Chapter 9 Quiz

Question 1

527 groups

Answer 1

Their main purpose is to influence elections, either by supporting or opposing candidates, policies, or political parties. These groups are not directly connected to political campaigns, but they can spend money on activities like ads, voter mobilization, or issue advocacy.

Section 527 of the tax code specifies that contributions to such groups must be reported to the IRS.

Question 2

501 c groups

Answer 2

Groups that are exempted from reporting their contributions

and can receive unlimited contributions.

Section 501(c) of the tax code specifies that such groups cannot spend more than half their funds on political activities.

Question 3

Citizens United VS FEC

Answer 3

A 2010 landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions could donate unlimited amounts of money to groups that make independent political expenditures.

Question 4

Super PACS

Answer 4

Independent-expenditure-only PACs are known as super PACs because they may accept donations of any size and can promote and endorse specific candidates.

Their contributions and expenditures must be periodically reported to the FEC.

Question 5

Selective perception

Answer 5

The phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay the most attention to and how they interpret events.

Question 6

Sufrage

Answer 6

The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to 18-to 20-year-olds by the Twenty-sixth Amendment.

Question 7

Motor voter act

Answer 7

A 1993 act that requires states to permit people to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.

Question 8

Mandate theory of elections

Answer 8

The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics.
Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do.

Question 9

Policy voting

Answer 9

Electoral choices that are made on the basis of the voters’
policy preferences
and where the candidates stand on policy issues.

Question 10

Battleground states

Answer 10

The key states that the presidential campaigns focus on because they are most likely to decide the outcome of the Electoral College vote.