Chapter7, 8, 9 and 10 Test
Chapter 7–The Media
Multiple Choice: Please select the best answer.
1) The first president to manipulate media politics with many press conferences and fireside chats successfully was
A) Ronald Reagan.
B) Abraham Lincoln.
C) Lyndon Johnson.
D) Franklin Roosevelt.
E) John F. Kennedy.
2) The cozy relationship between politicians and the press in the twentieth century lasted until
A) World War II.
B) the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt's Presidency.
C) the Vietnam War and Watergate.
D) the commercialization of television.
E) the Iranian Hostage Crisis.
3) Newspaper magnates Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst tried to outdo one another in sensational reporting of wars, violence, corruption, and gossip around the turn of the twentieth century in what is now remembered as the era of
A) tabloid journalism.
B) scandalism.
C) yellow journalism.
D) hyperjournalism.
E) investigative journalism.
4) The bottom line that shapes how journalists define the news, where they get the news, and how they present it is
A) a code of ethics shared by journalists.
B) their personal political values.
C) the First Amendment right to freedom of the press.
D) government regulations.
E) profits.
5) A 1992 survey of 1,400 journalists found that, compared with the general public, journalists were twice as likely to consider themselves
A) Republicans.
B) radicals.
C) conservatives.
D) liberals.
E) policy entrepreneurs.
6) Critics of the "minimal effects hypothesis" about the media's effect on public opinion point to the media's role in
A) whether people choose to vote.
B) concealing problems that exist by ignoring them.
C) political socialization.
D) how voters cast their ballots.
E) shaping what priority Americans attach to problems.
7) The policy agenda is
A) a linkage institution between people and government.
B) a list of priorities to which government officials address their time and energies.
C) a set of issues or problems that the public considers important.
D) a schedule of bills before Congress.
E) all of the above
Chapter 8 - Political Parties
8) A political party is
A) a narrow interest group seeking advantage through elections.
B) a group of people who agree on everything and organize annually to win elections.
C) less interested in winning elections than in particular public policy.
D) a group of people who generally agree on issues and seek to nominate candidates, and win elections.
E) more interested in lobbying members of Congress than in winning elections.
9) A person who receives the party'sendorsement to officially run for office as the candidate of that party is called
A) a confirmee.
B) a nominee.
C) a divorcee.
D) an appointee.
E) an endorsee.
10) Major political parties perform all of the following tasks EXCEPT
A) coordinate policymaking.
B) assist in running campaigns.
C) advocate public policies.
D) give cues to voters.
E) enforce rigid adherence to narrow policy positions.
11) American political parties tend to take middle-of-the-road stands on major issues,
A) in their attempt to appeal to floating moderate voters.
B) for state and local elections, but not for national elections.
C) because most of the American voters are conservatives.
D) in spite of evidence indicating that more extreme positions generate more excitement and likelihood for electoral victory.
12) Ticket-splitting is best understood as
A) voting with one party for one office and another party for other offices.
B) staying with the same party in an election, voting down the party's line for every race.
C) a tactic used to commit voter fraud, which enables a voter to cast multiple ballots.
D) voting for Republican candidates for President and Congress.
E) when voters increasingly identify with a minor party.
13) During most of the past 40 years, the trends in party identification in the United States have revealed
A) a decline of both parties and a rise in independence.
B) an increase in party loyalty.
C) a sharp rise in the number of people identifying with minor parties.
D) that voters increasingly identify with one or the other political party.
E) an increase in both parties of strong party identification among the electorate.
14) Historically, a party machine is a kind of local party organization that
A) threatens the efficiency of state and national party organizations.
B) has recently come to depend heavily on ethnic group support.
C) remains strong in most large American cities.
D) uses specific and material inducements to win party loyalty and power—was mostly a phenomena of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
15) Power in the two major U.S. political parties is at its height during
A) Off year elections of local and state officials.
B) Presidential primaries, conventions, and general election years.
C) Midterm election years.
16) According to the Responsible Party Model, voters and coalitions of voters are attracted to different parties largely by
A) the charisma of their candidates.
B) selective perception.
C) tradition.
D) clear statements by the parties of their policy positions.
17) The Depression of the 1930s and the critical election of 1932 gave rise to what is called
A) econo-politics.
B) the Republican resurgence.
C) the New Deal coalition.
D) the Era of Divided Government.
E) party competition.
18) One of the third parties you may have investigated on the web would have been the Prohibition Party. This political party is an example of a
A) single issue party.
B) ideological party.
C) a bolter or splinter party.
D) a multi-party.
19) In reference to the 2000 Presidential election, which of the following roles does the cartoon suggest that the Green Party candidate played
A) a safety valve for citizens to vent political frustrations besides the two major parties.
B) splitting the vote, and playing a spoiler role elections.
C) generating new ideas that the two major political parties will adopt.
20) All of the following serve as barriers to third party success in our nation except,
A) Signature requirement laws for gaining ballot access.
B) Single member district system of congressional representation.
C) Winner take all elections.
D)Plurality single member district winners as opposed to a proportional system.
E) Lack of internet access for third parties.
