American Government 100
Patterson, pgs. 207-219
Woll, pgs. 177-182, AG21-15
Part IV
Political Participation
True/False Questions
1. Compared with other Western democracies, the United States has relatively high levels of
voter participation. True or False
2. Only a small proportion of Americans can be classified as political activists. True or False
3. Americans are more likely than citizens of other democracies to contribute time and money to
political and community organizations. True or False
4. According to Patterson, today nearly any American adult who is determined to vote can legally
and actually do so. True or False
5. Millions of Americans shirk their duty to vote regularly, a tendency that sets Americans apart
from citizens of other Western democracies. True or False
6. Turnout in U.S. elections increased after registration requirements were instituted because
corruption was finally halted. True or False
7. Those states with more convenient registration laws generally have lower voter turnout levels
compared to those states that are more restrictive. True or False
8. One reason for the low voter turnout is that individual Americans are responsible for
registering to vote, whereas in most other democracies voters are registered automatically by
government officials. True or False
9. Within the United States, there is little variation in voter participation from state-to-state. True
or False
10. The effort to introduce voter identification cards in Georgia and Indiana was to stamp out
widespread fraud and abuse in the election process. True or False
11. No other Western European democracy has elections as often as the United States for the
lower chamber of its national legislature. True or False
12. Similar to the United States, other democracies select the party nominees using primary
elections. True or False
13. According to Patterson, the frequency of U.S. elections increases turnout by assuring that
American democracy is better represented. True or False
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14. Americans with a college degree or high income are substantially more likely to vote in a
presidential election than are those who did not finish high school or have a low income. True or
False
15. Europeans with less income and education are encouraged to participate by the presence of
class-based organizations and appeals unlike the United States where there has never been a
major socialist or labor party. True or False
16. Although the Democratic Party represents the working class and the poor to a degree, it is
chiefly responsive to middle-class voters, who hold the balance of power in U.S. elections. True
or False
17. Americans with less income and education are the people most adversely affected by the
country’s registration system. True or False
18. Senior citizens, especially those with infirmities from old age, have a far lower turnout rate
than do voters under the age of thirty. True or False
19. Although “independents” are sometimes idealized in high school civics classes, they have
much lower voting rates than citizens who identify with a political party. True or False
20. The voting public is more polarized in its political positions than is the public as a whole.
True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Involvement in activities intended to influence public policy and leadership: a) civic duty, b)
voter apathy, c) political participation, d) public discretion.
2. Most Americans make a sharp distinction between their personal lives and national life which:
a) reduces their incentive to participate politically, b) increases the likelihood that citizens with
lower levels of education will participate politically, c) enhances their self-righteousness, d)
discourages the wealthy from helping the poor.
3. At the nation’s founding, who had the right to vote? a) white people, b) white males, c) white
males with property, d) all people.
4. He was noted for saying that a man could lose his right to vote if his jackass died: a) George
Washington, b) Ben Franklin, c) Aaron Burr, d) Alexander Hamilton.
5. Which amendment to the Constitution gave African-American males the right to vote? a) 13th,
b) 14th, c) 15th, d) 16th
6. Women did not secure the right to vote until 1920, with the ratification of the following
amendment: a) 18th, b) 19th, c) 20th, d) 21st.
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7. The Twenty-sixth Amendment extended voting rights to: a) 18 year olds and older, b) banned
poll taxes, c) protected African Americans from voting discrimination, d) assured that ballot
stuffing would cease.
8. What has been the average percentage voter turnout rate in the past two decades for
presidential elections? a) 55%, b) 60%, c) 69%, d) 74% .
9. Which of the following countries has the highest voter participation rates for national
elections? a) Belgium, b) France, c) Germany, d) Denmark.
10. Why was voter registration started around 1900? a) To assure greater voter participation in
elections, b) To minimize confusion at the ballot box, c) To prevent voters from casting more
than one ballot, d) To streamline the process of counting the votes.
11. In 1993, Congress enacted a law that would provide voter registration when a person applied
for a driver’s license or public assistance: a) Voter Vehicle Assistance Law, b) Motor Voter Act,
c) Drivers Voter Expansion Act, d) Civic Suffrage Law.
12. Scholars estimate that turnout in the U.S. would be roughly how many percentage points
higher if it had European-style registration? a) 6 percent, b) 10 percent, c) 13 percent, d) 18
percent.
13. Which of the following states have lenient registration laws that allow people to register at
their polling place on election day? a) Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, b) California, Florida,
Wisconsin, c) Arizona, Mississippi, Wyoming, d) Alaska, Georgia, North Carolina.
14. The states that have erected the most barriers to voter registration and have the lowest turnout
rates are located in: a) the Northeast, b) the South, c) the Midwest, d) the West.
15. In Minnesota and New Hampshire, how many adults vote in presidential elections? a) 1 in 3,
b) 1 in 5, c) 7 in 10, d) 4 in 5.
16. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled (6-3) in a case involving Indiana’s voter identification card
law, argued that: a) it did not place an undue burden on the poor, b) it was an attempt to
disenfranchise the poor, c) it was another way of introducing poll taxes to vote, d) it was a
partisan witch-hunt to assure that Republicans won more elections.
