Unit 7 Study Guide – Elections and Political Parties
Directions: Fill in the correct answer in the right-hand column. When studying, fold the study guide along the center
line, look at the question and flip to the other side to see if you are correct. If you can do this, you have mastered
the material. Otherwise, review, review, review!
1. Office holders are monitored by their
___________________ after an election.
1.
Political Party
2. Political parties nominate and ___________
individuals for political office.
2.
Recruit
3. A party’s ____________ is the person selected to run
as the party choice.
3.
candidate
4. The issues that a candidate stands for make up his or
her ______________.
4.
Platform
5. The American Political Process is called a
_____________________.
5.
Two party system
6. Name-calling or purposely using misleading
information about a candidate is called
______________________.
6.
Propaganda
7. True or False
The most important function of a political party is to
help candidates win elections.
7.
True
8. If a political party is not part of the two-party system,
it is considered a _______________________.
8.
Third party
9. What do political action committees (PACs)
contribute to political campaigns?
9.
Money
10. True or False
One of the functions of political parties is to amend the
US Constitution as needed.
10.
False
11. Registering and voting - duty or responsibility?
11. responsibility
12. a. Due to the expense of running a campaign, who is 12.
more likely to be able to afford to run for elected
a. wealthy people
office?
b. Due to the expense of running for office, what type
of role do PACs play?
b. raise money for campaigns – giving them undue
influence
c. True or False
c. false
Candidates rarely have to spend time fundraising
because their political party pays for everything.
13. Why has campaign finance reform become an
issue?
14. Voter participation is typically at its highest for the
_______________ election.
13.
Causes candidates to do extensive fundraising,
provides an unfair advantage to wealthy candidates,
encourages PACs and Special interest groups
14.
presidential
15. The only indirect election in the US is for
15.a. president/vice-president
______________________________. What body elects
b. electoral college
these people?
16. In order to vote in Virginia, you must
16.a. register
______________ first. This must be done _______ days
b. 22
prior to the election.
17. What three things typically describe the type of
people who are more likely to vote?
17. a. age
b. education
c. income
18. What are the two main reasons citizens fail to turn
out to vote?
18. lack of interest – failure to register
19. How is the number of electors for each state
decided?
19. a. congressional representation
What type of states do presidential candidates tend to
campaign in because the Electoral College is a winnertakes-all system?
b. larger states
20. How often does the President deliver the State of
the Union Address in which he introduces his goals,
policies and legislative objectives for the coming year?
20. N/A
21. Who focuses the public’s attention on selected
issues?
21. media
22. Educating the electorate about campaign issues is
the responsibility of the candidates _________
22. political party
23. Both parties run campaigns in order to try to appeal
to the ________ ___________.
23. political center
24. Third parties often introduce
24. new viewpoints
___________________ on a particular issue.
25. When evaluating campaign speeches, literature and 25.
advertisements it is important to use strategies to
a.
a. Separate fact from opinion
b.
b. Detect bias
c.
c. Evaluate sources
d.
d. Identify propaganda
26. Some similarities between the political parties is
that both parties organize to _______________
elections.
26.
a. win
b. influence
Both want to _____________ public policy.
They reflect both ____________ and ___________
views.
c. liberal and conservative
And both try to appeal to _____________________
d political center
27. Rising campaign costs have changed the way that
candidates run for public office. These high costs have
caused
a. require extensive fundraising
b. limit opportunities to run
a.
c. gives an advantage to the wealthy
b.
e. Encourgae development of PACS
c.
f. Gives special interest groups influence
d.
e.