Deck 9: Political Parties

Question 1

Both Senator Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump would normally find themselves too ______ to pose a legitimate threat to their party's status quo.

A)contrasting
B)weak
C)unpredictable
D)extreme

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The Sanders campaign message that seemed to resonate most with voters who supported him was that the playing field is ______.

A)necessarily tilted in order to keep American businesses from failing.
B)unacceptably tilted toward the top 1% of Americans.
C)artificially benefiting the poor to the harm of the rich.
D)in need of redefining in order to assist corporate enterprise.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Unlike Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders refused to accept campaign donations from

A)individual donors.
B)small business owners.
C)Wall Street companies and their employees.
D)political action committees.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Hillary Clinton criticized many of the ideas of Bernie Sanders as ______.

A)unrealistic
B)uninterpretable
C)unpredictable
D)unenforceable

Question 5

Political parties provide which of the following for potential voters?

A)candidate labeling
B)grassroots support
C)political influence
D)financial and physical resources

Question 6

Which of the following was a policy supported by Bernie Sanders?

A)instituting a personal property tax
B)raising income taxes on the middle class
C)taxing banks that failed
D)raising taxes on the wealthy

Question 7

In 2010, President Obama proposed extending ______, which angered Senator Sanders because they would benefit the wealthy more than the working class.

A)tax cuts
B)tax increases
C)excise taxes
D)tax abatements

Question 8

Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders failed to concentrate their campaigns on the so-called ______ and actually gained favor among voters for it.

A)party establishment
B)grassroots movement
C)uninformed voters
D)party outsiders

Question 9

Which two candidates found themselves unexpectedly winning primaries as political outsiders during the 2016 campaign season?

A)Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
B)Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders
C)Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz
D)Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush

Question 10

Political parties are best defined as

A)grassroots movements that find themselves in the heart of a political conflict or policy issue in an efficient and organized way.
B)disorganized factions of candidates and activists that seek to control the democratic process through the election process.
C)hierarchical layers of leaders, politicians, and supporters that seek to influence public policy through lobbying and political donations.
D)organized groups of candidates, officeholders, voters, and activists that work together to elect candidates for political office.

Question 11

Besides the Affordable Care Act, which of the following policies was supported by Bernie Sanders?

A)making educational loans easier to qualify for
B)lowering interest rates on personal credit cards
C)making college education tuition free and debt free
D)raising interest rates on big banks and corporations

Question 12

The reigning political paradox of our era is

A)partisanship is strong but parties are weak.
B)parties are powerful and partisanship is declining.
C)voters exercise power and parties do not.
D)candidates gain votes while parties do not.

Question 13

Which candidate battled Donald Trump and earned second place in the Republican race with a similar message that the entire party establishment was not to be trusted because of its failure to conform to conservative principles?

A)Ted Cruz
B)Marco Rubio
C)Jeb Bush
D)Ben Carson

Question 14

Which movement did Senator Sanders most endorse prior to his running for president?

A)Black Lives Matter
B)Occupy Wall Street
C)Corporate Welfare
D)Bank Bailouts

Question 15

Anti-establishment campaigns that focus on candidates as "outsiders" with criticism of party elites are generally referred to as

A)patriotism.
B)conservatism.
C)populism.
D)centrism.

Question 16

By its nature, representative democracy involves uncertainty in

A)which candidates might choose to run for office and which party they will claim.
B)which candidates might win an election and how citizens decide which candidates to support.
C)which candidates might seek the support of a major party and which candidates might win the nomination.
D)which candidates might be recruited by a major party and which candidates might eventually win the nomination of their party.

Question 17

Traditionally, most of the drama in an American presidential election is between ______ or ______.

A)parties, candidates
B)lobbyists, voters
C)candidates, lobbyists
D)parties, voters

Question 18

Political leaders face the challenge of

A)organizing at a local level in order to create an efficient means by which candidates are selected.
B)influencing voters through informal mechanisms that support the platform of the individual candidates.
C)creating an attractive and consistent message that gets their candidates elected and maintains party cohesion.
D)creating a unifying party platform that all candidates will follow in order to gain control of the political process.

