POLI 325                                                                                                                             Fall 2004

GUIDE TO IN-CLASS MIDTERM EXAM

            The in-class midterm will be held on Friday, October 29 (two class days later than indicated on the syllabus). It will cover Sections I and II of the course (through Topic #14 [or however far we get by the end of class on Wednesday, October 27]). There will also be a take-home midterm question; contrary to what is indicated on the syllabus, this will be distributed a week or do later and will cover additional topics.

            In the in-class midterm, you will be presented with the following instructions:

In a brief paragraph for each item, identify and discuss the significance of ten of the following fourteen items. (5 minutes each item for a total of 50 minutes)

            The fifteen items will be drawn from the following list. All items listed below were (I believe) mentioned (with some emphasis) in class, but references to course readings will contribute to strong answers. The items below are not of equal generality or importance, and the more general or important ones are more likely to appear as items on the test. But many items below that do not appear as questions on the test may nevertheless be appropriately used in (good) answers.

            forecasting Presidential election outcomes

                        pre-election polls and surveys

                        (Presidential) election forecasting models

                        Allan Lichtman’s “thirteen keys” to the White House

                        incumbency advantage

                        “time for a change” factor in Presidential elections

            characteristics of free elections

            benefits of free elections

            concept of a political party

                        office-seeking/policy-seeking/ideology-expressing political parties

                        political parties vs. interest groups

E.E. Schattschneider’s theory of political party formation

                        (legislative) caucus

                        nominating function

            “Westminster model” of party govenment

the effective number of political parties

            two-party system (U.S.) vs. multi-party system (Israeli)

            British/Canadian/German party systems

            Simple Majority Rule

                        straight fight

                        majority winner

                        Condorcet winner

                        majority cycle

                        median voter

            Simple Plurality Voting

                        plurality winner

                        spoiler effects

                        “clone” candidates

             runoff elections (instant and non-instant)

            Approval Voting

            district magnitude (SMDs vs. MMDs)

                        at-large elections

            Single Non-transferable Vote (SNTV)

            Generalized Plurality Voting

                        “general ticket system” (winner-take-all electoral votes)

            Cumulative Voting

            Single Transferable Vote (STV)

                        quotas for election

party-list proportional representation

                        apportionment formulas

                        threshold requirements

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            mixed electoral systems

            votes and seats in SMD-plurality systems

                        mechanical effects of electoral systems

                        “manufactured majority”

            strategic/psychological effects of electoral systems

                        strategic (or tactical) voting

                        strategic entry/exit of candidates/parties

Duverger’s Law

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            “direct democracy”: initiative and referendum (Schier and CD chapters)

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            Hotelling-Downs theory of two-party convergence