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100 POINTS.
Temple College
Government 2301
Fall 2000
Final Exam
MULTIPLE CHOICE. INSTRUCTIONS: Answer each of the following multiple
choice questions by marking the letter on your answer sheet that corresponds to the
BEST response. 100 points total.
1. Which of the following describes a collection of individuals who are attentive to and
mobilizible on any issue that relates to a set of principles or ideals?
a. single-issue public b. organizational public c. extremist group
d. ideological public
2. The results of a recent public opinion poll indicate that 55% of survey respondents
support a bill before Congress while 45% are opposed to the bill. Which
characteristic of public opinion is being reported?
a. intensity b. distribution c. latency d. salience
3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
a. As the issue becomes more visible, the relative size of the apathetic public
increases.
b. As the issue becomes more visible, the relative size of the attentive public
decreases.
c. As the issue becomes more visible, the relative size of the apathetic public
decreases.
d. None of the above statements are true.
4. Public opinion can BEST be defined as (was defined in class as)
a. the way that Americans feel about an issue.
b. the measurement of Americans' values and attitudes.
c. the results of scientific polls conducted by professional polling organizations such
as Harris, Roper, and Gallup.
d. shared expressed attitudes of a collection of individuals on a matter of common
concern.
5. Because there is no single, “general public," but many specialized publics, surveying
public opinion actually means
a. focusing on one identifiable opinion among all the competing ideas.
b. describing the distribution of opinions on an issue.
c. identifying an issue where opinion can aggregate.
d. surveying the attitudes of influential people only.
6. Which of the following characteristics of public opinion (as discussed in class) may
influence a response of government on an issue?
1. its distribution 2. its intensity 3. its stability 4. its latency 5. its salience
a. 1 only b. 1 and 2 c. 1, 2, and 3 d. all of these
7. A good example of a single-issue public is
a. the Democratic Party. b. the Republican Party.
d. the National Right-to-Life Movement.
c. the Libertarian Party.
8. Which of the following periods of life appears to be MOST important to political
socialization?
a. adulthood b. retirement age c. early childhood d. voting age
9. A person's sense that what he or she thinks or does will have an impact on what
government does is
a. political power. b. political efficacy. c. political socialization.
d. political participation.
10. In order to win a plurality election, a candidate must
a. receive a majority of the popular vote.
b. win a run-off election.
c. receive more votes than any other candidate does.
d. appeal to the most extreme groups.
11. Which of the following general trends have been revealed by public opinion research
over the last three decades?
a. Americans generally express high levels of (diffuse) support for the system.
b. Americans generally trust their government less today than in the mid-1960s.
c. Americans demonstrate low levels of knowledge of their political system
compared to people in other countries.
d. all of these.
12. In class, we noted that a political system must have some mechanism to generate
support. Which of the following argues that political elites deliberately manipulate or
propagate values in support of the political regime?
a. systems theory
b. encultration theory
c. hegemonic theory
d. authoritarianism
13. At the systems-wide or macro level, political socialization [if it is successful]
a. generates the diffuse support necessary for the stability of the political system.
b. fosters authoritarian government.
c. undermines patriotism.
d. erodes the trust that Americans have in their government.
14. At the individual or micro level, political socialization is
a. a social event sponsored by a political party to acquaint voters with a particular
candidate or issue.
b. the distribution of opinions on an issue.
c. the process by which individuals become aware of which groups to associate with
to maximize political impact.
d. the process whereby individuals learn about the political norms, values, and
acceptable forms of political behavior of their culture.
15. Generally speaking, a person is FIRST exposed to which agent of socialization?
a. schools b. family c. peers d. media
16. Childhood learning is important to socialization because
a. values learned early in life form the core of an individual's value system and tend
to structure later learning.
b. children have far better memories than adults do.
c. small children tend to think that politics are interesting.
d. most parents are ACTIVELY committed to raising their children to be responsible,
informed citizens.
