Mock Exam III, 11-28-23 (KEY)

Multiple Choice : 1. The tendency of states to hold their primaries/caucuses earlier and earlier in the year of election is called: a. Back-washing. b. Moon-walking. c. Front-loading. d. Gate-crashing. 2. Money flowing into election campaigns through groups that are not obliged to reveal their donors is called: a. Dark money. b. Independent expenditures. c. Bundling. d. C4 cash. 3. A significant consequence of Ross Perot’s independent presidential campaign in 1992 was: a. Legal challenges that lowered ballot access requirements in several states. b. The emergence of the budget deficit as an important issue for the Congress in 1993 and 1994. c. The demonstration of the power of “free” TV (especially cable shows) and debates for non-major party candidates. d. All of the above. 4. According to Mayhew, the amount of legislation passed by Congress during periods of divided government is relatively: a. Greater. b. Lesser. c. About the same as under unified government. d. Greater until 2000, and lesser thereafter. 5. Which of the following is NOT a way in which the president is the de facto leader of his/her party? a. The president commands an electoral following and can actually increase his party’s broader appeal. b. The president is the chief fundraiser for the party. c. The president is the formal head of the party’s national committee. d. All of these are ways in which the president is the de facto head of the party. 6. With respect to ideology, party activists tend to be: a. More ideologically extreme than voters and office-holders. b. Less ideologically extreme than voters and office-holders. c. About the same as voters and office-holders. d. Older and less well-educated than voters and office-holders.

7. The main goal for a candidate in the presidential nominating process is to: a. Win a majority in the Electoral College. b. Win a majority of votes in the primaries and caucuses. c. Win a majority of delegates to the national convention. d. Do better than expected on Super Tuesday. 8. Since the late 1970s, parties in Congress: a. Have polarized. b. Have seemingly become more reliant on the party leadership for positions and power. c. Are no longer relevant. d. A and B. 9. Which of the following is NOT a loophole in the FECA (1971, 1974)? a. Bundling. b. Cheezing. c. Soft money. d. Independent expenditures. 10. The New Hampshire presidential primary is an example of a ______________. a. Open primary. b. Closed primary. c. Semi-open primary. d. Blanket primary. Short Answer : 1. Briefly explain how the size and scope of the federal government might impact political machines. When the federal government is larger, it tends to run the programs and provide the services that would otherwise be the province of state and (especially) local parties. This undercuts the parties who can win control of local government and use its jobs to incentivize party workers and its resources to attract voters. 2. According to Fiorina, are regular voters polarized? What about party elites? Fiorina argues that “regular” voters are not polarized. Relying on time series data on a host of social issues, Fiorina convincingly demonstrates that opinion has mainly flat-lined over the past 45 years. In fact, differences between blacks and whites, men and women, old and young, and higher and lower SES have actually decreased over time. Only among partisans have positions become somewhat more polarized, and even here the shift has been minor and largely reflects choice options framed by party elites (who have polarized over time).

4. Who were the “social prophets”? How did the majority party deal with them? The Social Prophets were three charismatic religious/political leaders from the mid-1930s. Franklin Roosevelt and the Democrats considered them serious threats in the election of 1936, when Americans were being asked to re-elect FDR in the midst of on-going economic dislocation. The first of these was Father Charles Coughlan, who had a following in the northeastern part of the country and advocated for the nationalization of the banks. The second was Reverend Francis Townsend, who had a following in the Midwest and advocated for an old-age pension fund. Third, there was Huey Long from Louisiana, who championed re-distributive taxation plans (“Share Our Wealth”). FDR and the White House dealt with these Social Prophets by co-opting their rhetoric and even their policy proposals in advance of 1936. 5. How do parties affect the judicial branch of government in the U.S.? At the level of the Supreme Court, party politics increasingly affect the nomination process, as ideological criteria are now considered relevant in the deliberations of the Senate Judicial Committee. For the Court itself, the personal party leanings of the judges are apparent in their decisions and opinions, although other factors are also relevant. For state courts, party politics can be even more directly relevant depending upon whether or not judges stand for election in a particular state. Some states have primaries and direct elections and re-elections for judges (Texas), while in other states there are sometimes “retention” elections (Iowa) or provisions for “recall” elections (California). The more direct and partisan the election environment, the more likely party will be important.