The various attitudes that citizens possess toward political issues, events, and people are called
public opinions
A political ideology is best defined as
a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government
Liberalism and conservatism are good examples of
political ideologies
The difference between a political value and a political attitude is that
values are basic principles while attitudes are specific preferences
The process by which underlying political values are formed is known as
political socialization
Which of the following statements about agencies of socialization is incorrect?
An individual's religion has no impact on their political views
The term gender gap refers to
differences in voting behavior between men and women
One who supports women's reproductive rights and opposes state involvement with religious institutions would be best described as a(n)
liberal
Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support
school prayer
______ is the core political value most highly prized by American conservatives.
Liberty
The United States is a nation without political ideologies.
false
Most Americans are unified in their belief in the principles of liberty, equality, and democracy.
false
Less than 50 percent of Americans believe that gay Americans should have equal employment rights.
false
Families, social groups, and schools are important institutions where people are politically socialized.
true
During the formation of an individual's initial political orientation, the influence of family counts for very little.
false
Differences in opinion can be influenced by one's gender.
true
Levels of education have not been shown to affect one's political opinions.
false
Liberal and conservative ideologies are clear and well-defined doctrines of thought.
false
Political ideologies do not always provide us with a clear opinion on particular policies.
true
Think tanks are not usually important actors in developing and spreading political ideas.
false
The main problem with voting as a form of political participation is
that citizens cannot communicate very much information by only casting a ballot
What percentage of eligible voters participated in the 2008 presidential election?
62%
Which of the following statements accurately describes the percentage of Americans voting in presidential elections since 1960?
The percentage of Americans voting in presidential elections dropped significantly after 1960 but has been increasing in recent years
The American political community is defined as
those who are eligible to vote and participate in American political life
Which of the following is NOT a non-electoral form of political activity?
voting
What is the main difference between voting and lobbying?
Unlike voting, lobbying involves an attempt to directly influence a government official
When Mothers Against Drunk Driving started raising awareness for their cause by distributing a newsletter and giving speeches at the meetings of local community groups, it was engaged in
public relations
Which of the following was not an important part of the movement to expand civil rights for African Americans?
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
What is one reason that political parties and politicians view Latinos as a critically important group?
The Latino population in the United States is large and rapidly growing
What tendency of Americans did nineteenth-century writer Alexis de Tocqueville identify as distinctive of our democratic culture?
the tendency to form associations
Since the 1800s, the American political community has become narrower and less inclusive.
false
Voter registration was instituted to make it harder to vote.
true
Young people are more likely to participate in politics than older people.
false
Education is not a good predictor of who participates in politics.
true
Religious groups have acted as important institutions of political mobilization over the past two decades.
false
Women are more likely than men to vote for Republicans.
false
Latino voters have traditionally voted Democratic.
true
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led the organized protests against the civil rights movement and desegregation.
false
Poll taxes and literacy tests were used by southern states to prevent African Americans from voting
true
Many states used to have property requirements for those wanting to vote.
true
Which famous American, in his farewell address, encouraged his fellow citizens to shun partisan politics?
George Washington
Which of the following is the best description of a political party?
an organization that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office
Internal mobilization occurs when
conflicts within the government create divided factions that try to mobilize popular support
The establishment of the Republican Party is a good example of
external mobilization
Which of the following parties originated from internal mobilization?
the Jeffersonian Party
The program of Reconstruction after the Civil War was led by the ______ Party.
Republican
The New Deal coalition was severely strained and ultimately broken apart by
the Vietnam War and the issue of civil rights
"Me too" Republicanism refers to
the tendency of Republican politicians during the New Deal to support popular programs such as Social Security rather than advocate alternative policies
Which of the following is NOT an argument in favor of establishing a multiparty system in the United States?
