Chapter 7: Parties, Elections, and Participation: The Insurgents Versus the Establishment

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is a true statement regarding American political parties?

a. There are two political parties in America.

b. The number of people who identify as independents has increased recently.

c. Self-identified Republicans outnumber self-identified Democrats.

d. Americans strongly believe that their interests are represented well through the two main political parties.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Which of the following statements best describes how politics affects political parties?

a. Political parties try to appeal to as many people as possible regardless of their ideology.

b. The Republican Party tries to distinguish itself from the Democratic Party by offering different issue positions.

c. People generally support a party that is willing to make compromises with another party.

d. Americans prefer a rotation of political parties in the government.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Which state has the first caucus in the nation?

a. Iowa

b. Nevada

c. New Hampshire

d. Florida

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Because of federalism, ______ play a key role in party politics.

a. national committees

b. national leaders

c. local activists

d. state parties

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Many state political party organizations are struggling today. What is the most significant explanation for this?

a. Many nonparty groups are able to raise large sums of money for political causes.

b. There is a growing ideological gap between national and state political parties.

c. Many federal laws restrict state parties’ activities.

d. Recent Supreme Court decisions have reduced state parties’ autonomy.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Who traditionally chooses the national chair of his or her party?

a. speaker of the house

b. president

c. the exiting chairperson

d. the presumptive nominee

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. State parties are governed by a(n) ______ comprised of elected members that govern the operations of the state party.

a. central committee

b. advisory council

c. regulatory commission

d. administrative body

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Parties sometimes try to discourage prospective candidates because they fear that these candidates will ______.

a. draw votes away from the party’s preferred choice

b. gain undeserved favor with the voting public

c. stray from the party’s official policy platform

d. ignore the direct orders of party leadership

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Which of the following best describes the phases of a candidate’s campaign?

a. party support, candidate vetting, recruitment

b. recruitment, candidate vetting, party support

c. party support, decision to run, nomination process

d. decision to run, party support, nomination process

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. Because of their complexity, caucuses tend to draw ______.

a. national attention

b. fewer participants

c. more participants

d. party leaders

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. What is a group of people called who attend a party’s convention and select their nominee for president?

a. delegates

b. electoral college members

c. representatives

d. trustees

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Which of the following statements is true regarding the nomination process?

a. Federal law governs the nomination process.

b. Political parties dominate the nomination process.

c. All states have the same nomination process.

d. All political parties have the same nomination process.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Which primary system encourages undecided and independent voters to participate?

a. open primary

b. closed primary

c. open/closed primary (mixed system)

d. caucus

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. A state effort to set its primary or caucus schedule as early as possible is called ______.

a. jumping ahead

b. front-loading

c. up-scheduling

d. first-past-the-post

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. A ______ is a meeting where delegates officially select their party’s nominee for the presidency.

a. primary

b. caucus

c. convention

d. steering committee

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Which state has the first primary election in the nation?

a. Iowa

b. Nevada

c. New Hampshire

d. Florida

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. The first party system was between the ______ and the ______.

a. Federalist Party; Democratic Republicans

b. Whigs; Tories

c. Democratic-Republican Party, Bull Moose Party

d. Depression-Era Democrats; Business-Oriented Republicans

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. When a short event or era leads to a new period of relative stability that lead to a realignment of political parties, these events are known as ______.

a. critical elections

b. caucuses

c. primaries

d. party systems

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The more-or-less stable eras of political party control are known as ______.

a. critical elections

b. caucuses

c. primaries

d. party systems

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. During which party system were the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists established as political parties?

a. first

b. second

c. third

d. fourth

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. During which party system saw the dissolution of the Democratic-Republican Party with many members forming the Whig Party?

a. first

b. second

c. third

d. fourth

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. During which party system did the antislavery Whigs and Democrats form the Republican Party?

a. first

b. second

c. third

d. fourth

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. The Great Depression ushered in which party system?

a. third

b. fourth

c. fifth

d. sixth

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Since the mid-1800s, control of government has been ______.

a. under the leadership of the Republican Party and the Tea Party

b. dominated by the Democratic Party and its leaders

c. in the hands of political independents and political third parties

d. shifting back and forth between the Democratic and Republican parties

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. A critical point in which public support shifts substantially from one party to another is known as ______.

a. polarization

b. realignment

c. periodization

d. partisanship

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. By 1824, the Whig Party had been developed when the ______ Party had largely dissolved.

