Political Parties, Interest Groups, PACs, and Media.

Political Parties, Interest Groups, PACs, and Media

TEST

A. AB. BC. CD. D

A B C D

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Which of the following is true of amicus curiae briefs?

A. They are used by interest groups to lobby courts

B. They are used exclusively by liberal interest groups

C. They are used exclusively by conservative interest groups

D. They are now unconstitutional

They are use

d by inte

rest.

..

They are use

d exclusiv

ely...

They are use

d exclusiv

ely ..

They are now unco

nstitu

...

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Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the two major political parties in the U.S.?

A. Parties have no organization except at the national level

B. Parties are centrally organized to provide a smooth transition from on national campaign to the next

C. Parties are organized much like a large corporation, in that decisions flow from national to state and local levels

D. Separate and largely independent party organizations exist at national, state, and local levels

Parties h

ave no organiza...

Parties a

re centra

lly orga

...

Parties a

re organized m

uc...

Separate and la

rgely

ind...

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Lobbyists try to influence legislators mainly through

A. “wining and dining” legislators

B. Orchestrating petition drives and letter-writing campaigns

C. Placing persuasive advertisements in the media

D. Providing legislators with information on technical issues

“wining a

nd dining” legis.

..

Orchestr

ating petition dr...

Placing p

ersuasiv

e advert.

..

Provid

ing legis

lators

with...

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An electoral system based on single-member districts is usually characterized by

A. Strong, centralized political parties and a weak executive

B. Higher rates of voter turnout than are common in other systems

C. Legislative representation of each party in proportion to the number of votes it receives

D. Domination of the legislature by two political parties

Strong, c

entraliz

ed politic..

Higher rate

s of v

oter t

ur...

Legis

lative represe

ntatio...

Domination of the le

gisla...

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The term “horse-race” journalism refers to the tendency of the media to

A. Cover Congress by focusing on committee chairs rather than on work of the committees

B. Cover campaigns by emphasizing the relative standing of the candidates in the polls rather than the issues they discuss

C. Cover politics by concentrating on scandal and corruption rather than on instances of integrity and honorable action

D. Compete for access to sources rather than to cooperate in gathering news

Cover Congre

ss by f

ocusi.

.

Cover campaigns b

y emp...

Cover politi

cs by c

oncent..

.

Compete for a

ccess

to so

...

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Political action committees (PACs) representing which of the following groups have increased in number most substantially since the mid-1970s

A. LaborB. BusinessC. Health-care

professionalsD. Veterans’ groups

Labor

Business

Health-ca

re professi

onals

Veterans’

groups

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The concept of “critical elections” is most closely associated with

A. The electoral college process

B. Elections during wartime

C. Economic recessionD. Party realignment

The electora

l colle

ge pro

...

Elections d

uring w

artime

Economic

recessi

on

Party r

ealignment

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Which of the following about gerrymandering is true?

A. It has been banned by the U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning with Baker v. Carr

B. It was used traditionally to maintain urban control of the House of Representatives

C. It can be used by political parties to draw boundary lines to control as many districts as possible

D. It guarantees greater constituency control over elected representatives

It has b

een banned by th...

It was u

sed tr

aditionally

...

It can be use

d by politica

...

It guara

ntees gre

ater c

on...

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One of the reason for the persistence of a two-party system in the United States is

A. The lack of divisive issues in U.S. politics

B. The separation of powers

C. The single-member district electoral system

D. Low voter turnout in most elections

The lack

of divi

sive is

sues..

.

The separa

tion of powers

The single-m

ember dist

ric...

Low vote

r turn

out in m

os...

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Which of the following is true of political action committees?

A. They are part of political party organization

B. They make campaign contributions to gain access to legislators

C. They are allowed to contribute to only once candidate in a given contest

D. They effectively control the presidential campaigns

They are part

of politi

cal...

They make

campaign co

n...

They are allo

wed to co

nt...

They effecti

vely co

ntrol t.

.

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Which of the following describes a consequence of the growing concentration

of ownership of the news media?A. Newspaper prices have

gone downB. Coverage of political

events has gotten more liberal over time

C. Prices for televised campaign ads have gone down

D. There is increased similarity of network news coverage

Newspap

er pric

es have

...

Coverage of politi

cal e

ve...

Prices f

or televis

ed camp...

There is in

crease

d simila

r...

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Since the early 1980s, the Republican Party platform has been increasingly influenced by

A. Environmental activists

B. Evangelical Christians

C. Civil libertariansD. Labor unions

Environmenta

l acti

vists

Evange

lical C

hristians

Civil liberta

rians

Labor u

nions

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Which of the following describes a fundamental difference between political parties and interest groups?