21) Which of the following groups was NOT part of the New Deal coalition?
A) wealthy New Englanders
B) members of labor unions
C) Catholics and Jews
D) Southerners
E) African Americans
22) The McGovern Frasier Commission of 1968 resulted in all of the following except,
A) More women delegates in the Democrats presidential nominee selection process.
B) More minority delegates in the Democrats presidential nominee selection process.
C) The selection of more liberal Democratic nominees for president from 1972-1988.
D) The Democrats consistently winning the presidency from 1972-1988.
23) All of the following could be used as evidence to point to a decline in the strength of political parties except,
A) An increase in the number of times we have had divided government in the last 30 years.
B) An increase in the percentage of split ticket voters.
C) The fact that the Republican and Democratic National Committees raise more campaign money than ever.
D) The increase in the number of people claiming to be independents.
E) The rise in the candidate centered campaign (i.e. Barack Obama).
24) After the Election of 2008, which political party is taking a close look at the choices it must make for its party?
A) Republican Party
B) Democratic Party
Chapter 9-Campaigns and Elections
25) The Democratic and Republican candidates for President are formally nominated by the
A) electoral college.
B) Presidential primaries.
C) national party conventions.
D) national committees.
E) Presidential caucuses.
26) Which of the following is the correct order of campaign finance reform
A) Nixon's expensive election of 1968, Campaign Finance Reform Act, Growth of PACS and soft money, McCain-Feingold Act.
B) McCain-Feingold Act, Campaign Finance Reform Act, Growth of PACs and soft money, Nixon’s expensive election of 1968.
C) Growth of PACs and soft money, Campaign Finance Reform Act , McCain-Feingold Act, Nixon’s expensive election of 1968.
D) Campaign Finance Reform Act, Nixon’s expensive election of 1968, Growth of PACs and soft money, McCain-Feingold Act
27) Which of the following is NOTa criticism of the current system of Presidential primaries and caucuses?
A) Money plays too big a role, and many candidates drop out early before most states have held their primary or caucus.
B) The media do not have enough of a role in this process.
C) Too much attention is paid to the early ones.
D) Participation in primaries and caucuses is low and unrepresentative.
E) Prominent officeholders find it difficult to take time out from their current duties to run.
28) Iowa and New Hampshire have been especially important in the nomination process over the past several decades because they help candidates to
A) generate money.
B) build momentum.
C) generate media attention.
D) all of the above
29) Proponents of a national primary argue that it would do each of the following EXCEPT
A) bring directness and simplicity to the nomination process.
B) lengthen the time of the campaign.
C) increase political interest in the process and public understanding of the issues.
D) concentrate media coverage.
E) no longer allow votes in one state to have more political impact than votes in another.
30) The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974
A) required broadcasters to provide free air time to each major candidate for federal office.
B) removed spending limits from Presidential campaigns.
C) provided public financing for Senate and House races.
D) ended public financing for Presidential campaigns.
E) placed limits on contributions, and required candidates for federal office to disclose all contributions made to their campaigns.
31) In the 1976 case of Buckley v. Valeo the Supreme Court ruled that
A) the limitation on the amount of money persons could contribute to their own election campaigns violated free speech, and was unconstitutional.
B) the limitation on the amount of money people could contribute to their own election campaigns was not a violation of free speech, and was constitutional.
C) Congressional and state legislative districts must be of equal population and reapportioned every ten years.
D) Presidential election campaigns could not be paid for by tax dollars.
E) the forced disclosure of contributions to federal elections violated freedom of association, and was therefore unconstitutional.
32) Soft money is
A) money donated to parties for get out the vote purposes and issue advertisement campaigns.
B) money donated by a person to his or her own campaign.
C) cash contributions that are not traceable and in some situations illegal.
D) money loaned to a campaign, but expected to be paid back.
E) small donations that, while important to a campaign, are not as important as larger contributions.
33) The main concern with the rising number of PACS since the 1970s is that
A) PACs are not regulated.
B) PACs are too weak and ineffective to contribute to a strong democracy.
C) they tend to support only Republican candidates.
D) they can contribute an unlimited amount of money to candidates.
E) PACs are buying influence over elected officials that they have donated money to.
34) Which of the following have/has been found to be most successfully affected by campaigns?
A) reinforcement, activation, and conversion
B) reinforcement and activation
C) reinforcement and conversion
D) conversion
E) activation and conversion
35) “Selective perception”refers to the idea that voters
A) keep a fairly open mind regarding the candidates during the election campaign, and choose based on rational analysis.
B) pay most attention to things they already agree with, and interpret events according to their own predispositions.
C) are susceptible to having their minds changed fairly easily by effective campaigns.
D) are skeptical of all candidates and view all campaigning as suspect.
E) make rational choices about the purposive benefits to themselves of voting for a particular candidate.
36) Today, most delegates chosen to attend each major party's national convention are chosen by
A) closed presidential primaries.
B) a lottery system.
C) open presidential primaries.
D) state party chairpersons prior to any caucus or presidential primary.
E) state presidential caucuses.