Question 19

Government benefits such as special provisions in the tax code that are provided to businesses in hopes of enabling them to succeed and keep workers on their payroll were referred to as ______ by Senator Sanders.

A)business entitlements
B)capital incentives
C)political necessities
D)corporate welfare

Question 20

In 2016, Trump and Sanders found themselves advancing in the electoral process based upon

A)their likability factor in multiple Gallup polls.
B)voters' profound disgust with politics as usual.
C)their proposed policies and their party platforms.
D)their past political experience as political insiders.

Question 21

Unlike Senator Sanders and most other presidential candidates, Donald Trump had never ______.

A)demonstrated political interest
B)led a large organization
C)been a successful businessman
D)previously held elected office

Question 22

Due to his celebrity and his extensive news coverage, Donald Trump did not have to depend on ______ in his run for president.

A)voter support
B)financial donations
C)party resources
D)public momentum

Question 23

One study in March 2016 estimated that Donald Trump had received ______ in free media coverage.

A)$1 million
B)$500 million
C)$2 billion
D)$5 billion

Question 24

Because of the ability for party groups to legally raise and spend large sums of money, many state party organizations are

A)thriving.
B)growing.
C)struggling.
D)closing.

Question 25

As observed by Donald Trump, one important political trend, made evident early in the 2016 campaign season, was the

A)approval of Republican insiders.
B)attraction of new potential voters.
C)shared fear of terrorism and immigration.
D)degree of Republican party infighting.

Question 26

Donald Trump's tendency to ______ led many conservative Republicans to question whether he would remain faithful to their party.

A)declare bankruptcy
B)speak "off the cuff"
C)switch parties
D)buy and sell property

Question 27

Donald Trump made frequent use of what social media application while campaigning?

A)Facebook
B)Twitter
C)Instagram
D)Tumblr

Question 28

Hillary Clinton said that Senator Sanders wanted the United States to resemble ______, which had taxes of more than 26% of its GDP.

A)the United Kingdom
B)Denmark
C)Germany
D)France

Question 29

Political Scientist V.O.Kelly, Jr.identified what three primary roles for potential parties in American representative democracy?

A)(1)recruitment/nomination, (2)labeling, and (3)policy enactment/opposition to other parties
B)(1)labeling, (2)lobbying, and (3)party unification and policy enactment
C)(1)campaigning, (2)financial and physical support, and (3)policy proposal and legislative agendas
D)(1)candidate vetting, (2)recruitment/nomination, and (3)campaign planning and agenda setting

Question 30

From an organizational perspective, parties tend to be

A)centralized.
B)decentralized.
C)democratized.
D)radicalized.

Question 31

In the early history of the United States, many of the Framers saw political parties as

A)divisive factions.
B)cohesive organizations.
C)necessary evils.
D)unifying agencies.

Question 32

Because of federalism, ______ play a key role in party politics.

A)national committees
B)national leaders
C)local activists
D)state parties

Question 33

Which of the following do Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump share in common?

A)intense fear of new immigration
B)faith in the current path of American policy
C)feelings of economic optimism
D)a refusal to rely on large outside contributions

Question 34

The GOP or "Grand Old Party" refers to

A)the Democratic Party.
B)the Republican Party.
C)the Tea Party.
D)the Green Party.

Question 35

Many Republicans blasted Donald Trump's promises to cut deals in order to benefit the U.S.economy as contradicting their philosophy of

A)conservatism.
B)elitist leadership.
C)constitutionalism.
D)limited government.

Question 36

Long before he ran for president, Donald Trump was an outspoken proponent of ______, which questioned whether President Obama was actually born in the United States and therefore eligible to be elected.

A)birtherism
B)Trumpism
C)statism
D)originism

Question 37

Who traditionally chooses the national chair of his/her party?

A)the Speaker of the House
B)the president
C)the exiting chairperson
D)the presumptive nominee

Question 38

The majority of Trump supporters state that they support him because he has tapped into their

A)deep frustration with politics and political parties.
B)hidden fears and biases.
C)feelings of patriotism and isolationism.
D)concerns for the security of the United States.

