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A.P. GOVERNMENT CHAPTER 8 TEST: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

1. The text suggests that the "real source" of the participation problem in the United States is
A) the low percentage of the adult population that is registered to vote.
B) voter apathy.
C) negative campaigning.
D) lack of party competition.
E) the two-party system.
2. Which of the following statements concerning the motor-voter law is incorrect?
A) It accounts for a large percentage of registrants each year.
B) It took effect in 1995.
C) There is little evidence that it has affected voter turnout.
D) There is little evidence that it has affected election outcomes.
E) None of the above
3. A 2001 study found that motor-voter registrants were
A) much more likely to vote than other new registrants.
B) slightly more likely to vote than other new registrants.
C) about as likely to vote as other new registrants.
D) less likely to vote than other new registrants.
E) None of the above
4. Political participation encompasses all of the following activities except
A) voting.
B) paying your taxes.
C) writing your congressional representative.
D) signing a petition.
E) discussing politics.
5. One unusual possible explanation suggested by the text for the low rate of voter registration in the U. S. is that
A) participation in government is denied to so many people.
B) many local governments do not require voters to register.
C) the media discourage voter registration.
D) people are happy with the way government is working.
E) voters cannot actually find the places where they are supposed to vote.
6. Today, the largest percentage of voter registration applications comes from
A) public assistance offices.
B) motor vehicle offices.
C) state-designated sites.
D) disability services.
E) the military.
7. Suffrage was extended to include virtually all white males by the administration of
A) John Adams.
B) Thomas Jefferson.
C) Andrew Jackson.
D) James Monroe.
E) James Madison.
8. Which of the following was required by the U.S. Constitution?
A) Free adult male suffrage
B) Popularly elected presidential electors
C) Nonpartisan election commissions
D) Popularly elected senators
E) Popularly elected House members




9. Which amendment stated that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be abridged by the United States
or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude"?
A) Twelfth Amendment
B) Seventeenth Amendment
C) Fifteenth Amendment
D) Twenty-fifth Amendment
E) None of the above
10. By federal law, those areas in which less than 50 percent of the population has voted in presidential elections
A) can have federal elections canceled.
B) lose a seat in the House of Representatives.
C) are placed on probation until the turnout rises to 55 percent or more.
D) cannot be treated differently than any other area of the country.
E) can be subject to federal voter registrars and poll watchers.
11. When Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1970 and lowered the voting age to eighteen,
A) the president vetoed the Act.
B) the Fourteenth Amendment was overturned.
C) the Supreme Court declared the adjustment unconstitutional.
D) thirty-five state governors protested the change.
E) the number of eligible voters instantly doubled.
12. Suffrage was extended in the Twenty-sixth Amendment to
A) those aged eighteen to twenty.
B) blacks.
C) women.
D) residents of the District of Columbia.
E) felons who had received presidential pardons.
13. The first elections in which all persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one were able to vote were held in
A) 1944.
B) 1956.
C) 1972.
D) 1984.
E) 1985.
14. By 1972, those who had received the right to vote in all U.S. elections and who had been previously disenfranchised
included
A) blacks only.
B) blacks and women only.
C) blacks, women, and eighteen-year-olds only.
D) blacks, women, eighteen-year-olds, and prison inmates.
E) blacks, women, eighteen-year-olds, and prison inmates who had been pardoned.
15. Which of the following statements about eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds is correct?
A) They are voting at record levels.
B) They vote about as often as senior citizens.
C) They have consistently voted at about the same level for thirty years.
D) They appear to vote less but participate in civic activities more.
E) They are voting less and participating in civic activities less.
16. Which of the following statements applies to the voting rights of U.S. citizens who cannot speak English?
A) All U.S. citizens are guaranteed the right to a ballot written in their native language.
B) These citizens must pass a language test before they are allowed to vote.
C) Areas must provide translators only for Spanish-speaking persons under the age of twenty-one.
D) Areas must provide translators to all non-English-speaking citizens wishing to vote.
E) Areas with many such citizens must provide ballots written in the citizens' languages.
17. The _____ Amendment gave voters in the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections.
A) Fifteenth
B) Twentieth
C) Twenty-second
D) Twenty-third
E) Twenty-sixth
18. Those who see the decline of voter turnout as a function of party organization change believe all below except that
A) parties originally aimed to increase mass political participation.
B) parties used caucuses and conventions and fought against legal barriers to voting to increase participation.
C) the nation was split by region in the late 1890s and two-party competition decreased in many places.
D) both parties became more liberal.
E) citizens lost interest in politics because the parties did not respond to their needs.

