Deck 4: Political Parties and Elections

Question 1

An electoral system where legislative seats are allotted to parties based on the percentages of the vote they receive in multimember districts is called

A) single-member district plurality system.
B) the Electoral College.
C) winner-take-all system.
D) proportional representation.
E) first past the post system.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

According to the text, political parties fulfill all of the following functions except

A) express popular will.
B) organize to win elections.
C) mobilize voters and increase voter turnout.
D) nominate candidates.
E) increase turnout among those who normally do not vote.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

In the aftermath of the critical election of 1896

A) turnout increased.
B) party competition increased.
C) business groups and middle-class reformers made successful efforts to weaken parties.
D) legal barriers to voting declined.
E) the Democratic Party became the dominant party in U.S. politics.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The founders of the American constitutional order who gathered at the Constitutional Convention attempted to create a political system that maximized

A) liberty.
B) equality.
C) fraternity.
D) solidarity.
E) democracy.

Question 5

Most elections in the U.S. are governed by

A) winner-take-all rules in single-member districts.
B) winner-take-all in multimember districts.
C) proportional representation.
D) proportional representation with run-off elections.
E) a combination of winner-take-all and proportional representation.

Question 6

According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

A) Most democracies throughout the world use the single-member district plurality system to elect the legislature.
B) Proportional representation tends to produce a two-party system.
C) Proportional representation tends to promote multiparty systems.
D) In a proportional representation system, a vote for a third party is a wasted vote.
E) The president of the United States is elected using proportional representation at the Electoral College.

Question 7

Where in the Constitution does the term political party appear?

A) only in the article dealing with Congress
B) only in the article dealing with the presidency
C) in the articles dealing with the Congress and with the presidency, but nowhere else
D) only in the article dealing with the judiciary
E) nowhere

Question 8

According to the text, all of the following are reasons why the United States has had a two-, rather than a multi-party system, except

A) the widespread use of the plurality system of voting.
B) the winner-take-all procedure used to elect the president.
C) the widespread use of proportional representation.
D) media bias against third parties.
E) Republican and Democratic actions that marginalize other parties.

Question 9

A form of government in which the people participate by electing representatives who direct the government and are accountable to the people is called a

A) tyranny.
B) plutocracy.
C) republic.
D) democracy.
E) aristocracy.

Question 10

The New Deal coalition

A) included segregationist white Southerners, African Americans, and northern liberals.
B) received virtually no support from segregationist white Southerners.
C) was the coalition that allowed the Republican Party to dominate national politics.
D) received virtually no support from African Americans.
E) was supported by the vast majority of U.S. corporate executives, bankers, and financiers.

Question 11

In discussing contemporary political parties, the text makes all of the following points except

A) increased levels of party activity are not the same thing as party strength.
B) the rise of candidate-centered campaigning is a myth.
C) party organizations are largely political consulting firms at the service of candidates.
D) primaries have undermined party control of nominations.
E) U.S. parties have not always been as weak as they are now, but they have always been decentralized and fragmented.

Question 12

Barry Goldwater

A) was the Democratic candidate for president in 1964.
B) was one of the first southern Democrats to defect from that party because of its support for civil rights.
C) was the east-coast Republican who supported Roosevelt's New Deal policies.
D) was Ronald Reagan's running mate in 1980.
E) was the Republican whose 1964 presidential nomination signaled major changes in the Republican Party.

Question 13

According to the text, political parties are

A) the main cause of political gridlock in the United States.
B) inherently corrupt.
C) the heart of any democracy.
D) the main reason why there is conflict between the Senate and House of Representatives.
E) incompatible with Joseph Schumpeter's influential definition of democracy.

Question 14

The New Deal coalition dominated U.S. national politics

A) from 1932 until roughly 1968.
B) only in the 1930s.
C) only during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
D) from the 1930s until the election of George W. Bush in 2000.
E) from the 1920s through the 1950s.

Question 15

According to the text

A) the authors of the Constitution had a very favorable view of political parties.
B) parties did not play any role in U.S. politics until ten years after the Civil War.
C) parties are the main reason why voter turnout in the United States has always been so low.
D) it was not until the 1930s that parties developed solid organizational bases and mass followings.
E) parties have proved to be a democratizing force in U.S. politics.

