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Political Parties, Interest Groups, PACs, and Media
TEST
A. AB. BC. CD. D
A B C D
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Which of the following is true of amicus curiae briefs?
A. They are used by interest groups to lobby courts
B. They are used exclusively by liberal interest groups
C. They are used exclusively by conservative interest groups
D. They are now unconstitutional
They are use
d by inte
rest.
..
They are use
d exclusiv
ely...
They are use
d exclusiv
ely ..
They are now unco
nstitu
...
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Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the two major political parties in the U.S.?
A. Parties have no organization except at the national level
B. Parties are centrally organized to provide a smooth transition from on national campaign to the next
C. Parties are organized much like a large corporation, in that decisions flow from national to state and local levels
D. Separate and largely independent party organizations exist at national, state, and local levels
Parties h
ave no organiza...
Parties a
re centra
lly orga
...
Parties a
re organized m
uc...
Separate and la
rgely
ind...
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Lobbyists try to influence legislators mainly through
A. “wining and dining” legislators
B. Orchestrating petition drives and letter-writing campaigns
C. Placing persuasive advertisements in the media
D. Providing legislators with information on technical issues
“wining a
nd dining” legis.
..
Orchestr
ating petition dr...
Placing p
ersuasiv
e advert.
..
Provid
ing legis
lators
with...
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An electoral system based on single-member districts is usually characterized by
A. Strong, centralized political parties and a weak executive
B. Higher rates of voter turnout than are common in other systems
C. Legislative representation of each party in proportion to the number of votes it receives
D. Domination of the legislature by two political parties
Strong, c
entraliz
ed politic..
Higher rate
s of v
oter t
ur...
Legis
lative represe
ntatio...
Domination of the le
gisla...
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The term “horse-race” journalism refers to the tendency of the media to
A. Cover Congress by focusing on committee chairs rather than on work of the committees
B. Cover campaigns by emphasizing the relative standing of the candidates in the polls rather than the issues they discuss
C. Cover politics by concentrating on scandal and corruption rather than on instances of integrity and honorable action
D. Compete for access to sources rather than to cooperate in gathering news
Cover Congre
ss by f
ocusi.
.
Cover campaigns b
y emp...
Cover politi
cs by c
oncent..
.
Compete for a
ccess
to so
...
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Political action committees (PACs) representing which of the following groups have increased in number most substantially since the mid-1970s
A. LaborB. BusinessC. Health-care
professionalsD. Veterans’ groups
Labor
Business
Health-ca
re professi
onals
Veterans’
groups
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The concept of “critical elections” is most closely associated with
A. The electoral college process
B. Elections during wartime
C. Economic recessionD. Party realignment
The electora
l colle
ge pro
...
Elections d
uring w
artime
Economic
recessi
on
Party r
ealignment
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Which of the following about gerrymandering is true?
A. It has been banned by the U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning with Baker v. Carr
B. It was used traditionally to maintain urban control of the House of Representatives
C. It can be used by political parties to draw boundary lines to control as many districts as possible
D. It guarantees greater constituency control over elected representatives
It has b
een banned by th...
It was u
sed tr
aditionally
...
It can be use
d by politica
...
It guara
ntees gre
ater c
on...
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One of the reason for the persistence of a two-party system in the United States is
A. The lack of divisive issues in U.S. politics
B. The separation of powers
C. The single-member district electoral system
D. Low voter turnout in most elections
The lack
of divi
sive is
sues..
.
The separa
tion of powers
The single-m
ember dist
ric...
Low vote
r turn
out in m
os...
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Which of the following is true of political action committees?
A. They are part of political party organization
B. They make campaign contributions to gain access to legislators
C. They are allowed to contribute to only once candidate in a given contest
D. They effectively control the presidential campaigns
They are part
of politi
cal...
They make
campaign co
n...
They are allo
wed to co
nt...
They effecti
vely co
ntrol t.
.
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Which of the following describes a consequence of the growing concentration
of ownership of the news media?A. Newspaper prices have
gone downB. Coverage of political
events has gotten more liberal over time
C. Prices for televised campaign ads have gone down
D. There is increased similarity of network news coverage
Newspap
er pric
es have
...
Coverage of politi
cal e
ve...
Prices f
or televis
ed camp...
There is in
crease
d simila
r...
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Since the early 1980s, the Republican Party platform has been increasingly influenced by
A. Environmental activists
B. Evangelical Christians
C. Civil libertariansD. Labor unions
Environmenta
l acti
vists
Evange
lical C
hristians
Civil liberta
rians
Labor u
nions
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Which of the following describes a fundamental difference between political parties and interest groups?
