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WorksheetsAP Government Chapter 9 Quiz
Total questions: 47
Worksheet time: 48mins
The Democratic and Republican candidates for president are formally nominated at the __________.
national party committees
presidential primaries and caucuses
electoral college
national party conventions
A campaign might use __________ to solicit campaign contributions from those who have supported candidates with similar views in the past.
soft money
caucuses
direct mailing
frontloading
In 2016, the amount an individual could legally contribute to a candidate’s campaign was __________.
$100
$1,000
$2,700
$25,000
Prior to being banned in 2002 by the McCain-Feingold Act, unlimited monetary contributions that were earmarked for party-building expenses at the grassroots level or for generic party advertising were known as __________.
hard money
soft money
matching funds
support funds
Researchers studying campaigns stress that campaigns can have what three effects on voters?
selection, application, and alteration
reinforcement, alteration, and adaptation
activation, fortification, and collection
reinforcement, activation, and conversion
If no candidate receives an Electoral College majority, the election is decided in the __________.
Senate
House of Representatives
Elections and Campaigns Committee
Supreme Court
Because there is barely any time between the end of one campaign and the beginning of the next, some people have called the American electoral process __________.
“the endless commercial”
“the permanent campaign"
“the road to nowhere”
“quadruple overtime”
In which of the following countries is voter turnout lowest?
Australia
Belgium
United States
Denmark
Which group is more likely to vote?
low income people
young age group
ethnic minorities
a college degree holders
Which of the following is the cost of voting?
political efficacy
civic duty
becoming informed
paying money to vote
The 2012 election was the first time that __________ voted at a higher rate rather than_________________.
Hispanics, non-Hispanic whites
Asians, Hispanics
Hispanics, African Americans
African Americans, non-Hispanic whites
According to exit poll data, which of the following group’s members were most likely to vote for Donald Trump in 2016?
Jews
Hispanics
Younger voters
Non-Hispanic whites
Why do presidential candidates tend to focus their efforts on battleground states?
Battleground states have the most Electoral College votes.
Battleground states have more electors than they would deserve if electors were allocated by population.
Candidates focus on battleground states in order to increase their media exposure.
The winner-take-all system makes battleground states more relevant to a campaign.
Which of the following is true about states with caucuses?
Voters attend open meetings where they express their presidential preferences.
The state legislature selects the state’s delegates to the national conventions.
Party officials select delegates according to their own preferences.
Candidates appoint supporters to serve as delegates who will attend the national convention
How did the McGovern–Fraser Commission make the delegate selection process of the Democratic Party more representative and open to input from the public?
by requiring delegate selection procedures to be open to all party members.
by increasing the number of delegates chosen
by weakening the power of registered party members to choose convention delegates
by encouraging the use of presidential caucuses rather than primaries
One impact of the Internet on political campaigns is that __________.
Most people are using the Internet as their only source of campaign information
Most people are receiving direct mail from candidates
More people are making small political donations
more people are becoming highly and accurately informed about the candidates
Which of the following was one of the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act?
All campaign funds must be spent within the state where the candidate is running for election (or in any state for presidential candidates).
Candidates for Congress must contribute at least 10 percent of their net worth to the campaign.
Congressional campaigns cannot accept contributions of more than $100 from individual citizens.
All candidates for federal office must disclose who contributed money to their campaigns.
Donations to __________ do not have to be disclosed unless a donor gives money specifically for a political ad.
527 groups
501(c) groups
political action committees (PACs)
candidates’ campaigns
What is the phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay attention to and how they interpret events?
scorekeeping
agenda setting
selective perception
frontloading
How many U.S. states employ a winner-take-all presidential election system in which all their electors are awarded to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes statewide?
5
26
48
all 50
The Electoral College introduces a bias into the campaign and electoral process because __________.
all states get the same number of electoral votes
each state has as many electoral votes as it has representatives
less populated states are over-represented
more populous states are over-represented
Why do winning candidates claim a mandate even though political scientists generally discredit the mandate theory of elections?
Politicians think that political scientists do not understand how things actually work.
Voters do not necessarily prefer all of the winning candidate’s issue positions.
Winning candidates want to justify their policy proposals by claiming that the public supports them.
Winning candidates are not well versed in the political science literature.
Of the following, who would be most likely to vote?
someone who thinks that both candidates are moderate
someone who thinks that both candidates are very conservative
someone with a high sense of political efficacy
someone who sees few differences between the candidates
Which of the following makes it harder to vote?
vote-by-mail laws
the Motor Voter Act
Election Day voter registration laws
voter ID laws
Which states tend to have higher voter turnout?
States with photo ID laws
States with Election Day voter registration
States with a lot of low education level voters
States with a lot of young voters
Which of the following groups is over-represented among voters?
government workers
people who are single
younger citizens
minorities
Which of the following helps to explain why voter turnout is lower in the United States than in other democracies?
The United States hold fewer elections
The United States elects fewer officeholders.
