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 1 Paper 2 Paper 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 33 min 30 points0/17 attempted

Media fragmentation

Winner-take-all and Duverger's law

Caucus vs primary

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

Voter turnout factors

Third parties

Retrospective vs prospective voting

Linkage institutions

Political action committee

Party realignment

Functions of political parties

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

6 pts

ARGUMENT ESSAY. Develop an argument about whether the Electoral College should be replaced by a direct national popular vote for president. Use at least one of the following foundational documents in your response: Federalist No. 10; Federalist No. 68; The Constitution of the United States. In your essay you must articulate a defensible claim or thesis, support it with at least two pieces of accurate and relevant evidence (at least one from an approved document), explain how the evidence supports your claim using reasoning, and respond to an opposing perspective with refutation, concession, or rebuttal.