Chapter Nine: Elections

1. What are three criticisms of the American electoral process?
2. Why do parties sometimes find it difficult to recruit candidates?
3. What are the two groups of candidates?
4. Why did Eugene McCarthy run for president? Ralph Nader? Howard Dean?

5. What advantage does a major party candidate enjoy?
6. What is a caucus?
7. What are two characteristics of many holders of political office?
8. How many women were elected to Congress in 2004?
9. What profession particularly tends to run for office?
10. Why are campaigns now candidate centered?
11. What happened between 1992 and 2004?
12. What changed in the 1960's?
13. What voters do candidates attempt to win?
14. What strategic ploy is used against third party candidates?
15. What is a focus group?
16. How much money was spent on campaigns in 1999-2000? House? Senate? President?
17. What would the Hatch Act provide for?
18. What did the FECA of 1971 do?
19. What did its amendments in 1974 require?
20. What was decided in Buckley v. Valeo?
21. What is a PAC?
22. What is soft money?
23. What are two rules that apply to PAC's?
24. How many PAC's are there today?
25. How much did they raise in 1999-2000?
26. Who do they give their money to?
27. What were the top five PAC's in 1999-2000?
28. Why do interest groups give PAC contributions to politicians?
29. How much soft money was given in 2001-2002?
30. What is issue advocacy?
31. What did the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 do?
32. When and where was the first primary election held?
33. Before 1968 who mainly attended national conventions?
34. Why did this change?
35. How is an open primary different from a closed primary?
36. What is a front runner?
37. What is frontloading?
38. What has been the reality of national conventions since 1972?
39. How many electors in the Electoral College?
40. What does the Constitution not require?
41. How many electoral votes are necessary to win the presidency?
42. Who decides if no candidate receives a majority?
43. What do Adams, Hayes, Harrison and Bush have in common?
44. Why are the major parties not in favor of eliminating the Electoral College?
45. What is the Australian ballot?
46. How is the Massachusetts ballot different from the Indiana ballot?
47. What is the coattail effect?
48. What does Larry Sabato believe?
49. What did Katherine Harris do?
50. What % of adult age population voted in 2004?
51. What is significant about the 1960 election?
52. How are local elections different in terms of turnout?
53. Why is there concern about low turnout?
54. Why are others less concerned?
55. What adults are not allowed to vote?
56. What do McDonald and Popkin believe?
57. What are five factors affecting turnout?

58. How does the media contribute to low turnout?
59. Why do people vote?
60. What changed by 1850?
61. What are three requirements to register?
62. What did the Motor Voter Act do?
63. Why is North Dakota unique?
64. What do Republicans fear?