UNIT 2A EXAM REVIES
Chapters 6, 8, 11
Chapter 6 - Public Opinion and Political Action
1. Describe the process through which public opinion is measured.
2. Identify factors that are problems for measuring public opinion.
3. Detail the characteristics of the three great waves of immigrants who have come to
the US and the factors that motivated each wave.
4. What demographic trends about the US are supported by census data? Describe the
the policy implications for these trends. What are the political impacts?
5. Describe the impact and the purpose of the Simpson-Mazzoli Act.
6. Explain how even though the US has such diverse population we still share a
common political culture.
7. Why Americans share common values explain how the application of these values
can vary between groups? Give examples.
8. Describe the process of political socialization and identify the primary agents of
socialization. Which are the most important?
9. What is the political spectrum?
10. How does public opinion affect candidates and officeholders? What are some of the
criticisms, public policies, and public institutions?
11. What are some of the barriers that exist to obtaining public opinion?
12. What factors also serve to influence the political beliefs and behaviors? (Sociological
factors)
13. Describe how exit polls are conducted and the major criticisms of the practice.
14. Identify some factors contributing to a decline of public trust in government and
explain the repercussions of such a decline.
15. Contrast liberal and conservative political ideology.
16. What is the gender gap as it relates to political ideology?
17. Summarize the important findings from The American Voter.
18. Describe how social class serves as a predictor of political participation.
19. Give examples of both conventional and non-conventional forms or political
participation.
20. Identify the political association of the following groups: Hispanic (Cuban; Mexican),
Anglo Men, Catholic, Jewish, Over 100,000 Income, Under 20,000 Income, Women,
African Americans, High School Graduate, Evangelical Christian, Catholic
21. How does the information collected by the census affect funding of programs? AND
which groups are traditionally undercounted? What types of states does this hurt
most?
22. When was the first time that the Hispanic population in the US outnumbered the
African American population?
23. What important distinctions can be drawn between the Hispanic and Asian
immigrants that have come to the US in the most recent wave of immigrants?
24. Which group of minorities in the US is the most economically disadvantaged?
25. What is reapportionment? When does it occur? Contrast the effects of the trends in
reapportionment between New York and Texas.
26. Where has much of the US population moved in the last 25 years? Why?
27. What are some challenges, according to Robert Putnam, from the growing diversity
of the American population?
28. What role does education play in socialization? Why is this so important to a nation?
29. Explain the significance of priming and framing in relationship to the role of the
media and socialization?
UNIT 2A EXAM REVIES
Chapters 6, 8, 11
30. Describe the process through which an organization would conduct a public opinion
survey that would be reliable. Make sure to include the terms sample, random
sample, random digit dialing, sampling error
31. What was the Literary Digest poll of 1936 and why is it an example of problems with
surveys?
32. What is the biggest and oldest public opinion polling company in the US?
33. What is the bandwagon effect?
34. What is exit polling and what are the criticisms of this practice?
35. What are some of the major criticisms of the use of polling by elected officials?
36. What do surveys show about American political knowledge?
37. What impact does age have on the types of viewpoints represented in elections and
on political participation?
38. When did the Christian Right become active in politics and what factor sparked their
political involvement at the time?
39. What is the significance of Barry Goldwater in the conservative movement?
40.
Chapter 8 - Political Parties
1. Describe the primary functions of political parties as linkage institutions.
2. Political parties exist in what three forms: identify and explain.
3. Explain the rational-choice theory, the Downs model, and the relationship between
the two.
4. What are electoral/political coalitions?
5. Contrast party image and party identification.
6. What is ticket splitting and what sociological group(s) are most likely to practice it?
7. Describe the historical role of political machines and patronage. What reforms were
implemented to address these issues and how did they address them?
8. Identify and contrast the various types of primary elections.
9. Explain the structure of national political parties and the significance of the party
chairman, the national committee, the national convention as well as the purpose of
the party platform.
10. What are the six party eras and the major characteristics of each?
11. What factors have maintained the United States as a two party system?
12. What are party eras and how are critical elections and party realignments related to
them?
13. Explain what party dealignment is and how it has affected modern campaigns.
14. What groups made up the New Deal Coalition that carried FDR and the Democrats
to power in the 1930s? What led to the breakup of this coalition thirty years later.
15. What functions do third parties play in American politics? What makes them
important? What are some of the positive and negative impacts of third parties?
16. Identify the third parties, the presidential candidates, and the issues leading to the
rise of that third party’s influence in the following elections: 1912, 1968, 1992, 2000.
17. Explain the idea behind Nixon’s Southern Strategy and the belief that this led to
relatively short-term gains and long-term challenges for the Republican Party.
18. What is the role of a delegate in primary elections? What is the role of superdelegates in the Democratic primary?
UNIT 2A EXAM REVIES
Chapters 6, 8, 11
19. What factors gave rise to the Tea Party movement which began in 2009? What
problems has this caused for Republicans?
20. Identify the major differences between policies supported by Democrats and those
supported by Republicans.