No state has ever tried a multiparty system in the United States before
A party's ______ contains its philosophy, principles, and policy positions.
platform
The first political parties in the United States were the Democratic and the Republican.
false
George Washington believed that the establishment of the two-party system would act as a bulwark of liberty for the United States.
true
America's first national parties were the result of internal mobilization.
true
There have been six party systems in U.S. history.
false
The Whig Party's period of political domination came right after the Civil War.
false
The New Deal Coalition broke down during the 1960s.
true
Since the 1960s, the government has largely characterized party politics in the United States.
true
Most third parties in the United States today originated during the nineteenth century.
false
Most electoral districts in the United States are multimember districts.
false
Each major party's national committee is responsible for nominating its party's candidates for all federal offices.
false
What is the main difference between elections in a democracy and elections under an authoritarian regime?
Democratic regimes allow for viable opposition, while the leaders do not permit themselves to lose under an authoritarian regime
Primary elections were introduced by the ______ in order to weaken the power of party leaders.
Progressives
When are national elections held in the United States?
the first Tuesday of November every other year
Which of the following political officers are subject to recall elections?
the governor of the state of California
Plurality and majority systems tend to
decrease the number of political parties
The result produced when voters cast a ballot for the president and then automatically vote for the remainder of that party's candidates is called the
coattail effect
How many times in American history has the presidential candidate who won the most popular votes not been selected by the electoral college?
3
Campaign consultants do all of the following except
print ballots for the election
Who is the major audience for contemporary national conventions?
the mass media
Which of the following has increased the ability of candidates to raise small contributions from tens of thousands of donors?
the internet
The introduction of primary elections was meant to weaken political parties.
true
By 2006, all fifty states had established referendums.
false
No sitting politician has been recalled from office since the 1930s.
false
Most national elections in the United States use a system of proportional representation.
false
Redistricting was declared unconstitutional in the 1963 case Gray v. Sanders.
false
Denying an individual the right to vote through literacy tests and poll taxes is called gerrymandering.
false
The electoral college is a form of indirect voting.
true
The electoral college cannot elect any candidate who has not also won the popular vote.
false
Incumbents usually have an easier time successfully campaigning for office than non incumbents.
true
Party conventions are held once every four years.
true
The best description of the ideal of pluralism is that
interests should be free to compete with each other for governmental influence
It is difficult for political scientists to categorize unrepresented interests because
there are no organizations that can present their identities and demands
A benefit that is sought by an interest group and that once achieved cannot be denied to nonmembers is called a
collective good
If one enjoys the benefits of a group's collective efforts but did not contribute to those efforts, one is called a
free rider
Successful interest groups quickly become
bureaucratized
Why is it important for interest groups to offer selective benefits?
It is necessary to limit the extent of the free-rider problem
Which of the following groups is most likely to belong to the New Politics movement?
upper-middle-class professionals, for whom the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s were key experiences
Lobbying is
an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of Congress or a state legislature
In the world of lobbyists, to be "Microsofted" has come to mean a company has
become vulnerable to adverse legislation and investigation as a result of failing to lobby the federal government
When interest groups generate phony letters and phone calls in order to resemble a grassroots movement, this technique is called
AstroTurf lobbying
Alexis de Tocqueville believed that the proliferation of groups was detrimental to a democracy.
false
Money swapping is legal and is easy to prove.
false
Grassroots lobbying has become a common practice in government over the past several decades.
true
The iron triangle is a relationship that is established through repeated litigation of class-action suits.
false
Interest groups are prohibited by federal law from lobbying administrative agencies.
false
Except for laws against bribery, lobbyists are shielded from any legal regulations of their activities.
false
The New Politics movement led to the proliferation of public interest groups in the 1970s.
true
Interest groups tend to proliferate at times when government is shrinking.
false
Interest groups have been a successful way to politically mobilize the poor and working classes in the United States.
false
In order to increase enrollment, interest groups try to provide members with benefits that are unavailable to anyone else.
true
The term public opinion is used to describe
people's beliefs and attitudes toward different issues
The complex set of beliefs and values that, as a whole, form a general philosophy about the government is called
political ideology
The "spiral of silence" describes the phenomenon of
people who silence or modify their opinions in order to conform to their peer group's beliefs
What did James Madison identify as the greatest source of political conflict for the Untied States?
