Deck 4: The Nomination of Presidents

Question 1

Both parties in 1800 used congressional caucuses to select presidential nominees because it was __________.

A) required by the Constitution
B) an expedient method
C) the most democratic method
D) mandated by federal law

Answer 1

an expedient method

Question 2

From 1796 to 1820 the Democratic-Republican caucuses nominated candidates for the presidential ticket from what state?

A) Virginia
B) New York
C) South Carolina
D) Massachusetts

Answer 2

Virginia

Question 3

Which of the following was a critique of using congressional caucuses as a nominating institution?

A) They were prone to majority tyranny.
B) They always led to an unqualified nominee.
C) They were unrepresentative of the party rank-and-file membership.
D) They overrepresented the interests of states with small populations.

Answer 3

They were unrepresentative of the party rank-and-file membership.

Question 4

Which event in 1824 illustrated the concerns surrounding King Caucus?

A) nomination of William Crawford in spite of his having suffered a debilitating stroke
B) failure to hold a nominating caucus
C) series of informal meetings held to select party nominees
D) election of Andrew Jackson by the House of Representatives

Question 5

The meeting at which a party formally selects its nominee is called a __________.

A) primary election
B) nominating caucus
C) congressional caucus
D) nominating convention

Question 6

Who sent delegates to the national party conventions in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

A) the general public
B) party bosses
C) state legislators
D) congressional delegations

Question 7

Which of the following illustrates how national party conventions in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were removed from the general public?

A) the dominance of Abraham Lincoln as a first-choice candidate
B) the use of a national nominating convention to nominate Stephen Douglas
C) the election of John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson
D) the Whig Party slogan "Who is James K. Polk?"

Question 8

By appointing local party loyalists to national party conventions, whose support were state legislators trying to curry?

A) local party bosses
B) the general public
C) members of Congress
D) presidential candidates

Question 9

The Progressive movement influenced the presidential nomination process through the development of __________.

A) congressional caucuses
B) King Caucus
C) direct primaries
D) national nominating conventions

Question 10

Why did direct primaries not immediately alter presidential politics?

A) The costs of administering primary elections were high, leading many states to abandon the process.
B) Too many candidates were actively campaigning for primary votes, preventing the emergence of a majority winner.
C) Citizens rejected the reform, favoring the more democratic processes of King Caucus.
D) Partisans resisted the direct primary's binding of delegates to the primary election outcome.

Question 11

What event sparked the formation of the McGovern?Fraser Commission?

A) the creation of the Bull Moose party by Theodore Roosevelt
B) the "corrupt bargain" between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay
C) the nomination of Hubert Humphrey at the 1968 Democratic Convention
D) the assassination of anti-war candidate Senator Robert Kennedy

Question 12

What was the goal of the McGovern?Fraser Commission?

A) to identify who assassinated New York Senator Robert Kennedy
B) to revise the rules governing King Caucus
C) to develop new nomination rules for both political parties
D) to reverse the effects of the "corrupt bargain"

Question 13

Which statement characterizes the Democratic Party nomination process following the adoption of reforms in light of the McGovern?Fraser Commission report?

A) The party became more transparent in its process and more representative through increased minority participation.
B) The party increased opportunities for minority participation and for state organization influence.
C) The party became more sensitive to the needs of the elites and more representative of rank-and-file members.
D) The party became less concerned about representation and more concerned with the concerns of rank-and-file members.

Question 14

The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held in which city?

A) Philadelphia
B) Los Angeles
C) New York
D) Chicago

Question 15

Why was the outcome of the Democratic National Convention in 1968 considered to be tainted?

A) Many believed that Humphrey had won only because he leveraged support from the unaccountable party machine.
B) Many believed that McGovern won only because he entered into a corrupt bargain with McCarthy supporters.
C) Many believed that McCarthy should have won because he had the backing of labor and party elites in spite of his low level of public support.
D) Many believe that Humphrey should have won because he had the support of young activists and intellectuals who were the core of the party.

Question 16

Why did many of the McGovern?Fraser reforms apply to both parties?

A) They were mandated by the Supreme Court.
B) They were required by federal law.
C) They were adopted at the state level.
D) They were embedded into the Constitution.

Question 17

In what type of nominating contest can any registered voter participate in the selection of a party's presidential nominee?

