Which federal law made it a priority of the national government to enforce provisions of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, leading to major improvements in voting rights for blacks, other minorities, and the poor?
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Restricting the Right to Vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed in response to the civil rights movement. This law sought to undermine barriers to voting that many states had established, especially barriers against African Americans in the South.
Suppose that a state legislature is considering a ban on teachers' unions. If first-grade teacher Alice Crabapple decides to go to a protest about this bill at the state capitol, what is puzzling about her behavior?
It is odd she would attend because the cost of attending exceeds the expected benefit.
Collective Dilemmas in Participation. The prospect of influencing the state legislature and ensuring that teachers can continue to unionize are certainly the benefits Ms. Crabapple seeks. However, Ms. Crabapple has to use her own time, efforts, and money to make it to the capitol to participate. Given that her individual attendance likely will not be critical to the success of the protest, it is odd she would incur these costs. This dilemma is similar to the paradox of voting.
Women were granted the right to vote in all federal and state elections upon passage of the:
Nineteenth Amendment
Removing Barriers to Voting. The Nineteenth Amendment guarantees that the right to vote shall not be abridged on account of sex. The amendment was ratified in 1920 after decades of activism by women's rights groups.
Suppose that your state was considering a bill to allow voting on the Internet. What would be the biggest potential benefit of this bill?
It would lower the cost of voting for many people
Voting. Much like the states that have voting by mail, Internet voting would reduce the time and transportation costs involved with casting a ballot. By reducing these costs, individuals would be more likely to turn out to vote. While increasing someone's sense of civic responsibility or increasing the benefits of voting would also make people more likely to vote, it is unclear how Internet voting could do either of these things. By contrast, the possibility of voting fraud would be a disadvantage of this scheme.
During the Jim Crow Era, many states in the South required individuals to pass a literacy test in order to register to vote. However, the tests administered to African American registrants were often much more difficult than the tests administered to white registrants. An unfair literacy test is an example of:
a barrier to voting
Restricting the Right to Vote. A barrier to voting is a means of restricting a group of people from voting. In this case, literacy tests were legal at the time, but the uneven administration of them served to disenfranchise African Americans. Hence, literacy tests were a barrier to voting.
Austin Poor earns $20,000 a year, and Brian Rich earns $90,000 a year. Which of these two people is more likely to attend a political meeting?
Brian Rich
The Demographics of Participation. Socioeconomic status affects individuals' propensity to participate in a wide variety of political activities, including voting, attending meetings, and making political donations. Because income is part of socioeconomic status and because Brian Rich earns more, Rich is more likely to attend a political meeting.
Going door-to-door to distribute campaign flyers is an example of:
conventional participation
Participation and Democratic Politics. Conventional participation consists of any act of participation that is widely considered legitimate during ordinary times. Distributing campaign literature fits this description, so it is conventional participation. Unconventional participation, by contrast, includes acts that are extreme and usually not considered to contribute to a democratic system, such as rioting, terrorism, or insurgency.
Expansions to suffrage have often been slow in the United States. Which of the following reasons could best explain why strategic incumbents were not inclined to expand suffrage?
They were elected with the narrower electorate and feared expanding it might produce a different outcome.
Barriers to Reform. Since the old set of rules with fewer people franchised worked for the incumbents before, they likely figured that they had a good chance for re-election with the same group of voters. By expanding suffrage, they may have feared that these new voters might have voted against them.
Compared with other countries, are Americans more, less, or equally likely to work on a campaign?
more
Compared with other countries, are Americans more, less, or equally likely to work on a campaign?
Which amendment extends the right to vote to individuals 18 years of age and older?
Twenty-sixth Amendment
Group Struggles. The Twenty-sixth Amendment states that the right to vote shall not be abridged on account of age for anyone 18 years of age or older. Prior to the adoption of this amendment in 1971, states' voting ages often varied from 18 to 21, which was the age established in the Fourteenth Amendment.
Terry Blake recently has become an active volunteer in her church. She has had to keep records of contributions and weekly attendance. Having had this experience, is she more, less, or equally likely to write to a member of Congress than she was before?
more likely
Participating in Other Ways. Individuals who join organizations or hold leadership positions within these organizations are more likely to contact elected officials directly. One reason for this pattern is that organizationally involved individuals gain experience filling out forms, writing, and talking with others. Terry Blake's experiences, therefore, make her more likely to write to a member of Congress.
Efforts by organizations to facilitate or encourage voting are called:
voter Mobilization
Trends in Voter Turnout. This is the definition of voter mobilization. Political parties and organized interests often will contact members or likely supporters and urge them to get out to vote.
Political participation is defined as:
activities citizens undertake to influence government behavior.
Participation and Democratic Politics. Political participation consists not only of voting, but also attending rallies, writing to elected officials, making campaign contributions, and many other activities. Option a therefore is the definition of political participation. Option b refers to the paradox of voting, option c refers to popular sovereignty, and option d refers to voter registration.