Question 39

The proposal for party reform that emphasizes cohesive partisan positions that present voters with a clear set of choices and allows members' voices to be effectively incorporated into party positions and issues is defined as the ______ model.

A)realist candidate
B)responsible party
C)potential voter
D)idealist candidate

Question 40

As organizations, political parties seek to unify people under a shared banner of ______ goals.

A)economic, psychosocial, and theoretical
B)political, philosophical, and heuristic
C)social, economic, and ideological
D)economic, political, and security

Question 41

Because of their complexity, caucuses tend to draw

A)national attention.
B)fewer participants.
C)more participants.
D)party leaders.

Question 42

Which of the following best describes the phases of a candidate's campaign?

A)party support, candidate vetting, recruitment
B)recruitment, candidate vetting, party support
C)party support, decision to run, nomination process
D)decision to run, nomination process, party support

Question 43

At their most basic level, caucuses are organized by

A)national elections.
B)statewide party conventions.
C)countywide voting patterns.
D)voting precincts within cities and towns.

Question 44

State parties are governed by a(n)______ comprised of elected members that govern the operations of the state party.

A)central committee
B)advisory council
C)regulatory commission
D)administrative body

Question 45

A system in which eligible voters may participate in a party's primary election regardless of that voter's partisan affiliation is called a(n)

A)closed primary.
B)caucus.
C)blanket primary.
D)open primary.

Question 46

What type of power does the national party have over the state and local parties beneath it?

A)supervisory
B)administrative
C)regulatory
D)advisory

Question 47

Most of the details about how delegates are selected are worked out by

A)the voters.
B)the parties themselves.
C)the Federal Election Commission.
D)the state legislatures.

Question 48

A win in an early primary/caucus state benefits a candidate by establishing ______.

A)candidate momentum
B)voting patterns
C)delegate selection
D)electoral votes

Question 49

The formal process through which parties choose their candidates for political office is called

A)vetting.
B)recruitment.
C)nomination.
D)orientation.

Question 50

A system in which primary elections are open only to registered voters from a particular political party is called a(n)

A)closed primary.
B)caucus.
C)blanket primary.
D)open primary.

Question 51

Recruitment is best described as the process through which political parties

A)select candidates for the ballot.
B)communicate their policy agendas.
C)identify potential candidates.
D)develop the party platform.

Question 52

The choice of having a primary or caucus is often a factor of how much

A)control a state seeks to exercise over the delegate selection process.
B)influence the national party seeks to exert over the candidate selection process.
C)administration is necessary by the statewide party leadership team.
D)cost the procedure will have to the state and party leadership.

Question 53

Advocates for holding more open primaries argue

A)open primaries allow for greater voter participation and tend to attract new voters to the party nomination process.
B)open primaries make elections more competitive while taking the gatekeeper role away from senior party officials.
C)open primaries are more accurate than closed primaries in measuring the will of the voters and the party leadership.
D)open primaries serve to play a greater role in contributing to the unification of party members around a single candidate.

Question 54

In order to get a party's nomination, a candidate must get the support of

A)lobbyists
B)rich donors
C)party leaders
D)delegates

Question 55

Critics of open primaries argue

A)the importance of registered party members is diluted.
B)independent voters are generally excluded from the process.
C)party members switch primaries on a frequent basis.
D)the system gives too much attention to party insiders.

Question 56

The Republican Party tends to assign its delegates using a

A)superdelegate system.
B)caucus system.
C)winner-take-all system.
D)committee system.

Question 57

A process through which a state's eligible voters gather to discuss candidates and issues and select delegates to represent their preferences in later stages of the nomination process is called a

A)primary.
B)census.
C)caucus.
D)referendum.

Question 58

The majority of states choose their delegates through

A)presidential primary elections.
B)statewide caucus meetings.
C)local party elections.
D)party committee decisions.

Question 59

Parties sometimes try to discourage prospective candidates because they fear that these candidates will ______.

A)draw votes away from the party's preferred choice
B)gain undeserved favor with the voting public
C)stray from the party's official policy platform
D)ignore the direct orders of party leadership

Question 60

Democratic officeholders and other party leaders who cast votes in the formal stages of the nomination process and are not tied to the outcomes of any state results are called

A)delegates.
B)observers.
C)superdelegates.
D)administrators.

