Exam: Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Name: _____________________________________
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the
statement or answers the question.
1. The largest racial/ethnic minority group in the United States is
A) Hispanics.
B) Asian Americans.
C) African Americans.
D) Native Americans.
E) African Americans and Hispanics are tied in size.
2. Demographic changes in the United States population could translate to political
consequences through the process of
A) political socialization.
B) political acculturation.
C) political assimilation.
D) reapportionment.
E) gerrymandering
3. Political culture refers to
A) an overall set of political values widely shared within a society.
B) the process through which political values are transmitted to the young.
C) a high degree of homogeneity in political opinions.
D) political party affiliation.
E) an individual’s beliefs about the role of government
4. Reapportionment
A) rarely occurs.
B) has most recently increased congressional representation for New England.
C) affects how much federal aid population groups can receive.
D) changes the states’ number of representatives in the United States Senate.
E) can shift political power among the regions over time.
5. The process through which an individual acquires his or her particular political
orientations, including his or her knowledge, feelings, and evaluations regarding his
or her political world, is known as
A) political ideology.
B) political orientation.
C) demography.
D) political socialization.
E) political indoctrination.
6. Random sampling in public opinion polling operates on the principle that
A) everyone should have an equal probability of being selected.
B) 1,000 respondents must be polled.
C) the larger the number of people who are polled, the greater the accuracy of the
D) the questions to be asked of a given respondent must be selected randomly so
E) polls of the voting age population are more accurate.
7. All of the following are criticisms of modern polling EXCEPT
A) politicians use polls to follow the crowd rather than to assert bold leadership.
B) polls can distort the election process by creating a bandwagon effect, where
C) polls are subject to very wide margins of error.
D) careful attention to polls is unwise, as polls only reflect the passive attitudes of
E) polls drown out real election issues with a steady flood of poll results.
8. A political ideology is
A) the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues.
B) the process through which an individual acquires his or her political beliefs.
C) an individual’s coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy.
D) the set of courses that a political science student must complete to attain a
E) the shared political values of a nation.
9. Which of the following statements best represents liberal ideology in American
politics?
A) They favor keeping taxes and government spending low.
B) They are supportive of prayer in public schools.
C) They oppose abortion.
D) They believe we should guard carefully the rights of defendants in criminal
E) They are supportive of larger defense budgets.
10. The term gender gap refers to
A) a stable pattern where women tend to be more likely than men to vote for the
B) higher political contributions made by women than by men.
C) greater poverty of women than of men.
D) greater success of men than women when running for office.
E) slightly higher voter turnout among women.
11. Which of the following statements best represents conservative ideology in
American politics?
A) They are opposed to prayer in public schools.
B) They believe we should have stronger gun-control laws.
C) They favor the free market and oppose government regulation of business.
D) They want to decrease defense spending.
E) They are in favor of affirmative action programs.
12. Historically disadvantaged groups tend to
A) vote for the Democratic Party.
B) vote for the Libertarian Party.
C) vote for the Green Party.
D) vote for the Republican Party.
E) vote as Independents.
13. A voter who casts his or her ballot based on his or her current personal economic circumstances
is best described as a/an
A) no-issue-content voter.
B) conservative.
C) ideologue.
D) nature-of-the-times or retrospective voter.
E) group benefits voter.
14. Which of the following best describes all elections in the United States?
A) Voter turnout is generally between 50 and 60 percent.
B) Voter turnout is greatest among those living in the South and West.
C) Voter turnout is always lower for midterm congressional elections than for
presidential elections.
D) Voter turnout is higher in presidential elections when there is an incumbent
E) Voter turnout has steadily increased over the past twenty-five years.
15. Which of the following is an example of civil disobedience?
A) The Supreme Court throwing out a congressional statute on the grounds of its
B) Consciously breaking a city’s law by purposely blocking entrance to a legally
C) Petitioning the government to legalize the possession of marijuana and other
D) Accidentally failing to pay income tax on taxable income
E) Cheating on college entrance exams
16. Which of the following best describes the voting habits of African Americans and
Hispanic Americans?
A) They have always voted about as much as whites despite legal barriers.
B) The gap between their voter turnout and that of whites has widened
C) Members of these groups are as likely to vote as whites of the same income
D) African Americans are more likely to vote for Democrats while Hispanics are
E) They tend to vote for more conservative candidates.
17. Although most states use primaries to choose their delegates, some states like
Colorado have switched to caucuses because
A) they are more time efficient.
B) they are more organized.
C) they give more power to superdelegates.
D) they give the party more control over selecting candidates.
E) they are less expensive for the State.
18. For a candidate, the best immediate result of the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary would
be
A) doing better than he or she would expect, leading to an increase in momentum
B) winning the highest number of superdelegates.
