Chapter 10 Test Flashcards
1
Q
How many officials make up the House of Representatives?
A
435
2
Q
How long are representatives elected for?
A
2 year term
3
Q
What does the House of Representatives reflect?
A
the size of each states population
4
Q
What is each state divided into?
A
districts
5
Q
What is each district allowed to elect?
A
its own representative
6
Q
What is the leader of the House of representatives called?
A
Speaker of the house
7
Q
How is the speaker of the house elected?
A
by a majority of party members in the house
8
Q
What is the speakers of the houses job?
A
runs the house business
9
Q
What are some of the tasks the speakers leads?
A
sessions, decides who speaks, calls for votes, places members of the house on communities
10
Q
How often is a census taken?
A
every ten years
11
Q
What happened to the house as the states grew?
A
more seats were added
12
Q
What stopped the House from growing?
A
Reapportionment Act of 1929
13
Q
What does at large mean?
A
that people can choose their representative from the whole state
14
Q
How many states have only one district for the whole state?
A
7
15
Q
What is a census?
A
a count of population
16
Q
What is reapportionment?
A
to distribute differently
17
Q
What is an off year election?
A
an election for congress that takes place between presidential election years
18
Q
What is at large mean?
A
describes an election of a candidate by the whole state rather than a single district.
19
Q
What’s Gerrymandering?
A
the drawing of district lines to the advantage of a party or group
20
Q
What supreme court ruling put an end to states drawing boundaries to put votes in certain districts.
A
Westberry vs. Sanders
21
Q
Why is gerrymandering done?
A
to help one party elect a number of representatives
22
Q
What are the qualifications for House members?
A
Must be 25
must be citizens of US for 7 years
must be representatives of the state
23
Q
How much of the senate once served in the house of representatives
A
over a third
24
Q
How many senators did the First federal congress have?
A
26 senators
25
How many senators did each state get?
2
26
How many senators are serving today?
100
27
How many terms do senators serve for?
6 years
28
Why did the framers make the senate smaller?
it would be a more responsible body than the house
29
What do senators represent?
the entire state and need a range of knowledge to serve
30
what issues are senators concerned with?
matters that affect the entire country
31
what topics are senators interested in?
social security, national healthcare, international issues
32
What are the qualifications for senators?
must be 30
must be citizens for 9 years
must be residents of state
33
how many senate members can be elected at any one time?
1 third of the state
34
What is a continuous body?
one in which all the seats are never up for election at the same time.
35
what does expelled mean?
forced to leave
36
how many members of the senate have been expelled?
15
37
Who resigned in 1995?
Senator Bob Packwood
38
How many members are there in all of congress?
535 members
39
what is the average age of house members?
age of 55
40
What is the average age of senators?
age of 60
41
what is true about most members of congress?
They are well educated with college degrees
born ins states they represent
married and have families
more than half are lawyers
42
What have most congress members served as before being elected?
state officials, governors, cabinet members, members of federal agencies
43
What is a bill?
a suggested new law
44
What is a trustee?
a person who is given power to act for others
45
What is a partisan?
a person that votes by the party line
46
What is a politico?
a person that tries to balance being a delegate, trustee, and partisan
47
What is floor consideration?
the consideration of and action on a bill by the full membership of the house or senate
48
Who do senators and representatives work for?
the people who elect them
49
what is the most important job of senators and representatives?
voting
50
What are the four options congress has when casting a vote?
can vote as delegates of the people of their state
can vote as trustees according to personal opinion. can vote as partisans in line with the ideas of their party.
vote as a politico and combine their own views, opinions of people, and parties' views.
51
When can a bill be acted on by the full membership?
only when it is chosen for floor consideration.
52
What's franking privilege?
a benefit for members of Congress to mail letters and other materials for free.
53
who much are members of congress paid each year?
169,300 a year
54
what are some benifits given to members of congress?
travel allowance, low insurance rates, medical care, cannot be questioned in courts.
55
what is the exception to the rule that congress members cannot be questioned in court?
they are not protected if they attack others verbally or in writing. they can be sued for any statement made in public documents.
56
what is the important first step of elections?
nominating candidates
57
what is a nomination?
the naming of those who will run for public office.
58
What is a major function of political parties
nominating candidates
59
where might a general election simply be a formality?
areas where one party is dominant.
60
What are the five ways nominations are made?
the self announcement, caucus, convention, direct primary, petition.
61
what is self announcement?
the method in which a person simply announces an intention to run for public office.
62
what is a general election?
the regularly scheduled election at which voters make a final selection of officeholders.
63
what is a caucus?
a group of people who think alike and meet to select the candidates they will support in an upcoming election.
64
what was a caucus used for tin the 1800s?
nominate candidates for both state and national offices.
65
why did criticism of the caucus arise?
meetings still represented the views of very few people.
66
how are caucuses used today?
make local nominations in some places such as New England.
67
What minor party held the first national convention to nominate a presidential candidate?
Anti- Masons
68
conventions begin at the local level, then county than the state, and then national.
.............
69
what do Democrats and Republican parties hold to nominate candidates at the national level?
large conventions
70
What is a direct primary?
an election within a political party to choose the party candidates for the net election.
