
C) retail politics.
D) get out the vote.
E) turnout strategies.

Question 51

The actions officeholders take throughout the election cycle to build support for their reelection is called:

A) the long race.
B) the talent primary.
C) the permanent campaign.
D) the money primary.
E) frontloading.

Question 52

Which of the following is NOT a responsibility of the national conventions?

A) attracting attention for the party's electoral goals
B) developing a party platform
C) selecting the party's presidential nominee
D) selecting the party's congressional nominees
E) selecting the party's vice-presidential nominee

Question 53

What is it called when candidates spend a great deal of time meeting voters face-to-face?

A) name recognition
B) wholesale politics
C) retail politics
D) mobilization
E) turnout

Question 54

Which of the following is the appropriate order of events in presidential elections?

A) Super Tuesday, national conventions, electoral college vote, general election
B) Iowa caucus, New Hampshire primary, general election, Super Tuesday
C) electoral college vote, general election, national conventions
D) Iowa caucus, Super Tuesday, national conventions, electoral college vote
E) New Hampshire primary, electoral college vote, national conventions, general election

Question 55

Which state traditionally holds the first primary in the nation?

A) New Hampshire
B) Iowa
C) South Carolina
D) Nevada
E) California

Question 56

Three months after getting elected to Congress, Congressman Bergkamp is already out publicizing his works on behalf of the district. What is this an example of?

A) the long race
B) the permanent campaign
C) the talent primary
D) the money primary
E) frontloading

Question 57

What is mobilization?

A) getting supporters to turn out and vote on Election Day
B) having donors turn up for campaign fund-raising events
C) convincing the media to show up to your rallies
D) convincing delegates to vote for you at the National Convention
E) getting enough electors to sign your petition to be on the electoral college ballot

Question 58

Which vote is cast by citizens during a general presidential election?

A) the popular vote
B) the electoral vote
C) the undervote
D) the retrospective evaluation
E) the prospective evaluation

Question 59

Which of the following is NOT a reason why incumbent politicians work so hard to raise campaign funds?

A) The money increases their personal worth because they are allowed to keep whatever they don't spend.
B) The money helps ward off strong competition because potential challengers are less likely to run against an incumbent who has raised a lot of money.
C) The money ensures they have enough money to fight the competition should it prove to be especially tough.
D) Their ability to raise money is a key advantage over most challengers.
E) The money allows the incumbent to run an aggressive campaign.

Question 60

Which states do NOT allocate all of their electoral college votes to the winner of the state's popular vote?

A) Montana and Maine
B) Oregon and Montana
C) Nebraska and Oregon
D) Maine and Rhode Island
E) Nebraska and Maine

Question 61

Rory and Amelia are running against each other for a seat in the Senate. Rory's campaign calls voters under the guise of doing a poll and asks "would you be more or less likely to vote for Amelia for Senate if you knew that she took campaign funds from terrorists?" This is an example of a(n):

A) ground game.
B) push poll.
C) attack ad.
D) runoff.
E) voting cue.

Question 62

How might a candidate's issue positions in the primaries differ from the general election?

A) Candidates tend to have more ideologically extreme positions during primaries.
B) Candidates try to keep their views unchanged throughout the election season.
C) Candidates do not express issue positions during primaries, since they are only competing against others of their own party.
D) Candidates tend to have more ideologically extreme positions during general elections.
E) Candidates do not express issue positions during general elections, since most people do not pay attention to such things.

Question 63

A 527 organization can accept unlimited amounts of ________ but cannot use that money on behalf of a specific ________.

A) soft money; candidate
B) soft money; issue
C) hard money; candidate
D) hard money; issue
E) hard money; party platform

Question 64

Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy Girl" was an example of a(n):

A) opposition research piece.
B) get out the vote effort.
C) attack ad.
D) open primary.
E) platform.

Question 65

The amount of money raised during the 2012 election totaled more than:

A) $50 million.
B) $500 million.
C) $1 billion.
D) $2 billion.
E) $6 billion.

Question 66

A candidate's platform is important for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A) to mobilize supporters.
B) to gain interest group endorsements.
C) to attract campaign volunteers.
D) to raise campaign funds.
E) to gain ballot access.

Question 67

What is the ground game?

A) the campaign platform
B) the candidate's speechmaking ability
C) the campaign's fund-raising ability
D) the campaign's emphasis on retail politics
E) the campaign's effort to get out the vote on Election Day

Question 68

In 2012, Mitt Romney said that if elected he would work to ensure no tax increases. President Barack Obama said that if he were reelected he would support marriage equality for same-sex couples. These are examples of the candidates':

A) attack ads.
B) ground game.
C) opposition research.
D) platforms.
E) debating strategies.

Question 69

In an effort to raise doubts about their opponents, almost all candidates use ________ as a key part of their campaign strategy.

A) hard money
B) opposition research
C) push polls
D) soft money
E) voting cues

Question 70

Which of the following groups is most likely to run positive campaign advertisements?

A) candidates
B) political parties
C) interest groups
D) political action committees
E) 527 groups

Question 71

Jaime votes for a Democrat for president but a Republican for Senate. This is an example of a(n):

A) coattail.
B) voting cue.
C) split ticket.
D) butterfly ballot.
E) straight ticket.

Question 72

Who is responsible for regulating the financing of campaigns?

A) political action committees
B) Federal Election Commission
C) Electoral Assistance Commission
D) the political parties
E) Federal Communications Commission

Question 73

What kind of campaign funds are subject to clear limits on how much can be raised but not on how much is spent?

A) soft money
B) independent expenditures
C) hard money
D) political action committees
E) spending limits

Question 74

What is the link between campaign donations and influence with elected officials?

A) There is a strong relationship between giving money and being able to buy votes.
B) Most campaign donations go to opposition politicians in an attempt to get them to support a cause.
C) At most, campaign donations might buy a donor access to see an elected official.
D) Elected officials often refuse to accept donations from groups they agree with.
E) Groups tend to give money to elected officials who are undecided.

Question 75

Which of the following is NOT a consequence of being exposed to television advertising in political campaigns?

A) People become more interested in the campaign.
B) People become aware of differences between candidates.
C) People know more about the candidates.
D) People become likely to change their minds.
E) People are sometimes mobilized to vote.

Question 76

Which of the following is a limitation on soft money?

A) It can't be used to mobilize voters.
B) It must be used to promote a policy proposal.
C) It can't be used to promote a point of view.
D) It can't be used to elect or defeat a specific candidate.
E) It must fund 527 organizations.

Question 77

Candidates who are behind in election polls often use ________ as a way to gain momentum and make the race competitive.

A) attack ads
B) the talent primary
C) trackers
D) mobilization
E) frontloading

Question 78

What are independent expenditures?

A) hard money contributions
B) money spent on advertising, which must be approved by the candidate
C) funds that cannot be used to attack a candidate
D) donations that cannot pay for campaign advertising
E) money that must not be controlled, directed, or approved by any candidate's campaign

Question 79

Jennifer wonders whether or not to vote because the chances of her vote being the decisive one is so small. What does Jennifer's consideration exemplify?

A) the paradox of voting
B) a personal vote
C) reasonable voting
D) voting cues
E) split-ticket voting

Question 80

The main way that American candidates reach the electorate is through:

A) news media coverage.
B) retail politics.
C) campaign ads.
D) campaign Web pages.
E) fund-raising events.