A. Political parties are prohibited from sponsoring campaign advertisements, and interest groups are not

B. Political parties represent broad arrays of issues, whereas interest groups are more likely to focus on narrow sets of issues

C. Political parties are more likely to focus on national politics, whereas interest groups focus on local politics

D. Political parties tend to have strength in particular regions, whereas the power of interest groups is more consistent across states

Politica

l parti

es are

proh...

Politica

l parti

es represe

n...

Politica

l parti

es are

more

...

Politica

l parti

es tend to

...

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Interest groups engage in all of the following EXCEPT

A. Testifying before congressional committees

B. Sponsoring issue advocacy ads

C. Lobbying federal agencies

D. Using the franking privilege

Testifying befo

re congre

s...

Sponsorin

g issu

e advocac..

.

Lobbyin

g federal a

gencie

s

Using th

e frankin

g priv

ilege

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The development and persistence of the two-party system in the U.S. is best accounted for by

A. The Twelfth Amendment

B. Proportional representation

C. Multimember legislative districts

D. Single-member legislative districts

The Twelfth A

mendment

Proporti

onal repre

sentation

Multimember le

gislative ...

Single-member le

gislative

...

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The concept of realignment refers to changes in

A. The United States system of international alliances

B. The social bases of the parties’ voting support

C. The media’s criticism of the president and Congress

D. The rate of voter participation

The Unite

d States s

ystem...

The socia

l base

s of t

he pa...

The media’s

criticis

m of ...

The rate of v

oter parti

ci...

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Which of the following best explains why the winner of a presidential election usually claims

to have a mandate from voters?A. The president’s party often

wins a majority of seats in Congress by riding the president’s coattails

B. The allocation of electoral votes in the winner-take-all system exaggerates the margin of victory

C. The new president is allowed to replace a significant number of justices on the Supreme Court

D. The incoming president automatically gains control of Congress

The presid

ent’s party

of...

The alloca

tion of electo

ra...

The new presid

ent is al...

The inco

ming pre

sident ..

.

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Typically, presidential candidates implement their campaign strategies by

A. Applying their resources evenly among the states

B. Focusing on larger, competitive states

C. Focusing on small statesD. Ignoring the electoral

college and focusing on the national popular vote

Applying t

heir reso

urces..

.

Focu

sing on la

rger,

comp...

Focu

sing on sm

all sta

tes

Ignoring th

e electora

l col...

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Interest groups use political action committees (PACs) to

A. Provide expertise to members of Congress when they are writing legislation

B. Lobby the executive bureaucracy when they are considering new rules and regulations

C. Raise and spend money on election campaigns

D. Hire policy experts who will promote their views in the media

Provid

e experti

se to

me...

Lobby t

he execu

tive bur..

.

Raise and sp

end money .

.

Hire polic

y experts w

ho wi..

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Which of the following best accounts for the lack of success generally encountered by minor political

parties in electing members to the House or Senate?A. Political action committee

contributions are restricted by law to two major parties

B. General elections in the U.S. are based on the winner-take-all principle

C. The public has great faith in the two major political parties

D. Some states outlaw minor political parties

Politica

l acti

on committ

e...

General electi

ons in th

e U...

The public has g

reat f

aith ..

Some states o

utlaw m

in..

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Interest groups are protected under the Constitution by the

A. Provisions of Article I, Section 8

B. First Amendment C. Tenth AmendmentD. Fourteenth

Amendment

Provis

ions of A

rticle

I, S...

First

Amendment

Tenth Amendment

Fourte

enth Amendment

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Which of the following is the main reason interest groups are often successful in getting legislation passed to benefit their members?

A. It is easy to garner support from most members of Congress on any issues

B. All members of society desire the legislation that special interests pursue

C. It is very easy to get legislation passed in Congress

D. A narrow constituency derives the benefits from such legislation but the costs are spread broadly across the population

It is e

asy to

garn

er suppo..

All members

of socie

ty de...

It is v

ery easy

to get le

gis...

A narrow co

nstitu

ency d...

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The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) was designed to

curtail which of the following?A. Individual

contributions to candidates

B. Soft moneyC. Hard moneyD. Public disclosure

rules

Individual contri

butions ..

Soft money

Hard m

oney

Public disc

losure

rules

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When party members meet to nominate a candidate for office, they participate in which of the following?

A. General electionsB. CaucusC. Blanket primaryD. Open primary

General electi

ons

Caucus

Blanket prim

ary

Open primary

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The term “party machine” usually refers to a

A. Large national party organization that is hierarchically structured

B. Local party organization that relies heavily on the voluntary labor of all its members

C. Local party organization that is tightly disciplined and well staffed and relies on patronage to create party loyalty

D. Party organization in which political favors are distributed by national leaders in repayment for large contributions

Large national p

arty org...

Loca

l party

organiza

tion ...

Loca

l party

organiza

tion ...

Party o

rganiza

tion in w

h...

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