17. In the 1930s, why did states begin to hold their gubernatorial elections in nonpresidential
years? a) it became too costly to hold both events together, b) in an effort to eliminate the effect
of presidential coattails, c) to emphasize the non-partisan nature of state elections as opposed to
federal elections, d) to increase voter enthusiasm for state races, generating more participation.
18. What methods are applied in most European countries that increase voter participation rates?
a) They have more frequent elections, b) They schedule elections on Sunday or declare a national
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holiday, c) They pay their citizens to vote, d) They have "thugs" and "bullies" coerce partisans to
vote.
19. An election system whereby political parties receive legislative seats according to the
percentage of the total vote: a) single member districts, b) unit rule, c) proportional
representation, d) winner takes all.
20. An election system whereby representatives are chosen by legislative district, with the winner
in each district getting the seat: a) plurality system, b) primary system, c) caucus system, d) nontransferable vote.
21. A lack of interest in politics: a) narcissism, b) apathy, c) utopian, d) fatalism.
22. The sense of powerlessness that is rooted in the belief that government pays no attention to
their interests: a) endearment, b) estrangement, c) isolation, d) alienation.
23. A belief that citizens are obliged to participate in public affairs: a) personal honor, b)
patriotism, c) civic duty, d) nationalism.
24. According to Patterson, why did voter turnout among working-class white Americans drop in
1968 and 1972? a) Because of the Vietnam War, b) Because they felt secure and satisfied with
the policies of the government, c) Because they had many more entertainment options available,
d) Because of the Civil Rights Movement.
25. What is William Galston’s solution to the polarized nature of American politics? a) require
citizens to vote or pay a fine, b) establish public financing of campaigns while eliminating
private donations, c) remove lobbyists from access to public officials, d) limit the terms of
elected officials.
Fill-in Questions
1. The reasons for the low voter turnout rates in the United States include:
a) _________ laws,
b) particularly those pertaining to _____________ requirements, and
c) ___________ of elections.
2. How were blacks disenfranchised in the South after the Civil War?
a) by _____________ and electoral trickery,
b) including rigged _________ tests as a precondition of being allowed to _________ to
vote,
c) The tests contained questions so __________ that often the _________ had to look up
the answers.
d) … the names of those that took the test were sometimes __________ in the local
__________…
3. What factors are associated with lower voting rates that have impacted southern states and
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southwestern states?
a) ________ rates are higher,
b) there has been a tradition of restrictive ____________ _____,
c) there is a large __________ population.
4. Among the explanations for individual differences in voter participation are the following:
a) __________ and income,
b) ____, and
c) ______ attitudes.
5. Why the great difference between the United States and Europe when comes to voting?
a) Europeans with _____ income and education are encouraged to participate by the
presence of class-based organizations and appeals
b) such as __________ or labor parties,
c) politically oriented ______ _______,
d) and class-based political ___________.
Federalist 10 (James Madison)
Woll, pgs. 177-182
True or False Questions
1. According to Madison, it has been the instability, injustice, and confusion into the public
councils that have been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere
perished. True or False
2. Since man is fallible, argues Madison, whenever he can exercise liberty, there will always be
the public means to shape opinions into a unified faction. True or False
3. Moral and religious motives can be relied upon to contain the sinister views of people, argues
Madison. True or False
4. In a small republic, it would be far easier to oppress the citizens because of the proximity of its
people to its political leaders, argues Madison, compared with a large republic where the expanse
of the nation makes it far more difficult. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Madison says that there is no avoiding the fact that: a) legislators are advocates of the public
interest, b) the most powerful and numerous faction in the legislature will win out whether the
policy is just or unjust, c) the design of the political system will assure that factions will have a
nebulous affect on governmental policy, d) the geographic size of a republic as little affect on
factions.
Fill-in Question
1. What is Madison's definition of faction?
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"... a number of citizens, whether amounting to a __________ or __________ of the
whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of _________, or of interest,
adverse to the ________ of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the
community."
2. The question…is, whether small or extensive republics are most favorable to the election of
proper guardians of the public weal; and it is clearly decided in favor of the latter (extensive
republics) by two obvious considerations:
a) …”the former (large republic) will present a greater ________, and a greater
probability of a ____ choice “ to run the government than a small republic because of the
many more voices from which to choose.
b) …”as each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in a large
(republic) than in a small republic, it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to
practice with success the _________ arts….”
c) …”the greater number of citizens, and extent of territory” that are a part of a large
republic …renders factious combinations less to be _________….”
Answers
Patterson, pgs. 207-219
True/False Questions
1. False
3. True
5. True
7. False
9. False
11. True
13. False
15. True
17. True
19. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. c
3. c
5. c
7. a
9. a
11. b
13. a
15. c
17. b
19. c
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21. b
23. c
25. a
Fill-In Questions
1. a) election, b) registration, c) scheduling
3. a) poverty, b) registration laws, c) immigrant
5. a) less, b) socialist, c) trade unions, d) ideologies
Woll, pgs. 177-182
True or False
1. True
3. False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. b
Fill-in Question
1. majority, minority, passion, rights
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