Question 1: Which of the following has been a result of ambiguity in and lax enforcement of Texas campaign finance laws?
Democrats and Republicans in the 2004 campaigns accused each other of engaging in unlawful activity.
time consuming inquiries into possible violations of the law
Laws regulating campaign contributions and spending are difficult to interpret and enforce.
all of the above
Question 2: An example of a special election is an election that is held:
when a legislative or congressional seat becomes vacant before the end of the current occupant's term.
"in order to ratify public initiatives, allowing them to become law."
when a legislative or congressional member decides to run for a higher office.
to elect special offices such as railroad commissioner or agricultural commissioner.
Question 3: Which of the following policy proposals have Texas Republicans largely been against?
the restriction of abortion after 20 weeks
lowering property and business taxes
requiring large businesses to offer insurance or pay a fine
limiting the growth of government
Question 4: Parties often serve as a career network that allows candidates and political professionals to progress from one arena to another because they link which of the following?
the public and private sectors
state and national governments
partisan and nonpartisan politics
the East and West Coasts
Question 5: Why do some critics claim that interest groups essentially "organize sub-governments"?
Interests often seek policy influence through appointments to relatively small components of state and local government.
"Interests often sponsor meetings, gatherings, and other events for government entities that influence the group's policy concerns."
"Interest groups, together, often organize to create their own government-like structures in order to influence policy."
Interest groups operate under formal structures and rules that often mirror government structures and rules.
Question 6: What did Governor Rick Perry draw up during a special session of the legislature in 2003 to address the existing disparity between Republicans' success in statewide races and their minority presence in the U.S. House of Representatives?
redistricting legislation that appeared to give the Republicans the chance to win many more House seats
an election fairness act that ensured that Republican voters would have equal access to the polls
legislation that forced Democrats to leave the state in order to deny the quorum necessary to conduct business on the chamber floor
a voter ID law that would effectively disenfranchise voters who tended to vote Democratic
Question 7: Why do interest groups often have a large advantage in Texas?
weak regulation of campaign finance
the constitutional organization of the state legislature
informational expertise allowing these groups to communicate their political preferences more clearly
All of these answers are correct.
Question 8: Which of the following is an example of a historical campaign event that is still useful today?
rallies
speeches
branding
all of these options
Question 9: Which of the following is an important Republican advantage in Texas?
a more diverse constituency
a rapidly growing base
political momentum
organizational strength
Question 10: An entity other than a political party that raises and spends money to elect or defeat candidates is known as what?
an interest group
a political action committee
a political scorecard
a grassroots organization
Question 11: What trend generally occurs when one party is dominant in a state over an extended period of time?
"The more dominant a party is, the less likely there are to be truly significant internal divisions."
"When one party becomes particularly dominant, it is likely to move increasingly further away from its national counterpart."
Divisions within the dominant party become more important than divisions between the parties.
"When one party becomes dominant, members of the out-party often join the dominant party in hopes of affecting change internally."
Question 12: What is the difference between an open primary and a closed primary?
"An open primary does not require voters to declare the party with which they are affiliated, while a closed primary does."
"An open primary records each voter's party affiliation, while a closed primary does not."
"An open primary allows voters to vote in more than one party's primary, while a closed primary does not."
"An open primary presents voters with all the candidates for a given office, while a closed primary only presents them with candidates of their own party."
Question 13: "The pluralist ideal imagines that there are always two ore more groups offering differing points of view for every public policy decision or governmental action, leading to informed public deliberation. What is one assumption in this ideal that might be problematic?"
that competing groups have similar abilities to publicize their views
that the public is both present in the debate and paying attention to the debate
"that public officials are being exposed to both sides of the debate, and that information is being provided equally on each side"
All of these answers are correct