A) closed primary
B) open primary
C) caucus
D) congressional caucus

Question 18

The majority of states use __________ to select nominees for president

A) national nominating conventions
B) caucuses
C) congressional caucuses
D) primary elections

Question 19

The Republican nomination contest is sometimes settled much earlier than the Democratic contest because of differences in __________.

A) the quality of candidates
B) delegate allocation rules
C) the timing of elections
D) voter turnout

Question 20

__________ are delegates who are not bound to vote in a way that reflects their state's caucus or primary results.

A) Unassigned delegates
B) Pledged delegates
C) Superdelegates
D) Open delegates

Question 21

In assessing whether to enter a primary competition, one of the biggest strategic considerations affecting a potential candidate is whether __________.

A) his or her party currently has an incumbent in office
B) his or her opponents can raise money
C) the nominating system uses open or closed primaries
D) the nominating field is crowded

Question 22

The style of political campaigning in which candidates interact informally and directly with voters is known as __________ politics.

A) caucus
B) retail
C) open
D) personal

Question 23

In general, caucus voters tend to differ from primary voters in that they tend to be __________.

A) less moderate
B) less affluent
C) younger
D) more educated

Question 24

Rudolph Giuliani's presidential bid illustrated __________.

A) the cost of ignoring the institutional incentives built into the staggered primary and caucus season
B) the difficulty of challenging an incumbent president for the party nomination
C) the unimportance of retail politics as part of the institutional mechanism of open primaries
D) the importance of running early negative advertising in early caucus states

Question 25

What was the effect of Giuliani opting out of the Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina nominating contests?

A) It strengthened his early momentum but ultimately led to him coming in second in Florida.
B) It eroded his momentum and allowed the nominating contest to be cast as a two-person race.
C) It allowed him to improve his public image by avoiding the nasty early contests that wounded his opponents.
D) It allowed him to shepherd his resources in preparation for a strong and competitive run against his opponents in Florida.

Question 26

__________ is a feature of modern presidential nominating contests that helps the chances of early winners and hurts the chances of early losers.

A) Super Tuesday
B) Kickstarting
C) Frontloading
D) Momentum

Question 27

The power of momentum is illustrated in part by the __________.

A) decisions of many candidates to skip the early nominating contests
B) actions by many states to move up the dates of their nominating contests
C) efforts by political parties to ban the caucus as a nominating mechanism
D) proposal by candidates to ban all debates until after the March nominating contests

Question 28

John Edwards's decision to relocate his residence to Iowa for much of 2007 illustrates the __________.

A) reliance on personal image
B) requirements state law
C) importance of Super Tuesday
D) power of momentum

Question 29

Which of the following could be an exception to the law of momentum in primary elections?

A) Carter's ascendency to front-runner status following his wins in Iowa and New Hampshire in 1976
B) Giuliani's success in the 2008 Florida primary election
C) Edwards's kickstarting of his 2008 campaign within months of the 2004 general election
D) Romney's fight against primary challengers through late March of 2012

Question 30

Which statement best characterizes the 2008 Republican primary contest?

A) Huntsman's early wins gave him momentum, allowing him to challenge Romney through the primary season.
B) Gingrich had early momentum but was knocked out of the race by Romney's early contest wins.
C) Romney polled consistently higher than all the other candidates but did not pull away from his challengers until relatively late in the primary season.
D) Santorum's early losses were overshadowed by Romney's low polling numbers in the early part of the primary race.

Question 31

The purpose of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution was to allow electors to __________.

A) cast separate votes for president and vice president
B) cast a single vote for a presidential ticket
C) change their votes for president before the inauguration
D) cast their votes for president and vice president by secret ballot

Question 32

Which statement best explains John Kennedy's decision to select Lyndon Johnson as his running mate in 1960?

A) He was attempting to provide geographic balance to the ticket, since Johnson was from Texas and Kennedy was from Massachusetts.
B) It was an attempt to provide political balance to the ticket, since Johnson was a senator and Kennedy was a senator.
C) He was trying to provide personality balance to the ticket, since Johnson was more charismatic than Kennedy.
D) It was an attempt to provide religious balance to the ticket, since Johnson was a protestant and Kennedy was a Catholic.

Question 33

Which of the following did Joe Biden bring to the Obama campaign for presidency?

A) religious balance
B) youthful energy
C) geographic balance
D) foreign policy experience

Question 34

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin to be his running mate in 2008 generated much media attention because it __________.

A) was unconventional
B) provided geographic balance
C) illustrated the importance of policy experience
D) reflected the need for Washington know-how

Question 35

Who provides the bulk of campaign funds to presidential candidates?