17. According to the author of the article “Democrats and LaRouchites: the Direct
Primary Caused It,” in the United States, most Democratic and Republican Party
candidates are nominated
a. through a patronage system where potential candidates must demonstrate loyalty
to party "bosses."
b. by the national committees of each party.
c. through direct primaries.
d. at state and local conventions.
18. The Constitution provides that a candidate must receive a majority of Electoral
College votes to be elected president. There are a total of 538 electoral votes.
How many electoral votes (minimum) must the winning candidate receive?
a. 254 b. 270 c. 538 d. at least one more than any other candidate
19. What happens if no presidential candidate receives a majority of the Electoral
College vote?
a. There is a run-off election.
b. The president is elected by the House of Representatives.
c. The president is elected by the Senate.
d. The entire process must start over, beginning with the nomination of new
candidates by the two major parties.
20. In the Electoral College, each state is accorded a number of electoral votes
a. equal to the number of the state's senators and representatives in Congress.
b. equal to the number of delegates it sends to the national party conventions.
c. equal to the number of representatives in the state legislature.
d. equal to the number of registered voters in the state.
21. Suppose that in the presidential election in the year 2004, the Republican Party’s
candidate gets 20 million popular votes and 241 electoral votes. The Democratic
party’s candidate receives 18 million popular votes and 265 votes in the Electoral
College. The Green Party’s candidate manages to get 16 million popular votes and
32 votes in the Electoral College. Who becomes president?
a. the Republican
b. the Democrat
c. the Green candidate
d. cannot be determined given the above facts.
22. Which of the following values taught by the family has an indirect effect on the
formation of political attitudes?
a. conformity b. respect for authority figures c. work ethic
d. all of these
23. What percentage of eligible voters actually casts ballots in presidential elections?
a. 33-37%
b. 50-54%
c. 62-66%
d. around 70%
24. What percentage of eligible voters actually casts ballots in “off-year” or midterm
congressional elections?
a. 33-37%
b. 50-54%
c. 62-66%
d. around 70%
25. Valence issues
a. relate mainly to particular social concerns such as abortion and gun control.
b. refer mainly to general judgments about "how well the country is doing."
c. can affect a politician's (i.e., president's) approval ratings.
d. b and c.
26. Latent opinion refers to
a. a type of polling similar to quota polling.
b. ideas that are discussed publicly on a daily basis.
c. ideas that are irrelevant and ignored by government.
d. attitudes toward general, non-specific issues.
27. According to the information on the webpage concerning the 2000 presidential
election, the Founding Fathers' original intent to have an Electoral College was
a. based on a strict adherence to democratic principles.
b. to encourage the development of a two-party system.
c. to eliminate the need for factions.
d. to have electors use his or her own discretion in deciding whom would make the
best president.
28. American political parties are said to be pragmatic - that is, they tend to concentrate
on
a. spreading ideology.
b. collecting dues from party members.
c. winning elections.
d. having a small cadre of deeply committed party activists.
29. According to the author of the article “Democrats and LaRouchites: the Direct
Primary Caused It,” the purpose of introducing the direct primary as a means of
nominating candidates for public office was to
a. strengthen control of party leaders in selecting party candidates.
b. help the Republican Party win more elections.
c. open the nomination process to ordinary party members and to weaken the
influence of party bosses.
d. none of these.
30. The Electoral College operates according to the "unit rule." The "unit rule"
a. is prescribed by the Constitution.
b. increases the chances that no candidate will receive a majority of the electoral
vote.
c. encourages third party candidates.
d. means that all of a state's electoral votes go to the candidate who won a plurality
of the popular vote.
31. According to Dye, calling a particular candidate’s support “soft” means that
a. the candidate needs to shore up his/her research.
b. his/her supporters are not very intense in their commitment.
c. the media are not taking the candidate seriously.
d. the candidate’s financial base is not very secure.
32. Salient issues are those issues that people feel
a. should be abandoned by elected officials.
b. are too costly and least needed.
c. relate directly to their own lives.
d. have no impact on their own lives.
33. A child’s party identification is usually consistent with the party identification of
a. friends.
b. teachers.
c. parents.
d. figures of authority.
