PSC 101- Exam 2 Questions and Answers
100% Pass
Interest Groups - ANS Group of individuals with a common interest who attempt to influence
government policy
Importance of Interest groups - ANS -Most Americans are either part of or benefit from
interest group activity
-interest groups are a longtime part of American Politics
-Interest groups are vital - yet biased- part of the political process
-Most Americans do not recognize that they are part of the interest group system.
Political parties - ANS A group of individuals with some ideological agreement who organize
to win elections, run government and make public policy. Attempt to create broad coalitions
(links to proximity voting)
Roles of parties in american politics - ANS provide/recruit candidates
conduct elections
educate the public
organize government
make public policy
provide loyal opposition
provide a "cue" for voters
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Characteristics of american parties - ANS Two parties, Highly decentralized, Semi-public,
Open Organizations, Loose coalitions, fairly non-ideological.
Party regulations - ANS -Founding fathers generally distrusted parties and did not include
them in the constitution
-Parties quickly became part of how American Politics worked
-Because of this Key public role, parties were a logical "target" for regulation
-most regulation comes thorough state law
Factors influencing likelihood of voting - ANS age, income, education
strong party identification
group membership
perceive closeness of the election
silence of the election (well known candidates, issues and perceived importance)
Elections - ANS -Most direct form of linkage between public and gov't decision makers
-occur on a regular cycle (calendar)
-Most occur at state and local level
-highly "rule governed" to insure fairness
-election law largely state law within basic parameters of federal rights
Elements of Election Law - ANS Who may vote, what is voted upon, direct democracy,
electoral calendar.
Who may vote - ANS most anyone over 18
must be registered