A) labor unions
B) nonprofit groups
C) individual donors
D) corporations

Question 36

What accounts for the change in spending patterns witnessed in the 2012 primary election?

A) a rejection of paid advertising by voters
B) the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC)
C) changes in the spending proclivities of the various candidates
D) passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act by Congress

Question 37

Which of the following was a consequence of the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case?

A) rise of the super PAC
B) decline of soft-money contributions
C) end of individual contribution limits
D) rise of the PAC

Question 38

How have Super PACs affected the dynamics of American elections?

A) They have reduced the number negative advertisements aired.
B) They have made individual donations to candidates irrelevant.
C) They have affected the timing of when campaign ads are run.
D) They have eliminated the need for backing by the major political party.

Question 39

Which super PAC was explicitly connected to Mitt Romney?

A) Organizing for America
B) Restore Our Future
C) Winning Our Future
D) Endorse Liberty

Question 40

Super PACs enjoy considerable advantages over other methods of political fundraising because they can __________.

A) raise unlimited sums from individuals and limited sums from corporations, unions, and associations without disclosing their donors
B) raise limited sums from individuals and unlimited sums from corporations, unions, and associations, but must disclose all their donors
C) raise unlimited sums from individuals, corporations, unions, and associations and can contribute those monies directly to a political candidate's campaign
D) raise unlimited sums from individuals, corporations, unions, and associations and can spend that money as they see fit, as long as they do not coordinate with a candidate

Question 41

Which of the following provides support for the claim that the decision in Citizens United had unintended consequences on American elections?

A) the rush for states to frontload their nomination contests and to switch to closed primaries
B) the contributions by conservative super PACs in 2008 equaled the total amount of individual donations raised by John McCain, the eventual party nominee
C) the increase in donor transparency in American elections with the rise of super PACs
D) the steep decline in the numbers of negative advertisements and in the solicitation of small individual donations by candidates

Question 42

A __________ is an organization that pools individual contributions and then contributes those monies directly to a candidate's campaign.

A) political action committee
B) super PAC
C) super delegate
D) soft-money group

Question 43

Candidates who raise the most money during the primary generally __________.

A) never run negative ads
B) become the party's nominee
C) are from the Midwest
D) have no connection to a political action committee

Question 44

The purpose of party conventions traditionally is to __________.

A) announce the party's nominee
B) engage the party in policy debates
C) vote for the running mate
D) determine the cabinet

Question 45

The 1924 Democratic Convention provides support for which claim about party conventions before McGovern?Fraser?

A) They were coronations.
B) They were amenable.
C) They were fractious.
D) They were short.

Question 46

Parties select convention sites based on the __________.

A) birthplace of the nominee
B) broader interests of their constituents
C) financial costs of the location
D) importance of regional balance

Question 47

Since McGovern?Fraser, convention delegates have tended to __________.

A) more closely resemble the demographic makeup of the political parties
B) be much more moderate than the political party elites
C) mirror the demographics of the broader American public
D) represent a much smaller and wealthier demographic

Question 48

When compared to the all voters in the general population the delegates to the Republican Party Convention are much more __________.

A) independent
B) moderate
C) conservative
D) liberal

Question 49

Republicans chose to hold their 2012 convention in Florida because Florida __________.

A) was the home state of the nominee
B) was a key swing state
C) had a high percentage of retired voters
D) was reliably Republican

Question 50

Held in mid to late summer, __________ typically mark the beginning of the general election campaign.

A) congressional caucuses
B) closed primaries
C) party conventions
D) presidential debates

Question 51

Discuss the evolution of the party nomination process up to the implementation of the McGovern‒Fraser reforms. Describe the changing institutional nature of the process and evaluate the effects of those changes. Provide specific examples.

Question 52

What were the McGovern‒Fraser reforms, and what were their consequences for the institutional system in terms of nominating candidates for president? Provide examples in your answer.

Question 53

What is the role of momentum in presidential nominating contests? How have the effects and significance of this phenomenon been illustrated in the conduct of American elections? Have there been any exceptions? Illustrate your claims with examples.

Question 54

Discuss the consequences of the Supreme Court rulings on the role of money in American politics and make an argument for whether those consequences have been, on the whole, positive or negative. Provide examples to support your argument.

Question 55

Evaluate the statement "The history of the American presidential nomination process is one of increasing democratization." Provide examples to support your ideas.