34. People tend to be more tolerant and generally more supportive of the political
system as they
a. grow older
b. obtain more education
c. marry and have children
d. become more economically independent.
35. The major source of political information for the vast majority of citizens is
a. newspapers. b. radio. c. television. d. books.
36. For the first time in the election of 1796, two presidential candidates campaigned as
members of
a. the Whig Party.
b. Opposing political parties.
c. The Federalist Party.
d. The Anti-Federalist Party.
37. More than influencing policy, political parties are concerned with
a. recruiting new members to run for office.
b. winning public office in elections.
c. soliciting funds from large corporations.
d. selecting the site for the next presidential nominating convention.
38. According to the information on the webpage concerning the 2000 presidential
election, the presidential election of 1800 was significant because it was the first
time that
a. presidential and vice-presidential candidates ran as a party ticket.
b. the United States Senate elected a president.
c. the transfer of governing power from one political party to another was blocked
by a Supreme Court decision.
d. none of these.
39. One of the two main parties in American politics which traces its origins to the
antislavery and nationalist forces that united in the 1850s is now the
a. American-Republican Party.
b. Federalist Party.
c. Democratic Party
d. Republican Party
40. In 1994, the Republican Party, for the first time in forty years, captured a majority of
the nation’s governerships and
a. the mayors of most of the major cities.
b. management of the world’s largest military forces.
c. control of the U.S. Congress.
d. lost control of the national party leadership.
41. Today, political parties in the United States have lost their preeminent position as
a. protector of the American way of life.
b. leader among the democratic principles.
c. instruments of democracy.
d. prerogatives of political power.
42. For political parties, winning has generally been more important than
a. the high cost of campaigning.
b. listening to the requests of party members.
c. recruiting new party member.
d. any principles or policies.
43. Instead of political parties, campaigns are generally directed by the
a. individual him/herself.
b. party leaders
c. professional campaign management firms.
d. special interest groups.
44. According to the author of the article “Democrats and LaRouchites: the Direct
Primary Caused It,” the direct primary produces candidates who are
a. largely members of the Republican Party.
b. largely members of the Democratic Party.
c. self-recruited, self-motivated, and not particularly loyal to the party whose
nomination they seek.
d. recruited by party leaders and therefore beholden to party “bosses.”
45. The principal medium of communication between candidates and voters is
a. radio.
b. newspaper.
c. television.
d. debate.
46. Despite the erosion of many of their functions, American’s political parties survive as
the principal institutions for
a. running campaigns.
b. recruiting candidates.
c. organizing elections.
d. raising campaign funds.
47. The implied argument of the article “Democrats and LaRouchites: the Direct Primary
Caused It” is that, while the direct primary has permitted ordinary voters to
participate in the nomination process, it has also had the effect of seriously
a. increasing the cost of political campaigning.
b. decreasing the control of congressional leaders.
c. eliminating the responsibility of state committees.
d. undermining the control that the parties can exert over their nominees and has
therefore weakened the political parties and, thus, American democracy.
48. Primary elections in which a voter may cast a ballot in either party’s primary election
are
a. closed primaries.
b. open primaries.
c. run-off primaries.
d. general elections.
49. A person who votes for candidates of different parties for different offices in a
general election is called
a. maverick.
b. absentee voter.
c. ticket splitter
d. party activist.
50. A statement of principles adopted by a political party at its national convention is the
a. statement of party procedures
b. party’s writ of principles.
c. party’s platform.
d. party’s planks.
51. An electoral system that allocates seats in a legislature based on proportion of votes
the parties receive in a national election is
a. equal representation.
b. bipartisan representation.
c. proportional representation.
d. disproportionate representation,.
52. In a retrospective judgment, voters may not know what politicians will do in the
future, but they
a. expect politicians to provide special funds for their home districts.
b. can evaluate how well politicians performed in the past.
c. will hold them accountable for their future votes in Congress.
d. nearly always vote for the underdog candidates.
53. Individuals and organizations that contribute to candidate campaigns show a strong
preference for
a. members of Congress over state legislators.
b. incumbents over challengers.
c. Republican candidates over Democratic candidates.
d. wealthy candidates over financially struggling candidates.