C) winning all of its electoral college votes.
D) gaining his or her party’s nomination.
E) doing well in a state highly representative of the entire United States
19. All of the following are criticisms of the current system of presidential primaries and caucuses
EXCEPT
A) too much attention is paid to the early ones.
B) money plays too big a role.
C) many candidates drop out early before most states have held their primary or
D) the media do not have enough of a role in this process.
E) prominent officeholders find it difficult to take time out from their current
20. The largest expenditure in a campaign budget for the presidency or a statewide office today
would almost certainly be
A) direct mail.
B) mass media advertising.
C) buttons, signs, car bumper stickers, billboards, and brochures.
D) travel, hotels, and food for the candidate and campaign staff.
E) salaries for campaign staff.
21. Most political coverage by the media during a presidential campaign
A) focuses on the substance of the key issues voters care about, and how the
B) deals with the candidates’ personal character flaws and families.
C) deals with the “horserace”; who’s ahead in the polls, what candidate X’s new
D) is analysis of the interest groups and campaign contributors who are backing
E) is the result of successful manipulation by the campaigns.
22. Which of the following is a concern about the rising costs of high-tech campaigning?
A) The declining number of PACs that are relied upon on for large campaign
B) The increasing influence of money in politics.
C) The perception of the public that politicians will do anything for a campaign
D) The decreasing influence of parties.
E) The lack of control over the price of advertising.
23. Campaigns are most effective in
A) shaping how the media will portray a candidate to the public.
B) converting voters from one candidate to another.
C) reinforcing existing preferences toward candidates.
D) educating people on the issues.
E) getting people to contribute time and money.
24. Why do campaigns make it more difficult to reduce the scope of government?
A) Campaigns always make promises that can not be kept.
B) Campaigns always increase public interest in elections.
C) Campaign promises often add up to new government programs.
D) Campaigns generally tilt towards states’ rights at the expense of the national
government.
E) Campaigns always create a more open and democratic process.
25. Federal elections perform all of the following functions EXCEPT
A) providing legitimacy to the political system.
B) connecting citizens to government officials.
C) making and coordinating public policy.
D) selecting public officials.
E) providing a sense of political efficacy.
26. Which of the following make it difficult to compare voter turnout rates in the
nineteenth century with voter turnout today?
I. In the nineteenth century parties printed ballots, and today we
II. Fraud in voting was more common in the nineteenth century.
III. Voters are now required to register.
use the Australian ballot.
IV. In the nineteenth century political machines tried to control
election outcomes.
A) I and II
B) I,II, and III
C) II and III
D) II, III, and IV
E) I, II, III, and IV
27. Which of the following statements accurately reflects what has happened to voter eligibility and
turnout during the twentieth century?
A) Suffrage has narrowed, and the turnout has decreased.
B) Suffrage has broadened, and the turnout has decreased.
C) Suffrage has broadened, but there has been no change in turnout.
D) Suffrage has narrowed, and the turnout has increased.
E) Suffrage has remained the same, and turnout has increased.
28. Political efficacy refers to the belief that
A) significant policy differences exist between the parties.
B) an individual’s political action can influence the government.
C) government is very inefficient and needs to be streamlined.
D) the costs of voting outweigh the benefits.
E) there is a process by which a person develops his or her political belief
Florida electors would meet.
29. Voter turnout in the United States is much lower than in other countries in part
because
A) Americans vote for fewer political offices and lack a sense of political
B) of the strident positions taken by the parties, which alienate middle-of-the-
C) Americans are asked to vote less often and do not sustain interest in the
D) the number of candidates running for president in America is greater than in
E) of the unique American requirement of voter registration.
30. According to the text, the most important demographic factor affecting an
individual’s decision to vote is
A) race.
B) geography.
C) gender.
D) education.
E) ideology.
31. The group of people with the lowest voter turnout rate is
A) college graduates.
B) women.
C) 18-25 years olds.
D) union members.
E) senior citizens over 70.
32. Which of the following has the greatest influence on a voter’s choice of candidate?
A) Party Identification
B) Candidate Evaluation
C) Policy Voting
D) Amount of money spent by the campaign
E) Personality of the candidate
33. Which of the following is most likely to help an incumbent president get reelected?
A) good economic times
B) a strong vice president
C) his stance on abortion
D) the addition of new groups of voters
E) favorable reporting by the press
34. Which of the following is most likely to vote?
A) a 65-year-old African American high school graduate
B) a 35-year-old white college educated woman
C) a 70-year-old white college professor
D) a 40-year-old Hispanic with an associate’s degree
E) an 18-year-old African American just starting college