Ch 10: Elections and Campaigns
Study Guide
Readings:
-Ch 10: Elections and Campaigns (pgs. 230-263)
Vocabulary: make a flash card for each of the following:
527 Organizations
Blanket Primary
Closed Primary
Coattails
General Election
Gerrymandering
Incumbent
Independent Expenditures
Malapportionment
Open Primary
Political Action Committee
Position Issues
Primary Election
Prospective Voting
Retrospective Voting
Runoff Primary
Soft Money
Sophomore Surge
Valence Issues
DIRECTIONS: the answers to the following questions are found in the reading and class notes. Answer the questions
on a SEPARATE sheet of paper.
1.
Describe how each of the following differs form the congressional to presidential elections:
a.
Size
b.
Competitiveness
c.
People who participate in off-years
d.
What candidates can do for the people
2.
What three factors can explain the high percentage of congressional incumbents who get reelected?
3.
Why would the winner of a presidential election win by a smaller percentage than the House or the Senate?
4.
What are five ways you can get mentioned to be a presidential contender?
5.
Though presidential candidates come form various backgrounds, in general what do voters prefer to see in their candidates?
6.
Why do position papers have to be written if no one reads them?
7.
What do incumbents have to do during their elections in order to win?
8.
If you were an incumbent would you have a better chance of winning reelection in the House or the Senate? Why?
9.
Without restating the definition what is the difference between Gerrymandering and Malapportionment?
10.
When does reapportionment happen? What is the purpose o reapportionment?
11.
From 1990 through 2002 only ten percent of incumbent senators and fewer than five percent of incumbent representatives seeking
reelection failed to win renomination. What do these statistics suggest?
12.
What causes the Sophomore Surge?
13.
Who must you mobilize in order to win a primary?
14.
How do these people differ form those who vote in general elections?
15.
What is the hardest part about running in a general election after running in a primary?
16.
What is a clothespin vote?
17.
Why have the candidates recently focused more on valence issues rather than position issues?
18.
What are the two ways a candidate can use television? What are both of their nicknames?
19.
Why is television more important in primaries than in general elections?
20.
Which type of media has more credibility and why?
21.
What is ironic about the perception of visuals?
22.
Although candidates are criticized for using campaign rhetoric, why do they continue to use it?
23.
How did television impact the 1992 election?
24.
How did the internet impact the 2004 election?
25.
Define the following:
a.
Closed Primaries
b.
Open Primaries
c.
Blanket Primary
d.
Runoff Primary
26.
Although many say they are voting for the best person, what is their decision primarily based upon?
27.
If there are more democrats than republicans, why have democrats lost six out of the last ten elections?
28.
What are the positive and negative consequences of voting either prospectively or retrospectively?
29.
What are the possible reasons for why voters often change their opinions of the presidential party once that party has had a chance
to govern?
30.
Why do scholars believe retrospective voting is based largely on economic decisions?
31.
In what three ways do campaigns make a difference?
32.
What are the two ways to examine the nature of the parties’ voting coalitions?
33.
Describe the Republicans coalition.
34.
Describe the Democrats coalition.