Question 16

All of the following help explain the ascendancy of the Reagan coalition except

A) white males became more Republican in their voting patterns.
B) the Christian Right mobilized through the Republican Party.
C) the vast majority of Latinos threw their support to Republican candidates.
D) there was significant population growth in suburbs sympathetic to Republican ideas.
E) there was significant population growth in Sun Belt areas sympathetic to Republican ideas.

Question 17

The New Deal coalition was weakened by all of the following except

A) the defection of white Southerners.
B) divisions among its supporters over the Vietnam War and various social issues.
C) the decline of labor unions.
D) the defection of African Americans.
E) the inability of conservative Keynesianism to keep on delivering economic growth.

Question 18

According to the text, critical (also called realigning) elections have all of the following characteristics except

A) they are relatively rare.
B) ideological conflict is generally higher than in other elections.
C) party coalitions generally shift, as some groups shift their loyalty from one party to the other.
D) turnout is generally lower than in other elections.
E) the winning party shapes the ideological agenda for years to come.

Question 19

According to the text

A) no third party in U.S. history has ever become one of the two major parties.
B) no third party in U.S. history has ever affected the outcome of any election at the national, state, or local level.
C) federalism makes it harder for third parties to do better in local elections than in national ones.
D) in a two-party system, ideological differences between the parties are typically greater than they are in a multi-party system.
E) a two-party system typically limits the choices available to voters.

Question 20

If you need a plurality to win an election, that means you need ______________ to win.

A) a majority of the votes
B) a system of proportional representation
C) more votes than any other candidate
D) the support of a majority of the party leaders in your district
E) to be an incumbent

Question 21

In a five-year investigation of voter fraud during the presidency of George W. Bush, the Justice Department found ______________ cases of voter impersonation (a type of voter fraud).

A) 0
B) between 100-500
C) between 500-1,000
D) between 1,000-5,000
E) more than 5,000

Question 22

In 2004, what percent of House and Senate elections were won by the better-financed candidate?

A) more than 90 percent
B) between 80 and 90 percent
C) between 70 and 80 percent
D) between 60 and 70 percent
E) between 50 and 60 percent

Question 23

Compared with other Western nations, in the United States the gap between the voting turnout of lower-class citizens and upper-class citizens is

A) greater.
B) about the same.
C) slightly smaller.
D) much smaller.
E) so difficult to measure that, according to the text, such comparisons are pointless.

Question 24

According to the text, the coalition of voters who supported President Obama for re-election in 2012 was made up of which of the following groups?

A) white men, older voters, and the affluent
B) Latinos, older voters, and women
C) African Americans, older voters, and the affluent
D) low- and moderate-income voters, older voters, and Latinos
E) low- and moderate-income voters, women, and the young (under age 30)

Question 25

In the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that most existing laws and regulations setting limits on campaign donations, and prohibiting corporations and labor unions from endorsing and spending funds to promote political candidates, violated the ______________ of the Constitution.

A) commerce clause
B) necessary and proper clause
C) First Amendment (freedom of assembly)
D) First Amendment (freedom of speech)
E) Fifth Amendment (due process clause)

Question 26

Following the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010) Supreme Court decision, how much money was spent in total on the 2012 presidential and congressional elections?

A) $10 million
B) $600 million
C) $1 billion
D) $6 billion
E) $16 billion

Question 27

The fastest growing demographic group in the United States is

A) African Americans.
B) Asians.
C) Latinos.
D) non-Latino whites.
E) Native Americans.

Question 28

States that are evenly divided among the two major political parties and in which presidential elections are often decided by very close margins are called

A) red states.
B) blue states.
C) swing states.
D) presidential states.
E) safe states.

Question 29

In the United States, lower-class citizens vote at roughly ______________ upper-class citizens.

A) 110 percent the rate of
B) the same rate as
C) 80 percent the rate of
D) 60 percent the rate of
E) 25 percent the rate of

Question 30

The president of the United States is elected

A) directly by the people.
B) by the national popular vote.
C) by majority vote of Electoral College delegates.
D) by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
E) by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Question 31

Which of the following make U.S. elections exceptional compared to other Western democracies?

