Question 1

By changing the location of the nomination process to the states instead of Congress, parties _______ the number of people involved in making the decision about who could run for president.

Accepted Answer

By moving the nomination process to the states, parties enlarged the number of people involved, as it allowed more voters to participate in primaries and caucuses, rather than having the decision made by a smaller group in Congress.

Question 2

__________ is a vote in which the winner needs to win 50 percent plus 1 of the votes casted in an election.

Accepted Answer

A majority vote requires a candidate to receive more than half of the votes, specifically 50 percent plus one, to win.

Question 3

__________ is a voting system in which state governments run elections and provide voters the option of choosing candidates from multiple parties; also known as being called the secret ballot.

Accepted Answer

The Australian ballot is a voting system where the government provides voters with a ballot listing all candidates from multiple parties, and it is marked in secret.

Question 4

The nature of single-member plurality system in the United States encourages a _________.

Accepted Answer

The single-member plurality system, also known as "first-past-the-post," tends to favor a two-party system because it awards seats to the candidate with the most votes in each district, often marginalizing smaller parties.

Question 5

Initially, the idea of _______ was not intended in the makeup of the U.S. political system.

Accepted Answer

The U.S. political system was originally designed without the intention of having political parties, as the founders were concerned about factions and divisiveness.

Question 6

Who was the African American delegate for the Democratic Party that increased the participation of minorities?

Accepted Answer

Jesse Jackson was a prominent African American leader and delegate for the Democratic Party who worked to increase the participation of minorities in the political process, particularly through his presidential campaigns in the 1980s.

Question 7

An electoral system, known as __________, means that whoever wins the most votes in an election actually wins the election.

Accepted Answer

The "winner-take-all" system means that the candidate who receives the most votes wins the election, regardless of whether they achieve a majority.

Question 8

Parties used the patronage system as a way to _____________.

Accepted Answer

The patronage system was used to reward loyal party members with government jobs and favors, thereby building and maintaining party loyalty.

Question 9

__________ believed that a stable federal government that could collect tax revenue, fund and regulate a national army, regulate foreign and domestic trade, and stabilize currency would make the American democratic experiment a success.

Accepted Answer

Federalists believed in a strong central government that could effectively manage the country's finances, defense, and trade, which they thought was essential for the success of the American democratic experiment.

Question 10

Minor political parties that present a third alternative to the two dominant political parties in the American political system are known as ______.

Accepted Answer

Minor political parties that offer an alternative to the two dominant parties in the U.S. are commonly referred to as "third parties."

Question 11

In 1883, the __________ reformed the civil service by requiring that government jobs be filled based on merit, not political connections.

Accepted Answer

The Pendleton Act was passed in 1883 and reformed the civil service by requiring that government jobs be filled based on merit, not political connections. The act also established a bipartisan Civil Service Commission to oversee the hiring and promotion of federal employees.

Question 12

How many major political parties are there in the United States today?

Accepted Answer

The United States has two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

Question 13

In a proportional representation system, a candidate receives delegates based on the _______ of the votes received in a primary or a caucus.

Accepted Answer

In a proportional representation system, delegates are allocated to candidates based on the percentage of votes they receive.

Question 14

The erosion of party organizations' control over government jobs and elections can be attributed to a change in the way nominees were selected, ballot reform, and _____________.

Accepted Answer

The introduction of a merit-based system for government employment reduced the power of party organizations by limiting their ability to distribute government jobs as rewards for political support.

Question 15

The median voter theorem suggests that, all things being equal, if voters select candidates based upon ideology, the _________.

Accepted Answer

The median voter theorem posits that in a majority-rule voting system, the candidate or party that positions itself closest to the median voter's preferences will win, as they capture the most centrist position appealing to the majority.

Question 16

After winning the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson used his victory to transform his fledgling political party into a viable, long-term organization to become known as the __________, whereas the supporters of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton united around the Federalist Party.

Accepted Answer

After winning the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson transformed his political party into a viable, long-term organization that became known as the Democratic-Republican Party. This party eventually split into the Democrats and Republicans, with the Democrats tracing their roots back to Jefferson and the Republicans to the party that formed to oppose Andrew Jackson's presidency. The term "Republican Party" was later used by a different political party that formed in the 1850s. The Antifederalist Party was formed in the late 1700s to oppose the ratification of the Constitution and ceased to exist once the Constitution was ratified. The Green Party was founded in the late 20th century and is unrelated to the political parties of the early United States. The Democratic Party was not formed until the 1820s and was a successor to the Democratic-Republican Party.

Question 17

An electoral system that assigns one seat in a legislative body to represent citizens who live in a district is known as a(n)

Accepted Answer

In a single-member plurality system, also known as first-past-the-post, one representative is elected from each district, and the candidate with the most votes wins.

Question 18

_______ has (have) existed in the American political system since the early nineteenth century.

Accepted Answer

Third parties have existed in the American political system since the early nineteenth century.

Question 19

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist 10 and 51, predicted the rise of __________, groups of individuals who share a common political goal and ally with each other on a temporary basis to accomplish that goal.

Accepted Answer

Madison and Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers, specifically discussed the concept of "factions," which are groups of individuals with shared interests that may work together to achieve their political objectives.

Question 20

From 1832 to 1856, these two parties, the __________, dominated American politics and presidential elections.

Accepted Answer

The Democrats and Whigs were the two major political parties in the United States from 1832 to 1856, dominating the political landscape and presidential elections during that period.

Quiz 9: Political Parties