a. Democratic-Republican

b. Federalist

c. Tory

d. Bull Moose

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. The two major political parties in the United States are the ______.

a. Republican Party and the Green Party

b. Republican Party and the Libertarian Party

c. Republican Party and the Democratic Party

d. Democratic Party and the Green Party

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. During the Sixth Party Period, Democrats were focused on vigorous ______ government, and Republicans were focused on ______ government.

a. federal; smaller

b. international; federal

c. state; large

d. federal; international

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. When a voter is able to cast a single vote for one congressional candidate knowing the candidate with the most votes will win, the voter is participating in which type of system?

a. proportional representation

b. single-member plurality

c. third-party candidacy

d. representative democracy

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. When a voter is able to cast a single vote for one candidate knowing the representation in the legislative bodies will be based upon the percentage of votes overall for each party, the voter is participating in which type of system?

a. proportional representation

b. single-member plurality

c. third-party candidacy

d. representative democracy

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. When the Democratic and Republican parties face competition, the candidate usually focuses on a single issue that needs more emphasis than is being provided. This candidate would be considered a member of which party?

a. proportional representation

b. single-member plurality

c. third

d. representative democracy

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. What is the least number of Electoral College votes that any state can be allocated?

a. one

b. two

c. three

d. four

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Presidential and Congressional Elections: The Same But Different

Difficulty Level: Easy

33. When outside spending on other national elections was added to that of the presidential election of 2016, the total spent was about ______.

a. $1 billion

b. $3 billion

c. $5 billion

d. $6.8 billion

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. In the 1970s, following the Watergate scandal, Congress passed the ______.

a. National Voting Law

b. Federal Election Campaign Act

c. United States Election Bill

d. Presidential Campaign Act

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. In an effort to effectively control the ballooning growth of campaign contributions, Congress passed the ______.

a. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

b. Federal Election Campaign Act

c. Citizens United Campaign Reform Bill

d. Multiparty Campaign Financing Law

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

36. First and foremost, money buys ______ in a candidate’s campaign.

a. media time

b. organizers

c. event space

d. posters and flyers

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

37. The bureaucratic entity that is charged with overseeing and implementing national campaign finance laws is the ______.

a. Federal Election Commission

b. Presidential Election Committee

c. United States Election Congress

d. National Voting Regulatory Agency

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

38. In the 1976 case of Buckley v. Valeo, the U.S. Supreme Court ______.

a. prohibited outside political contributions to national political campaigns

b. upheld self-funded campaigning for presidential and congressional elections

c. maintained the constitutionality of restrictions on individual campaign contributions

d. declared political action committee contributions as unconstitutional

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

39. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, ______ are allowed to spend unlimited amounts during a political campaign as long as the spending is not coordinated with that campaign.

a. individual citizens

b. super PACs

c. finance committees

d. campaign managers

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

40. Groups of at least 50 individuals who contribute higher dollar amounts than individuals within federal limits are known as ______.

a. political action committees

b. super PACs

c. finance committees

d. campaign committees

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

41. How were senators originally chosen to serve in the legislature, before the Constitution had been created and ratified?

a. elected by popular vote by the citizens

b. chosen by state legislatures

c. chosen by the president

d. appointed by local judges

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

42. Which of the following describes a Senator that just won reelection for a fifth term?

a. The Senator was the incumbent for the election.

b. The Senator was the challenger for the election.

c. The Senator was a third-party candidate for the election.

d. He or she won because of proportional representation.

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

43. When Sam goes to cast his vote for the open House of Representative seat in his district, he keeps in mind all of the hard work the current representative has done and the improvements that have come to the district. Same is participating in ______ voting.

a. representative

b. plurality

c. retrospective

d. proportional

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

44. Which of the following is meant to attack an opponent and try to raise doubts in voters’ minds about them?

a. media coverage

b. soft news

c. fake news

d. negative campaign advertisements

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Easy

45. The time, place, and manner of state elections are decided upon by ______.

a. the Constitution

b. Congress

c. the state legislatures

d. the Supreme Court

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

46. Having a sizable ______, especially early in a campaign, may discourage potential challengers from entering a political race.

