Government- CH.4-5, 12 Exam 2 Questions

Which of the following is a true statement about third-party involvement in American elections?

Many legal barriers make it hard for third parties to get on the ballot.

American political parties perform important functions, such as:

all of the above.

The major characteristics of American political parties are:

two-partyism, decentralization, pragmatism.

American political parties demonstrate pragmatism by:

compromising their ideals in order to appeal to the largest number of voters.

In Texas, there has historically been:

one-party dominance.

Which of the following statements is true of special elections in Texas?

They are held to fill vacancies in congressional offices.

Which Amendment provided for women's suffrage:

l9th

To be nominated by the direct primary method in Texas, a candidate:

must win an absolute majority of those voting in that party primary.

More education seems to be highly correlated with:

voting Republicans.

The national committee of each party:

selects the site of the nominating conventions.

A PAC is an:

organization established by interest groups to collect contributions to political candidates.

A precinct is:

the smallest local voting district.

A major function of the national convention is:

to nominate the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Those who favor registration requirements argue:

that such requirements prevent fraudulent voting practices.

There has been a tradition in the United States for Catholics and Jews to vote:

Democratic.

Selection of election judges and alternate judges is the responsibility of the:

county commissioners court.

The supreme legal authority of the national party is:

the national convention.

The length of residence in the state as a requirement for voting now is:

thirty days.

Which of the following groups was the least likely to vote Democratic in recent elections?

white protestants

A major cause for the persistence of the 2-party system in the U.S. today is that:

election districts are single member so that only one candidate can win.

Texas statutes prohibit direct political contributions from:

corporations.

Political patronage is concerned with:

government employment for loyal election workers.

The campaign reform law of l974 was chiefly concerned with:

campaign finance.

Most delegates to the national nominating conventions are chosen by:

primary elections.

The vice presidential nominee is supposed to be selected by:

the parties' national convention.

Voter registration and election turnout in Texas is regularly:

below the national average.

Proportional representation allows for:

legislative seats to be allotted in proportion to the total number of votes a party gets.

The Democratic party came into existence with the l828 election of:

Andrew Jackson.

The modern Republican party emerged:

before the Civil War.

It is important for people in a democracy to vote because:

it enables citizens to have some influence on the politics that govern them.

Voting under a democracy is important because it:

all of the above.

In order to be a registered voter in Texas today, one must meet all of the following requirements except:

pay a poll tax to the county of residence.

In Texas, people who are denied the privilege of suffrage include:

those declared mentally incompetent in formal court proceedings. & persons convicted of felonies unless their civil rights have been restored by a pardon.

A problem of a closed primary system is that:

independent voters are excluded from participating.

The name given to the Texas practice of keeping blacks from participating in political parties' nomination processes was:

white primary.

Texas chief election officer since l967 has been:

the secretary of state.

The type of ballot used in Texas is the:

party column.

Party primaries in Texas are:

"closed" in theory but "open" in practice.

Which of the types of elections listed below are held in Texas?

all of the above

In Texas, primary elections are administered:

entirely by political party officials.

Historically, the major factional conflict in Texas has:

developed within the one-party system (Democrats) mostly between conservatives and liberals.

Which of the following terms best describes the organization of political parties in the U.S.?

decentralized. & undisciplined.

The state executive committee, in addition to a chair and vice chair, includes a man and woman from each:

state senatorial district.

The members of one party voting in the opposing party's primary in order to nominate the candidate easiest to defeat is called:

party "raiding."

If a political party received 20 percent or more of the votes in the preceding election for governor, the party must nominate its candidates by:

direct primary.

Most of the primary election expenses in Texas are paid by:

state funds.

The Texas state election law specifies that it use:

a closed primary.

Though the Constitution does not mention political parties, certain provisions of the Constitution such as the following gave impetus to organization of parties:

the First Amendment freedoms.

The American electoral system is based on:

a "winner-take-all" system.

The major responsibility of a national chairperson is:

the management of the national election campaign.

Voting and registration requirements are set:

by each state.

A party-column ballot is a form of general election ballot:

in which the candidates are arranged in one column under their respective party.

