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Poli Sci Guide 2
Test 2
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Definition of political parties? | Organizations that seek to achieve power by winning public office. |
| What was the significance of the presidential election of 1796? | first time two candidates campaigned as members of opposing parties. |
| Loyal Democratic Party members tend to come from which groups? | African Americans and other minorities, Government Employees, Union leaders, Liberal intellectuals in the media and universities, Feminist organizations and environmentalists, gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. |
| Was the Democratic Leadership Council successful in bringing the Democratic Party closer to the center of the political spectrum? | No. |
| In the 1990's, what areas did the Republican Party fail in? | To secure the country’s borders. |
| What are the things responsible parties are supposed to do? | Organize majorities around board principles of government in order to win public office and enact the principles into law. |
| Do the major political parties control who their nominee for the general election will be? | No |
| On what principle does a presidential candidate usually select a vice presidential candidate? | “ticket balancing” (someone who will balance the ticket based on Washington experience, ideology, or geography) |
| Definition of a primary election? | registered voters select who will be their party’s nominee in the general election. |
| Definition of an open primary? | Anyone, regardless of party affiliation, may choose to vote in either party’s primary election. |
| Definition of a closed primary? | Only voters who are registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote in their chosen party’s primary. |
| What is the Franking Privilege? | Congressional incumbents send self-promotional newsletters to tens of thousands of registered voters at tax payers’ expense. |
| What are Pork Barrel Projects? | expensive and wasteful projects that benefit their district or state. |
| What are sound bites? | Concise and catchy phrases that attract media coverage. |
| What is constituency service? | Performing services for the official’s constituents |
| What is the election strategy of a candidate challenging the incumbent? | Challengers must attack the record of the incumbent, deplore current conditions, and stress the need for change. |
| What government entity has the responsibility of enforcing federal election laws and disbursing public presidential campaign funds? | The Federal Election Commission |
| What is the most reliable source of campaign contributions? | Political Action Committees(PACS) |
| To operate according to the law, how must independent organizations (527s), operate in regards to candidates and campaigns? | They can spend whatever they want in order to promote their political views, so long as they do so without cooperation or consultation with a candidate or his or her campaign. |
| What are swing states? | States that are considered to be winnable by either a Democratic or Republican party’s presidential candidate |
| What can be the best predictor of presidential election outcomes? | Economic conditions |
| Definition of interest groups? | Organizations that seek to obtain at least part of their goals by directly influencing government policy. |
| Definition of a public interst group? | Interest groups that claim to represent broad classes of people or the public as a whole. |
| What is the lobbying technique known as "access"? | Meeting and talking with decision makers, a prerequisite to direct persuasion. Lobbyists regularly provide dinner, travel, vacations to congressional members, to White House officials and other executive officials. |
| How do interest groups influence federal judges? | Groups cannot influence judges directly, they heavily lobby congress to affect the outcome of federal judicial confirmations. |
| What is the most common source of news source for Americans? | TV |
| Which newsmagazines have a liberal political bias? | Time, Newsweek, The Nation, New Republic |
| Which newsmagazines have a conservative political bias? | National Review, American Spectator, Weekly Standard |
| What is the most important source of media power? | News making |
| What do we mean when we say the media is performing the function of "interpreting"? | Editors, reporters, and anchors provide each story with a “spin” in the way they interpret a story and speculate on its meaning and consequences. |
| When the media performs the function of "persuading," what are we referring to? | efforts to change our attitudes, opinions, and behaviors. |
| When the media performs the function of "socialization," what are we referring to? | The media has the power to teach us what are “acceptable” and ”unacceptable” ways of life in our culture and in our value system. |
| When the media choose to deliver its news in a format that is known as sensationalism, what criteria does it use to select the stories it will broadcast? | Stories are selected for their focus on violence, corruption, sex, and scandal. Stories are selected for their emotional impact, not for their political, social, or economic significance. |
| What specific issues are influenced by the media's ideological learnings and what are its views on these issues? | influenced by the media- The early selection of candidates. Values of the media are overwhelming liberal and reformist. |
| What does the "Equal Time Requirement" require the media to do? | must make equal time available to opposing candidates at the same price. |
| Which branch of the federal government did the nation's Founder's believe would be the strongest? | Congress |
| What are the powers of the Senate? | Ratifies treaties, confirms president’s judicial and executive nominations. |
| What is congress doing when it exercises its oversight function? | Congressional monitoring of the activities of executive branch agencies to determine if the laws are being faithfully executed. |
| What is gerrymandering? | The drawing of district lines for political advantage. |
| The free mailing privilege members of Congress have is called? | Franking privilege |
| When bills deal with more than one subject, which member of the House of Representatives determines which committe it will go to? | The speaker |
| What is or are some of the major functions of congressional committees? | Screening and drafting bills |
| How are the proportions of Democrats and Republicans determined on each committee in Congress? | Reflect their proportion in the House and the Senate as a whole. |
| Which committee decides whether to forbid amendments, to allow specified amendments, or allow unlimited amendments? | The Rules Committee |
| What is a discharge petition used for? | Required in the House to force a bill out of a committee that opposes it. |
| Which chamber of Congress relies on unanimous consent agreements to determine such things as whether amendments will be allowed on a bill? | The Senate |
| According to congressional rules, how does a member become a chair of a committee? | The chair is selected by the seniority system |
| What is a filibuster? | A continuous speech made by one or more members to prevent the Senate from taking action. |
| What does the Conference Committee do? | Resolves differences in the House and the Senate version of the same bill. |
| What is a cloture vote? | Is used to end filibusters. Requires three-fifths of the senators (60) to agree to limit the debate to 100 more hours. |
| Who is the most powerful person and is the leader of the House of Representatives? | The Speaker of the House |
| Who is the most powerful person and is the leader of the senate? | Majority Leader- Harry Reid |
| What is the election strategy that an incumbent would use? | The incumbent will boast of accomplishments and blame the opposition for blocking him/her from accomplishing more |
| What are the things responsible parties are supposed to do? | Adopt platform w/principles & policy positions. Recruit candidates. Inform & educate. Organize & direct campaigns based on platform principles. |
| What are the things responsible parties are supposed to do? | Organize legislature to ensure party control of policy making. Hold officials responsible for enacting party’s platform. |
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