Chapter 9 - Voting and Elections

Question 1

closed primary

Answer 1

a type of primary in which the voter is limited to choosing candidates of the party of which he or she is a member

Question 2

open primary

Answer 2

a primary in which any registered voter can vote (but must vote for candidates of only one party)

Question 3

rational ignorance effect

Answer 3

an effect produced when people purposely and rationally decide not to become informed on an issue because they believe that their vote on the issue is not likely to be a deciding one; a lack of incentive to seek the necessary information to cast an intelligent vote

Question 4

battleground state

Answer 4

a state likely to be so closely fought that the campaigns devote exceptional effort to winning the popular and electoral vote there

Question 5

hard money

Answer 5

this refers to political contributions and campaign spending that is recorded under the regulations set forth in law and by the Federal Election Commission

Question 6

hatch act

Answer 6

an act passed in 1939 that restricted the political activities of government employees. it also prohibited a political group from spending more than $3 million in any campaign and limited individual contributions to a campaign committee to $5,000

Question 7

soft money

Answer 7

campaign contributions unregulated by federal or state law, usually given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities

Question 8

PAC

Answer 8

a committee set up by and representing a corporation, labor union, or special-interest group. PACs raise and give campaign donations

Question 9

super PAC

Answer 9

a political committee that can accept unlimited contributions from individuals and corporation to spend supporting a candidate as long as its efforts are not coordinated with the candidate’s own campaign

Question 10

tracking polls

Answer 10

a poll taken for the candidate on a nearly daily basis as election day approaches