a. advertising budget

b. group of supporters

c. set of advisors

d. war chest

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

47. Efforts to mobilize voters or potential voters are given the acronym ______.

a. MYTV

b. NYTV

c. GOTV

d. YUTV

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Easy

48. Political parties provide which of the following for potential voters?

a. candidate labeling

b. grassroots support

c. political influence

d. financial and physical resources

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

49. Which two candidates found themselves unexpectedly winning primaries as political outsiders during the 2016 campaign season?

a. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

b. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders

c. Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz

d. Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

50. Traditionally, most of the drama in an American presidential election is between ______ or ______.

a. parties; candidates

b. lobbyists; voters

c. candidates; lobbyists

d. parties; voters

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

51. Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders failed to concentrate their campaigns on the so-called ______ and actually gained favor among voters for it.

a. party establishment

b. grassroots movement

c. uninformed voters

d. party outsiders

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

52. Antiestablishment campaigns that focus on candidates as “outsiders” with criticism of party elites are generally referred to as ______.

a. patriotism

b. conservatism

c. populism

d. centrism

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

53. The Sanders campaign message that seemed to resonate most with voters who supported him was that the playing field is ______.

a. necessarily tilted in order to keep American businesses from failing

b. unacceptably tilted toward the top one percent of Americans

c. artificially benefiting the poor to the harm of the rich

d. in need of redefining in order to assist corporate enterprise

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Shake Up the Field . . . and Conventional Wisdom about the Power of Parties

Difficulty Level: Medium

54. The GOP or “Grand Old Party” refers to the ______ Party.

a. Democratic

b. Republican

c. Tea

d. Green

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Shake Up the Field . . . and Conventional Wisdom about the Power of Parties

Difficulty Level: Easy

55. Many Republicans challenged Donald Trump’s promises to cut deals in order to benefit the U.S. economy as contradicting their philosophy of ______.

a. conservatism

b. elitist leadership

c. constitutionalism

d. limited government

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Shake Up the Field . . . and Conventional Wisdom about the Power of Parties

Difficulty Level: Medium

56. The majority of Trump supporters state that they support him because he has tapped into their ______.

a. deep frustration with politics and political parties

b. hidden fears and biases

c. feelings of patriotism and isolationism

d. concerns for the security of the United States

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Shake Up the Field . . . and Conventional Wisdom about the Power of Parties

Difficulty Level: Medium

57. As observed by Donald Trump, one important political trend, made evident early in the 2016 campaign season, was the ______.

a. approval of Republican insiders

b. attraction of new potential voters

c. shared fear of terrorism and immigration

d. degree of Republican party infighting

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Shake Up the Field . . . and Conventional Wisdom about the Power of Parties

Difficulty Level: Hard

58. The formal process through which parties choose their candidates for political office is called ______.

a. vetting

b. recruitment

c. nomination

d. orientation

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

59. A win in an early primary/caucus state benefits a candidate by establishing ______.

a. candidate momentum

b. voting patterns

c. delegate selection

d. electoral votes

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Hard

60. To take advantage of the benefits of holding an early primary or caucus, many states try to engage in a process known as ______.

a. rear-ending

b. caucus stacking

c. bulldozing

d. front-loading

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

61. The final phase of the nomination process takes place at the ______ convention.

a. precinct

b. county

c. state

d. national

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

62. Which of the following best describes the relationship between candidates and their party?

a. Party leaders seek to win elections by depending upon incumbent candidates with a winning record.

b. Candidates need to win and depend more on the support of the voters than the party itself.

c. Party leaders seek to impact the political process by relying on candidates who have the best chance to win an election.

d. Politicians rely on their party to help them get elected but in doing so grant power to party leaders.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Hard

63. According to political scientist John Aldrich, things get really interesting when ______.

a. party leadership exerts control over the candidates

b. candidates no longer feel that the party leadership is serving their own goals

c. candidates seek outside financing and support and forego party resources

d. party leadership fails to control a renegade candidate and loses party unity

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

64. The consistent set of stances on major issues shaped by an underlying philosophy about the proper role of government in society and communicated to voters is called a party ______.

a. identity

b. ideology

c. platform

d. partisanship

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

65. In recent decades, the Democratic Party has been connected with policies of ______, and Republicans have been connected with policies of ______.