A) American political campaigns are shorter in length of time.
B) American political campaigns cost less.
C) American political campaigns are more regulated.
D) American political campaigns are largely publically funded.
E) American political campaigns are largely privately funded.

Question 32

According to the text, the coalition of voters who supported former Governor Mitt Romney for president in the 2012 election were made up which of the following groups?

A) white men, older voters, and the affluent
B) Latinos, older voters, and women
C) African Americans, older voters, and the affluent
D) low- and moderate-income voters, older voters, and Latinos
E) low- and moderate-income voters, older voters, and the young (under age 30)

Question 33

In discussing the role of money in elections, the text says all of the following except

A) it is useful to view the campaign contributions of corporations and rich people as investments rather than donations.
B) the high cost of campaigns fuels public cynicism about politics.
C) wealthier families are more likely to donate than poor families.
D) U.S. political campaigns are more regulated than those in any other Western democracy.
E) increases in economic inequality and political spending go hand in hand; the increase in one contributes to the increase in the other.

Question 34

According to the text, all of the following are methods of voter suppression except

A) felony disenfranchisement laws.
B) restrictions on voter registration campaigns.
C) limits on early and absentee voting.
D) holding elections on Sundays or national holidays.
E) literacy tests.

Question 35

In discussing voting turnout, the text makes all of the following points except

A) the greatest difference between rich and poor is not whom they vote for, but whether they vote at all.
B) as opposed to the U.S. practice of holding elections during the working week, in most other countries elections are either held on a Sunday or Election Day is a national holiday.
C) felon disenfranchisement laws have no effect on turnout.
D) many states' registration requirements serve to decrease turnout.
E) parties are reluctant to raise issues that appeal to nonvoters because doing so might weaken elite dominance within the party.

Question 36

The Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission primarily serves to

A) make it harder for states to disenfranchise felons.
B) make it easier for states to disenfranchise felons.
C) increase restrictions on corporate and labor spending in political campaigns.
D) decrease restrictions on corporate and labor spending in political campaigns.
E) decrease the importance of political primaries.

Question 37

In presidential elections, the unit rule primarily refers to

A) the law saying that if you vote for a party's presidential candidate, you must also vote for its vice-presidential candidate.
B) the practice that money spent to help a party's presidential candidate must also help its vice-presidential candidate.
C) the practice in most states of giving all the state's electoral votes to the candidate who wins a plurality of the state's popular votes.
D) the principle that every citizen should have only one vote.
E) the law stating that every member of the Electoral College has only one vote.

Question 38

In the past fifty years, the percentage of the Democratic Party's voters who are white Christians has ______________, and the percentage of the Republican Party's voters who are white Christians has ______________.

A) dropped sharply . . . decreased slightly
B) dropped sharply . . . increased sharply
C) stayed about the same . . . stayed about the same
D) stayed about the same . . . increased sharply
E) increased slightly. . . . increased sharply

Question 39

The Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission case (2010) was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in a ______________ decision.

A) 9-0 unanimous
B) 8-1
C) 7-2
D) 6-3
E) 5-4

Question 40

A(n) ______________ election is one in which a long-dominant party is defeated by a party with a different social base and ideological outlook, and after which the new party succeeds in governing for a significant period and sponsoring distinctive new policies.

A) ideological
B) critical or realigning
C) proportional
D) swing
E) post-partisan

Question 41

Evaluate the claim that Barack Obama's 2008 election and 2012 re-election indicate an electoral realignment in American politics. Do you believe that a realignment has taken place? Why or why not? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

Question 42

Summarize the origins of the New Deal coalition, from which groups it received support, and the reasons for its decline.

Question 43

What are the consequences of the United States having a two-party system rather than a multi-party system? What aspects of the U.S. political system explain why the United States has a two-party system?

Question 44

Why has the Republican Party moved increasingly to the conservative far right since the 1970s?

Question 45

Summarize the reasons why, according to the text, voter turnout in the United States is lower than in most democratic countries.

Question 46

Summarize the evidence that leads many analysts to claim that political polarization has increased over the past half-century, and then discuss what political scientist Morris Fiorina says about this polarization.

Question 47

Summarize the factors that contributed, beginning in the 1960s, to the Republican Party's rise to power.

Question 48

Summarize how the party system changed following the election of 1896. Be sure to include the reasons for and consequences of these changes.