Quiz Questions (8-14)

Question 1

Party platforms are important because…

Answer 1

they provide a general guide for the types of policies winning candidates are likely to vote for if elected

Question 2

What is realignment?

Answer 2

A situation in which the issues that divide the political parties change in a way that cuts across existing political coalitions

Question 3

True or False: Duverger’s Law works against minor political parrties

Answer 3

True, Duverger’s Law is a law that states that single-member and plurality districts tend to favor a two-party system whereas proportional representation favors a multiparty system

Question 4

What is the party principle?

Answer 4

the idea that parties are organizations distinct from their elected officials

Question 5

Today, what group is a key party of the Democrat coalition?

Answer 5

African Americans

Question 6

True or False: Most independents have a weak attachment to one of the major political parties?

Answer 6

True

Question 7

What issue in the 1850s ended the second party system involving the Whigs and Democrats?

Answer 7

Slavery. Democrats either supported slavery or ignored it. The Whigs were split between pro-slavery and abolitionists. The Republican Party was formed and was abolishonist.

Question 8

The Republican Party formed when the [x] Party dissolved

Answer 8

The Whigs. In the 1840s, the issue of slavery split the second party system. Most Democratic politicians either supported slavery outright or wanted to avoid debating the issue.5 The Whig Party was split between abolitionists, who wanted to end slavery, and politicians who agreed with the Democrats. Ultimately, antislavery Whigs left the party and formed the Republican Party, which also attracted antislavery Democrats, and the Whig Party soon ceased to exist.

Question 9

What is true about political polarization?

Answer 9

It is more difficult for Republicans and Democrats in Congress to achieve common ground

Question 10

True or False: the popularity of party brands for the Republicans and Democrats tends to be very stable over. time

Answer 10

False

Question 11

True or False: There is evidence of voter fraud in most American elections

Answer 11

False

Question 12

Which party’s primaries and caucus use proportional allocation to divide delegates

Answer 12

Democrats. Proportional allocation is when, after a caucus or primary, the votes for each candidate are allocated proportionally to the delegates, who then vote for the candidate at a national convention. Some Republican states have winner take all

Question 13

Why do election rules and their implementation matter?

Answer 13

In close races, small changes to rules can change electoral outcomes

Question 14

What kind of campaign funds are subject to clear limits on how much can be raised but not on how much is spent?

Answer 14

independent expenditures. Independent expenditures: a
party or group spends money to advocate for a candidate but the candidate or
the campaign does not control, direct, or approve the activity

Coordinated expenditures, in which the candidate has some control.

Independent expenditures are not limited, but coordinated expenditures are. For example, in Senate races, there is a cap on coordinated expenditures by political parties, ranging from several hundred thousand dollars in small states like Delaware to several million dollars in California.

Question 15

What can be concluded from the data presented in this figure?

Answer 15

Turnout was highest during this time period in 2008

Question 16

Some Americans may not vote becuase the likelihood of one vote being the decisive one is very small. What does this illustrate?

Answer 16

The paradox of voting

Question 17

Donald Trump won Michigan Pennsylvania and Wisconsin because of higher-than-expected voter turnout in urban communities

Answer 17

False, he won because of white suburban voters

Question 18

Which one of the following groups does not typically turn out in large numbers?

Answer 18

People with less than a high school education

Question 19

True or False, retrospective evaluations make incumbents less responsive to constituent demands?

Answer 19

False, retrospective evaluations men that constiuents evaluate what the incumbent has done

Question 20

Which one of the following is the appropriate order of events in a presidential election?

Answer 20

Iowa Caucus, NH Primary, Super Tuesday, national conventions, Electoral College vote

Question 21

Astroturf lobbying is sometimes effective because

Answer 21

It sometimes involves large numbers of participants, forcing officials to pay attention. Astroturf lobbying is when a group of people send the same letter/email in hopes for change on a certain issue

Question 22

True or False: The increasing number of interest groups and lobbyists is partly due to the size and influence of the federal government

Answer 22

True

Question 23

Which one of the following statements categorizes interest groups?

Answer 23

Most groups are only successful some of the time, regardless of resources

Question 24

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA) comprises 50 largely independent state-level organizations that provide membership benefits to car dealers. NIADA is an example of a group with a ________ organizational structure.

Answer 24

confederal because it comprises multiple multiple organizations without a central influence

Question 25

Which one of the following describes a peak association?

Answer 25

A peak association is made up of businesses or other organizations rather than individuals

Question 26

When does lobbying increase?

Answer 26

When new policies are being considered by Congress and/or burreaucrats

Question 27

True or False: Elected officials who later become lobbyists must wait two years before they can start lobbying?

Answer 27

True

Question 28

If legislators in a state put a tax increase on the ballot, this is an example of ________.