a. liberalism; conservatism

b. conservatism; liberalism

c. democracy; republicanism

d. federalism; constitutionalism

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

66. Which of the following would be considered political mobilization?

a. conducting a "get out the vote” campaign in order to increase voter turnout

b. contacting candidates in order to gain support for a desired law

c. creating a student organization to protest sexual violence on campus

d. organizing a midnight vigil and campus march to protest date rape

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

67. On what basis did Anthony Downs consider the decision not to vote a "rational one”?

a. financial cost and physical effort

b. time commitment and intellectual effort

c. intellectual effort and financial cost

d. physical effort and time commitment

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

68. In addition to the time and effort involved, what other factor is cited by many experts when arguing for the rationality of not voting?

a. the small chance any one person’s vote will be decisive in any election

b. the divisiveness of many political campaigns today

c. the level of "noise” in the message of politicians who seek office

d. the overall level of distrust and the potential for abusing the public interest

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

69. Which of the following groups would most likely be considered voting eligible?

a. those who have not established residency

b. undocumented Americans

c. those convicted of serious felonies

d. U.S. residents 18 years or older

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

70. Institutional factors to voting are ______.

a. shaped by laws and procedures surrounding the election process

b. dependent upon the particulars of a specific election

c. centered upon the characteristics of potential voters

d. aimed at holding political candidates accountable for their actions

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

71. The measure that captures an individual’s wealth, income, occupation, and educational attainment is best defined as ______.

a. sociopathic tendency

b. socioeconomic status

c. sociopolitical determination

d. socioethnic affiliation

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

72. The most effective way to increase the turnout rate in a particular election is to ______.

a. invest more in education to increase the educational level of Americans

b. nominate highly accomplished candidates

c. implement economic reforms to more equally distribute national wealth

d. promote active mobilization efforts like GOTV

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Hard

73. Which of the following is a clear and consistent pattern in electoral participation?

a. Little correlation exists between socioeconomic status and electoral behavior.

b. No correlation exists between socioeconomic status and electoral behavior.

c. A high degree of correlation exists between socioeconomic status and electoral behavior.

d. Socioeconomic status and electoral behavior are negatively correlated.

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Hard

74. The turnout rate for voting-age Americans is highly correlated with which of the following?

a. degree of political interest

b. racial and ethnic identity

c. degree of political controversy

d. effectiveness of political campaigns

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

75. The largest percentage of difference between the voting patterns of men and women are seen in which of the following ethnicities?

a. white American

b. African American

c. Latina/Latino

d. Asian American

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

76. Besides ethnicity, differences in voter turnout in recent elections between men and women are also connected with ______.

a. wealth

b. age

c. marital status

d. political efficacy

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

77. Political mobilization efforts are divided into which of the following two categories?

a. direct and indirect

b. local and national

c. individual and group

d. active and neutral

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

78. Voting actually involves which of the following two actions?

a. actual attendance and voter participation

b. political decision and specific voter action

c. voter registration and casting the ballot

d. partisan choice and voter participation

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

79. Which of the following best defines suffrage?

a. the right to vote

b. the requirement to register

c. partisan political activity

d. nonpartisan political action

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

80. An individual is prohibited from registering to vote because he or she was convicted of a serious crime. This is an example of ______.

a. suffrage requirements

b. illegal disenfranchisement

c. potential voter fraud

d. felon disenfranchisement

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

81. Rules that are established at the federal and state levels in order to govern who can vote and how, when, and where they vote are categorized as ______.

a. registration requirements

b. felon disenfranchisement

c. disenfranchisement actions

d. voter identification laws

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

82. National political and congressional elections are, by tradition, held on the ______.

a. fifteenth of November

b. second Monday following the first Tuesday in November

c. first Tuesday following the second Monday in November

d. first Tuesday following the first Monday in November

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Hard

83. Votes completed and submitted by a voter prior to the day of an election are best described as ______ ballots.

a. preferential

b. absentee

c. emergency

d. provisional

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

84. In order to lessen the "cost” of voting, some reformers have recommended holding national elections ______.

a. on the first day of November

b. only in the summer months when most people are on vacation

c. on weekends or by declaring Election Day a national holiday

d. online so as to better accommodate time and travel costs

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

85. The national law that allows someone to register to vote while getting or renewing their driver’s license has been nicknamed the ______ law.

a. "motor-voter”

b. “turnout-burnout”

c. “disabled enabled”

d. “rocket-ballot”

