1. A(n) _____ is a group of political activists who organize to win elections, operate the government, and determine public policy.
A) interest group
B) extra minority
C) political party
D) pluralism
E) social movement
2. An interest group is
A) any association of individuals.
B) a group of people who want to gain control of the government.
C) an organization that actively attempts to influence government policy.
D) any organization that requires members to pay dues.
E) an organization set up to support a specific candidate for public office.
3. Polls that track party identification show increasing numbers of voters identify as
A) Democrats
B) Republicans
C) Greens
D) Unaffiliated
E) Independents
4. More interest groups are formed to represent _____ interests than any other type of interest.
A) cultural
B) religious
C) public health
D) economic
E) environmental
5. In general, profits are made by the news media through
A) charging fees to tailor stories to certain perspectives.
B) charging fees for print newspapers, web-site access, and cable television access.
C) charging fees for advertising.
D) charging fees for publishing letters to the editor.
E) selling collections of news stories in book form.
6. Which of the following is not a reason why the two-party system has endured in the United States?
A) the historical foundations of the system
B) political socialization
C) legislation requiring a two-party system
D) a winner-take-all electoral system
E) state and federal laws favoring the two-party system
7. Many people believe that the media's influence on public opinion
A) has remained constant.
B) is decreasing.
C) has grown to equal the influence of the family.
D) is negligible.
E) is not, nor has it ever been, a significant factor.
8. The most important principle in sampling is
A) the sample size.
B) to focus on a particular segment of the population.
C) the firm that is conducting the sample.
D) the number of people who have taken part in polls before this poll.
E) the random selection of respondents.
9. In 1854 the Republican Party was formed by
A) the last members of the Federalist Party.
B) the pro-slavery southern Whig Party.
C) the pro-slavery Confederate States Party.
D) the anti-slavery Jacksonian Party.
E) anti-slavery Democrats, northern Whigs, and the Free Soil party.
10. The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are examples of
A) economic interest groups.
B) public interest groups.
C) foreign interest groups.
D) fringe interest groups.
E) single interest groups.
11. Political socialization is the process whereby
A) party affiliations are strengthened through monetary donations.
B) political advertisements affect a person's political beliefs
C) members of the populace become more liberal as they age.
D) a person acquires political beliefs and values through relationships with family, friends, and co-workers.
E) political parties try to acquire new members through rallies and other large-scale meetings.
12. The first partisan division in American politics, which occurred before the adoption of the Constitution, was between
A) Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
B) Revolutionaries and Redcoats.
C) Whigs and Republicans
D) Whigs and Democrats
E) Progressives and Democrats
13. The difference between the percentage of women who vote for a particular candidate and the percentage of men who vote for the candidate is called
A) the gender gap.
B) the generational effect.
C) gendered opinion.
D) division opinion.
E) the lifestyle effect.
14. The meeting held every four years by each major party to select presidential and vice-presidential candidates, write a platform, choose a national committee, and conduct party business is the
A) party brass.
B) national convention.
C) party organization.
D) party platform.
E) party machine.
15. Many professional lobbyists are
A) former members of Congress and former government officials.
B) former movie stars or professional athletes.
C) college interns.
D) uninformed on the issues they represent.
E) called to present an objective picture that takes in many perspectives to legislators.
16. Patronage is the practice of
A) having one leader direct a party's ideology.
B) giving out small favors to all constituents, in the hopes of winning votes.
C) putting on cultural productions, like concerts, in the hopes of winning votes.
D) threatening community members with punishment if they don't vote for a certain party.
E) rewarding the party faithful with government jobs or contracts.
17. Since the early 1990s the American people have consistently shown more confidence in _______ than any other institution.
A) the military
B) the Supreme Court
C) the public schools
D) the media
E) Congress
18. One party having control of the Presidency, The U.S. House, and the Senate is the exception rather than the rule because Americans often seem to prefer
A) patronage
B) divided government.
C) two-party government.
D) plurality
E) unit rule.
19. By far the greatest number of radio and television hours are dedicated to
A) reporting the news.
B) identifying public problems.
C) providing a political forum.
D) socializing new generations.
E) entertaining the public.
20. Agenda setting is
A) determining which public-policy questions will be debated or considered.
B) when a large proportion of the public appears to express the same view on an issue.
C) the process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes.
D) the ability of the elite to influence the opinions of others because of position or expertise.
E) the aggregate of individual attitudes shared by some portion of the adult population.
21. The following is an example of _________ opinion: To reduce the threat of terrorism, would you be willing or not willing to allow government agencies to monitor the telephone calls and e-mail of ordinary Americans on a regular basis? (Willing: 41%; Not willing: 52%. Don't know/No answer: 7%.)
A) consensus
B) divided
C) dubious
D) favorable
E) unified
22. At the heart of the debate between using a secret ballot or a card-check system to determine if a workplace will become unionized is
A) the expense of administering either method.
B) the literacy of the workers involved.
C) the difficulty of counting votes in either method.
D) the fear that intimidation will be used to influence workers.
E) the success or failure of either method when tried in other countries.
23. The generational effect refers to the
A) way in which political socialization produces opinions.
B) increased tension between the two major political parties.
C) tendency for persons to become more conservative as they grow older.
D) long-lasting impact of significant events on the generation that came of age at that time.
E) way in which the family influences opinions.
24. A _____ is a several second comment crafted for its immediate impact on the viewer.
A) public service announcement
B) sound bite
C) highlight reel
D) story line
E) news ticker
25. In opinion polling, the difference between what the sample results show and what the true result would be if everybody had been interviewed is termed
A) opinion bias.
B) inaccurate sampling.
C) the Truman Divergence.
D) sampling error.
E) a tracking poll.