71
what is a primary used to select a candidate for?
senate and house of representatives. select a governor.
72
what is a closed primary?
a party's nominating election in which only party members can vote. closed to everyone else.
73
What is an open primary?
a party's nominating election in which any qualified voters can vote.
74
how many states is the open primary used on?
26 states.
75
What is a blanket primary?
a wide-open primary. every voter received the same ballot that listed parties to select candidates.
76
Where is blanket primary used?
Washington, Alaska, California.
77
direct primary
an election within a party to pick that parties candidates for the general election.
78
closed primary
a parties nominating election in which only declared party members can vote
79
open primary
a partys nominating election in which any qualified voter can vote
80
blanket primary
an election in which voters recieve a long ballot containing the names of all contenders, regardless of party, and can vote however they choose.
81
what do those that support closed primaries claim?
they are more fair, they make canidates more responsive to voters, and they require voters to give more thought to there choices.
82
What do those that support open primaries claim?
they protect privacy because voters do not have to declare their party preference choice in public. Independent voters are included in open primaries and are part of the nomination process.
83
how many states use runoff primaries?
8 states
84
what is a nonpartisan election used for?
electing school and city officers
85
runoff primary
a primary in which the top two vote-getters in the first primary face one another.
86
nonpartisan election
elections in which candidates are not identified by party labels.
87
under the convention system, who was in control of the nominating process?
party bosses
88
what are the reasons that have led to a low voter turnout?
voters object to not being about to support candidates in more than one party. the idea that primary is unimportant.
89
what kind of nomination is used at local levels of government?
petition
90
how does petition work??
candidates are nominated by gathering signatures from a certain number of qualified voters in their district.
91
why were election laws passed?
to protect the honesty and quality of elections.
92
how many units of government are at the state and local levels?
89,000
93
when is the date for presidential elections?
tuesday followign the first monday in november of every even numbered year.
94
what is a ballot
a way a voter registers a choice at an election.
95
What did the Help America Vote Act in 2002 do?
replace lever operated and punch card voting systme.s
improve training of local election officials and day workers.
centralize and computerized registration systems
96
when are elections held if they dont happen in November?
in the spring.
97
absentee voting
the process by which people can vote without going to polling places on election day
98
coattail effect
the effect of a strong canidate running for an office at the top of a ballot helping to attract voters to other candidates on the parties ticket.
99
precinct
a voting district
100
polling place
the place where the voters who live in a precinct got to vote.
101
when was absentee voting first allowed?
civil war
102
who were absentee voting meant for?
ill, disabled, or those away from home.
103
how many states have early voting?
2 thirds
104
what is the reverse coattail effect?
when a candidate is not popular then other people from the party will not be elected.
105
what is the smallest area where elections are held?
precinct
106
how many people does a precinct serve?
1,000 people
107
What is a polling place?
the voters who live in the precinct come to cast their votes.
108
What does the precinct board do?
opens and closes the polls according to state law. checks the ballot bo or voting machines. makes sure voters are qualified. counts the votes and sends the results to the proper place.
109
what kind of ballots were used in the mid 1800s
paper ballots
110
Today how are votes cast.
in secret. ballot provided at public expense only at polls.
111
what kind of ballot do we use today
Australian ballot.
112
why did people dislike lever operation?
they sped upvoting but they were costly and difficult to store or move.
113
when were electronic data processing methods first used?
The 1960s
114
What did the passage of the Help America Vote act require
states to stop using punch-card ballots.
115
Whats DREs?
direct responses electronic voting machines.
116
What do supporters of online voting claim?
it will increase voter turnout and reduce costs.
117
how much might a race for the seat of house cost?
1 million
118
How much might a senate campaign cost?
20 million
119
what are campaign funds spent on?
radio, television time, newspaper ads, buttons and posters, mass mailings, web sites, travel.
120
What are some private sources that money might come from in campaigns?
```
small contributors
wealthy people and families
canditates themselves
PACS
temporary organizations.
```
121
What kind of fundraising events might a political party hold?
lucheons, dinners, picnics, and simialr events.
122
Political Action Commitee
the political extension of special intrest groups with a stake in election results.
123
what is the most sucessful way that candidates can raise money
through the internet
124
what is a subsidy?
a grant of money usually given by the government. important at the presidential level.
125
What might people who give large donations be seeking?
appointments to public offices.
126
What did the Federal Election Campaign Act declare?
congress does not have the power to regulate money in state and local elections.
127
Why did COngress set up the FEC?
to administer all federal law concernign campaign finance.
128
What four areas do the laws by FEC cover?
disclosure of campaign fincance info
limits on camping contributions
limits on federal campaign spending
public funds for presidential campaigns
129
How much money can a person give a candidate in the election?
2,300
130
How much money can a person give to a PAC?
5,000
131
how much money can a PAC give to a single candidate?
5,000
132
When did the Presidential Election Campaign fund begin?
1971 with the Revenue Act.
133
Hard money
campaign money is given directly to candidates and subject to FEC regulations
134
Soft money
money was given to parties or other political organization in unlimited amounts