54. It is widely believed that television’s focus on personal character and private lives –
rather than on policy positions and governmental experience – encourages
a. the high cost of campaigning.
b. negative campaigning.
c. muckraking coverage.
d. campaign exposes.
55. The most expensive aspect of the campaign is
a. recruiting talented staff.
b. renting centralized office space.
c. paying professional staff.
d. commercial advertising.
56. According to the videotaped program “Campaign Spending: Money and Media,”
federal election law limits individual contributions to a candidate to $
per
election and PAC contributions to $
per election.
a. $500, $2,500
b. $1,000, $2,500
c. $1,000, $5,000
d. $2,500, $10,000
57. Political contributions to a party for activities such as party building or voter
registration, but not directly for campaigns is called
a. quiet money.
b. soft money.
c. party money.
d. hush money.
58. PAC contributions go overwhelmingly to
a. political challengers.
b. party leaders.
c. congressional leaders.
d. incumbent officeholders.
59. In the presidential primary process, favorable New Hampshire results inspire more
a. support form the political party, in the form of volunteers.
b. debate requests from the media.
c. financial contributions which are needed to fund the next group of primary
elections.
d. criticism from the presidential candidates.
60. Presidential television debates emphasize a candidate’s
a. understanding of political facts.
b. understanding issues.
c. political program
d. image.
61. People who perceive the economy as getting worse are likely to vote against the
_____, while people who think the economy is getting better support the ___ .
a. challenger, incumbent.
b. incumbent, challenger.
c. challenger, challenger.
d. incumbent, incumbent.
62. The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, remedied the problem of a tie in the
presidential electoral votes between a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential
candidate running on the same party’s ticket (as in the 1800 election) by requiring
electors to
a. register with both political parties.
b. cast separate electoral votes for president and vice-president.
c. go to Washington, D.C. to cast their electoral votes.
d. declare a preferred candidate for each position and be bound to those
preferences.
63. According to the information on the webpage concerning the 2000 presidential
election, which of the following statements is true with respect to presidential
elections?
a. In presidential primaries and caucuses, ordinary voters cast their ballots directly
for a presidential candidate.
b. In the general election, ordinary voters cast their ballots directly for a
presidential/vice-presidential ticket.
c. In presidential primaries and caucuses, ordinary voters are not allowed to cast
ballots; only “super-delegates” are allowed to vote.
d. In both presidential primaries and caucuses and the general election, ordinary
voters are actually cast their ballots for delegates (or electors) who "say" they
support the presidential (vice-presidential) candidate(s).
64. According to the information on the webpage concerning the 2000 presidential
election, which of the following does the U.S. Constitution prescribe as a means to
resolve the controversy over the 2000 presidential election in Florida?
a. Allow the Florida State Supreme Court to select Florida’s 25 electors.
b. Allow the voters in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties to re-vote.
c. Disqualify Florida‘s 25 electoral votes from the Electoral Vote tally.
d. Allow the Florida State Legislature to select a slate of 25 electoral votes on
whatever basis the legislators choose.
65. Which provision of the U.S. Constitution suggests the remedy indicated by the
answer to question #64?
a. Article I, section 5
b. Article II, section 1
c. 12th Amendment
d. 27th Amendment
66. According to the videotaped program “Campaign Spending: Money and Media,”
“independent expenditures”
1. are campaign expenditures by candidates who are not affiliated with a political
party.
2. constitute a “loophole” in the Congressional Campaign Finance Act of 1974
because they allow PACs to circumvent the law's $5,000 limit on campaign
contributions.
3. cannot be regulated by Congress because such regulation would violate free
speech rights under the 1st Amendment.
4. are expenditures by individuals or PACs in their efforts to either help one
candidate get elected or ensure the defeat of another – but, in any case, the
expenditures are perfectly legal if they are not coordinated with any candidate’s
campaign.
5. are illegal under federal election laws.
a. 1 and 5 b. 2 and 4 c. 2, 3, and 4 d. none of these