Political Science 14

1. The single biggest factor accounting for how people decide to vote is

Gender.

Candidate characteristics.

Party identification.

The issues.

2. _______ voting occurs when people use their judgment of the current political situation along with the past performance of the incumbents.

Retrospective

Prospective

Passive

Sentimental

3. _______ voting occurs when people base their voting decisions on well-informed opinions and consideration of the future consequences of their votes.

Factional

Prospective

Retrospective

Partisan

4. Swing voters are

Those who have changed their political party in the past ten years.

People who have not made up their minds at the start of the campaign.

The 50 percent of the electorate who are in play during each election.

Such a miniscule part of the electorate that they can be ignored safely.

5. Those who are LESS likely to vote tend to be

Poor rather than wealthy.

Older rather than younger.

College graduates.

Whites.

6. Citizens' feelings of effectiveness in political affairs is called

Political efficacy.

Good feelings.

System stability.

Legitimacy.

7. Elections perform all of the following functions EXCEPT

Selecting leaders

Decreasing political efficacy.

Informing the public.

Making political outcomes acceptable to the participants

8. Faithless electors, as defined by the text, are electors who

Have a position of trust with the federal government in violation of the Constitution.

Vote their conscience rather than for the candidate they were pledged to support in the Electoral College.

Refuse to pledge support to a candidate before the election.

Neglect to vote for any presidential candidate.

9. A party caucus is a meeting of

Local party members who choose delegates for the national convention.

State politicians who send themselves to the national convention.

Voters to decide which parties make it onto the ballot.

The national party committee to assign delegates to the national convention.

10. Delegates to the national conventions are chosen

In closed meetings of the party leaders.

In primary elections and caucuses.

By the party’s cabinet.

By the party’s presidential candidate.

11. A party's effort to inform potential voters and persuade them to vote for that party is known as

Issue ownership.

Oppo research.

Prompting.

Voter mobilization.

12. Major-party presidential nominations are now determined primarily by

Each party's slate of electors from the Electoral College.

Super Tuesday primaries.

Convention delegates selected in party primaries, caucuses, and state conventions.

The public at large in open primaries.

13. The Constitution dictates that each state has

A minimum of two electors.

An equal number of electors.

One elector for each senator and representative.

A choice over how many electors it will have.

14. _______ determine(s) how delegates are distributed by the primaries.

Party rules

Federal statutes

The Constitution

State statutes

15. When analyzing campaign advertisements, one should ask all of the following questions EXCEPT

Who is running the ad?

Are the accusations relevant to the campaign or office in question?

Is the accusation or attack timely?

How much did the ad cost?

16. Front-loading is the process of

Scheduling presidential primaries earlier in the primary season.

Encouraging one's supporters to vote early on the primary election day.

Biasing the nomination process so that senators go to the front of the line

Presidents declaring their candidacy early to scare off potential opponents.

17. In recent presidential elections, voter turnout has been

Remaining around 30 percent.

Dropping.

Remaining around 20 percent.

Rising.

18. All of the following statements concerning the Electoral College are true EXCEPT

The rules of the Electoral College give all the states importance in presidential elections.

Critics argue that the Electoral College is undemocratic.

All the proposed alternatives have problems or at least serious criticisms.

Critics argue that a close election could be decided by a few faithless electors.

19. What method has increased voter registration?

Registration at one's place of employment

Registration on the Internet

Registration by fingerprint

Motor Voter bills

20. The term "convention bump" refers to

The staged hoopla surrounding a nominee's acceptance speech.

The opinion poll spike that most candidates enjoy immediately after the convention.

Persuading delegates assigned to other candidates to vote for the presumptive nominee.

21. The primary impact of state voter registration laws has been to

Discourage voters from identifying themselves with a party.

Decrease turnout.

Prevent fraud.

Improve voter awareness of elections.

22. Typically the three important tasks of the presidential convention are to pick the presidential candidate,

Raise money, and revise the party's rules.

Send out a positive message about that candidate, and raise money for the nominee's fall general election campaign.

Select the vice presidential candidate, and write the party's platform.

Avoid media attention given to the convention, and line up interest group support.

23. Politicians who are thinking about running for the presidency begin their run by

Testing the waters unofficially.

Announcing their candidacy.

Filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Positioning themselves as a credible prospect with the media.

24. According to the textbook, for candidates the goal of presidential campaigns is to

Convert voters affiliated with the other party.

Persuade their party members to show up at the polls.

Convince undecided and swing voters to support them.

Mobilize their base and entice swing voters to vote for them.

25. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the choice of a vice presidential candidate?

Presidential candidates weigh the choice carefully.

The choice of the vice presidential nominee is up to the presidential nominee.

The choice has not seemed historically to have had significant electoral consequences.

Traditionally the vice presidential candidate is from the same region and wing of the party as the presidential candidate.