Mr
Mr. McCormack Big Idea Worksheet
American Government Study Guide
Central Dauphin High School
Chapter 7 – The Electoral Process
Section One: The Nominating Process (p 178-186)
__________, the naming of candidates for office, is a critically important step in the election process. (p 178)
Those who make nominations place real, very practical limits on the __________ in an election. (p 179)
In __________ constituencies, the nominating process is usually the only real contest for office. (p 179)
Please explain how each of the following processes results in nominations. (p 179-182, 186)
|Self-Announcement |Caucus |
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|Convention |Petition |
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Which method is still used to formally nominate presidential candidates? _______________________________
Why did the caucus and convention give way to primaries? __________________________________________
What is a direct primary? (p 182) ______________________________________________________________
What is the difference between open and closed primaries? (p 182) ___________________________________
What kind of primary do we have in Pennsylvania? (p 183) _________________________________________
Which has the right to determine if a primary will be open or closed, the state or party? (p 182) _____________
What is a blanket primary, and why did it disappear? (p 183) _______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is a runoff primary? (p 184) ______________________________________________________________
What is a nonpartisan primary? (p 184) __________________________________________________________
How does the presidential primary differ from other primaries? (p 186) ________________________________
Mr. McCormack Big Idea Worksheet
American Government Study Guide
Central Dauphin High School
Chapter 7 – The Electoral Process
Section Two: Elections (p 188-194)
Americans hold more __________ and vote more often, electing more officeholders (more than __________), than most people realize. (p 188)
The conduct of elections matters because __________ they are done often shapes __________ is done. (p 188)
Most election law in the United States is __________, not __________, law. (p 188)
The Constitution gives Congress the power to fix the __________, __________, and __________ of holding elections for __________ and __________. (p 189)
Congress has set the date for holding elections as the __________ after the first __________ in __________ of every __________ year. (p 189)
Congress has required the use of __________ and allowed the use of __________. (p 189)
Congress also helped to modernize our elections with the __________ Act of 2002. (p 189)
Most states hold their elections to fill __________ on the same date Congress selected. (p 189)
Millions of Americans cast their ballots before Election Day, many of them by __________. (p 189)
This opportunity was originally intended to serve a small group of voters, especially the __________ or those who expected to be __________ on Election Day. Recently, however, most states have permitted __________ to cast an absentee ballot. (p 189)
Over half of the states also allow voters to cast ballots in person over a period of several __________. (p 190)
The __________ occurs when a strong candidate running for an office at the top of the ballot attracts voters to other candidate’s on the party’s ticket. A reverse effect can also occur. (p 190)
A precinct is a __________ and the smallest geographic unit for the conduct of __________. (p 190)
In Pennsylvania precincts, a Judge of Elections, Majority Inspector, and Minority Inspector (all elected positions) supervise the actual voting. Machine operators assist voters, and poll watchers help to ensure the integrity of the election.
__________ was a public process through much of our nation’s early history, but by 1900 nearly all states had adopted a voting arrangement known as the ___________. (p 190-191)
This arrangement has four essential features: __________, __________, __________, and __________. (p 191)
What are the two varieties that have developed? (p 191-192) _________________________________________
What are the essential differences between them? (p 191-192) _______________________________________
The ballot in a typical American election is lengthy enough to be called a __________, and some argue this contributes to __________. (p 192)
Well over half the votes now cast in national elections are cast on a __________. __________ patented the first in 1868, but the idea was slow to catch on. Most states now use one of two __________ based systems: one utilizing high speed _________, the other utilizing a __________. (p 192-193)
A few states conduct some elections by __________, though many criticize them. Others suggest we should cast ballots via the __________. (p 193-194)
Mr. McCormack Big Idea Worksheet
American Government Study Guide
Chapter 7 – The Electoral Process
Section Three: Money and Elections (p 196-202)
No one really knows how much money is spent on elections in the US, but the total in 2004 passed __________ dollars. The total for 2008 was certainly higher. (p 197)
The __________ eats up by far the largest share of campaign dollars. In 2008, it was $2.4 billion. (p 196)
Parties and their candidates draw their money from two basic sources: __________ and __________. (p 196)
__________ have always been the major source of campaign funds, and they are of four kinds: (p 197)
1. __________________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________________
Campaign donations are a form of political __________. Many give because they believe in a __________ or a __________, but some give because they want __________. (p 197)
The __________ administers all federal laws (but not state laws) dealing with campaign finance. (p 198)
Federal campaign finance laws cover four broad areas: (p 198)
1. __________________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________________
Neither __________ nor __________ can contribute directly to candidates running for public office, but their __________ can and do. (p 199)
These groups pool many small contributions into a single large fund and distribute them to candidates who ______________________________________ and ___________________________________. (p 200)
In __________ (1976), the Supreme Court struck down several limits on campaign spending: (p 200)
1. __________________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________________
Update: In Citizens United v. FEC (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that Congress cannot limit the independent expenditures of corporations (or unions) in an election. Basically, political contributions are a constitutionally protected form of speech or expression. Today, direct contributions remain illegal, but independent expenditures on behalf of a candidate are not.
Candidates who accept _________ can be regulated as a condition of accepting them. (p 200)
The Presidential Election Campaign Fund is filled by a voluntary contributions made by taxpayers and helps to finance __________, __________, and __________. Recently, however, candidates have opted out of public financing because of the limits it imposes. (p 200)
What is the difference between “hard” and “soft” money? (p 201) ____________________________________
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