Chapter 10: Political Engagement

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. What is the definition for “political efficacy?”

A. another word for political interest

B. the feeling that one can personally make a difference by participating in public affairs

C. a measure of partisanship

D. a measurement for the efficiency of government

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

2. Which of these best describes “Main Street” Californians?

A. great access to health care, and stable jobs that are mostly in information technology

B. middle-class Americans employed in service and office sectors; income mostly covers housing and health care

C. lowest human development scores

D. one-third of children live in poverty

Answer Location: Main Street

3. Which of these best describes “One Percent” California?

A. access to great health care; well-paying, stable occupations in the information technology field

B. middle-class Americans employed in service and office sectors

C. one out of three households headed by a single parent; moderate exposure to crime

D. one-third of children live in poverty

Answer Location: One Percent

4. Which of these best describes “Elite Enclave” California?

A. “knowledge workers” who can pay the bills and reside in neighborhoods rich with amenities

B. one-third of children live in poverty

C. middle-class Americans; generally able to pay the bills; employed in service and office sectors

D. highest human development scores; average cost of home is $2.1 million

Answer Location: Elite Enclave

5. Which of these best describes “Struggling” California?

A. “knowledge workers” who can pay the bills and reside in neighborhoods rich with amenities

B. middle-class Americans; generally able to pay the bills; employed in service and office sectors

C. mainly work in high-effort/low-reward, insecure jobs in sales and service; limited childcare

D. half of all children live below the poverty line

Answer Location: Struggling

6. Which of these best describes “Disenfranchised” California?

A. “knowledge workers” who can pay the bills and reside in neighborhoods rich with amenities

B. middle-class Americans; generally able to pay the bills; employed in service and office sectors

C. mainly work in high-effort/low-reward, insecure jobs in sales and service; limited childcare

D. in survival mode; half of all children in poverty; over 20% of youth not in school

Answer Location: Disenfranchised

7 .Which of these groups has the highest level of “human development,” as measured by overall health, income, and education levels?

A. “One Percent” California

B. “Elite Enclave” California

C. “Main Street” California

D. “Struggling” California

Answer Location: Map 10.1 The Five Californias

8. Which one of these terms refers to the way a person’s attitudes, opinions, and beliefs are affected or shaped by the way public affairs are reported in the press?

A. framing effects

B. partisanship

C. polarization

D. infotainment

Answer Location: News and Media Habits

9. Some people stop voting for less-recognizable, lower level offices as they work their way toward the end of ballots. This phenomenon is called ______.

A. low turnout

B. apathy

C. roll-off

D. polarization

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

10. Turnout among all registered voters during the past five presidential elections (2000–2016) averaged ______.

A. 35%

B. 55%

C. 75%

D. 95%

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

11. Turnout among all those who are eligible to vote during the past five presidential elections (2000–2016) averaged about ______.

A. 35%

B. 55%

C. 75%

D. 95%

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

12. Of these, which group of people pays closest attention to politics?

A. youth aged 18–24

B. adult Latinos

C. voters

D. those with only a high school diploma (or fewer years of education)

Answer Location: News and Media Habits

13. About how many Californians are eligible but not registered to vote?

A. about 500,000

B. about 1 million

C. about 5 million

D. about 25 million

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

14. The turnout rate of voters in the 18- to 24-year-old age group in November 2014 set a new low. What percentage of this age group voted in that election?

A. fewer than 10%

B. about 20%

C. about 40%

D. just over 50%

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

15. What is true of California’s electorate--that is, those who vote?

A. They are an “exclusive, self-selected group” that does not broadly represent all eligible voters.

B. They are a group that broadly represents all Californians during presidential election years, but not during off-year elections.

C. It is a group that broadly represents all Californians in every election.

D. Over time, the electorate has been growing steadily, meaning that a greater percentage of people vote in elections today than 10, 20, or 30 years ago.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

16. Which of these groups is least likely to support a state sanctuary law, according to public opinion polls in California (2017)?

