Question 1

Some people like to follow politics, but most rely on friends or coworkers or on simple "cues" from news stories or advertisements to get the information they need to make political choices. Many people pay virtually no attention to politics. For these reasons, the level of ________ varies widely within the population.

Accepted Answer

A)  political intelligence 
B)  political knowledge 
C)  political awareness 
D)  political sophistication 
E)  street smarts

Question 2

What does the inequality between the costs of voting and citizens' expected rewards from voting create?

Accepted Answer

A)  problem of participation 
B)  paradox of voting 
C)  voters' dilemma 
D)  ballot burden 
E)  ballot fatigue

Question 3

In the late 1960s, college students in California launched a campaign called "Let Us Vote," or "LUV," to lower the minimum legal voting age from 21 to 18. Congress passed a law that mandated voting rights for 18- to 21-year-olds. However, the Supreme Court ruled that states had the right to set their own voting age restrictions. Some states set the voting age at 18, while others left it at 21. As a result, many young people on Election Day had to be given separate ballots because they were only permitted to vote for federal offices. This is an example of a/an ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  prisoner's dilemma 
B)  collective action problem 
C)  coordination problem 
D)  unstable coalition 
E)  principal-agent problem

Question 4

Which of the following is another term for the right to vote?

Accepted Answer

A)  suffrage 
B)  polling 
C)  verdict 
D)  conflagration 
E)  conjunction

Question 5

Which are efforts made by organizations to facilitate or encourage voting?

Accepted Answer

A)  voter mobilization 
B)  collective suffrage 
C)  electoral enrollment 
D)  voting suffrage 
E)  voter coordination

Question 6

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 caused states to ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  increase the number of voting precincts by almost 40 percent 
B)  increase the use of paper ballots to preserve permanent records of each vote cast 
C)  decrease the number of polling places by almost 40 percent 
D)  increase the amount of time available for citizens to register to vote 
E)  relocate polling places to venues that could support new voting machines in nearly 40 percent of all precincts

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT an acceptable reason for few people to participate in politics?

Accepted Answer

A)  Low levels of political participation means people are generally satisfied with government. 
B)  Citizens do not speak out about government or vote because they like things as they are. 
C)  The absence of overt dissent signifies the absence of grievances. 
D)  Uninformed voters choose not to participate and leave decisions to those who choose to become informed. 
E)  Low levels of political participation are concentrated in the segments of the population who arguably face individual barriers to participation and who are rarely encouraged to participate.

Question 8

What is socioeconomic status (SES)? What are identifiable components of SES? What is the relationship between SES and political participation in the United States? Is the relationship between SES and participation generally different in other democracies?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is socioeconomic status (SES)? What are...

Question 9

Which term denotes a person's general understanding of how the political system works and who runs the government?

Accepted Answer

A)  political awareness 
B)  political sophistication 
C)  political knowledge 
D)  political intelligence 
E)  street smarts

Question 10

Sit-ins, strikes, and even violent revolts against an oppressive government, though extreme and unconventional, are nevertheless forms of ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  political science 
B)  political participation 
C)  polling 
D)  partisanship science 
E)  social networking

Question 11

The probability of a grave accident while attempting to get to the polls is higher than the probability of swaying a national election with a single vote. This leads scholars to ask, "Why does anyone even bother to vote in mass elections?" This is an example of ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  the problem of participation 
B)  the paradox of voting 
C)  the voters' dilemma 
D)  the ballot burden 
E)  ballot fatigue

Question 12

How do rates of voting in the United States compare to those in other democratic countries? What about rates of other forms of political participation? What accounts for any differences that may be observed in the rates of various types of political participation in the United States and other democracies?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How do rates of voting in the...

Question 13

Mary is concerned about plans to build a waste-to-energy facility in her district. She decides to write a letter to her member of Congress expressing her displeasure with the current proposal. Mary has engaged in a/an ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  conventional form of political participation 
B)  unconventional form of political participation 
C)  act of civil disobedience 
D)  illegitimate form of political participation 
E)  conventional form of social networking

Question 14

The "paradox of voting" refers to the ________ that emerges in the context of mass electoral participation.

Accepted Answer

A)  coordination problem 
B)  prisoner's dilemma 
C)  principal-agent problem 
D)  unstable coalition 
E)  collective action problem

Question 15

How do interest groups and other organizations work to mobilize voters? How do these mobilization efforts relate to the paradox of voting? In other words, how do these activities help potential voters overcome forces that may prevent them from voting?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How do interest groups and other organizations...

Question 16

Socioeconomic status is a measure of the way that individuals are regarded in society by virtue of their wealth, income, education, and ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  religion 
B)  race 
C)  profession 
D)  height 
E)  morality

Question 17

Shelly wants to vote in the upcoming election. Before she will be eligible to vote, Shelly knows that she must fill out forms and provide personal information to her state government. This process is called ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  voter enrollment 
B)  voter registration 
C)  suffrage 
D)  civic license 
E)  political license

Question 18

Though many factors affect voter turnout, the key to understanding the differences among the United States and other countries is the _______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  role nongovernmental institutions play in mobilizing participation 
B)  relatively higher percentage of wealthy and highly educated individuals in the United States 
C)  role of political parties 
D)  higher percentage of older individuals in the United States 
E)  relatively lower percentage of church attendees in the United States

Question 19

Charlie, Dylan, and Joe disagree with American foreign policy decisions and do not like the current direction the United States is headed. They decide to take matters into their own hands and start an insurgency. They have engaged in a/an ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  conventional form of political participation 
B)  unconventional form of political participation 
C)  unconventional form of social networking 
D)  legitimate form of political participation 
E)  conventional form of social networking

Question 20

One compelling explanation for the higher turnout rates among wealthy individuals is that wealthier and more educated people face lower costs when voting and participating in politics. Which of the following provides another explanation for this trend?

Accepted Answer

A)  the rise in political activity of union and business-related interest groups 
B)  Mobilizing organizations tend to have an easier time reaching wealthier and more educated people. 
C)  Churches play a much less important role in politics than other organizations, and wealthier individuals tend to be less religious. 
D)  All of these are correct. 
E)  None of these is correct.

Exam 10: Political Participation