Unit 5: Political Participation
US Gov · Unit 5 · Paper 1

Political Participation unit test

A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.

Paper 1Paper 2Paper 3
Each paper is built from this unit’s 22 terms and is the same for everyone, so a teacher can assign “Unit 5, Paper 1” and every student sits the identical test. Multiple choice is marked objectively; the written sections you mark yourself against the model answer and rubric.
Suggested time 30 min 27 points0/17 attempted
1

Media fragmentation

2

Winner-take-all and Duverger's law

3

Caucus vs primary

4

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

5

Voter turnout factors

6

Third parties

7

Retrospective vs prospective voting

8

Linkage institutions

9

Political action committee

10

Party realignment

11

Functions of political parties

12

Party-line voting

Short answer 1. Define or explain: Media as watchdog and gatekeeper

3 pts

Short answer 2. Define or explain: Free rider problem

3 pts

Short answer 3. Define or explain: Open vs closed primary

3 pts

Short answer 4. Define or explain: Horse-race journalism

3 pts

Free response

3 pts

CONCEPT APPLICATION. Heading into the 1992 election, voters were watching the economy: a 1991 recession, slow job growth, and the national debt worried them. The major-party candidates — Republican incumbent George H.W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton — addressed these issues. Texas businessman Ross Perot entered as an independent in February 1992, organizing a large volunteer effort to gather the signatures needed for ballot access in every state. He advocated a balanced budget, domestic job creation and technology to increase citizen participation, self-funded his campaign from personal wealth, and drew heavy media attention with his outsider style — leading the polls in summer 1992. Responding to Perot's strength, Clinton and the Democrats incorporated deficit reduction into their message and focused on the middle class; Bush promised budget cuts. Perot won about 19 percent of the popular vote but no electoral votes. Bush won 37 percent and 168 electoral votes; Clinton won the presidency with 43 percent and 370 electoral votes.

A. Describe an impact the third-party candidate had on the 1992 presidential election as described in the scenario.

B. Explain how structural barriers limited the impact of the third-party candidate as described in part A.

C. Explain how a model of voting behavior could be used to explain how citizens vote in presidential elections as described in the scenario.