differences between the rich and poor
The ability of citizens to influence their government through an awareness of and interest in politics is called
political efficacy
Interest groups often spend time and money trying to shape public opinion.
true
Calling randomly selected phone numbers is a good way for pollsters to reduce sampling errors.
true
Push polling is a trend that has been decreasing over the years.
false
The illusion of saliency can give politicians the mistaken impression that certain opinions are very important to people.
true
Under the United States' political system, public policy will always coincide with the state of public opinion.
false
The rioting during the 1999 WTO meeting in Seattle is a reminder of how
politically motivated riots have been common in the United States throughout history
Litigation can be a form of participation in which people
file lawsuits in order to change public policies
What is the best explanation for the fact that Latinos have tended to favor Democratic Party candidates in national elections?
They disagree with the Republican Party's stance on immigration and economic issues
An example of the phenomenon called the "gender gap" would be that
more women than men vote for Democrats
One explanation for the level of political participation that points to the characteristics of individuals as an important factor in determining the level of political participation is
socioeconomic status
Rioting has been a rare form of political activity in the United States.
false
Voting is the only form of political participation open to most Americans.
false
Public relations and litigation can be forms of political activity.
true
Participation in elections has decreased significantly since 2000.
false
Suffragettes were women protesting for the right to vote.
true
Throughout its history, American politics has been dominated by
two major political parties
The Populist Party appealed to which of the following groups?
western mining interests, small farmers, and urban workers
Which group was NOT a part of the New Deal coalition?
business leaders
Which of the following phrases describes the change in voter affiliations with a particular political party that results in a long term dominance of that party over another party which previously dominated over a long period of time in national elections?
an electoral realignment
Third parties in the United States typically represent
social and economic interests that are disregarded by the two major parties for certain reasons
Donations made directly to political parties for voter registration and party organization are called soft money.
true
Women are more likely than men to vote for the Democratic Party.
true
Between the Civil War and the 1960s, the South was a bastion of support for the Democratic Party.
true
At the national level, the Democratic Party seeks to unite organized labor, the poor, members of racial minorities, and upper-middle-class professionals.
true
Strong political parties decrease voter turnout.
false
When a congressional election is held that does not coincide with a presidential election, it is called a
midterm election
Smaller and weaker parties are most likely to have electoral success under which system of elections?
proportional representation system
If you voted for a Republican for president and a Democrat for senator, you engaged in
split-ticket voting
What is the first step in running for president?
the formation of an exploratory committee
Private groups that raise and distribute funds for election campaigns are called
political action committees
In 1996, direct-mail campaigns were declared a violation of federal privacy laws by the Supreme Court.
false
Contemporary campaigns are capital intensive, rather than labor intensive.
true
A voter's partisan loyalty is at its highest in presidential races.
false
Under the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United vs. FEC, corporations and labor unions are allowed to make contributions to political organizations without limits and are not required to disclose their contributions.
true
Soft money is money spent by parties on organizational development and voter registration, which is not regulated as campaign expenditures.
true
What contemporary political scientists call an interest group, James Madison called a(n)
faction
Interest groups are concerned with the ______ of government, while political parties are concerned with the ______ of government.
policies; personnel
Public interest groups differ from other types of interest groups in that
they claim to serve the common good, not just their own particular interests
Which of the following statements about lobbyists and members of Congress is INCORRECT?
Members of Congress are forbidden from ever working for an interest group once they leave office
An iron triangle is made up of an alliance between
a legislative committee, an interest group, and an executive agency
The theory of pluralism states that all interests should be free to compete for influence and the result will be compromise and moderation.
true
The American Bar Association is a good example of a labor group.
false
Staff organizations are dependent on volunteers to conduct most of a group's activities.
false
People who benefit from the work of an interest group but who do not them-selves contribute any effort or money are called free riders.
true
As a result of the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United vs F.E.C., political action committees are no longer restricted in the amounts of money they may donate to political campaigns.
true