Which of the following expresses best the attitude of the American founding fathers toward political parties?

Parties are divisive and undesirable.

In an open primary:

voters can vote in either party primary without disclosing their party affiliation.

In a closed primary:

only registered party members are allowed to vote.

One potential disadvantage of an open primary is:

voters of one party will vote for the weakest candidate of the other party.

Which of the following positions is most likely to be supported by the Republican party?

Less government funding for minority aid programs

In voting behavior, Jews tend to the following:

vote for candidates who are Democrats.

The Democratic party is more likely to have the support of:

a black than a white person.

In their political party loyalty, black Americans have been:

strongly Democratic.

After many years of being "turned off" by politics, you have decided to register to vote. Where may you go to register to vote in the state of Texas?

The county courthouse

Psychologically, voters decide on the basis of:

all of the above.

The Jim Crow laws were

segregation laws that deprived African-Americans of many economic, social and political rights;

If American political parties had a pyramid-shaped organization chart, the National Chairperson would:

dictate how the party would be run.

American political parties tend to concentrate on:

winning elections.

Intraparty contests for the right to be the party's nominee in the general election are termed:

primary elections.

The goal of a political campaign in democracy is:

to provide competition that will allow the most qualified candidate to be elected.

The party platform is a document that:

presidential and congressional candidates may ignore with relative impunity.

A major reason for the development of a presidential primary was:

to open the nomination process to the ordinary party member and to weaken the influence of party bosses.

A presidential primary is held to:

select delegates to the national convention of both major parties.

One reason people vote is:

the personal satisfaction they receive from the act of voting.

The state central committee has responsibility for:

carrying out policy decisions of the party's state convention.

The Federal Election Campaign Act of l974 provided:

public financing for presidential primaries and presidential candidates in the general election.

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied...on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" is a provision of:

the Fifteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The impetus for changing Texas' restrictive voting rules came largely from:

the federal government.

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied...on account of sex" is a provision of:

the Nineteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The most successful third party in Texas in recent years has been:

Tea Party

Which of the following programs would liberals support?

Government programs to provide for Medicare and Medicaid

In order for a third party or an independent candidate to be named on the state ballot in Texas, which of the following is necessary?

to have registered voters sign a petition

"Straight ticket" voting means that a voter:

votes only for the candidates of one political party in a general election.

Some political scientists explain low voter turnout as a result of:

the low probability of anyone's vote making a difference.

In Texas, the county executive committee is:

composed of the precinct chairpersons in the county

The purpose of the Federal Election Commission is to:

oversee and enforce the provisions of the l974 Federal Election Campaign Act.

In principle the Republicans have been known as:

the party of the middle and upper classes.

The number of Republicans holding office in Texas government in recent years has been:

on the rise.

In principle the Democrats have been known as:

the party of the working class.

Campaign funds mostly go to:

cover mass media costs.

The minimum cost of a statewide race in Texas is about:

$l million.

A statute mandating that state governments provide voter registration opportunities to individuals applying for or renewing their driver’s license is called a(n)

motor voter law.

Suppose no one candidate gets 50% + 1 of the votes in the election. How does the nominee get decided?

A runoff election between the top two candidates

When can convicted felons vote again?

After completing sentence, probation, and parole

In the past two decades, _______ turnout has nearly doubled.

Native American

An organization that collects donations from donors and uses these funds to donate to candidates, parties, or other political causes is referred to as a(n)

political action committee (PAC).

What change did Texas make to voting in the 2020 election?

Removed the one-button option for straight-ticket voting

_______ are elected in the party’s primary and serve two years. They recruit volunteers, coordinate campaign workers during elections, and participate in get-out-the-vote and voter registration drives at the local level.

Precinct chairs

Every two years, the party hosts _______ to decide how the party functions and to set the political agenda.

conventions

What was one of the original goals of the Tea Party?

Relief from taxation

Compared to the nation writ large, support for the Tea Party in Texas is

higher.

A process of manipulating district boundaries to benefit a single group is referred to as
Feedback: conceptual

gerrymandering.

A legislative district is drawn such that a given population is drawn into one district so that it doesn’t influence surrounding districts. This is an example of

packing.