While the Commission introduced many sweeping reforms to the political party convention system, the leaders of each of the two main parties were allowed to remain in power, so long as they agreed to cooperate with the Commission’s new restrictions. These reforms forced party leaders to make their appointments of convention delegates a matter of public record, with the entire process done with greater transparency. Party conventions underwent a similar overhaul, with new rules preventing the exclusion of minorities from the leadership and delegate levels. The states were also affected – each state was required to alter its delegate selection process so that all participants were able to be included.

In 2002, soft money (money set aside for campaigns at the grass-roots level by party members) was ruled as an illegal source of campaign contributions by the McCain-Feingold Act. Soft money is seen as unacceptable because these funds are generically collected by political parties, with no clear designated spending purpose, and so were often used as unregulated “donations” to candidates. 527 groups were declared legal by the Federal Election Commission in 2004, while 501(c) groups were established in 2010. Political action committees (aka PACs) have been legally allowed since 1974 and have experienced vast increases in popularity and usage since 2008.

While the FEC Act was intended to reduce corrupting influences within the campaign finance system, candidates are still permitted to accept funds from any large companies or unions, so long as these donations remain at or below the prescribed contribution threshold (which adjusted along with inflation). Similarly, candidates are also permitted to accept funds from private individuals, so long as these funds, too, fit within the threshold, and all donations must be reported back to the Federal Election Commission. In addition, the Act established a mechanism to provide partial funding and matching contributions to qualified candidates.

If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral College votes, then the election decision is placed in the hands of the members of the House of Representatives. The House members are charged with choosing the next president from among the top three electoral vote winners, with each state delegation possessing one combined vote amongst all their respective members. This is a very rare occurrence– the last election to be decided by the House was in 1824, between Democratic-Republicans John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

The answer is “false.” Out of everyone in the entire US at the time immediately after the Revolution, only the males could vote. Out of the males, only free white males could vote. Out of free white males, only those who weren’t Catholic or Jewish, and who had property could vote. Thus, in the beginning, only about half of the free adult male population was eligible to vote.

Coordinated expenditures is the correct answer. Coordinated expenditures, much like the name might suggest, are expenditures on behalf of—in coordination with—a candidate and her campaign. A campaign ad, for example, is a coordinated expenditure—it’s generally a ‘true’ campaign ad if it ends with “I’m XXXXX and I approve this message” or any other sort of indication that the ad was specifically approved by the candidate.

Independent expenditures is the correct answer. Similar in name, but different in substance, to coordinated expenditures, independent expenditures are expenditures that are completely separated from a campaign. Thus, a smear ad from a PAC, for example, is not a coordinated expenditure: it’s an independent expenditure. Do you see why?

The lame duck period does not mean that the government stops functioning until the newly elected officials are sworn into office. For the Congress, this means that the defeated or retiring Congressmen and Senators still have the opportunity to propose and vote on laws. The newly elected officials must be sworn into office before they can take any legislative action. The President may issue Executive Orders but they are not subject to the approval of state legislatures. The Supreme Court does not make laws rather they rule on the Constitutionality of the law.

During the 1960s and student activism in response to the Vietnam War, a movement arose that wanted the voting age lowered to 18 from 21. By 1971, both houses of congress ratified the 26th Amendment and it was subsequently ratified by the states.

In the 1992 Presidential elections, Bill Clinton defeated incumbent Republican President George Bush. The election is considered a partial realignment election because the West coast and upper Midwest both became reliable Democratic states in elections from this point forward. The primary consequence to Congress membership was the increase of representatives who were either minorities or women.