Test Questions & Answers Political Communication Chapter 6

Chapter Six “Political Communication: Mediated Constructions”

Multiple-Choice Questions

Mark all answers that apply for each question. The correct answers are shown in bold type.

1. Authors Morley Winograd and Michael Hais argued that the Millennials (voters born after 1993) will change the face of politics through:

_____ A. A third-party system.

_____ B. Interactive media.

_____ C. Reactive politics.

_____ D. Agitation and propaganda.

1. The Baby Boomer generation has had a debilitating effect on politics through:

_____ A. The culture wars of the 1960s.

_____ B. Drug and alcohol dependence.

_____ C. Ideological movements.

_____ D. Social Security claims.

1. Which of the following candidates emerged as a rock star of mass media?

_____ A. Hillary Clinton.

_____ B. William Clinton.

_____ C. Reverend Jesse Jackson.

_____ D. Barack Obama.

1. Political communication includes which of the following forms of rhetoric?

_____ A. Deliberative.

_____ B. Presidential.

_____ C. Campaign.

_____ D. Visual.

1. According to Aristotle, political communication is a combination of which of the following?

_____ A. Military training and statesmanship.

_____ B. Public speaking and political science.

_____ C. Philosophy and history.

_____ D. Medicine and science.

1. The Athenians combined the word for politician and orator, which became:

_____ A. Sophist.

_____ B. Philosopher king.

_____ C. Rhetor.

_____ D. Senator.

1. The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held in which city where billy club–wielding cops confronted masses of antiwar protesters?

_____ A. Boston.

_____ B. San Francisco.

_____ C. New York.

_____ D. Chicago.

1. The Watergate break-in at the Democratic Headquarters became a national scandal when two journalists broke the story. They were:

_____ A. Dan Rather and Robert Novak.

_____ B. Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

_____ C. Robert Huntley and David Brinkley.

_____ D. Geraldo Rivera and Brit Hume.

1. Kathleen Hall Jamieson wrote that political ads enabled candidates to do which of the following?

_____ A. Build name recognition.

_____ B. Raise funds.

_____ C. Frame central questions.

_____ D. Attack opponent’s flaws.

1. Political campaigns have some similarity to commercial product campaigns, but there are differences too. Which of the following points apply to political and not product campaigns?

_____ A. Shorter time frame.

_____ B. Both verbal and nonverbal messages.

_____ C. A person is sponsored.

_____ D. Promotes positions to audiences.

1. J. Anthony Blair analyzed which form of visual persuasion to demonstrate the precarious position of Czechoslovakia (sic) during World War II?

_____ A. A photograph.

_____ B. A cartoon.

_____ C. A sculpture.

_____ D. A portrait.

1. According to J. Anthony Blair, a visual that tells a story or makes a point is a:

_____ A. Cinematic wonder.

_____ B. Convention.

_____ C. Didactic narrative.

_____ D. Symbolic challenge.

1. The Daisy Girl ad was a powerful visual ad in 1964 that torpedoed the presidential campaign of:

_____ A. Barry Goldwater.

_____ B. Lyndon Baines Johnson.

_____ C. Robert Dole.

_____ D. Robert Kennedy.

1. The first televised presidential debates were held between which two candidates?

_____ A. Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Baines Johnson.

_____ B. Dwight David Eisenhower and Adalai Stevenson.

_____ C. Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

_____ D. Richard M. Nixon and Robert Kennedy.

1. Howard Dean, unsuccessful democratic presidential candidate in 2004, was the first to successfully exploit the power of which one of these in his campaign?

_____ A. The Facebook site.

_____ B. Independent voters.

_____ C. The Internet.

_____ D. The angry voters from 2000.

1. Which of the following 2008 presidential candidates implemented a technology plan that won the geeks or technologists to his or her side?