19. In the nineteenth century, voting ballots were printed by
A) the government.
B) Congress.
C) the courts.
D) state legislatures.
E) political parties.
20. The steady decline in U.S. voter turnout appears to be the unintentional result of
A) strict voter registration procedures.
B) the poll tax.
C) the fraudulent reporting of election results.
D) literacy testing.
E) media campaigns.
21. The text suggests that calls for reform in voting were somewhat "muted" after the 2004 national elections because
A) there was no evidence of vote fraud.
B) George W. Bush won.
C) the Democrats retained control of Congress.
D) the Supreme Court would not entertain litigation on the topic.
E) the popular vote for president was not close.
22. The voting-age population (VAP) is calculated from
A) state voter registration lists.
B) census reports.
C) public opinion polls.
D) legislative surveys.
E) party membership lists.
23. If a researcher insists on using VEP statistics, as opposed to VAP statistics, in a study of voter turnout, he or she is
probably concerned about
A) creating a balance between males and females in the data.
B) removing political party bias.
C) generating a more accurate estimate of the number of female voters.
D) having a more reliable estimate of the number of voters across time.
E) removing individuals from the data who are actually ineligible to vote.
24. When voting-eligible population (VEP) statistics are examined,
A) the decline in voter turnout is even more apparent.
B) the apparent decline in voter turnout vanishes completely.
C) it is apparent that voter turnout has not declined since the early 1970s.
D) midterm congressional elections routinely feature turnout rates of above 55 percent.
E) None of the above
25. In the 1992 and 1996 elections, the two most common demographic features of nonvoters were
A) residential mobility and youth.
B) minority status and low income.
C) Protestantism and low education levels.
D) low education levels and minority status.
E) youth and low education levels.
26. The most common form of political participation is
A) voting.
B) contributing money.
C) writing letters to newspapers.
D) attending political rallies.
E) joining political organizations.

27. Those who misreport their voting habits are more likely to be
A) young.
B) less educated.
C) nonwhite.
D) low income.
E) All of the above
28. Youth, low income, and minority status are associated with which of the following participation groups?
A) Inactives
B) Parochial participants
C) Communalists
D) Campaigners
E) Voting specialists
29. Which of the following factors are highly correlated with a high rate of political participation?
A) More education, older than thirty-five years old
B) More education, younger than thirty-five years old
C) Immigrant background, higher income
D) Nonimmigrant background, more education
E) High income, younger than twenty-five
30. The text suggests that one reason religious involvement increases political participation is that
A) politics is a more simplistic form of theology.
B) a belief in God helps people make political decisions.
C) the church provides a forum for differing viewpoints.
D) it leads to inwardness and thus more political insight.
E) it leads to social connectedness and increases awareness of larger issues.
31. Which of the following statements about the voting habits of men and women is correct?
A) Men vote at much higher rates than women.
B) Men vote at a slightly higher rate than women.
C) Men and women vote at about the same rate.
D) Women vote at a much higher rate than men.
E) Women vote at a much higher rate than men in midterm elections.
32. Which of the following statements about political participation by blacks is correct?
A) Blacks participate less than whites across the board.
B) Blacks participate more than whites of the same socioeconomic status.
C) Blacks participate only at certain times, such as during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
D) Blacks participate more heavily than whites in protest movements, riots, and demonstrations.
E) Blacks participate more than whites across the board.
33. Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, and Wisconsin have each legislated voter registration
A) according to stricter standards than the federal ones.
B) on the same day as the elections.
C) by postcard up to one month before the election.
D) by using door-to-door registrars.
E) on the Internet.
34. Since 1970, federal law has prohibited states from having residency requirements longer than ___ days for presidential
elections.
A) ten
B) fifteen
C) thirty
D) sixty
E) one hundred
35. Most of the states that initiated same-day voter registration (on election day) have experienced
A) a continuing voter turnout decline.
B) a major increase in voter turnout.
C) no change at all in voter turnout.
D) a major increase in turnout of Democratic voters.
E) slight improvements in voter turnout.


