Deck 9: Campaigns and Voting Behavior

Question 1

Because there is barely any time between the end of one campaign and the beginning of the next,some people have called the American electoral process __________.

A)"the endless commercial"
B)"the permanent campaign"
C)"the road to nowhere"
D)"quadruple overtime"

Answer 1

"the permanent campaign"

Question 2

Which group is more likely to vote?

A)low income people
B)young age group
C)ethnic minorities
D)a college degree holders

Answer 2

a college degree holders

Question 3

Which of the following was one of the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act?

A)All campaign funds must be spent within the state where the candidate is running for election (or in any state for presidential candidates).
B)Candidates for Congress must contribute at least 10 percent of their net worth to the campaign.
C)Congressional campaigns cannot accept contributions of more than $100 from individual citizens.
D)All candidates for federal office must disclose who contributed money to their campaigns.

Answer 3

All candidates for federal office must disclose who contributed money to their campaigns.

Question 4

The Democratic and Republican candidates for president are formally nominated at the __________.

A)national party committees
B)presidential primaries and caucuses
C)Electoral College
D)national party conventions

Question 5

In which of the following countries is voter turnout lowest?

A)Australia
B)Belgium
C)United States
D)Denmark

Question 6

How did the McGovern-Fraser Commission make the delegate selection process of the Democratic Party more representative and open to input from the public?

A)by requiring delegate selection procedures to be open to all party members
B)by increasing the number of delegates chosen
C)by weakening the power of registered party members to choose convention delegates
D)by encouraging the use of presidential caucuses rather than primaries

Question 7

Which of the following is true about states with caucuses?

A)Voters attend open meetings where they express their presidential preferences.
B)The state legislature selects the state's delegates to the national conventions.
C)Party officials select delegates according to their own preferences.
D)Candidates appoint supporters to serve as delegates who will attend the national convention

Question 8

Researchers studying campaigns stress that campaigns can have what three effects on voters?

A)selection,application,and alteration
B)reinforcement,alteration,and adaptation
C)activation,fortification,and collection
D)reinforcement,activation,and conversion

Question 9

One impact of the Internet on political campaigns is that __________.

A)Most people are using the Internet as their only source of campaign information
B)Most people are receiving direct mail from candidates
C)more people are making small political donations
D)more people are becoming highly and accurately informed about the candidates

Question 10

Prior to being banned in 2002 by the McCain-Feingold Act,unlimited monetary contributions that were earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising were known as __________.

A)hard money
B)soft money
C)matching funds
D)support funds

Question 11

Donations to __________ do not have to be disclosed unless a donor gives money specifically for a political ad.

A)527 groups
B)501(c) groups
C)political action committees (PACs)
D)candidates' campaigns

Question 12

Why do presidential candidates tend to focus their efforts on battleground states?

A)Battleground states have the most Electoral College votes.
B)Battleground states have more electors than they would deserve if electors were allocated by population.
C)Candidates focus on battleground states in order to increase their media exposure.
D)The winner-take-all system makes battleground states more relevant to a campaign.

Question 13

How many U.S.states employ a winner-take-all presidential election system in which all their electors are awarded to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes statewide?

A)five
B)26
C)48
D)all 50

Question 14

Which of the following is a cost of voting?

A)political efficacy
B)civic duty
C)becoming informed
D)paying money to vote

Question 15

In 2016,the amount an individual could legally contribute to a candidate's campaign was __________.

A)$100
B)$1,000
C)$2,700
D)$25,000

Question 16

The 2012 election was the first time that __________ voted at a higher rather than_________________.

A)Hispanics,non-Hispanic whites
B)Asians Hispanics
C)Hispanics,African Americans
D)African Americans,non-Hispanic whites

Question 17

A campaign might use __________ to solicit campaign contributions from those who have supported candidates with similar views in the past.

A)soft money
B)caucuses
C)direct mail
D)frontloading

Question 18

If no candidate receives an Electoral College majority,the election is decided in the __________.

A)Senate
B)House of Representatives
C)Elections and Campaigns Committee
D)Supreme Court

Question 19

According to exit poll data,which of the following group's members were most likely to vote for Donald Trump in 2016?

A)Jews
B)Hispanics -
C)younger voters
D)Non-Hispanic whites

Question 20

What is the phenomenon that people's beliefs often guide what they pay attention to and how they interpret events?

A)scorekeeping
B)agenda setting
C)selective perception
D)frontloading

Question 21

Which of the following helps to explain why voter turnout is lower in the United States than in other democracies?

A)The United States hold fewer elections
B)The United States elects fewer officeholders.
C)The United States hold elections midweek.
D)The United States has a multiple partisan election system.

Question 22

Research suggests that political campaigns are most likely to successfully convert voters when they __________.

A)use "wedge" issues on which the other party is divided
B)make appeals based on party affiliation
C)make unrealistic promises
D)buy radio and Internet advertisements

Question 23

Which states should a presidential campaign focus on in the general election?

A)states with a higher percentage of registered voters
B)states with strong economies
C)large states
D)battleground states

Question 24

One of the downsides to the American system of presidential campaigns and elections is that __________.

A)party leaders select a candidate in the smoke-filled room decision
B)a person who might be an excellent president could be discouraged from running because the process is so onerous
C)the candidate who wins the popular vote is not always the candidate who received the most votes
D)winning candidates are legally required to keep their campaign promises or face a fine levied by the Federal Elections Commission according to the veracity of the violation

Question 25

Which of the following statements indicates a high level of political efficacy?

A)"I should vote to honor those who sacrificed their lives to make America free."
B)"Voting in the United States is so easy that there is no excuse for not voting."
C)"People like me can influence what the government does."
D)"Democracy is only democratic if citizens participate in the process."