_____ A. Hillary Clinton.

_____ B. Mitt Romney.

_____ C. John McCain.

_____ D. Barack Obama.

1. The Q score is Hollywood’s measure of a celebrity or candidate’s:

_____ A. Gay supporters.

_____ B. Quality control with news management.

_____ C. Audience familiarity and favorability.

_____ D. Quota with minorities.

1. An advertisement or video that spreads quickly across the Internet is called:

_____ A. Quixotic.

_____ B. Inflammatory.

_____ C. Viral.

_____ D. Overexposed.

1. Comedic images of candidates have become routine in campaigns. Which of the following was presented as a flip-flopper in a wind-surfing ad in 2004?

_____ A. Rick Santorum.

_____ B. Robert Casey.

_____ C. John Kerry.

_____ D. George W. Bush.

1. Convention videos of the candidates have become a standard for both parties. Ronald Reagan’s film brought tears to the eyes of his opponent’s staff. Morreale said it used:

_____ A. Reagan’s acting skills.

_____ B. Rebirth rhetoric and myth.

_____ C. The Pepsi Generation.

_____ D. Law and order appeals.

1. In the book The Interplay of Influence, Jamieson and Campbell identified which mass medium as still the most influential one in politics?

_____ A. Internet.

_____ B. Television.

_____ C. Newspapers.

_____ D. Magazines.

1. Theodore O. Windt wrote that each president creates an image or central theme that characterizes his administration. Which of the following qualify as such a vision?

_____A. The New Frontier.

_____B. The Great Society.

_____ C. No Child Left Behind.

_____ D. A Change We Can Believe In.

1. Windt identified and described three forms of ideological rhetoric. They are:

_____ A. Consciousness-raising rhetoric.

_____ B. Free-enterprise rhetoric.

_____ C. Revolutionary rhetoric.

_____ D. Lamentation.

1. Jurgen Habermas wrote of deliberative address, and he placed two groups at the center of the political system. Which one answer identifies these two groups?