Question 61

The pressures that parties face to point out sharp differences between their positions and those of the opposition have led to increasing ______.

A)parity
B)polarization
C)unity
D)partisanship

Question 62

A set of positions and policy objectives that members of a political party go by is known as a party ______.

A)identity
B)ideology
C)platform
D)partisanship

Question 63

The final phase of the nomination process takes place at the ______ convention.

A)precinct
B)county
C)state
D)national

Question 64

The consistent set of stances on major issues shaped by an underlying philosophy about the proper role of government in society and communicated to voters is called a party ______.

A)identity
B)ideology
C)platform
D)partisanship

Question 65

By tradition, which state caucuses have been the first two on the schedule?

A)Texas and Oklahoma
B)Iowa and New Hampshire
C)Illinois and Kansas
D)New York and New Jersey

Question 66

The first party system was between the ______ and the ______.

A)Federalist Party / Democratic Republicans
B)Whigs / Tories
C)Republican Party / Democratic Party
D)Depression-Era Democrats / Business-Oriented Republicans

Question 67

In general, the major parties try to make their case to the public by

A)appealing to the base of their constituency.
B)appealing to undecided voters.
C)offering sharp contrasts to each other.
D)focusing on issues that are common to all Americans.

Question 68

According to political scientist John Aldrich, things get really interesting when

A)party leadership exerts control over the candidates.
B)candidates no longer feel that the party leadership is serving their own goals.
C)candidates seek outside financing and support and forego party resources.
D)party leadership fails to control a renegade candidate and loses party unity.

Question 69

If a candidate fails to win enough delegates to win in the first round of a national convention, it could lead to a

A)brokered convention.
B)adversarial runoff.
C)competitive vote.
D)central committee decision.

Question 70

A critical point in which public support shifts substantially from one party to another is known as

A)polarization.
B)realignment.
C)periodization.
D)partisanship.

Question 71

Since the mid-1800s, control of government has been

A)under the leadership of the Republican Party and the Tea Party.
B)dominated by the Democratic Party and its leaders.
C)in the hands of political independents and political third parties.
D)shifting back and forth between the Democratic and Republican Parties.

Question 72

The inability to compromise and enact legislation driven by sharp polarization is known as

A)gridlock.
B)polarization.
C)partisanship.
D)front-loading.

Question 73

Periods of realignment may be ushered in by ______, which signal a change either in the balance of power between two major parties or the emergence of a new party system.

A)essential events
B)critical elections
C)periods of polarization
D)systems of innovation

Question 74

Periods of stability of the composition of political parties and the issues around which they coalesce, brought on by shorter periods of intense change, are known as

A)periods of polarization.
B)systems of unification.
C)partisan politics.
D)party systems.

Question 75

One important factor within the Democratic Party that has pushed the party to call for a raise in the minimum wage is

A)business interest groups.
B)labor unions.
C)political action committees.
D)the Tea Party.

Question 76

Which of the following best describes the relationship between candidates and their party?

A)Party leaders seek to win elections by depending upon incumbent candidates with a winning record.
B)Candidates need to win and depend more on the support of the voters than the party itself.
C)Party leaders seek to impact the political process by relying on candidates who have the best chance to win an election.
D)Politicians rely on their party to help them get elected but in doing so grant power to party leaders.

Question 77

To take advantage of the benefits of holding an early primary or caucus, many states try to engage in a process known as ______.

A)rear-ending
B)caucus stacking
C)bulldozing
D)front-loading

Question 78

In recent decades, the Democratic Party has been connected with policies of ______, and Republicans have been connected with policies of ______.

A)liberalism / conservatism
B)conservatism / liberalism
C)democracy / republicanism
D)federalism / constitutionalism

Question 79

When a voter chooses a candidate from one party for one office and a candidate from a different party for another office on the ballot, this is known as ______ voting.

A)off-party
B)mixed-ballot
C)counterbalanced
D)split-ticket

Question 80

Which faction of the Republican Party has become increasingly influential in the past few years?

A)labor unions
B)political action committees
C)the Tea Party
D)business interest groups