A. Californians who aren’t registered to vote

B. registered Republican voters

C. all registered voters in California

D. Latino voters

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

17. In what kind of activities do lobbyists or special interest “advocates” engage?

A. mostly illegal bribes

B. testifying about bills in committee; “educating” lawmakers about the effects of bills

C. participating in rallies and demonstrations consumes most of their time

D. recruiting individuals or businesses for membership in interest groups

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

18. The political power of special interests is largely derived from what they can provide to decision makers, principally in the form of money, electoral support (supporters who will vote for them), and ______.

A. alcohol

B. paid vacations

C. campaign volunteers

D. information

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

19. Among these industries, which spends the most on lobbying in California?

A. technology (high-tech manufacturing)

B. entertainment (film, TV)

C. energy (oil and gas, electric utilities)

D. realty (property sales and management)

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

20. Businesses and employers are represented through associations that primarily ______.

A. organize rallies and demonstrations to bring attention to their causes

B. hire lobbyists to advocate for their causes and contribute to campaigns of sympathetic candidates

C. put people in contact with their representatives through “meet and greets”

D. organize volunteers to support their causes

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

21. Lobbyists who advocate for special interest groups are known collectively as ______.

A. the Third House

B. Progressives

C. the Consolidators

D. the Media Mavericks

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

22. What makes a lobbyist effective?

A. channeling campaign donations to elected officials

B. knowing how to influence public opinion

C. providing information to policymakers

D. any of these

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government | Box 10.1 The Power of Organized Interests

True/False

1. People who are highly educated, have higher income, and are older, tend to be heavy political news consumers, and also tend to be politically active.

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

2. People who disengage from politics tend to be high-income wage earners who have better things to do with their time than try to influence politicians and policy decisions.

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

3. If a person lives and works in an environment where politics and political affairs are rarely discussed, chances are, that person will not be a regular voter.

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement | Major Voting Trends

4. Many variables associated with nonvoting are also associated with immigration status.

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

5. Whites are approximately 40% of California residents, but close to 60% of all voters.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

6. Voters, residents, and citizens are essentially the same groups of people.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

7. Those who vote in an Assembly district election are a different group of people than those who vote in initiative elections.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

8. In off-year elections (non-presidential election years), fewer than half of those eligible to vote typically turn out to vote.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

9. Turnout during presidential election years is lower than in off-year, midterm elections.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

10. The California electorate (those who vote) reflect the size, growth, and diversity of the state’s population quite accurately.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

11. More than 5 million eligible Californians are not registered to vote.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

12. Living and interacting often with others who talk about politics and who value the act of voting is a strong predictor of whether a person will vote or not.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

13. In California, those in prison or on parole are not eligible to vote.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

14. Almost no Californians aged 18–34 get their news from a printed newspaper.

Answer Location: News and Media Habits

15. Not participating in politics is purely a matter of choice; anyone who wants to vote, attend meetings, demonstrate or attend rallies, or make donations simply chooses not to do so.

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

16. “Political efficacy” is the feeling that one can personally make a difference by participating in public affairs.

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

17. In California, the “one percenters” and those who live in “elite enclaves” outnumber those who are considered “middle class.”

Answer Location: One Percent | Elite Enclave

18. Outnumbering those who are in the “middle class” or “Main Street California” is the largest demographic group in California: those who are “Struggling” to hold it together.

Answer Location: Struggling

19. “Disenfranchised” Californians (about 3% of the population) live in survival mode, experience marginalization and social exclusion daily, and reside in areas rivaling the poorest areas of West Virginia and Mississippi.

Answer Location: Disenfranchised

20. Education is positively associated with human development.

Answer Location: Map 10.1 The Five Californias

21. Struggling Californians tend to live on the coast, rather than in inland and rural areas of the state.

Answer Location: Map 10.1 The Five Californias

22. Those at the very top of the human development scale, the “One Percent” Californians, live almost 10 years longer on average than the “Disenfranchised” at the other end of the scale.

