American Government 100



American Government 100 Part IV

Patterson, pgs. 188-200

Woll, pgs. 177-182, AG21-17

Political Participation

True/False Questions

1. In spite of the fact that critical issues of health care, immigration reform, and wage stagnation needed to be addressed, in 2016 millions of eligible voters did not bother to go to the polls. True or False

2. Compared with other Western democracies, the United States has relatively high levels of voter participation. True or False

3. Only a minority of Americans can be classified as political activists. True or False

4. Americans are more likely than citizens of other democracies to contribute time and money to political and community organizations. True or False

5. Millions of Americans shirk their duty to vote regularly, a tendency that sets Americans apart from citizens of other Western democracies. True or False

6. Turnout in U.S. elections increased after registration requirements were instituted because corruption was finally halted. True or False

7. Those states with more convenient registration laws generally have lower voter turnout levels compared to those states that are more restrictive. True or False

8. One reason for the low voter turnout is that individual Americans are responsible for registering to vote, whereas in most other democracies voters are registered automatically by government officials. True or False

9. In every state with the voter ID requirement, except for Rhode Island and Hawaii, the law was passed by a Democrat-controlled state legislature. True or False

10. No other Western European democracy has elections as often as the United States for the lower chamber of its national legislature. True or False

11. Similar to the United States, other democracies select the party nominees using primary elections. True or False

12. According to Patterson, the frequency of U.S. elections increases turnout by assuring that American democracy is better represented. True or False

13. For their part, Republican lawmakers have sought to make voter registration harder, most notably at the state level through voter ID laws. True or False

14. Americans with a college degree or high income are substantially more likely to vote in a presidential election than are those who did not finish high school or have a low income. True or False

15. Europeans with less income and education are encouraged to participate by the presence of class-based organizations and appeals unlike the United States where there has never been a major socialist or labor party. True or False

16. Although the Democratic Party represents the working class and the poor to a degree, it is chiefly responsive to middle-class voters, who hold the balance of power in U.S. elections. True or False

17. Americans with less income and education are the people most adversely affected by the country’s registration system. True or False

18. Senior citizens, especially those with infirmities from old age, have a far lower turnout rate than do voters under the age of thirty. True or False

19. Although adult Americans see themselves as having the right to vote, voting does not have the same constitutional status as, say, the right to free expression and the right to a fair trial. True or False

20. It is illegal for states to make it harder to vote rather than easier since the United States is a democracy interested in protecting the integrity of its elections. True or False

21. Although “independents” are sometimes idealized in high school civics classes, they have much lower voting rates than citizens who identify with a political party. True or False

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Involvement in activities intended to influence public policy and leadership: a) civic duty, b) voter apathy, c) political participation, d) public discretion.

2. Most Americans make a sharp distinction between their personal lives and public life which: a) reduces their incentive to participate politically, b) increases the likelihood that citizens with lower levels of education will participate politically, c) enhances their self-righteousness, d) discourages the wealthy from helping the poor.

3. In its original form, who did the Constitution give the authority over voting, deciding such concerns as time, place and manner for holding elections for federal office? a) local municipalities, b) the states, c) Congress, d) special voting commission.

4. At the nation’s founding, who had the right to vote? a) white people, b) white males, c) white males with property, d) all adults.

5. He was noted for saying that a man could lose his right to vote if his jackass died: a) George Washington, b) Aaron Burr, c) Alexander Hamilton, d) Ben Franklin.

6. Which amendment to the Constitution gave African-American males the right to vote? a) 13th, b) 14th, c) 15th, d) 16th

7. Women did not secure the right to vote until 1920, with the ratification of the following amendment: a) 16th, b) 18th, c) 19th, d) 21st.

8. The Twenty-sixth Amendment extended voting rights to: a) 18 year olds and older, b) banned poll taxes, c) protected African Americans from voting discrimination, d) assured that ballot stuffing would cease.

9. What has been the average percentage voter turnout rate in the past two decades for presidential elections? a) 55%, b) 60%, c) 69%, d) 74% .

10. Turnout for midterm elections involving congressional races has not reached ___ percent since 1920: a) 20, b) 30, 40, d) 50.

11. Which of the following countries has the highest voter participation rates for national elections? a) Belgium, b) Italy, c) Germany, d) Canada.

12. Why was voter registration started around 1900? a) To assure greater voter participation in elections, b) To minimize confusion at the ballot box, c) To prevent voters from casting more than one ballot, d) To streamline the process of counting the votes.

13. Scholars estimate that turnout in the U.S. would be roughly how many percentage points higher if it had European-style registration? a) 5 percent, b) 6 percent, c) 9 percent, d) 10 percent.

14. Which of the following states have lenient registration laws that allow people to register at their polling place on election day? a) Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, b) California, Florida, Wisconsin, c) Arizona, Mississippi, Wyoming, d) Alaska, Georgia, North Carolina.

15. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled (6-3) in a case involving Indiana’s voter identification card law, argued that: a) states have a valid interest” in improving election procedures and deterring fraud, b) it was an attempt to disenfranchise the poor, c) it was another way of introducing poll taxes to vote, d) it was a partisan witch-hunt to assure that Republicans won more elections.

16. In the 1930s, why did states begin to hold their gubernatorial elections in nonpresidential years? a) it became too costly to hold both events together, b) in an effort to eliminate the effect of presidential coattails, c) to emphasize the non-partisan nature of state elections as opposed to federal elections, d) to increase voter enthusiasm for state races, generating more participation.

17. In 1993, Congress enacted a law that would provide voter registration when a person applied for a driver’s license or public assistance: a) Voter Vehicle Assistance Law, b) Drivers Voter Expansion Act, c) Civic Suffrage Law, d) Motor Voter Act.

18. A lack of interest in politics: a) narcissism, b) apathy, c) utopian, d) fatalism.

19. The sense of powerlessness that is rooted in the belief that government pays no attention to their interests: a) endearment, b) estrangement, c) isolation, d) alienation.

20. A belief that citizens are obliged to participate in public affairs: a) personal honor, b) patriotism, c) civic duty, d) nationalism.

21. Civic duty and apathy are attitudes that are usually acquired from: a) one’s parents, b) teachers, c) religious leaders, d) the media.

Fill-in Questions

1. The reasons for the low voter turnout rates in the United States include:

a) _________ laws,

b) particularly those pertaining to _____________ requirements, and

c) ___________ of elections.

2. How were blacks disenfranchised in the South after the Civil War?

a) by _____________ and electoral trickery,

b) including rigged _________ tests as a precondition of being allowed to _________ to vote,

c) The tests contained questions so __________ that often the _________ had to look up the answers.

d) … the names of those that took the test were sometimes __________ in the local __________…

3. How do registration laws serve to limit voter participation in the United States?

a) Some states make it somewhat difficult for citizens to _______ to vote,

b) make little effort otherwise to inform citizens about registration _____ and __________.

4. Among the explanations for individual differences in voter participation are the following:

a) __________ and income,

b) ____, and

c) ______ attitudes.

5. Why the great difference between the United States and Europe when comes to voting?

a) Europeans with _____ income and education are encouraged to participate by the presence of class-based organizations and appeals

b) such as __________ or labor parties,

c) politically oriented ______ _______,

d) and class-based political ___________.

Federalist 10 (James Madison)

Woll, pgs. 177-182

True or False Questions

1. According to Madison, it has been the instability, injustice, and confusion into the public councils that have been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished. True or False

2. Since man is fallible, argues Madison, whenever he can exercise liberty, there will always be the public means to shape opinions into a unified faction. True or False

3. Moral and religious motives can be relied upon to contain the sinister views of people, argues Madison. True or False

4. In a small republic, it would be far easier to oppress the citizens because of the proximity of its people to its political leaders, argues Madison, compared with a large republic where the expanse of the nation makes it far more difficult. True or False

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Madison says that there is no avoiding the fact that: a) legislators are advocates of the public interest, b) the most powerful and numerous faction in the legislature will win out whether the policy is just or unjust, c) the design of the political system will assure that factions will have a nebulous affect on governmental policy, d) the geographic size of a republic as little affect on factions.

Fill-in Question

1. What is Madison's definition of faction?

"... a number of citizens, whether amounting to a __________ or __________ of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of _________, or of interest, adverse to the ________ of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interest of the community."

2. The question…is, whether small or extensive republics are most favorable to the election of proper guardians of the public weal; and it is clearly decided in favor of the latter (extensive republics) by two obvious considerations:

a) …”the former (large republic) will present a greater ________, and a greater probability of a ____ choice “ to run the government than a small republic because of the many more voices from which to choose.

b) …”as each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in a large (republic) than in a small republic, it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice with success the _________ arts….”

c) …”the greater number of citizens, and extent of territory” that are a part of a large republic …renders factious combinations less to be _________….”

Answers

Patterson, pgs. 188-200

True/False Questions

1. True

3. True

5. True

7. False

9. False

11. False

13. True

15. True

17. True

19. True

21. True

Multiple Choice Questions

1. c

3. b

5. d

7. c

9. b

11. a

13. d

15. a

17. d

19. d

21. a

Fill-In Questions

1. a) election, b) registration, c) scheduling

3. a) qualify, b) times, location

5. a) less, b) socialist, c) trade unions, d) ideologies

Woll, pgs. 177-182

True or False

1. True

3. False

Multiple Choice Questions

1. b

Fill-in Question

1. majority, minority, passion, rights

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