Unit 5 Review: How citizens reach government

UNIT 5 · PARTICIPATION

UNIT 5 REVIEW

How citizens reach government

Four organizing questions rebuild this unit’s logic. Who is legally eligible to vote, and who turns out, and why do those two questions require separate answers? Why do institutional rules, more than voter preference alone, explain why two parties keep winning? What separates a direct campaign contribution from an independent expenditure, and why does that distinction control what Citizens United decided? What can turnout data, polling, and media-use figures support, and where does description end and unproven causal explanation begin?

Unit 5 compares the main ways citizens, parties, interest groups, candidates, and media organizations influence government and elections.

CONCEPT APPLICATION: A COMPETITIVE HOUSE RACE

A House district redrawn after the latest census becomes more competitive than it was previously. A political action committee begins running advertisements in the district that are not coordinated with either campaign, while both candidates’ campaigns increase spending on voter contact and mobilization in the district’s most closely divided precincts.

Part A. Identify the electoral mechanism that made this district more competitive.

Redistricting, which redrew the district’s boundaries and changed its partisan balance.

Part B. Classify the political action committee’s spending, and explain why it faces a different legal limit than a direct contribution would.

It is an independent expenditure, since it is not coordinated with either campaign; independent spending can be unlimited because the absence of coordination reduces the risk of the kind of corrupt exchange that justifies limiting direct contributions.

Part C. Explain why increased campaign spending in this district does not guarantee either candidate’s victory.

Money expands a campaign’s strategic capacity, such as advertising and voter contact, but does not mechanically convert into votes on a fixed exchange rate; the candidate who spends the most does not always win.

UNIT 5 PRACTICE SET

Correct: A. Legal eligibility to vote and the decision to vote are separate questions; this scenario shows eligibility without participation. B) No voting model is being compared here. C) No campaign-finance distinction is at issue. D) No media mechanism is described.

Correct: D. Retrospective voting evaluates an incumbent’s past performance in office. A) Prospective voting evaluates expected future performance, not past results. B) Straight-ticket voting means selecting every candidate from one party, not a performance evaluation. C) Selective exposure concerns media consumption, not a voting decision.

Correct: C. With no reward for finishing second, voters and candidates have a strong incentive to consolidate around the two candidates most likely to win. A) Third parties can legally appear on the ballot. B) Voters are not legally required to choose a major-party candidate. D) The Constitution does not establish any political parties.

Correct: B. A group’s specific resources shape its strategy; a large motivated membership without insider access or deep funding is well suited to grassroots mobilization. A) Litigation requires legal expertise this group is not described as having. C) Limited funding argues against a maximum-contribution strategy. D) Amicus briefs are a litigation-adjacent tool this group’s resources do not particularly support.

5. Which of the following is an accurate distinction between political parties and interest groups? A) Interest groups nominate candidates; parties do not B) Parties never accept campaign contributions; interest groups do C) Parties nominate candidates and seek control of government directly; interest groups seek influence without that direct electoral control D) Interest groups are branches of government; parties are not

Correct: C. Both link citizens to government, but parties nominate candidates and seek control of government directly, unlike interest groups. A) Nominating candidates is a party function, not an interest-group function. B) Parties do accept campaign contributions. D) Neither parties nor interest groups are branches of government.

Correct: A. Because electoral votes are won state by state, campaigns concentrate resources in competitive states rather than spreading effort evenly nationwide. B) Contribution limits do not explain geographic targeting of advertising. C) The watchdog function concerns investigative journalism, not campaign strategy. D) Redistricting concerns House district lines, not presidential campaign strategy.

Correct: D. House members serve two-year terms in single-member districts, while senators serve six-year terms representing an entire state. A) House members represent a single district, not an entire state. B) House and Senate terms differ, two years versus six. C) House districts are redrawn through reapportionment and redistricting.

8. Which statement accurately reflects what Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission held? A) Corporations may make unlimited direct contributions to candidates B) Independent political expenditures are protected speech and may not be banned based on the speaker being a corporation or union C) All campaign-finance disclosure requirements were struck down D) Individual contribution limits no longer apply to any donor

Correct: B. The case protects independent expenditures specifically; it does not authorize unlimited direct corporate contributions. A) Citizens United did not permit unlimited direct corporate contributions to candidates. C) Disclosure and disclaimer rules were largely left in place. D) Individual contribution limits to candidates remain in effect.

Correct: B. Sustained coverage raising an issue’s salience onto the political agenda, without necessarily persuading anyone, is agenda setting. A) Framing concerns how a story is presented, not whether it receives attention. C) Selective exposure concerns which sources an audience chooses to consume. D) The watchdog function specifically involves exposing hidden conduct, which is not described here.

Correct: A. Television led overall at 35%, while social media was disproportionately common among adults under 30 at 46%. B) Television remained a leading source; social media did not replace it. C) Television remained the most common source overall. D) Television led overall, not news websites and apps specifically.

Correct: D. Fragmentation describes an environment where audiences rely on different sources rather than a shared set of outlets most people once experienced in common. A) This describes the opposite of fragmentation. B) Multiple source types, not only social media, remain relevant. C) Traditional media remains an active part of a fragmented environment.

Correct: B. Candidate recruitment and campaign management are explicit party functions. A) Filing lawsuits is a litigation tactic, not a defining party function. C) Issuing opinions is a judicial function, not a party function. D) Administering regulations is a bureaucratic function, not a party function.

Correct: A. Realignment is a lasting change in party coalitions; a critical election may be associated with such a shift. B) Prior restraint concerns blocking publication before it happens, unrelated to party coalitions. C) Selective incorporation concerns constitutional rights applying to states, unrelated to party coalitions. D) Cloture is a Senate procedure, unrelated to party coalitions.

Correct: B. The stable three-part committee-agency-interest-group relationship is the classic iron-triangle pattern. A) An issue network is broader and less stable than the durable three-part relationship described here. C) A caucus is a party meeting for selecting candidates or conducting party business, unrelated to this relationship. D) Horse-race coverage concerns campaign reporting, unrelated to this relationship.

Correct: C. Closed primaries restrict participation to registered party members; open primaries permit broader participation under state rules. A) The Electoral College concerns presidential selection, unrelated to primary eligibility rules. B) Neither primary type results in immediate officeholding. D) Consultant use is unrelated to the open/closed distinction.

Correct: D. The framework explicitly identifies professional consultants, rising costs and intensive fundraising, long election cycles, and social-media communication and fundraising. A) Campaigns rely heavily on fundraising, not the absence of it. B) Social media is actively used for fundraising. C) Election cycles have become longer, not shorter than a week.

Correct: C. BCRA restricted soft money in national party activity and included the “Stand by Your Ad” provision. A) Independent expenditures remain lawful and were later expanded by Citizens United. B) The Electoral College was established in the Constitution, not by BCRA. D) BCRA does not require open primaries; primary rules are set separately by states and parties.

Correct: A. Horse-race coverage centers the competitive standings rather than qualifications or policy positions. B) Selective incorporation concerns constitutional rights applying to states, unrelated to campaign coverage. C) Judicial restraint concerns judicial philosophy, unrelated to campaign coverage. D) Bureaucratic discretion concerns agency rulemaking, unrelated to campaign coverage.

Correct: D. The mixed information environment makes source credibility and corroboration more important. A) Outlets are not required to publish identical material. B) Partisan news sites are not prohibited; they are part of the debate this content covers. C) Citizens have more media choices than before, not fewer.