A. Political parties are prohibited from sponsoring campaign advertisements, and interest groups are not
B. Political parties represent broad arrays of issues, whereas interest groups are more likely to focus on narrow sets of issues
C. Political parties are more likely to focus on national politics, whereas interest groups focus on local politics
D. Political parties tend to have strength in particular regions, whereas the power of interest groups is more consistent across states
Politica
l parti
es are
proh...
Politica
l parti
es represe
n...
Politica
l parti
es are
more
...
Politica
l parti
es tend to
...
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Interest groups engage in all of the following EXCEPT
A. Testifying before congressional committees
B. Sponsoring issue advocacy ads
C. Lobbying federal agencies
D. Using the franking privilege
Testifying befo
re congre
s...
Sponsorin
g issu
e advocac..
.
Lobbyin
g federal a
gencie
s
Using th
e frankin
g priv
ilege
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The development and persistence of the two-party system in the U.S. is best accounted for by
A. The Twelfth Amendment
B. Proportional representation
C. Multimember legislative districts
D. Single-member legislative districts
The Twelfth A
mendment
Proporti
onal repre
sentation
Multimember le
gislative ...
Single-member le
gislative
...
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The concept of realignment refers to changes in
A. The United States system of international alliances
B. The social bases of the parties’ voting support
C. The media’s criticism of the president and Congress
D. The rate of voter participation
The Unite
d States s
ystem...
The socia
l base
s of t
he pa...
The media’s
criticis
m of ...
The rate of v
oter parti
ci...
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Which of the following best explains why the winner of a presidential election usually claims
to have a mandate from voters?A. The president’s party often
wins a majority of seats in Congress by riding the president’s coattails
B. The allocation of electoral votes in the winner-take-all system exaggerates the margin of victory
C. The new president is allowed to replace a significant number of justices on the Supreme Court
D. The incoming president automatically gains control of Congress
The presid
ent’s party
of...
The alloca
tion of electo
ra...
The new presid
ent is al...
The inco
ming pre
sident ..
.
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Typically, presidential candidates implement their campaign strategies by
A. Applying their resources evenly among the states
B. Focusing on larger, competitive states
C. Focusing on small statesD. Ignoring the electoral
college and focusing on the national popular vote
Applying t
heir reso
urces..
.
Focu
sing on la
rger,
comp...
Focu
sing on sm
all sta
tes
Ignoring th
e electora
l col...
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Interest groups use political action committees (PACs) to
A. Provide expertise to members of Congress when they are writing legislation
B. Lobby the executive bureaucracy when they are considering new rules and regulations
C. Raise and spend money on election campaigns
D. Hire policy experts who will promote their views in the media
Provid
e experti
se to
me...
Lobby t
he execu
tive bur..
.
Raise and sp
end money .
.
Hire polic
y experts w
ho wi..
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Which of the following best accounts for the lack of success generally encountered by minor political
parties in electing members to the House or Senate?A. Political action committee
contributions are restricted by law to two major parties
B. General elections in the U.S. are based on the winner-take-all principle
C. The public has great faith in the two major political parties
D. Some states outlaw minor political parties
Politica
l acti
on committ
e...
General electi
ons in th
e U...
The public has g
reat f
aith ..
Some states o
utlaw m
in..
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Interest groups are protected under the Constitution by the
A. Provisions of Article I, Section 8
B. First Amendment C. Tenth AmendmentD. Fourteenth
Amendment
Provis
ions of A
rticle
I, S...
First
Amendment
Tenth Amendment
Fourte
enth Amendment
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Which of the following is the main reason interest groups are often successful in getting legislation passed to benefit their members?
A. It is easy to garner support from most members of Congress on any issues
B. All members of society desire the legislation that special interests pursue
C. It is very easy to get legislation passed in Congress
D. A narrow constituency derives the benefits from such legislation but the costs are spread broadly across the population
It is e
asy to
garn
er suppo..
All members
of socie
ty de...
It is v
ery easy
to get le
gis...
A narrow co
nstitu
ency d...
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The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) was designed to
curtail which of the following?A. Individual
contributions to candidates
B. Soft moneyC. Hard moneyD. Public disclosure
rules
Individual contri
butions ..
Soft money
Hard m
oney
Public disc
losure
rules
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When party members meet to nominate a candidate for office, they participate in which of the following?
A. General electionsB. CaucusC. Blanket primaryD. Open primary
General electi
ons
Caucus
Blanket prim
ary
Open primary
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The term “party machine” usually refers to a
A. Large national party organization that is hierarchically structured
B. Local party organization that relies heavily on the voluntary labor of all its members
C. Local party organization that is tightly disciplined and well staffed and relies on patronage to create party loyalty
D. Party organization in which political favors are distributed by national leaders in repayment for large contributions
Large national p
arty org...
Loca
l party
organiza
tion ...
Loca
l party
organiza
tion ...
Party o
rganiza
tion in w
h...
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