Answer Location: Map 10.1 The Five Californias

23. Local governments and public entities and agencies are among the most prolific, active, and influential special interests in Sacramento.

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

24. In “Struggling” and “Disenfranchised” households, youth are likely to be either not in school or unemployed.

Answer Location: Struggling | Disenfranchised

25. “Framing effects” refers to the way attitudes, opinions, and beliefs are affected or shaped by the way public affairs are reported in the press.

Answer Location: News and Media Habits

26. Those who cast ballots generally hold distinctly different views about the proper role of government than those who don’t vote or don’t register to vote.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

27. Working to solve a problem with the neighbors is a good way to start getting involved in politics.

Answer Location: Types of Political Participation

28. Seventy percentage of those who contact their elected California officials are Latino/Hispanic.

Answer Location: Types of Political Participation

29. Legal permanent residents are eligible to vote in California.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

Short Answer

1. Consistently, ______ tend to be overrepresented in California’s electorate, whereas ______ tend to be underrepresented.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

2. To provide lawmakers with the information they may need in order to write or reshape bills, special interest groups hire professional ______ who can provide targeted information, persuasively.

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

3. One of the largest and most influential public employee associations with ties to Democrats in California is ______.

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

4. One of the largest and most influential business associations with ties to Republicans in California is ______.

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

Essay

1. Briefly describe “One Percent” California.

Answer Location: One Percent

2. Briefly describe “Elite Enclave” California.

Answer Location: Elite Enclave

3. Briefly describe “Main Street” California.

Answer Location: Main Street

4. Briefly describe “Struggling” California.

Answer Location: Struggling

5. Briefly describe “Disenfranchised” California?

Answer Location: Disenfranchised

6. What personal characteristics are associated with political participation?

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

7. How are demographic (personal background) variables associated with political participation?

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

8. What kinds of media sources do Californians rely on for political information?

Answer Location: News and Media Habits

9. What are the drawbacks of social networking for political purposes?

Answer Location: News and Media Habits

10. Generally speaking, what kinds of people pay attention to what’s going on in government?

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

11. Describe three forms of political or civic participation other than voting.

Answer Location: Types of Political Participation

12. Why don’t people participate in politics? What variables are associated with nonparticipation?

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

13. Is there any evidence that the people who vote represent fairly those who do not vote?

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

14. What demographic variables or characteristics are associated with not registering to vote?

Answer Location: Predictors of Political Participation and Disengagement

15. Name some of the variables associated with turning out to vote.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

16. What persons over the age of 18 are not allowed to vote in California?

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

17. Briefly explain how age, education level, home ownership, nativity, and income are related to voter turnout rates.

Answer Location: Major Voting Trends

18. What is a special interest group?

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

19. How do large membership organizations such as the CTA (California Teachers Association) try to influence politics?

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government | Box 10.1 The Power of Organized Interests

20. What kinds of special interests are “privileged” in politics, and who loses?

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

21. In what kind of activities do professional lobbyists engage?

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government | Box 10.1 The Power of Organized Interests

22. Why are lobbyists in Sacramento collectively known as “the third house?”

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

23. Name some of the ways in which special interests try to influence politics.

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government

24. Suppose you are a successful homebuilder with many employees, and like other builders, your company will soon face a burdensome new regulation: in order to help keep the air and water clean, construction companies will now be required to capture or minimize the airborne dust and also contaminated run-off from construction projects (such as that created by rains). Like your peers (who are also represented through a strong and well-funded builder’s association), you would like to avoid this costly new requirement. You believe it will cause you to lay off employees to cover these new costs. How might you try to go about trying to undo what has already become law?

Answer Location: Special Interest Groups: Indirectly Connecting Citizens to Government | Box 10.1 The Power of Organized Interests