Deck 6: Parties and Interest Groups: Elephants, Donkeys, and Cash Cows

Question 1

A ______ election is an election that determines a party's nominees for office.

A) party
B) general
C) primary
D) super

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Organizations that nominate and support candidates for elected offices are called ______.

A) interest groups
B) co-ops
C) NGOs
D) political parties

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Small business owners and corporations tend to support the ______ Party.

A) Independent
B) Democratic
C) Libertarian
D) Republican

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the role of political parties in American life today?

A) more dominant than in the past
B) less dominant than in the past
C) the same as in the past
D) nonexistent

Question 5

When all registered individuals are allowed to vote in a party's primary, it is a(n) ______ primary.

A) open
B) closed
C) blanket
D) general

Question 6

Which of the following was the name by which the Democratic Party was originally known?

A) the Whig Party
B) Federalists
C) Democratic-Republicans
D) the Know-Nothings

Question 7

Which region tends to provide the most consistent support for the modern Republican Party?

A) the Midwest
B) the Northeast
C) the South
D) the Southwest

Question 8

Which state's legislature is nonpartisan?

A) Nevada
B) Ohio
C) Nebraska
D) Iowa

Question 9

In a runoff primary, the top ______ vote getters proceed to the general election, regardless of party.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Question 10

An example of a(n) ______ is the policy position differences between the Tea Party and the traditional Republican party.

A) factional split
B) party message
C) regional faction
D) insider disagreement

Question 11

The two major parties prevent third parties from achieving electoral success by ______.

A) threatening them with violence
B) adopting their ideas
C) banning them from appearing on ballots
D) blocking their access to professional consultants

Question 12

Political machines discouraged ______.

A) patronage
B) corruption
C) high turnover
D) merit hiring

Question 13

At the ______ level, government is often organized on a nonpartisan basis.

A) national
B) state
C) local
D) federal

Question 14

National parties are made up of ______.

A) local clubs
B) active members
C) state parties
D) party chairs

Question 15

Today, much like in the 1800s, modern political parties are very effective at ______.

A) providing social activity
B) getting people out to vote
C) organizing voters around issues
D) raising campaign money

Question 16

The practice of elected officials giving jobs to political supporters is called ______.

A) partisanship
B) patronage
C) merit
D) the political machine

Question 17

The primary role of American political parties is to ______.

A) plan for future elections
B) organize government
C) plan for future elections and organize government
D) disseminate information about policy and candidates

Question 18

On which of the following did the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law place limits?

A) independent expenditures
B) soft money
C) hard money
D) all of these

Question 19

______ is a split among an electorate along party lines.

A) A factional split
B) A regional faction
C) Polarization
D) Partisanship

Question 20

______ is described as when candidates promote themselves rather than relying on party organizations.

A) Personalized politics
B) Candidate-centered politics
C) A factional split
D) Partisanship

Question 21

Why have independent and third parties been unsuccessful in the United States?

A) The United States has a multiparty system.
B) They lack financial support.
C) The U.S. has a multiparty system, and these parties lack financial support.
D) They have no political ideology.

Question 22

Prior to primary elections, parties picked their nominees through ______.

A) party machines
B) party conventions
C) general elections
D) patronage

Question 23

Which of the following is the Supreme Court case that eradicated blanket primaries?

A) Buckley v. Valeo
B) Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
C) Democratic Party v. Jones
D) United States v. Lopez

Question 24

The use of ______ ballots was the result of reforms passed in reaction to political machines.

A) Indiana
B) secret
C) nonpartisan
D) party group

Question 25

Since the 1960s, ______ been the dominant mode of voter persuasion.

A) newspapers have
B) town hall meetings have
C) the Internet has
D) television has

Question 26

Louisiana holds a nonpartisan blanket primary, also called a ______ primary.

A) runoff
B) closed
C) jungle
D) open

Question 27

Cause lobbyists often use ______ to sway public opinion and pressure public officials.

A) coercion
B) school systems
C) media
D) hard money

Question 28

Patronage resulted in jobs given based on support rather than on ______.

A) merit
B) money
C) relationships
D) connections

Question 29

Interest groups do not provide which of the following to political candidates?

A) information
B) popular support
C) election organization
D) financial support

Question 30

Modern political parties are ______ dominant than they previously were

A) more
B) slightly more
C) equally
D) less

Question 31

______ work for an organization that tracks and promotes an issue.

A) Industry lobbyists
B) Cause lobbyists
C) Direct lobbyists
D) Indirect lobbyists

Question 32

In the nineteenth century, ______ controlled party nominations for public office.

A) voters
B) political machines
C) party bosses
D) party leaders

Question 33

Which of the following groups tend to support Republican candidates?

A) African Americans
B) labor unions
C) trial lawyers
D) corporate groups

Question 34

The two major parties squeeze out third-party competition by ______.

A) threatening them with violence
B) co-opting their ideas
C) banning them from appearing on ballots
D) blocking their access to professional consultants

Question 35

______ state parties tend to be the most efficient and effective, compared to other parties.

A) Republican
B) Independent
C) Green
D) Democratic

Question 36

______ voting is when a member of one party votes in another party's primary.

A) Convention
B) General
C) Partisan
D) Crossover

Question 37

The ______ model is the theory that political parties offer clear policy choices to voters, try to deliver on those policies when they take office, and are held accountable by voters for the success or failure of those policies.

A) candidate-centered
B) responsible candidate
C) responsible party
D) candidate-party

Question 38

Super PACs spent more than ______ during the 2012 elections.

A) $10 million
B) $100 million
C) $500 million
D) $1 billion

Question 39

Lobbyists are also known as ______.

A) interest capitalists
B) legislative staffers
C) legislative liaisons
D) interest liaisons

Question 40

Which of the following causes variation in political competition across states?

A) lack of funds
B) increased mobility of the population
C) decreased interest group activity
D) lack of constituent education

Question 41

Discuss the changing relationship between political parties and the electorate.

Question 42

PACs are allowed to coordinate their activities with political candidates.

Question 43

What are some obstacles that third parties face in achieving political success?

Question 44

Political parties tend to play a smaller role at the state level, as compared with the national level.

Question 45

How has the rise of candidate-centered politics changed the role of political parties?

Question 46

Political parties and interest groups are not the same thing.

Question 47

What is the difference between de-alignment and realignment?

Question 48

In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court placed a limit on independent expenditures by political parties.

Question 49

As political campaigns have become less professionalized, the role of interest groups has decreased.

Question 50

While the number of people who are registered as independents has decreased, the number of people who are true independents has increased.

Question 51

Discuss the four types of primaries.

Question 52

Discuss the relationship between political parties and interest groups in terms of the nomination process and interparty competition.

Question 53

Interest groups tend to support new candidates over incumbents for office.

Question 54

Interest groups are organizations that nominate and support candidates for elected
offices.

Question 55

Crossover voting is illegal in all states.

Question 56

Compare and contrast political parties and interest groups.

Question 57

Briefly discuss why one-party dominance has declined in most states.

Question 58

Political parties are responsible for lobbying legislators.

Question 59

What is the responsible party model?