A researcher follows the principles of logical positivism, and seeks to create specific operational definitions of the concepts they test. The people and objects do not possess meaning independently, but it is rather conferred upon them

Answer the following statement(s) true (T) or false (F)

1.Third-party movements contribute to the policy agendas of the major party coalitions even as the winner-take-all electoral system continues to deny third-party candidates public office. 2.The history of party building is largely a story of the “outs” finding new ways to become the “ins.” 3.The party conventions provided a forum for politicking that convinced diverse party factions to agree to unite behind a single presidential candidate and a coherent party platform. 4.Under the civil service system, appointment and advancement depended on political pull rather than merit. 5.Primary elections deprived parties of a crucial political resource: the ability to control access to elective public office by controlling nominations.

Which of the following is true about public opinion?

a. It is not routinely manipulated by self-serving elites because pluralist competition denies any given opinion leader a monopoly. b. It is routinely manipulated by self-serving elites because opinion leaders have a monopoly. c. It is routinely manipulated by self-serving elites because pluralist competition undermines the rationality of the public in the aggregate. d. It is not routinely manipulated by self-serving elites because pluralist competition means opinion leaders have no effect on public opinion.