Voting And Political Participation In + Exam Questions Ch.7

Chapter 7

Voting and Political Participation in Texas

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. According to a recent survey, which of the following types of political participation is most common?
   1. Political activity in the context of a social networking site
   2. signed a paper petition
   3. worked with others to solve a community problem
   4. contributed money to a political candidate or party

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. According to a recent survey, which of the following types of political participation is least common?

a. attended a political rally or speech

b. volunteered for a political candidate

c. sent a letter to the editor of a local publication

d. contributed money to a political candidate or party

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. An individual who is an active voter but avoids the combat and controversy of partisan campaigns is which type of political activist?

a. communalist

b. campaigner

c. parochial participant

d. voting specialist

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. People who only become involved in politics when they think the issue has a direct effect on them are considered to be:
   1. Voting specialists
   2. Parochial participants
   3. Campaigners
   4. Communalists

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. John is upset that the power company is planning to build several wind turbines on the property next to his home. He writes letters to his elected representative and the local newspaper, voicing his displeasure with the project. According to Verba and Nie, what type of political participation is John demonstrating?

a. communalist

b. campaigner

c. parochial participant

d. voting specialist

Critical Application

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. In Verba and Nie’s typology of political participation, which category contains the highest percentage of the population?

a. complete activists

b. parochial participants

c. inactives

d. campaigners

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 3

Text Answer Hint: Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. The U.S. Constitution stipulates that the right to vote cannot be denied for the all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
   1. Race
   2. Criminal record
   3. Sex
   4. Failure to pay a poll tax
2. What is the voter participation measure used most often by political scientists?

a. percentage of registered voters

b. percentage of voting-age U.S. citizen population

c. percentage of voting-eligible population

d. percentage of voting-age population

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding “same-day” voter registration?

a. It leads to a higher rate of voter fraud.

b. It promotes higher voter turnout.

c. In states with large minority communities, it fosters lower voter turnout.

d. It was first tried in North Dakota.

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. In order to vote in Texas, a person must:
   1. Register online
   2. Just show up at the polling place on election day
   3. Register 30 days in advance of an election
   4. Have a Texas driver’s license

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Of the following, which are NOT considered part of the voting population using VAP?

a. noncitizens

b. convicted felons

c. citizens

d. minors

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the three measures for voter turnout consistently shows the higher figures?

a. percentage of registered voters who voted

b. percentage of VEP who voted

c. percentage of VAP who voted

d. They are all roughly equal.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the three measures for voter turnout consistently shows the lower figures?

a. percentage of registered voters who voted

b. percentage of VEP who voted

c. percentage of VAP who voted

d. They are all roughly equal.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. How does Texas compare to the rest of the country in terms of percentage of eligible voters who actually vote?

a. well above average

b. a bit above average

c. about average

d. below average

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Voter turnout rates in Texas are:
   1. Below the national average and lower than most other state rates
   2. Below the national average but still higher than most other state rates
   3. Above the national average and higher than most other state rates
   4. About the same as the national average and about equal to most other state rates

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Among the voters below, who is LEAST likely to vote
   1. Angie Smith, a 20 year old college student waiting tables at the local café
   2. Devin Villarreal, a 42 year old assistant manager at a car dealership
   3. Eric Smith, a 21 high school drop out working at McDonalds
   4. Arnold Jackson, a 50 year old CPA working at a local accounting firm

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Voter Turnout in Texas

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. What is the impact of Texas political culture on political participation?

a. It strongly encourages political participation.

b. It moderately encourages political participation.

c. It has no significant effect on political participation.

d. It discourages political participation.

Critical Thinking: Analysis

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the following types of Texans would be most likely to vote?
   1. A Hispanic
   2. A 20 year-old
   3. A person with a Ph.D.
   4. A person making minimum wage

Critical Thinking: Analysis

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. In Texas, how long prior to an election must you register in order to be eligible to vote?

a. 0 days (same day registration)

b. 10 days

c. 15 days

d. 30 days

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. In Texas, you cannot vote if:
   1. You do not pay the poll tax
   2. You have not completed your annual registration
   3. You have not been a citizen for at least 7 years
   4. You are in prison for committing a felony

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. The expansion of political participation in the southern U.S. states has come about largely because of

a. suffrage movements of the early twentieth century.

b. federal government intervention.

c. the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

d. the civil rights movement.

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. If the post office in Texas is unable to deliver a voter registration card, it will be returned to the voter registrar, and

a. it will be sent to the polling station on election day for the voter to pick up.

b. the voter registrar will attempt to find a forwarding address and re-send the card if one is found.

c. the county sheriff will be notified to investigate possible voter fraud.

d. the voter will need to re-register in order to vote in future elections.