Answer 28

A referendum, which is a policy change proposal proposed by legislators. An intiative is proposed by citizens

Question 29

Which types of benefits can a group provide to overcome the free rider problem?

Answer 29

Solidary: Satisfaction derived from working with like-minded people Purposive: Satisfaction derived from working towards a certain policy goal Selective: incentives that motivate participation because they get a reward for participating, like a membership service offered by service groups

Question 30

What does it mean when the US is describes as an interest group?

Answer 30

Interest groups influence most public policy decisions

Question 31

Who has more freedom to debate bills on the floor?

Answer 31

Members of the Senate have more freedom to debate bills on the floor than members of the House.

Question 32

What is descriptive representation?

Answer 32

Shared demographic traits between legislators and constituents. Substantive id when politicans share polciy goals with constituents

Question 33

Legislators who make public statements demonstrating how they share priorities with the groups in their district are engaged in ________.

Answer 33

Position taking, which is different than credit claiming (To improve the relationship with constituents through specific casework or pork barrels.) and gerrymandering (Redrawing district lines so that there is a party majority in that area)

Question 34

True or False: The president is better suited to pork-barrel projects than Congress

Answer 34

False, Congress is better suited because pork barrel projects are legislative appropriations that benefit specific constituents, created with the aim of helping local representatives win reelection.

Question 35

Effective home style explains the rise of

Answer 35

The Incumbent Advantage

Question 36

True or False, Because incumbency rates are so high, members of Congress who hold a “safe” seat do not worry about the electoral connection to voters.

Answer 36

False, there's a primary

Question 37

True or False, States can only gain seats in the House, never lose seats

Answer 37

False

Question 38

Generally, Americans would prefer if..

Answer 38

Senators and representatives would stay at home

Question 39

What is gridlock?

Answer 39

when Congress is unable to pass important legislation because of partisan conflict

Question 40

True or False, Congress as a whole is perceived to be dishonest and unethical by the American people.

Answer 40

True

Question 41

When is a signing statement issued?

Answer 41

When a president signs a bill. A signing statement is A document issued by the president when signing a bill into law explaining his or her interpretation of the law, which often differs from the interpretation of Congress, in an attempt to influence how the law will be implemented.Judges can use signing statements in order to determine what the president's intent was

Question 42

When presidents offer interpretations of new laws before those laws are implemented, they typically do so ________.

Answer 42

In a signing statement

Question 43

What do the annexation of Texas, the Emancipation Proclamation, and affirmative action have in common?

Answer 43

All were unilateral presidential actions (executive orders)

Question 44

Implementation of law..

Answer 44

requires judgement because laws are often very vague

Question 45

When can the VP cast a vote in Senate?

Answer 45

Only when there is a tie on a piece of legislation

Question 46

Which one of the following conditions make vetoes more likely?

Answer 46

When there is a divided-party government (house, senate and pres are in different parties)

Question 47

When President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, he was exercising his authority ________.

Answer 47

to interpret and implement the laws, versus the commander in chief role (control the army) and head of state (represents the country symbolically and politically)

Question 48

Presidents can avoid ratification of a treaty by simply announcing that the United States will comply with its requirements. However, this strategy can be disadvantageous in that

Answer 48

A future president may simply ignore it

Question 49

Recent vice presidents (Mike Pence) have differed from earlier vice presidents

Answer 49

Because they are more influential in the president's policy-making decisions

Question 50

The 2011 attack on Osama Bin Laden's compound

Answer 50

Was carried out the approval of Congress (executive order)

Question 51

What is the principal agent game?

Answer 51

When an individual or group acts on behalf the other (when government needs something done, so beurracrats act on their behalf)

Question 52

True or False, 20% of all federal civil servants are fired annually due to poor job performance

Answer 52

False, 1883 Pendleton Civil Service Act allows for civil servants to not be fired so they don't have to worry about that. After three years of satisfactory service, civil servants can not be fired unless they cite a reason

Question 53

Before a new regulation can take effect, it must be ________.

Answer 53

Published in the Federal Register

Question 54

True or False, Bureaucrats are principals in the principal-agent game.

Answer 54

False

Question 55

From the early 1800s until the Civil War, ________ in the size of government occurred largely because of ________.

Answer 55

growth; the increased size of the United States

Question 56

The office of management and budget

Answer 56

Prepares the president's annual budget proposal to congress, has oversight of the development of new regulations, and is part of the Executive Office of the President

Question 57

What was the principal bureaucratic change that occurred during the New Deal?

Answer 57

The range of policy areas in which the government intervened expanded

Question 58

True or False, One of the reasons regulations are controversial is because they require bureaucrats to choose between policy goals that are often incompatible, such as the federal drug-approval process.

Answer 58

True

Question 59

Who used the spoils system first?

Answer 59

Andrew Jackson

Question 60

True or False, All presidents have been challenged to maintain bureaucratic control.

Answer 60

True