37) In achieving "momentum," nothing helps a presidential candidate more than
A) winning where a win was expected.
B) early unexpected primary and caucus victories, or finishing better than expected.
C) closing the gap in the last stages of the campaign.
D) a unanimous vote at the national nominating convention.
E) strong competition.
38) Voters in Presidential primaries and caucuses tend to be
A) very similar to the rest of the U.S. population in terms of education and income.
B) far less educated and much poorer on average than the U.S. population as a whole.
C) more educated and more affluent than the U.S. population as a whole.
D) somewhat less educated and somewhat poorer on average than the U.S. population as a whole.
E) minorities and notably younger than the general population.
Chapter 10 - Voting
39) Initially following the extension of the voting rights to women, and later 18 year olds,
A) voter turnout has increased proportionately.
B) the scope of American government has shrunk.
C) voter turnout has actually remained about the same.
D) the voter turnout percentage decreased.
E) the number of candidates running for office has increased.
40) The greater one's sense of political efficacy, the
A) more likely one is to identity as an independent.
B) more likely one is to vote.
C) less likely one is to view the election process in the United States as legitimate.
D) less likely one is to vote.
E) greater one's chance of being defeated in an election.
41) The impact of the Motor Voter Act of 1993 was evidenced in
A) lower registration and higher turnout in 1996 and 2000.
B) higher registration and higher turnout in 1996 and 2000.
C) higher registration and lower turnout in 1996 and 2000.
D) no changes in either registration or turnout in 1996 and 2000.
E) hard to say, more people have registered but the jury is still out on the impact on actual voting
42) Statistically, which of the following characteristics would make one more likely to vote in an election?
A) having a low income
B) being single
C) being a young adult
D) having a college degree and a job in the business world
E) being a college student
43) All of the following were barriers created to prevent African Americans from voting except
A) 15th Amendment.
B) literacy tests.
C) poll taxes.
D) white primaries.
E) the grandfather clause.
44) The mandate theory of elections is the idea that
A) a candidate must get at least 60 percent of the vote to win.
B) a candidate must get a majority of the votes cast (50 percent plus one) in order to take office.
C) in order to improve turnout rates in the United States, voting must be made a legal requirement of all citizens, with the failure to vote resulting in a small fine.
D) party identification determines how people vote.
E) the election winner has authorization from the voters to carry out his or her promised policies.
45) Over the last five decades, voting based primarily on party identification has
A) stayed almost exactly the same.
B) doubled
C) declined but is still the number 1 influence.
D) increased.
E) completely disappeared.
46) Which is NOT true regarding the Electoral College?
A) Maine and Nebraska do not use the "winner-take-all" system.
B) Whoever wins the most votes in the Electoral College wins, even if the total does not reach 270.
C) Electors are not real people and do not actually vote.
D) There are a total of 538 Electoral College votes.
E) Some states allow (though seldom practiced) electors to vote for whomever they want, regardless of how their state's voters voted.
47) The Electoral College was originally established in order to
A) provide direct election of the President by the people, although its operation has had the opposite effect.
B) give the nation's elite the power to choose the President and Vice President rather than ignorant masses.
C) merely certify the results of the people's choice for President and Vice President.
D) give legitimacy to the presidency, which was regarded suspiciously by most people as another potential monarchy.
E) insure high voter turnouts in elections throughout the country.
48. Concerning the Electoral College system, which of the following numbers is incorrectly matched to its description?
[A] 538 - total number of electoral votes.
[B] 270- number of votes needed to win the election.
[C] 3 – number of electoral votes for WashingtonDC.
[D] 11- number of electoral votes for Virginia.
49) As provided in the Constitution, how are electoral votes allocated for each state?
A) Each state has as many electoral votes as it has members in the House of Representatives.
B) Each state is proportioned to their population, with all states having at least one vote.
C) Each state has as many electoral votes as it has members in the Senate.
D) Each state casts two electoral votes.
E) Each state has as many electoral votes as it has members in the House and add 2…1 for each Senator.
50. Place the following in the correct order
[A] General election, Presidential Primaries, National Convention, Formal Announcement
[B] Formal Announcement, Presidential Primaries, National Convention, General Election
[C] National Convention, Formal Announcement, Presidential Primaries, General Election
[D] Presidential Primaries, National Convention, Formal Announcement, General Election
51. During the last two decades, states have been moving their primaries and caucuses to earlier dates to gain attention from the media and the candidates. This phenomenon is called
[A] front-loading.
[B] the horse race.
[C] a silent primary.
[D] a first-past-the-post election.
52. McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform or the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act focuses on which of the following
[A] eliminating soft money contributions.
[B] eliminating hard money donations.
[C] encouraging issue advertisements prior to the election.
[D] eliminating all regulations on campaign finance.
53) In examining historical campaign commercials, which of the following used fear as the message?
A) I like Ike, You like Ike, Everybody likes Ike…
B) Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy…
C) Nixon Now.
D) The Daisy Girl.
E) Who will do more for me next year?
54) According to our examination of the CNN Exit Polls, which of the following generalizations was most questionable?
A) African Americans vote Democrat.