POLI 209 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
-Australian Ballot (aka Secret Ballot) - Answers - Secret Ballot
First adopted in 1881 by Massachusetts
Last state to adopt was Kentucky, 1891
Greatly undermined the Party Machines
-Cadre Parties vs. Mass-Membership Parties - Answers - Cadre Parties: Dominated by
elites who are interested in winning election.
Mass Membership Parties: Parties which have many members from the general public,
and which are generally ideological and more concerned with governance than winning
elections
-Calculus of Voting - Answers - PB- C + D -R + G
P = Probability of Decisive Vote
B = Reward if favored candidate wins
C = Costs of Voting
D = Civic Duty
R = Reprisals for not voting
G = Material gains from voting
-Central Committees: - Answers - the state level analogue of the RNC and DNC, and
usually legislative committees (i.e. organizations to serve the electoral interests of that
party's members in the state legislature)
- Classical theory of democracy: - Answers - Voters have cohesive ideologies
These ideologies inform their issue positions
These issue positions inform their vote choice
Voters endeavor to inform themselves, and deliberate before choosing who to vote for
-Cognitive Dissonance and Motivated Reasoning - Answers - Cognitive dissonance: In
psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an
individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same
time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or
values
-Collective Responsibility - Answers - Responsibility of every member of a group without
regard to an individual member's participation in decision making and his or her position
or rank.
-Convenient voting laws - Answers - Motor Voter
Vote-by-Mail/Absentee - Vote by mail seems to increase turnout by about 10%
Same Day Registration - Increases voting between 5-10%
Early Voting - 30% of the electorate voted early in 2008; but it alone does not
appreciably increase turnout
, -Critical Elections (or Realigning Election) - Answers - Critical Elections: when a single
election causes a sharp and durable change in the existing party cleavages - from VO
key
-Culture War - Answers - The rise of social issues:
School prayer banned by Supreme Court in 1950s
Second-wave feminism in the 1960s
Counter-culture (1960s)
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Social Conservatives concerned, so organized politically
Social Liberals counter-organize
-Definition of Democracy - Answers - No widely accepted definition of democracy,
although commonly accepted traits are free, fair and competitive elections and civil
liberties
-Donations from interest groups - Answers - Money does not buy votes - Interest
Groups donate to candidates who already agree with them
What then are donations buying - Access, Mobilization (This is a problem, but it isn't
vote buying)
-Equal Protection Clause - Answers - 1. The Equal Protection Clause is part of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect
in 1868, provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal
protection of the laws".
Factions: - Answers - Factions may stand for issues, or they may not
Factions do not have a sense of duty and obligation to their supporters, and lack
cohesion because there is no formal structure
-Federal vs. National groups - Answers - Federal - individual state chapters make it up.
National - unitary organization.
-First party system: - Answers - Federalists vs jeffersonians.
The obvious choice for the first President was George Washington, who in fact was
chosen unanimously.
- Washington was so popular there literally could not be a anti-Washington party
Washington was an independent, the only President to lack a party affiliation. He
placed members of all political stripes in his cabinet.
- This provided stability and confidence in the government
- But also caused inefficiency and rancor
-Free Rider Problem - Answers - A form of the collective action problem - people benefit
from public good without helping.
-Australian Ballot (aka Secret Ballot) - Answers - Secret Ballot
First adopted in 1881 by Massachusetts
Last state to adopt was Kentucky, 1891
Greatly undermined the Party Machines
-Cadre Parties vs. Mass-Membership Parties - Answers - Cadre Parties: Dominated by
elites who are interested in winning election.
Mass Membership Parties: Parties which have many members from the general public,
and which are generally ideological and more concerned with governance than winning
elections
-Calculus of Voting - Answers - PB- C + D -R + G
P = Probability of Decisive Vote
B = Reward if favored candidate wins
C = Costs of Voting
D = Civic Duty
R = Reprisals for not voting
G = Material gains from voting
-Central Committees: - Answers - the state level analogue of the RNC and DNC, and
usually legislative committees (i.e. organizations to serve the electoral interests of that
party's members in the state legislature)
- Classical theory of democracy: - Answers - Voters have cohesive ideologies
These ideologies inform their issue positions
These issue positions inform their vote choice
Voters endeavor to inform themselves, and deliberate before choosing who to vote for
-Cognitive Dissonance and Motivated Reasoning - Answers - Cognitive dissonance: In
psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an
individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same
time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or
values
-Collective Responsibility - Answers - Responsibility of every member of a group without
regard to an individual member's participation in decision making and his or her position
or rank.
-Convenient voting laws - Answers - Motor Voter
Vote-by-Mail/Absentee - Vote by mail seems to increase turnout by about 10%
Same Day Registration - Increases voting between 5-10%
Early Voting - 30% of the electorate voted early in 2008; but it alone does not
appreciably increase turnout
, -Critical Elections (or Realigning Election) - Answers - Critical Elections: when a single
election causes a sharp and durable change in the existing party cleavages - from VO
key
-Culture War - Answers - The rise of social issues:
School prayer banned by Supreme Court in 1950s
Second-wave feminism in the 1960s
Counter-culture (1960s)
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Social Conservatives concerned, so organized politically
Social Liberals counter-organize
-Definition of Democracy - Answers - No widely accepted definition of democracy,
although commonly accepted traits are free, fair and competitive elections and civil
liberties
-Donations from interest groups - Answers - Money does not buy votes - Interest
Groups donate to candidates who already agree with them
What then are donations buying - Access, Mobilization (This is a problem, but it isn't
vote buying)
-Equal Protection Clause - Answers - 1. The Equal Protection Clause is part of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect
in 1868, provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal
protection of the laws".
Factions: - Answers - Factions may stand for issues, or they may not
Factions do not have a sense of duty and obligation to their supporters, and lack
cohesion because there is no formal structure
-Federal vs. National groups - Answers - Federal - individual state chapters make it up.
National - unitary organization.
-First party system: - Answers - Federalists vs jeffersonians.
The obvious choice for the first President was George Washington, who in fact was
chosen unanimously.
- Washington was so popular there literally could not be a anti-Washington party
Washington was an independent, the only President to lack a party affiliation. He
placed members of all political stripes in his cabinet.
- This provided stability and confidence in the government
- But also caused inefficiency and rancor
-Free Rider Problem - Answers - A form of the collective action problem - people benefit
from public good without helping.
