Deck 8: US Parties Who Has a Voice

Question 1

What does it mean when political scientists say that political parties aggregate interests? Explain how this is important for democracy.

Answer 1

Students' answers may vary.

Question 2

Explain what electoral dealignment means.

Answer 2

Students' answers may vary.
Electoral dealignment is marked by the increase of ticket-splitting and an increase in self-identified independents, and the decrease of intensity of attachment to a political party and voter turnout.It indicates the weakening of the party system caused by growing popular indifference to the parties themselves.

Question 3

Explain what a critical (realigning)election is.

Answer 3

Students' answers may vary.
A critical or realigning election is an election that shapes entire electoral eras; it features increased voter turnout and a reshuffling of the social groups that support each party, resulting in the domination of one party in succeeding elections.

Question 4

Explain the key elements of the American party system.Where do third parties fit into this system?

Question 5

What is party identification and how has it changed over time?

Question 6

How many party regimes have there been in American history?

Question 7

How has frontloading affected our presidential selection system?

Question 8

Explain why the United States has a dominant two-party system.

Question 9

How does the Electoral College system discourage third-party candidates?

Question 10

What is the function of a responsible party?

Question 11

How important is the national party convention in current American politics?

Question 12

American political parties do which of the following?

A)Organize citizens to vote in elections
B)Build party support based almost solely on economic class
C)Accept votes only from those registered in the party
D)Refrain from educating voters to avoid accusations of influence

Question 13

Using the 2004 and 2012 red-blue presidential election maps, explain what has happened in our political system.Is the Republican era over?

Question 14

Explain the importance of gerrymandering.

Question 15

What is the difference between single-member (winner-take-all)electoral system and proportional representation?

Question 16

Explain what aggregate interests mean.

Question 17

Describe and explain the pyramid of American party organization.Compare and contrast the Republican and Democratic organizations.

Question 18

What were the differences between the system of 1896 and the New Deal Democratic coalition?

Question 19

What is the importance of the party primary in the party organization?

Question 20

Explain the role of think tanks in American politics.

Question 21

Which of the following is NOT part of the national portion of the pyramid of American party organization?

A)The National Convention
B)The Chairperson
C)The National Committee
D)Congressional District Committees

Question 22

Which of the following did NOT help to produce the Democrats' decline?

A)The issue of race
B)Steady economic growth
C)The war in Vietnam
D)The culture wars

Question 23

The new Republican era began with _____.

A)Hoover
B)Eisenhower
C)Nixon
D)Reagan

Question 24

Party dealignment is caused by

A)an increase in citizen attention and participation.
B)a party deciding to undergo realignment.
C)social and political changes that weaken voters' attachments to parties.
D)strong local parties but weakness at the national party level.

Question 25

After the 1932 election, the newly dominant Democratic party

A)spurred some lasting changes but was limited by the power of its segregationist Southern wing.
B)allowed the radical element of the New Deal coalition unbridled power.
C)caused the Southern Wing of the party to rethink its strategies.
D)helped create the notion of "white man's democracy."

Question 26

National party conventions today

A)are the one place where local party activists exercise real national power.
B)turn delegates into backdrops for televised spectacle.
C)are crucial for determining party platforms.
D)are the one partisan event that the majority of Americans still watch avidly.

Question 27

As a result of the System of 1896, what percentage of working class voters in industrial cities were showing up at the polls?

A)80 percent
B)50 percent
C)30 percent
D)10 percent

Question 28

How do European parties differ from those in the United States?

A)Political parties in Western Europe are more loosely organized.
B)In Western Europe, parties try to appeal to all voters.
C)In the United States, parties are organized with strong national identities.
D)In the United States, parties usually cannot be distinguished by broad ideological differences.

Question 29

Which of the following groups has NOT decreased its support for the Democrats since the New Deal?

A)White southerners
B)Catholics
C)African Americans
D)Middle-income voters

Question 30

The 1896 critical election

A)saw elite democratic principles triumph over popular democratic hopes.
B)encouraged big business interests to accommodate the concerns of small farmers.
C)spurred large numbers of city dwellers to vote Democratic.
D)began to erode the Democrats' "solid South."

Question 31

A single-member-district system allows

A)representatives to choose their running mates.
B)citizens to have more than one representative.
C)representation to occur based on the proportion of votes each candidate receives.
D)only the person with the most votes to represent the district.

Question 32

The effects of critical elections

A)are limited to one election.
B)quickly give way to oscillations in party control.
C)usually last for about a decade.
D)usually endure for several decades.

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a critical election?

A)Increased voter turnout
B)A shift in the coalition behind the parties
C)Less ideological content to parties as both shift toward the center
D)The creation of a new party system with major effects on the policy agenda

Question 34

One reason American political parties are unique is that they

A)were created through a written constitution.
B)have relatively low membership dues.
C)began in a preindustrial age.
D)have changed frequently throughout history.

Question 35

Which U.S.third party once won six percent of the national vote?

A)Libertarian
B)Socialist
C)Green
D)Right-to-life

Question 36

The Electoral College

A)educates the voters about the potential candidates.
B)makes it difficult for third-party candidates to be elected.
C)encourages the candidates to take strong stands and force debates.
D)ensures that only candidates with majority totals receive electoral college votes.

Question 37

Strong political parties provide

A)voters with clear choices between ideological platforms.
B)greater independence for political candidates.
C)greater coherence for the factions within each party.
D)Republicans and Democrats with a similar party philosophy.

Question 38

Open primaries differ from closed primaries in that

A)open primaries are not secretive about how they select presidential delegates.
B)open primaries exclude party officials from entering the political arena.
C)open primaries allow all registered voters to participate in any party's nomination contests.
D)closed primaries encourage elite democracy as top officials barter for votes.

Question 39

According to this chapter, which one of the following would have almost surely voted Republican in 1920?

A)A plantation owner from South Carolina
B)An Irish policeman in New York City
C)An Italian dockworker in Boston
D)An African American businessman in Atlanta

Question 40

What do the party graphics in this chapter teach us?

A)The once mammoth lead of New Deal Democrats' has evaporated.
B)The South is a reliable part of the Republican coalition.
C)The more religious you are, the more you vote Republican.
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 41

How big was Obama's gender gap over McCain in the 2008 election?

A)5  percent
B)10 percent
C)13 percent
D)16 percent