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

86. Which of the following best describes the primary cause of ballot roll-off?

a. incomplete knowledge of candidates

b. overwhelming partisan voter cues

c. failure to meet voter registration requirements

d. lack of partisan affiliation

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

87. According to data presented in your textbook, voter turnout is likely to be highest for ______.

a. congressional elections

b. mayoral elections

c. statewide elections

d. presidential elections

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

88. The decline of young-adult voting can best be attributed to ______.

a. the belief that young voters have no stake in the outcome of elections

b. the rise of partisan politics in electoral campaigns

c. a lack of basic civic education at the high school and college level

d. a desire to silently protest the lack of effective ballot choices

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

89. Which of the following can be considered a form of nontraditional political participation?

a. giving testimony before a state legislature

b. sending an e-mail to an elected representative

c. raising campaign funds for a candidate

d. protesting at a rally to call on the United States to leave Iraq

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Open primaries allow registered voters’ participation based on their party affiliation.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Superdelegates are Republican office holders voting in the final nomination process who are not tied to the outcomes of any state election results.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Independent voters are more likely to split a ticket than people who are partisans.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. A party platform is a set of positions and policy objectives introduced at the quadrennial convention by the party’s presidential nominee.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. The Democratic and Republican parties have both worked to encourage the growth of third parties.

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Since the election of President Obama, the Democratic Party’s power has been long lived.

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Retrospective voting means people evaluate their party’s issue positions and make their voting decisions based on them.

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Campaign costs have gone down recently due to laws that restrict campaign contributions and spending.

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Super PACs were created by the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United.

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Political scientist John Geer has argued that negative campaign ads may actually increase the quality of information available to voters as they make choices in elections.

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. The Citizens United decision allows super PACs to spend unlimited amounts of money whether or not they are connected or coordinating with a candidate’s campaign.

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Once in office, candidates are free to conduct their own campaigns with little intervention from their political party leadership.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. In terms of drama, 2016 was different because many of the major candidates were seen as too extreme to pose a legitimate threat to the political establishment.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Shake Up the Field . . . and Conventional Wisdom about the Power of Parties

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. One main difference between Republicans and Democrats in the assignment and selection of delegates is that the Republicans include the use of superdelegates, while Democrats do not.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. While the ways in which parties structure their nomination processes have changed and continue to change, the general trend in modern campaigns has been one of increasing exclusion.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. As soon as a prospective candidate decides to form an exploratory committee, he/she must immediately register with the FEC as a candidate.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Presidential and Congressional Elections: The Same But Different

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Voter turnout rates in the United States are relatively high compared to other advanced democracies.

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. According to Anthony Downs, you should not vote if you are a rational human being.

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Generally speaking, Americans maintain a high level of political efficacy.

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Young adult Americans participate actively in politics through forms of participation other than voting.

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer

1. One important way that parties try to influence or shape elections is through the ______ of candidates.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. If the election of 2016 is so critical that it signals a change in the balance of power between the two major parties or the emergence of a new party system, it would be considered a ______.

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: American Political Parties Undergo Cycles of Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. ______ attack an opponent or opponents and try to raise doubts in voters’ minds about them.

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. A form of voting that reflects on an incumbent’s past performance in an election is called ______.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. The most important contributor to the measure of an individual’s socioeconomic status and one of the most important determinants in a person’s decision to vote is his or her level of ______.

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Discuss the causes of political polarization and gridlock and the roles they play in American politics today.

Learning Objective: 7-1: Identify the roles that parties play in American representative democracy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Parties Organize, Signal, and Promote Policy Agendas

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. What impact does money have on today’s national election process?

Learning Objective: 7-2: Explain how American party systems have evolved over time.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Elections and Campaigns Have Many Moving Parts

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What advantages do congressional incumbents have in retaining their seats in Congress? Why?

Learning Objective: 7-3: Understand the rules surrounding national elections and the function they serve.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Presidential and Congressional Elections: The Same But Different

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Explain how the 2016 election was particularly unconventional as compared to previous elections. Focus your discussion on what we know about the traditional American two-party system of politics.

Student answers may vary.

Learning Objective: 7-4: Describe the structure, stages, and main challenges of presidential and legislative campaigns.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump Shake Up the Field . . .

and Conventional Wisdom about the Power of Parties

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Discuss factors and barriers the impact American voting behavior and their effect on voter turnout rates in the United States.

Learning Objective: 7-5: Describe the forms of political participation Americans engage in, including the factors that limit or facilitate engagement.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Political Participation Takes Many Forms

Difficulty Level: Hard