36. All of the following have probably contributed to the recent declines in voter turnout except
A) increasing difficulties with respect to registration.
B) the greater youthfulness of the population.
C) the growing number of African Americans.
D) the declining strength of political parties.
E) a decrease in the number of people who think elections matter.
37. After considering factors that might cause voter turnout to decrease, the authors suggest that the primary cause might be
A) registration laws.
B) the greater youthfulness of the population.
C) the weakness of political parties.
D) rising distrust of government.
E) a decline in the sense that elections matter.
38. One argument against compulsory voting in this country is
A) the expense involved.
B) the variation in enforcement from state to state.
C) its vulnerability to vote fraud.
D) the impossibility of implementing it.
E) voter objections to identification papers.
39. When Jesse Jackson ran for president in 1984, which of the following happened to black voter registration in the South?
A) It remained low.
B) It increased but was more than offset by an increase in voter registration by southern whites.
C) It actually declined.
D) It increased and played a major role in winning several states for Jackson.
E) It had no impact on registration.
40. Which of the following forms of participation has been decreasing in recent years?
A) Voting
B) Writing to public officials
C) Making demands on government officials
D) Demonstrating in public and going on protest marches
E) Contributing money to a party

41. Compared to voters in the United States, most European voters have the opportunity to cast ballots
A) more frequently, for as many offices.
B) less frequently, for as many offices.
C) less frequently, for fewer offices.
D) more frequently, for fewer offices.
E) more frequently, for more offices.

42. T F In this country, 90 percent of the voting-age population is registered to vote.

43. T F Measured against the total adult population, voter turnout rates in the United States are on a par with those in
Europe.

44. T F Measured against the total registered electorate, voter turnout rates in the United States are on a par with those in
Europe.

45. T F The text argues that get-out-the-vote campaigns are unlikely to improve voter turnout.

46. T F In this country, the entire burden of registering falls on the individual voter.

47. T F The text identifies voting as the sole measure of citizen participation in politics.

48. T F Other and perhaps more significant measures of political participation exist besides voter turnout.

49. T F Very high levels of registration and voting, suggests the text, could be a measure of citizen dissatisfaction.

50. T F The Twenty-sixth Amendment gave eighteen-year-olds the right to vote in state elections
.
51. T F The 1972 elections were the first that allowed eighteen-year-olds to vote.

52. T F When the voting age was lowered to eighteen, those eighteen to twenty-one years of age voted in impressive
numbers.

53. T F Voter turnout among eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds has generally increased over the last three decades.

54. T F Voter turnout in U.S. presidential elections was generally higher in the nineteenth century.

55. T F The diminishing role of parties in voter registration and turnout is one probable reason for the decline in voting.

56. T F One view of voter turnout suggests that both of the major parties became more liberal after the elections of 1896.

57. T F Voter fraud today is more prevalent than in the nineteenth century and helps explain some of the reasons for
declining voter turnout.

58. T F In the nineteenth century, political parties printed voting ballots.

59. T F States first began adopting the Australian ballot around 1890.

60. T F Strict voter registration requirements accomplished two things: they reduced fraud and they reduced voter turnout.