Question 26

Which of the following would be the most likely to increase voter turnout in the United States?

A)holding more elections
B)making registration automatic for all citizens rather than compelling them to register
C)electing more officeholders
D)minimizing the differences between the parties

Question 27

Which states tend to have higher voter turnout?

A)States with photo ID laws
B)States with Election Day voter registration
C)States with a lot of low education level voters
D)States with a lot of young voters

Question 28

Which of the following has made it easier for contemporary voters to choose the best person for the office,regardless of party?

A)advances in information technology
B)increased polarization in Congress
C)the media's tendency to focus on policy issues
D)candidate ID laws

Question 29

Which of the following makes it harder to vote?

A)vote-by-mail laws
B)the Motor Voter Act
C)Election Day voter registration laws
D)voter ID laws

Question 30

A serious presidential candidate must invest in __________.

A)newspaper ads aimed at the 55-65 age group
B)staff to handle high-tech and computer technologies
C)television ads aimed at the 18-29 age group
D)an international relations specialist to solicit campaign contributions from foreign nations and multinational corporations

Question 31

If the president were selected by popular vote instead of by the Electoral College,which of the following cities would a presidential campaign be least likely to visit?

A)Miami,Florida
B)Green Bay,Wisconsin
C)New York,New York
D)Chicago,Illinois

Question 32

Which of the following is consistent with the mandate theory of elections?

A)the idea that voter turnout is higher when citizens are required to vote and are fined if they fail to do so
B)the belief that a functional democracy mandates electoral participation by a large number of voters
C)Mitt Romney's claim that Obama won the 2012 presidential election because he had given gifts to various constituency groups
D)Barack Obama's claim that his victory in 2012 meant that the public wanted to raise taxes on the wealthy

Question 33

Why do winning candidates claim a mandate even though political scientists generally discredit the mandate theory of elections?

A)Politicians think that political scientists do not understand how things actually work.
B)Voters do not necessarily prefer all of the winning candidate's issue positions.
C)Winning candidates want to justify their policy proposals by claiming that the public supports them.
D)Winning candidates are not well versed in the political science literature.

Question 34

The Founders created the Electoral College because they wanted the president to be selected by __________.

A)Congress
B)ordinary Americans
C)elites
D)the Supreme Court

Question 35

A floating voter is someone who __________.

A)is elated at the outcome of an election
B)votes based on the candidates and not party loyalty
C)registers to vote on Election Day
D)votes in presidential elections but not in midterm elections

Question 36

Of the following,who would be most likely to vote?

A)someone who thinks that both candidates are moderate
B)someone who thinks that both candidates are very conservative
C)someone with a high sense of political efficacy
D)someone who sees few differences between the candidates

Question 37

Which of the following groups is overrepresented among voters?

A)government workers
B)people who are single
C)younger citizens
D)minorities

Question 38

The Electoral College introduces a bias into the campaign and electoral process because __________.

A)all states get the same number of electoral votes
B)each state has as many electoral votes as it has representatives
C)less populated states are overrepresented
D)more populous states are overrepresented

Question 39

If you were running a campaign for a relatively unknown presidential candidate,you would want to allow plenty of time for your candidate to __________.

A)travel extensively in Iowa before the caucuses
B)visit major cities in California during the election campaign
C)meet the people in small towns in Texas
D)go door-to-door greeting voters

Question 40

Of the following people,who is most likely to participate in a presidential caucus?

A)someone who works two jobs
B)a single mom
C)someone who is an independent
D)a party activist

Question 41

Thomas Patterson's observation that "today's presidential campaign is essentially a mass media campaign" suggests that __________.

A)voters have very little understanding of the campaign apart from what they see and hear in the media
B)the media exercise little influence over a vast number of citizens' votes
C)campaigns are for the masses and are mediated by political elites
D)the media control electoral outcomes

Question 42

How would switching to direct election of the president affect non-battleground states like Texas?

A)Texas would receive more attention from candidates trying to win votes in major population centers like Houston,Dallas,and San Antonio.
B)Texas would receive less attention from candidates because it would no longer be a battleground state.
C)Texas would receive very little attention from candidates because it is currently a safe state.
D)Texas would become a safe state for the other party.

Question 43

__________ was an unintended result of changes to the Federal Election Campaign Act that allowed parties to raise and spend money on voter registration and other campaign materials without limits on spending or the size of contributions that they could accept.

A)Party discretionary funding
B)Party expenditure exemption
C)Soft money
D)Walking-around money

Question 44

Why are people with higher-than-average education more likely to vote?

A)Education depresses political efficacy,which then encourages turnout.
B)Education increases intolerance,which then encourages turnout.
C)Education helps voters recognize differences between the candidates.
D)Education enables voters to calculate the probability that their vote will decide the election.

Question 45

How does party identification simplify the voting process?

A)It enables voters to select from a wider array of candidates.
B)It provides a cue as to which candidate a voter is more likely to prefer.
C)It eliminates the need to produce a photo ID in order to vote.
D)It reduces the policy differences between the candidates.

Question 46

Why is it sometimes difficult for citizens to engage in policy voting?

A)Competing candidates usually have the same positions on issues.
B)Candidates are often intentionally vague about their issue stances.
C)The media tend to overwhelm voters with policy information.
D)Election officials prevent using policy-based voter guides in the voting booth.

Question 47

An examination of the number of campaign visits by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination contests suggests that __________.

A)geographically larger states receive the most attention from the candidates during the nomination campaign
B)states with more electoral votes receive more attention from the candidates during the nomination campaign
C)states with early caucuses and primaries receive a disproportionate amount of attention from candidates during the nomination campaign
D)Obama won the election because he visited more states than did Clinton