Chapter 7 Quiz

1. Explain the difference between hard and soft money:
Softmoney is money donated to the candidate or party. Hard money is money raised by congress and the whitehouse.

2. What is the electoral process and is this something that you agree or disagree with and why?


3. What is the difference between a closed and open primary?
In an open primary anyone can vote but in a closed primary only the voters registered in that party can vote.

4. Explain what absentee voting is and what the positives and negative may be with regards to it:
Absentee voting is when a voter can vote without going to the polling place on election day. A positive is that people who aren't going to be around on election day can still have a say. A negative would be that people may not get all the facts/opionions becuase they wouldn't be able to hear all the campaigning.

5. What changes to your see in the way we run elections ten years from now?
In ten years we will probably be using electronic voting.

6. Explain your views on money and elections with regards the amount of money that is spent:
I disagree with how much money is spent on elections. It is rediculous how much is spent when that money could be going to something the nation actually needs the money for.

7. Go to cnn.com or foxnews.com and find an article dealing with the election process.  Post the article in your blog and provide your viewpoints pertaining to the article.

Election Results

Rebublicans have taken over. In all of the major elections in South Dakota, all rebublicans took the spots. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this because I am Democrat but I think maybe this could be good for South Dakota. Change is sappose to be good isn't it? The House of Representatives also changed for majority Democrat to Republican. It is deffenitly going to be interesting to see how well the House will work with a Democratic excutive branch.

Locally the race was pretty close for the House seat. Herseth-Sandlin had the majority of the votes for the east side of the state but then when the west sides votes came in, Noem had it. I was suprised to see how many votes Marking, the independent candidate, had. My feelings for why he had so many is becasue some people didn't want either Herseth-Sandlin or Noem because they campaigned so negativly against eachother.

Federalism Wrap -up

Section 1:
Powers of a National Government- The national government has powers called express powers, which are powers that are spelled out in the Constitution. Examples would be to collect taxes, to coin money, to regulate foreign trade, to raise and maintain armed forces, and to declare war. They also have powers which may not be spelled out in the Constitution. These are called implied powers such has to make all laws that are neccesary.
Powers Denided to the National Government-The constitution denies some powers to the national government. These include the power to levy duties on exports; prohibit freedom of religon,speech, press or assembly; conduct illegal search and seziure or to deny any person accused of a crime a speedy and public trial.  They also can't create a public school system for the nation, to enact uniform marriage or divorce laws nor can they set up local governments.

Section 2:

Federalism Assignment

1.  What does Federalism mean by definition and what does Federalism mean to you?

Federalism is a system in which the power to govern is shared between national and state governments.
Basically meaning that there are national laws, but states can also make their own laws.

2.  List and describe the three powers of the National Government.

Executive Branch- Carries out laws
Judicial Branch- Interperts laws
Legislative Branch- Makes the laws

3.  Explain the division of powers and why it is important?

They are divided in order to make sure no one branch has to much power.

4.  What is the Supremacy Clause and what is its function?

Asserts and establishes the Constitution, the federal laws made in pursuance of the Constitution, and treaties made by the United States with foreign nations as "the Supreme Law of the Land",  mandating that all state judges shall uphold them, even if there are state laws or state constitutions that conflict with the powers of the Federal government.

5.  Find a site on the Internet that deals with Federalism.  Take 10 minutes and review that site.  Provide the link and provide some of the useful information that you found to help you better understand what Federalism is and how it works.

Political Ads

What are your views on the latest political ads on TV?  What candidate(s) do you like or dislike and why?

I don't like how the candidates don't really talk about what their going to do, they talk about what the others have done wrong. Why can't they run their own race, and not bash everyone else in order to try an gain votes? I don't follow politics very close so I don't have a favorite.

What role do you feel that you will play in politics and government in the future?  What ways are you participating currently?

In the future I will be voting and they say every vote counts so I'll be contributing to our leaders in the future. I can't really say I'm contributing much now unfortunetly.