Richard III
Duke of Gloucester
Since I've been getting whacked by all the obscure history quizes, I thought I would throw in the first political history quiz into the mix.
Some are too easy, and some too american; I may remedy this later.
1. When South Africans went to vote in the first multi-race election in their country in 1994, an unusual voter's aid was on each ballot. What?
2. Americas political system has created many colourful legislative tactics, and equally colourful names to describe them. Pork-barreling is the best-known tactic to emerge from the period after the civil war. Log-rolling is another. What does log-rolling refer to?
3. The most famous negative political ad in recent history referred to a convict named William J. Horton as Willie Horton and implied that Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Presidential Candidate Michael Dukakis was soft on crime because he offered prisoners too many furloughs. What is the full name of the political organization behind the ad?
4. Who was the first presidential candidate to raise the issue of the Massachusetts furlough program in the 1988 election?
5. Which country was the first to grant that most elusive of Civ wonders of the world, womens suffrage?
6. Defined in terms of winning national multiparty elections, what was the most successful political party in the 20th century?
7. Smear campaigns are nothing new: Abraham Lincoln soft-pedaled his opposition to this controversial American political organization, and was attacked as a secret supporter of it as a result. What is the common name for the organization?
8. In the American primary system for the selection of presidential candidates, the day on which the largest number of simultaneous primaries is held has been known for decades as ___________
9. What is the origin of the political terms left-wing and right-wing?
10. Pay for politicians is a controversial issue in any democratic jurisdiction. How does the EU parliament set pay for its own members?
11. In the 1990s, American lobbyists began to influence legislators with technically sophisticated campaigns, using databases to target huge blocs of voters and convince them to mail-in prewritten letters to their Congressmen in very short periods of time. These campaigns quickly became known by what mocking name?
12. Argentinas Peronistas are political followers of the late Juan Peron, a former army colonel who was twice president of his great country. Describe in one sentence the most distinctive and unusual feature of Perons political coalition.
13. Getting out the vote was made easy in Australia, thanks to a 1920s-era law that made voting compulsory. What is the typical penalty under that law for failing to vote?
14. In the UK, important cabinet documents have traditionally been moved, stored, transported or delivered how?
15. The process of shuttling a candidate from town to town is known in political circles as the Tour. In his controversial campaign for the U.S. Senate in Texas, Lyndon Baines Johnson was the first known candidate to use this vehicle in his tour.
16. The star of a key Liberal TV attack ad in the 1988 Canadian federal election was an eraser on the end of a pencil. What was the eraser doing?
17. New Zealand politics briefly got the interest of policy wonks worldwide in the 1980s after a finance minister named Roger Douglas enacted a radical privatization program. What was the name of his political party?
18. In May, 1932, Adolf Hitler was enraged to learn that President Hindenburg chose Franz von Papen to be Chancellor of Germany. Why?
19. The 12th amendment to the US constitution is a painstakingly detailed set of intructions to the electoral college, describing exacting new procedures for the college members to use in choosing the president and vice-president. Briefly describe the event that led to the amendment.
20. Former General Alexander Lebed was the leader of what political party in the Duma when he surprised Boris Yeltsin with his third place showing in the first round of the 1996 Russian presidential election?
R.III
Some are too easy, and some too american; I may remedy this later.
1. When South Africans went to vote in the first multi-race election in their country in 1994, an unusual voter's aid was on each ballot. What?
2. Americas political system has created many colourful legislative tactics, and equally colourful names to describe them. Pork-barreling is the best-known tactic to emerge from the period after the civil war. Log-rolling is another. What does log-rolling refer to?
3. The most famous negative political ad in recent history referred to a convict named William J. Horton as Willie Horton and implied that Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Presidential Candidate Michael Dukakis was soft on crime because he offered prisoners too many furloughs. What is the full name of the political organization behind the ad?
4. Who was the first presidential candidate to raise the issue of the Massachusetts furlough program in the 1988 election?
5. Which country was the first to grant that most elusive of Civ wonders of the world, womens suffrage?
6. Defined in terms of winning national multiparty elections, what was the most successful political party in the 20th century?
7. Smear campaigns are nothing new: Abraham Lincoln soft-pedaled his opposition to this controversial American political organization, and was attacked as a secret supporter of it as a result. What is the common name for the organization?
8. In the American primary system for the selection of presidential candidates, the day on which the largest number of simultaneous primaries is held has been known for decades as ___________
9. What is the origin of the political terms left-wing and right-wing?
10. Pay for politicians is a controversial issue in any democratic jurisdiction. How does the EU parliament set pay for its own members?
11. In the 1990s, American lobbyists began to influence legislators with technically sophisticated campaigns, using databases to target huge blocs of voters and convince them to mail-in prewritten letters to their Congressmen in very short periods of time. These campaigns quickly became known by what mocking name?
12. Argentinas Peronistas are political followers of the late Juan Peron, a former army colonel who was twice president of his great country. Describe in one sentence the most distinctive and unusual feature of Perons political coalition.
13. Getting out the vote was made easy in Australia, thanks to a 1920s-era law that made voting compulsory. What is the typical penalty under that law for failing to vote?
14. In the UK, important cabinet documents have traditionally been moved, stored, transported or delivered how?
15. The process of shuttling a candidate from town to town is known in political circles as the Tour. In his controversial campaign for the U.S. Senate in Texas, Lyndon Baines Johnson was the first known candidate to use this vehicle in his tour.
16. The star of a key Liberal TV attack ad in the 1988 Canadian federal election was an eraser on the end of a pencil. What was the eraser doing?
17. New Zealand politics briefly got the interest of policy wonks worldwide in the 1980s after a finance minister named Roger Douglas enacted a radical privatization program. What was the name of his political party?
18. In May, 1932, Adolf Hitler was enraged to learn that President Hindenburg chose Franz von Papen to be Chancellor of Germany. Why?
19. The 12th amendment to the US constitution is a painstakingly detailed set of intructions to the electoral college, describing exacting new procedures for the college members to use in choosing the president and vice-president. Briefly describe the event that led to the amendment.
20. Former General Alexander Lebed was the leader of what political party in the Duma when he surprised Boris Yeltsin with his third place showing in the first round of the 1996 Russian presidential election?
R.III