The United States hold elections midweek.
The United States has a multiple partisan election system.
A floating voter is someone who __________.
is elated at the outcome of an election
votes based on the candidates and not party loyalty
registers to vote on Election Day
votes in presidential elections but not in midterm elections
Which of the following has made it easier for contemporary voters to choose the best person for the office, regardless of party?
advances in information technology
increased polarization in Congress
the media’s tendency to focus on policy issues
candidate ID laws
The Founders created the Electoral College because they wanted the president to be selected by __________.
Congress
Ordinary Americans
Elites
the Supreme Court
If you were running a campaign for a relatively unknown presidential candidate, you would want to allow plenty of time for your candidate to __________.
travel extensively in Iowa before the caucuses
visit major cities in California during the election campaign
meet the people in small towns in Texas
go door-to-door greeting voters
A serious presidential candidate must invest in __________.
newspaper ads aimed at the 55-65 age group
staff to handle high-tech and computer technologies
television ads aimed at the 18–29 age group
an international relations specialist to solicit campaign contributions from foreign nations and multinational corporations
Research suggests that political campaigns are most likely to successfully convert voters when they __________.
use “wedge” issues on which the other party is divided
make appeals based on party affiliation
make unrealistic promises
buy radio and Internet advertisements
Which states should a presidential campaign focus on in the general election?
states with a higher percentage of registered voters
states with strong economies
large states
battleground states
One of the downsides to the American system of presidential campaigns and elections is that __________.
party leaders select a candidate in the smoke-filled room decision
a person who might be an excellent president could be discouraged from running because the process is so onerous
the candidate who wins the popular vote is not always the candidate who received the most votes
winning candidates are legally required to keep their campaign promises or face a fine levied by the Federal Elections Commission according to the veracity of the violation
Of the following people, who is most likely to participate in a presidential caucus?
someone who works two jobs
a single mom
someone who is an independent
a party activist
Which of the following would be the most likely to increase voter turnout in the United States?
holding more elections
making registration automatic for all citizens rather than compelling them to register
electing more officeholders
minimizing the differences between the parties
Which of the following statements indicates a high level of political efficacy?
“I should vote to honor those who sacrificed their lives to make America free.”
“Voting in the United States is so easy that there is no excuse for not voting.”
“People like me can influence what the government does.”
“Democracy is only democratic if citizens participate in the process.”
Which of the following is consistent with the mandate theory of elections?
the idea that voter turnout is higher when citizens are required to vote and are fined if they fail to do so
the belief that a functional democracy mandates electoral participation by a large number of voters
Mitt Romney’s claim that Obama won the 2012 presidential election because he had given gifts to various constituency groups
Barack Obama’s claim that his victory in 2012 meant that the public wanted to raise taxes on the wealthy
If the president were selected by popular vote instead of by the Electoral College, which of the following cities would a presidential campaign be least likely to visit?
Miami, Florida
Green Bay, Wisconsin
New York, New York
Chicago, Illinois
An examination of the number of campaign visits by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination contests suggests that __________.
geographically larger states receive the most attention from the candidates during the nomination campaign
states with more electoral votes receive more attention from the candidates during the nomination campaign
states with early caucuses and primaries receive a disproportionate amount of attention from candidates during the nomination campaign
Obama won the election because he visited more states than did Clinton
Thomas Patterson’s observation that “today’s presidential campaign is essentially a mass media campaign” suggests that __________.
voters have very little understanding of the campaign apart from what they see and hear in the media
the media exercise little influence over a vast number of citizens’ votes
campaigns are for the masses and are mediated by political elites
the media control electoral outcomes
__________ was an unintended result of changes to the Federal Election Campaign Act that allowed parties to raise and spend money on voter registration and other campaign materials without limits on spending or the size of contributions that they could accept.
Party discretionary funding
Party expenditure exemption
Soft money
Walking-around money
How would switching to direct election of the president affect non-battleground states like Texas?
Texas would receive more attention from candidates trying to win votes in major population centers like Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.
Texas would receive less attention from candidates because it would no longer be a battleground state.
Texas would receive very little attention from candidates because it is currently a safe state.
Texas would become a safe state for the other party.
Why are people with higher-than-average education more likely to vote?
Education depresses political efficacy, which then encourages turnout.
Education increases intolerance, which then encourages turnout.
Education helps voters recognize differences between the candidates.
Education enables voters to calculate the probability that their vote will decide the election.
Why is it sometimes difficult for citizens to engage in policy voting?
Competing candidates usually have the same positions on issues.
Candidates are often intentionally vague about their issue stances.
The media tend to overwhelm voters with policy information.
Election officials prevent using policy-based voter guides in the voting booth.
How does party identification simplify the voting process?
It enables voters to select from a wider array of candidates.
It provides a cue as to which candidate a voter is more likely to prefer.
It eliminates the need to produce a photo ID in order to vote.
It reduces the policy differences between the candidates.