The process by which citizens enroll themselves with the government to gain permission to vote in an election is called:
voter registration
Registering to Vote. Citizens must register to vote with their state government before they can cast ballots in elections. By contrast, the Help America Vote Act focuses on making the act of casting a ballot easier. The Motor Voter Act of 1994 allows someone to register to vote while applying for a driver's license, but the act of registration is still the essential element. Expanding the franchise refers to making more of the population eligible to vote by lifting other barriers to voting.
Political knowledge is:
team works and who runs the government.
Gathering Information. Option b defines political knowledge. Participating in politics requires a certain level of knowledge, and gathering political knowledge can often take effort that may discourage individuals from participating. Option a refers to voter mobilization, option c refers to the paradox of voting, and option d refers to popular sovereignty.
Imagine the National Rifle Association (NRA) is concerned with a bill in Congress that would limit the use of handguns. In response, local chapters provide postcards to members that state opposition to the bill and are addressed to the district's member of Congress. The NRA's activity in this case is called:
mobilizing
The Crucial Role of Mobilization. Mobilization refers to acts by an organization to encourage individuals to participate politically, not just in voting but in other kinds of activities. Mobilization has a powerful influence on whether someone participates. In this case, the NRA would be mobilizing its members to write to Congress.
As a person becomes more educated, the probability that he or she will engage in acts of political participation:
Increases
Gathering Information. In the United States and in many other countries, individuals are more likely to participate politically as their socioeconomic status (i.e., education, income, and professional prestige) increases. The common explanation for this is that better educated people have an easier time gathering political information, filling out forms, and expressing their preferences in verbal and written form.
Since the adoption of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, many states have adopted rules that require a voter to present a photo ID at a polling place. What is the potential benefit of doing this?
Electronic voting machines are easier to use.
Voting. By requiring a photo ID, it is harder for someone to imitate another registered voter. The drawback of this, however, is that such a requirement can make voting difficult for those who do not drive or might have misplaced past records. Hence, option d actually refers to a drawback of this provision. Option a refers to a provision of the Motor Voter Act of 1994, and option b refers to a possible benefit of a different provision of the Help America Vote Act.
The notion that people still vote despite the fact that the individual costs of voting outweigh the individual benefits is called the:
paradox of voting
Collective Dilemmas in Participation. This is called the paradox of voting. The fact that people turn out in spite of the costs they face has been explained in a variety of ways, including the idea that people gain satisfaction for performing a civic duty. The other three answers are all terms for other collective dilemmas.
Since 1996, voter turnout in presidential elections has:
risen
Trends in Voter Turnout. In 1996, presidential turnout was the lowest it had been in decades. In the three elections since, turnout has risen consistently. Explanations for this increase vary, but a common one is that voter mobilization has been on the rise because recent elections have been close.
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 was designed to
a. ensure that all states use the same ballot format and layout.
b. allow people to register to vote while applying for a driver's license.
c. increase the number of polling places in the United States.
d. reduce barriers to participation in voting.
...
Since 1990, MTV has utilized the Rock the Vote organization and campaign to encourage young adults to vote. This is an example of
a.
the paradox of voting.
b.
voter registration.
c.
voter mobilization.
d.
voter turnout.
...
What general pattern best describes turnout in the United States over time?
a.
Turnout has steadily declined since the 1880s.
b.
Turnout generally declined from the late nineteenth century through the 1990s, with some fluctuations, but there were increases in turnout in 2000, 2004, and 2008.
c.
The highest levels of turnout in U.S. history were recorded in the
1920s and the 1980s.
d.
Turnout has remained relatively constant since the 1880s, with turnout in presidential elections hovering around 45 percent.
...
Compared to the participation level of men, at what rates have women participated?
a.
Since being granted the right to vote, women have always voted at higher rates than men.
b.
Since being granted the right to vote, women have always
voted at lower rates than men.
c.
After being granted the right to vote, women voted at lower rates than men, but in recent years have voted at similar, or slightly higher, rates than men.
d.
Since being granted the right to vote, women have always voted at similar rates to men.
...
How does socioeconomic status affect the calculus of voting?
a.
As socioeconomic status increases, the
costs and benefits of voting increase.
b.
As socioeconomic status increases, the costs of voting are reduced and the benefits are increased.
c.
As socioeconomic status increases, the benefits of voting are reduced and the costs increase.
d.
As socioeconomic status increases, the costs and benefits of voting are reduced.
...
Which of the following about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is
true?
a.
In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down specific provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
b.
In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down the entire Voting Rights Act of 1965.
c.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 contained a provision that it would be in effect for 35 years, after which time the legislation was no longer enforceable.
d.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is still in force in its entirety.
...
Prior to the adoption of the Twenty-sixth Amendment in 1971, states' ages for voting varied from 18 to 21. This is an example of what type of collective dilemma?
a.
a collective action problem
b.
an unstable coalition
c.
a prisoner's dilemma situation
d.
a coordination problem
...