_____ A. Intellectuals and publishers.

_____ B. Politicians and mass media.

_____ C. Experts and entrepreneurs.

_____ D. Lobbyists and regulators.

1. The ideal relationship between government and mass media is best described as:

_____ A. Symbiotic.

_____ B. Quid pro quo.

_____ C. Adversarial.

_____ D. Secretive.

1. When we refer to mass media as “the watchdog of the people,” we are referring to which function?

_____ A. Interpretation.

_____ B. Surveillance.

_____ C. Linkage.

_____ D. Entertainment.

1. Bernard Goldberg, a CBS journalist for 28 years, wrote about major problems, which are:

_____ A. Omerta.

_____ B. Bias.

_____ C. Elitism.

_____ D. Profit.

1. The Tower of Babel myth involves an explanation for:

_____ A. Expulsion from paradise.

_____ B. Temptation.

_____ C. Foreign tongues.

_____ D. Life after death.

29. Agenda setting reflects the media’s power to achieve which of the following?

_____ A. Raise issues to the plane of discussion.

_____ B. Ignore some subjects and promote others.

_____ C. Keep citizens informed.

_____ D. Serve as a watchdog for the people.

or Questions

1. Scholars believe that a political paradigm shift is occurring, with generational experiences becoming more influential as a source of influence.
2. Interactive media establishes networks that bypass traditional media sources in politics.
3. Baby Boomers include those born after 1993 and savvy about media use.
4. The YouTube Obama Girl who sang Crush on Obama is an example of a viral video.
5. Tony Schwartz created the Daisy Girl political ad in 1964 that many claim ended Barry Goldwater’s campaign based on Schwartz’s resonance model of communication.
6. The tradition of deliberative address was not part of the Athenian Assembly.
7. The First Amendment gives citizens the right to bear arms in the United States.
8. The Tower of Babel myth is about tribes divided by language.
9. The Watergate break-in and political scandal involved President Lyndon B. Johnson.
10. Political campaigns increasingly focus on impression management and images as much as they do verbal scripts.
11. Visual images cannot make arguments or claims, according to J. Anthony Blair.
12. Visual elements are more significant rhetorically than logically and can present a didactic narrative.
13. The Daisy Girl political advertisement reassured viewers that they were secure from the Cold War of the 1960s.
14. Schwartz believed effective political ads evoked something already in audiences.
15. The first televised presidential debate was between Richard M. Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson.
16. Howard Dean, presidential candidate in 2004, relied upon the Internet to network his campaign.
17. The 2004 presidential campaign embraced the language of Web politics, but Obama’s 2008 campaign would surpass all efforts from the past.
18. The Republican Party has outstripped the Democrats with new technology in campaigns.
19. Entertainment shows have become fertile territory for politicians to get exposure.
20. JibJab Media created a humorous video that satirized G. W. Bush and John F. Kerry, but it was not influential in the campaign.
21. Political conventions use visual rhetoric to sell their candidates.
22. Ronald Reagan was called the Teflon president.
23. Reagan’s convention film used the rhetorical myth of a rebirth of America.
24. Presidential campaigns avoid personal promotions and focus upon party platforms.
25. The Internet allows candidates to communicate directly with the people and to quickly tailor messages.
26. The Interplay of Influence that Jamieson and Campbell described in their book shows that all communication is reciprocal, with meaning shared between the source and receivers.
27. Hard news has suffered from the process of personalization, with sound bites driving campaigns.
28. Presidential rhetoric examines the communication of the chief executive to create a vision and frame arguments for their policies.
29. Theodore Windt wrote that psychoanalysis has no place in the study of presidential rhetoric.
30. It is through persuasion that leaders seek to gain support and consent of the governed.
31. Jurgen Habermas believed that mass media was doing a good job of reporting on the G. W. Bush administration.
32. Habermas’s “moral entrepreneurs” call attention to neglected issues.
33. The adversarial relationship between government and the press does not serve the surveillance function of media.
34. Habermas said the role of a vigorous press has been displaced by entertainment modes and content.
35. The “fourth estate” is the political name for lobbyists.
36. Instrumental surveillance transmits information that is useful in everyday life like the stock market, products, or fashion news.
37. Bernard Goldberg applauds the media for being objective and balanced.
38. Goldberg said omerta is the sacred code of silence that gangsters and journalists live and die to uphold.
39. According to Laura Ingraham, cultural elites uphold American values, traditions, and ideology.
40. Political communication is deliberative communication that addresses policies, candidates, and ways and means.

Essay Questions

Answer all parts of each question and be specific, offering examples or other evidence to support your answers.

1. Explain how Winograd and Hais believed the Millennials would change politics.
2. Explain Aristotle’s five subjects addressed by political communication.
3. Discuss the first televised presidential debate in 1960 and include who the candidates were, how this changed campaigns, and the audience’s response.
4. Explain the Tower of Babel myth and why Kenneth Burke said this made rhetoric necessary.
5. Explain the characteristics of political campaigns. Use examples to support your answer.
6. Define visual rhetoric and explain how the last presidential campaign used visuals to persuade voters. Be specific.
7. Explain why the Daisy Girl ad was so powerful in the 1964 campaign.
8. Explain the impact the Internet had on the 2008 campaign and Barack Obama’s election.
9. Explain the use of visual rhetoric in political conventions through the use of biographical videos.
10. According to Kathleen Jamieson, political communication has focused upon personalization of news and sound bites. What effect has this had upon political campaigns?
11. Theodore Windt stated that presidents create a vision that lives on after their demise. Explain one president’s vision and how it was made a reality.
12. Jurgen Habermas identified certain conditions that seemed to obstruct the ideal of deliberation that threatened democracies. Explain Habermas’s views on media and politics.
13. Explain media’s agenda-setting function.
14. Explain how entertainment shows like the Daily Show and others have become so influential in political campaigns. Give examples to support your answer.
15. Explain Bernard Goldberg’s view of mass media and how bias has diminished credibility in media reporting and broadcasts.