American Government
Fall 2007, Quiz 3
Name:_______________________
Part I. Fill-in-the-blank and True/False. 2 Points Each. Each of these should be answered in a word or a phrase. Make sure you don’t accidentally skip any question.
1. True/False. Since the 1960s, voter turnout in presidential elections has averaged about
25 percent.
2. ____________________ is a theory of interest group influence in which government decisions reflect a process of bargaining among diverse interests in society.
3. ____________________ is an election system in which each party gets a number of seats proportional to its share of the vote.
4. _____________________ is a citizen who is highly attentive to politics and to whom other citizens turn for political information and cues.
5. Name one example of a way to measure the intensity of public opinion.
6. True/False. The Gore campaign’s recount strategy in Florida (in 2000) involved an effort to get all votes recounted across the state.
7. True/False. The Democratic Party was created before the Republican Party.
8. Usually expressed as a plus-or-minus percentage, the __________________ in a public opinion poll reflects the random differences between the sample and the entire population.
9. According to the ____________________, presidential candidates will try to appeal to moderate voters in order to win the most votes. Because of this tendency, some people say there is no real difference between candidates from the two major parties.
10. A(n) _____________________ is a private organization that seeks to shape public policy through extra-electoral channels.
11. True/False. Public opinion on the war in Iraq has fluctuated erratically ever since the invasion in 2003.
12. True/False. The framers of the Constitution were distrustful of political parties.
13. ____________________ is the term that describes a sense of powerlessness and the view that government does not care about is citizens.
14. ____________________ is a term to describe one way in which interest groups advocate for their preferred policies by cultivating access to elected officials. Examples include lobbying and testifying at hearings.

15. True/False. In the documentary Journeys with George, presidential candidate George Bush refused to be interviewed by the film-maker.
16. Material benefits are one way interest groups recruit members. Name one example of a material benefit.
17. True/False. Push polls are best described as a form of negative campaigning, rather than a means to gauge public opinion.
18. True/False. The Literary Digest poll correctly predicted that Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(FDR) would win the 1936 presidential election.
19. Name one example of a public interest group (i.e., a citizen group).
20. Name one example of a private interest group. Your textbook also refers to this type of group as an “economic group.”
21. While interest groups don’t run candidates for office, many groups have created
_____________________, through which they raise funds to contribute to election campaigns.
22. True/False. Instant runoff voting is a proposal that would discourage the development of third parties.
23. True/False. A voter who is ideologically conservative would likely oppose an increase in government-provided health care.
24. Domhoff uses the term ____________________ to refer to the leadership group of the upper class. Members of this select group have a great deal of influence in government.
25. True/False. Third party candidates often have greater success in local elections than in state or federal elections.

Part II. Short answer: 10 points each. Pick 5 to answer. The first 5 answers will be graded. Please put an “x” over the 2 questions you are not answering.
1. Explain what a single member district is. How do election systems based on single member districts contribute to the dominance of two major parties in the United States?
2. What are selective incentives, and how do interest groups use selective incentives to overcome the free rider problem? Note: To receive full credit, make sure you also define the free rider problem.
3. What is the difference between a straw poll and a scientific poll using random sampling?
Do straw polls provide any useful information? Note: To receive full credit, make sure you define random sampling.

4. Voter turnout in the United States hovers around 50%, a relatively low percentage compared to other advanced industrialized democracies. Identify and explain two reasons why turnout is so low.
5. Many proposals have been offered to increase voter turnout. Identify two proposals, and assess each in terms of 1) how much support it would receive, and 2) whether it would actually work to increase turnout.
6. Public opinion polls aren’t always a reliable gauge of public opinion. Identify and explain
two problems that can bias or otherwise call into question the results of opinion polls.

7. Third party candidates have very chance of actually winning elections. If this is the case, what effect do third parties have on the political process in the United States?