Chapter 9 Practice Questions
1. A nomination refers to a(n)
a. media event in the course of a presidential election.
b. highpoint of public opinion in support of a particular candidate.
c. party’s official selection of a candidate to run for office.
d. monetary campaign contribution.
e. endorsement of elite press, such as the New York Times.
2. The Democratic and Republican candidates for president are formally nominated by the
a. presidential caucuses.
b. presidential primaries.
c. Electoral College.
d. national party conventions.
e. national committees.
3. The McGovern-Fraser Commission
a. chose presidential candidates for the Democratic Party.
b. investigated violations of campaign finance law in 1968.
c. established the dates of presidential primaries.
d. had a mandate to make the Democratic Party conventions more democratic.
e. strengthened the role of the party’s national committee.
4. The McGovern-Fraser Commission made the delegate selection process of the
Democratic party more democratic by
a. giving the power of selecting delegates to party officials.
b. increasing the number of delegates chosen.
c. weakening the power of party leaders to choose convention delegates.
d. encouraging the use of presidential caucuses rather than primaries.
e. None of the above is true.
5. According to the Pew Center, approximately _____ percent of American adults donated
online to a candidate in the first five months of the 2008 presidential campaign.
a.
1
b.
2
c.
5
d.
10
e.
14
6. Which of the following has resulted from the impact of the Internet on campaigns?
a. Campaigns have a more difficult time raising money from donors.
b. Candidates can raise larger sums of money from small donors than has traditionally
been the case.
c. Campaigns can more easily collect and maintain addresses for mailing lists.
d. Communicating with voters and potential donors has grown more costly.
e. Campaigns have lost control over manipulating a candidate’s image.
7. Which of the following did the Federal Election Campaign Act NOT do?
a. Require disclosure of campaign contributions by all candidates for federal offices
b. Provide public financing for the presidential nominees of both major parties
c. Provide public financing of House and Senate races
d. Limit presidential campaign spending
e. Provide public financing of Senate races
8. The Presidential Election Campaign Fund
a. consists of money collected from the $3 federal income tax check-off.
b. is distributed by the FEC to qualified candidates to subsidize their presidential
campaigns.
c. garners only about 10 percent of American taxpayers’ participation.
d. Both a and b are true.
e. All of the above are true.
9. Which of these is NOT one of the provisions of the McCain-Feingold Act?
a. The subjecting of 527 groups to contribution restrictions
b. The banning of soft-money contributions
c. The increase in the amount that individuals can give to candidates, to rise with
inflation
d. The barring of groups from running “issue ads” within 60 days of an election if
they refer to a federal candidate and are not funded through a PAC
e. The prohibition of corporations and unions use of general treasury funds to pay
for electioneering communications in the last 60 days of an election.
10. The McCain-Feingold Act of 2002
a. increased the limit on individual contributions to presidential and congressional
candidates to $2,000.
b. decreased the limit on individual contributions to presidential and congressional
candidates to $1,000.
c. increased the limit on individual contributions to presidential and congressional
candidates to $3,000.
d. decreased the limit on individual contributions to presidential and congressional
candidates to $3,000.
e. banned individual contributions to presidential and congressional candidates.
11. The phenomenon that people’s beliefs often guide what they pay attention to and how
they interpret events, common among voters in political campaigns, is
a. selective perception.
b. gate keeping.
c. scorekeeping.
d. agenda setting.
e. frontloading.
12. Which of the following is an example of a 527 group?
a. MoveOn.org
b. JohnKerry.com
c. The Republican Party of Iowa
d. The Democratic Party of New Hampshire
e. EggPac
13. Which of the following statements regarding political campaigns is FALSE?
a. Most people pay relatively little attention to campaigns.
b. Party identification influences voting behavior regardless of what happens in
campaigns.
c. Incumbents start with a substantial advantage in terms of name recognition and an
established track record.
d. Campaigns never change voters’ minds.
e. In tight races, a good campaign can make the difference between winning and
losing.
14. Researchers suggest that campaigns have three effects on voters; these are the following:
a. reinforcement, activation, and conversion.
b. reinforcement, gate keeping, and scorekeeping.
c. selective perception, gate keeping, and conversion.
d. agenda setting, gate keeping, and conversion.
e. activation, selective perception, and reconversion.
15. Throughout the history of American politics, election campaigns have become
a. longer and increasingly open to public participation.
b. shorter and increasingly open to public participation.
c. longer and decreasingly open to public participation.
d. shorter and decreasingly open to public participation.
e. neither longer nor shorter, but increasingly open to public participation.
1. C
2. D
3. D
4. E
5. C
6. B
7. C
8. E
9. A
10. A
11. A
12. A
13. D
14. A
15. A