21. Be able to identify and/or explain the different positions of Democrats and
Republicans on the following issues: Health Care, Education, Gay Marriage, Taxes,
Energy Independence.
22. What was the significance of the 1994 “Contract with America”?
23. According to Anthony Downs, what is the best definition for a political party?
24. Explain the way that parties function in their three capacities; electorate,
organization, and government.
25. What role does a political party play as a linkage institution?
26. Identify and explain the key tasks that a political party should perform.
27. Explain the main tenets of the rational-choice theory as it relates to political parties.
28. Explain the difference between party image and party identity.
29. What has the trend been in the rate of party identification in the last few decades and
how has it impacted political parties and candidate campaigns?
30. What are some of the characteristics of a person that is more likely to declare
themselves as an independent voter?
31. Define and explain what a political machine is and the role they have played in
American politics?
32. What is patronage? Describe the most famous of examples related to a patronage
system.
33. What is the relationship between national and state political parties and in what ways
might this relationship be generally characterized?
34. What is meant by the idea of a political coalition?
35. Describe “party era”. This term is interchangeable with “party system”.
36. What is a party realignment? Give some examples of major realignments. How does
this relate to a critical election?
37. What are the five party systems as identified in your text? Know the general
situations and major parties in each system.
38. What groups composed the membership of the New Deal Coalition?
39. What particular event brought an end to the Republican domination through the end
of the 19 and the early 20 century?
40. In what ways did the popular story The Wizard of Oz lambast the Republicans of the
late 1800s?
41. What was the Great Society Program and The War on Poverty?
42. What caused the destruction of the Democratic Party dominance in the 1960’s?
43. What is meant by divided government? Explain how this has characterized the
modern party system.
44. What are some valuable contributions of third parties in a two-party system?
45. What is the most significant impact that third parties have on elections in the US?
46. Explain the idea of proportional representation as conceived in many European
political systems.
47. Describe the characteristics of the “Blue Dog Democrats”.
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Chapter 11 - Interest Groups
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UNIT 2A EXAM REVIES
Chapters 6, 8, 11
1. How have interested groups affected the political process and do they serve to
enhance our democracy or are they an obstacle? Why?
2. What is the primary goal of an interest group? How do they differ from political
parties?
3. Contrast PACs, Super PACs,and 527 Groups.
4. What is the significances of McConnell v. FEC and Citizens United v. FEC?
5. What are the functions of interest groups as a linkage institution?
6. Describe iron triangles (subgovernments) and the various entities that are involved.
Give examples.
7. Explain the importance of coalition building between interest groups to achieve their
goals? Give examples.
8. What is the free-rider problem and how do interest groups try to overcome it?
9. What are collective goods, selective benefits, potential groups, and actual groups?
10. Why are single issue groups often more effective than larger interest groups?
11. The NRA and AARP consistently rank as the two most influential interest groups in
the U.S., what are the strengths that make them so effective?
12. What benefits do lobbyists and interest groups offer officeholders or candidates?
What is the most significant?
13. What actions do interest groups use to affect public policy?
14. Contrast the various types of interest groups and give examples of each.
15. Identify a major interest group for each of the following categories: labor, business,
women, Latinos, environment, African Americans, public interests, international,
education
16. Know the significance of the following Laws and Court Cases:
a. Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
b. Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka
c. Citizens United vs Federal Elections Commission
d. Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
e. Regents of the University of California vs Bakke
f. Taft-Hartley Act
g. Tax Reform Act of 1986
h. McCain-Feingold Act of 2002
17. What are the primary tenets of the pluralist theory as it is related to groups in
politics?
18. According to economist Mancur Olson, what is the law of large groups? What are its
major tenets?
19. What is the free-rider problem? How do groups get around this in order to gain
members?
20. What are the two types of benefits groups can offer? Give examples.
21. In what ways can interest groups benefit office holders or candidates?
22. What is an amicus curiae brief? How are they used by interest groups?
23. Describe the ways in which interest groups may use going public to influence public
policy.
24. Explain the differences between a grassroots movement and “astroturfing”.
25. What are the 5 reasons that PAC directors choose to give their money to certain
candidates?
26. What are the kind of groups, according to Jeffrey Berry, that do not seek selective
benefits for their members but rather a collective good?
UNIT 2A EXAM REVIES
Chapters 6, 8, 11
27. What is the combined effect of the multiplicity of interest groups and the openness of
American politics on the representation of individual interests?
28. What are the differences between and major holdings of pluralist, hyperpluralist, and
elitist theories as they relate to interest groups?
29. According to Fortune magazine’s Power 25, what are the factors that most affect the
success of interest groups?
30. What are collective goods? Give examples.
31. What are the advantages of single-issue groups?
32. To which individuals do the overwhelming majority of PAC donations go?
33. What is the focus and purpose of interest groups like LASTPAC and Common
Cause?
34. What is an economic interest group?
35. What was the K-Street Project and what group did it benefit?
36. What is a public interest lobby?