Deck 5: Interest Aggregation and Political Parties

Question 1

When one compares the policies advocated by party activists with the policies preferred by the voters,one finds that

A)party activists are more toward the center politically.
B)voters generally agree with party activists.
C)voters are more organized than party activists.
D)party activists advocate more radical policies than average voters.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Externally created political parties differ from internally created political parties because

A)externally created parties are exclusive,while internally created parties are inclusive.
B)internally created parties are exclusive,while externally created parties are inclusive.
C)externally created parties and internally created parties are both exclusive.
D)externally created parties were founded by citizens outside of government,while internally created parties were founded by officeholders.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Political parties are important interest aggregators in

A)democratic systems.
B)nondemocratic systems.
C)both democratic and nondemocratic systems.
D)both Western Europe and the United States.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to Duverger's Law,a country with single-member plurality districts tends to have a two-party system because

A)third parties tend to be banned by statute.
B)having more than two parties is too confusing for voters.
C)voters prefer to think in pairs like ins/outs or incumbents/challengers.
D)third and fourth parties tend to receive no representation for the votes they receive.

Question 5

In systems where national interests are not aggregated at the level of elections,it is common that the aggregation of interests occurs at the

A)individual level.
B)party level.
C)presidential level.
D)governmental level.

Question 6

Conflictual party systems can lead to all of the following EXCEPT

A)uncontested policy.
B)system failure.
C)policy gridlock.
D)power struggles.

Question 7

When parties commanding most of the legislative seats are not too far apart on politics,and have a reasonable amount of trust in each other and in the political system,this is called a (n)

A)consensual party system.
B)conflictual party system.
C)accommodative party system.
D)collaborative party system.

Question 8

In 1989,which part of the world saw a rise in democracies with the collapse of the Soviet Union?

A)Southeast Asia
B)North America
C)Africa
D)Eastern Europe

Question 9

Authoritarian political systems

A)do not have political parties.
B)have only one political party.
C)eliminate all forms of political participation.
D)have a variety of political party arrangements.

Question 10

All of the following are true concerning proportional representation EXCEPT

A)it is often referred to as the plurality system.
B)it offers lists of candidates rather than a single candidate.
C)it is widely used in Europe.
D)the number of legislative representatives a party wins depends on the overall proportion of the vote it receives.

Question 11

Political parties are

A)institutional groups that look to advance their interests.
B)associational groups that rely upon personal networks for results.
C)anomic groups that gather regularly to discuss strategies.
D)groups or organizations that seek to place candidates in office under their label.

Question 12

How interests are aggregated is an important determinant of what _____________ does for and to its people.

A)a political party
B)a country's government
C)the army
D)the President

Question 13

The patron-client relationship is found in

A)virtually all societies.
B)traditional societies.
C)corrupt societies.
D)very few societies.

Question 14

Military forces as interest aggregators and leaders of governments are unique in that they

A)are superbly organized and efficient.
B)are well-suited to governing civilian populations.
C)maintain a monopoly on coercive force.
D)tend to have high levels of legitimacy.

Question 15

In terms of "left-right" orientations,the bulk of the voters in the United States are

A)left and tend to be Democratic.
B)far-left.
C)center-right.
D)center-left.

Question 16

If a political party in the United States wishes to win a majority,it needs to

A)embrace radical extremism.
B)compete complementarily.
C)present centrist policies.
D)discourage wide ranges of left and right interest aggregation.

Question 17

Exclusive governing party systems

A)allow for dissent.
B)control all policymaking.
C)are always conflictual.
D)are found in democratic states.

Question 18

If a party system has mixed characteristics of both consensual and conflictual,based on religion,ethnicity,or social class divisions,it may be classified as

A)consensually dominated.
B)conflictually dominated.
C)accommodative.
D)collaborative.

Question 19

In multiparty competitive systems,elections generally yield

A)a single-party majority.
B)confusing and counterproductive policies.
C)coalition governments.
D)military control.

Question 20

In authoritarian systems with inclusive governing parties,

A)the autonomy of some groups and organizations is recognized.
B)the autonomy of groups and organizations is never recognized.
C)the autonomy of groups and organizations is illegal.
D)groups are simply unimportant.

Question 21

Electoral systems often determine the number of viable parties within a party system.

Question 22

In ethnically divided countries,consociational party systems bridge social divisions through power-sharing and broad coalition governments.

Question 23

Unlike competitive party systems,authoritarian party systems seek to direct society.

Question 24

How interests are aggregated is an important determinant of what a government does for and to its citizens.

Question 25

Pure multiparty systems have election laws and party systems that ensure at least one party wins a legislative majority.

Question 26

Democratically elected politicians who seem unable to cope with economic and social problems often lose their legitimacy.

Question 27

The interests of political party activists tend to be more radical than those of the average voters.

Question 28

Political parties are the most important interest aggregators in democratic systems.

Question 29

For the party system in the United States,Downs's theory argues that that parties will maintain a wide ideological distance.

Question 30

Duverger's Law applies to multiparty systems.