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Why was Texas’s 2011 voter ID law rejected by the U.S. Justice Department?

a. because of the authority granted in Section 5 of the Federal Voting Rights Act

b. because the data Texas provided demonstrated minorities would be adversely affected

c. because of the legacy of restricted access to the ballot

d. because new data generated by the federal government demonstrated minorities would be adversely affected

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. The National Voter Registration Act is also known as the

a. Vehicles and Votes Act.

b. Rapid Registration Act.

c. Motor Voter Act.

d. CARS Act.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Given your understanding of voter turnout, which district do you suspect will have the lowest turnout
   1. An incumbent Republican state legislator running unopposed in primary
   2. An incumbent Republican state legislator being in the primary
   3. An incumbent Democrat state legislator running unopposed in the primary
   4. An open seat with a Democrat and Republican vying for the seat in the respective primaries

Critical Thinking: Application

Difficulty: 3

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. The state of Texas’s history of restricting access to voting is very much in keeping with its

a. individualistic political culture.

b. moralistic political culture.

c. states rights political culture.

d. traditionalistic political culture.

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which group was the primary target of the poll tax?

a. individuals who did not own property

b. itinerant farm workers

c. low-income white farmers

d. poor Democrats

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. In what decade was the poll tax abolished in Texas?

a. 1890s

b. 1920s

c. 1940s

d. 1960s

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. The annual registration system for Texas voters

a. was abolished at the same time as the poll tax.

b. applied only to racial minorities.

c. was replaced by a permanent registration system.

d. only applied to white primaries.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which group was the primary supporter of the white primary in Texas?

a. the Republican Party

b. the Democratic Party

c. African American organizations

d. the Ku Klux Klan

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. The Supreme Court’s 1944 Smith v. Allwright decision

a. outlawed white primaries.

b. upheld property qualifications for bond elections.

c. required Texas schools to desegregate.

d. held that poll taxes were constitutional.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which group had the highest turnout rate in Texas in the 2012 presidential election?

a. African American

b. white

c. Asian American

d. Hispanic

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which group had the lowest turnout rate in Texas in the 2012 presidential election?

a. African American

b. white

c. Asian American

d. Hispanic

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which state does NOT limit the voting rights of persons convicted of a felony?

a. West Virginia

b. Mississippi

c. Vermont

d. Texas

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the following helps increase voter turnout in an election?

a. party competition

b. closeness of the election

c. party competition in a district

d. All these answers are correct.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the following elections would typically have a higher voter turnout?

a. general election

b. primary election

c. local election

d. off-year election

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. The Texas Constitution allows cities and school boards to cancel elections if

a. three-quarters of the races are uncontested.

b. all the races are uncontested.

c. there is a budget shortfall that will impact services if the election is held.

d. the city was chartered as a general rule city.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the following is rationalist reason for not voting?
   1. “I forgot to register in time.”
   2. “I was out of state on election day.”
   3. “There’s no chance my single vote will decide the election.”
   4. “I didn’t feel like it.”

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the following represents a rationalist’s explanation for not voting in a local election
   1. The person running for office is not appealing
   2. Getting to the polls is the duty of being a citizen
   3. There isn’t really a difference in candidates
   4. Their vote isn’t going to be that critical in deciding the outcome

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. Which of the following is a rational reason for why some people choose not to vote?

a. satisfaction with the status quo

b. the so-called paradox of voting

c. “good citizen” syndrome

d. All these answers are correct.

Critical Thinking: Comprehension

Difficulty: 2

Text Answer Hint: Explaining Voter Turnout

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. What is the most common form of political participation?

a. signing a petition

b. attending a rally

c. financial contributions

d. voting

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Other Forms of Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. In a recent survey of Texas adults, approximately ________ of respondents reported encouraging others to vote for a particular candidate.

a. one-quarter

b. half

c. three-quarters

d. None of these answers is correct.

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Other Forms of Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

1. With the growth of the Internet, what has become one of the easiest ways to participate in politics?

a. voting

b. attending rallies

c. making financial contributions

d. signing paper petitions

Critical Thinking: Knowledge

Difficulty: 1

Text Answer Hint: Other Forms of Political Participation

Topic: Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Texas Standards: Texas LO-6. Analyze the state and local election process.

ESSAY

1. Define the voter participation measurement known as voting-age population, and discuss the errors inherent in this measurement.
2. Define and contrast registered voters, voting-age population, and voting-eligible population.
3. Discuss Texas’s legacy of restricted ballot access. Does Texas continue to restrict the ballot today? Defend your position.
4. What are the current laws in Texas that define what a person needs to do to register to vote and then actually vote on Election Day?
5. How did Texas act throughout its history to restrict the voting rights of poor people and minorities? How were these practices finally ended?
6. List the characteristics of a citizen who is more likely to vote than others in Texas, and discuss why this person would be more likely to vote.
7. What factors explain why Hispanics vote in relatively low proportions in Texas?
8. Argue for or against allowing convicted felons to vote. How does Texas address the issue of voting and convicted felons?
9. Why is voter turnout typically quite low for local elections?
10. Discuss forms of political participation other than voting. Does one stand out as being more important than the others? Explain.