What are the primary reasons behind the decline of competitiveness in Russian elections since 2000?
What will be an ideal response?
Public opinion polls have found that Putin's political and economic successes
brought him genuine popularity with many Russians. With Putin so popular, few other
political leaders were willing to risk their own political careers in order to challenge
either him or his hand-picked successor, Dmitri Medvedev. Yet, Putin's popularity is not
the only explanation for the decline of competitiveness in Russian elections. Also
important is the strict control the government exerts over television and the elections
themselves. All national channels cover the president and his government in positive,
often fawning, terms, while opposition parties and leaders are often ignored or
ridiculed. In addition, the Kremlin has shown itself willing to use the public prosecutor's
office and other means to intimidate potential political opponents, while limits on the
ability of other political forces to contest elections have also done much to foster the
current dominance of pro-Kremlin parties.
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Which of the following trends best describes the success of bills becoming laws during a regular legislative session in Texas?
A. Less than 5 percent of all proposed bills are passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor. B. About one-fourth of proposed laws introduced during a regular legislative session win final legislative approval. C. Most bills make it out of a House or Senate committee but are usually killed during third reading. D. Over 50 percent of the bills approved by the legislature are vetoed by the governor.
Voting based on an evaluation of an incumbent's past performance in office is __________, while casting a vote due to a candidate's stances on important questions during a particular election reflects __________
A) retrospective voting; issue voting B) retrospective voting; candidate image voting C) issue voting; candidate image voting D) issue voting; retrospective voting E) candidate image voting; issue voting