Deck 8: Political Parties

Question 1

The __________ is not a national political party because it does not nominate its own candidates.

A)Libertarian Party
B)Green Party
C)Democratic Party
D)Tea Party
E)Republican Party

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Advocates for political parties argue that they do all but which of the following?

A)Party organizations help coordinate actions by public officials.
B)Parties increase the number of candidates on the ballot to offer voters more choices.
C)Parties help voters choose candidates by proposing alternative programs of action.
D)Parties help ensure a minimum level of quality among candidates who run for office.
E)Two-party systems increase the stability of election outcomes.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The last candidate for president elected without party competition was

A)George Washington.
B)James Monroe.
C)Martin Van Buren.
D)William Henry Harrison.
E)Abraham Lincoln.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Most democratic theorists agree that a modern nation-state cannot practice democracy without

A)negative campaigning.
B)unlimited campaign contributions.
C)one dominant party consistently winning national elections.
D)at least two political parties regularly contesting elections.
E)a parliamentary system.

Question 5

Suppose the United States abolished political parties.Voters would then

A)not face candidates vetted by political parties for their quality.
B)probably confront more candidates from which to choose.
C)be more unpredictable in their voting choices.
D)face more pressure to vote on the basis of personal friendships, celebrity status, or name recognition.
E)All of these choices are true.

Question 6

George Washington,generally considered sympathetic to the Federalist Party,felt that political factions

A)had negative effects on democracy.
B)should increase and multiply.
C)should be outlawed by government action.
D)were vital to a strong democracy.
E)were necessary consequences of separation of powers.

Question 7

Where in the Constitution are political parties discussed?

A)Article I : The Legislative Branch
B)Article II : The Executive Branch
C)The Preamble
D)Throughout the Constitution
E)Nowhere in the Constitution

Question 8

The Twelfth Amendment​

A)​established the electoral college.
B)​required the president to choose his (or her) own vice president.
C)​required the electoral college to vote separately for president and vice president.
D)​established the principle that the president and vice president would run together on a single ticket.
E)​was required to finally certify the winner of the election of 1800.

Question 9

Presence of multiple (more than two)political parties 

A)​is the only guarantee of a truly stable democratic system.
B)​does not occur in modern democratic political systems.
C)​would be unconstitutional in America.
D)​tends to split opposition to a dominant regime and help it maintain power.
E)​has historically always caused the fairly rapid downfall of any political system that has had that characteristic.

Question 10

Which of the following statements best describes the attitude of the American people toward political parties?

A)Americans feel strong personal loyalties to their parties.
B)Americans see parties as inherently undemocratic.
C)Americans would like to see many more than two parties.
D)Americans recognize the value of parties but distrust the existing ones.
E)Americans are ideologically divided, as are parties.

Question 11

The early Republicans (also known as the Democratic Republicans)were led by

A)George Washington.
B)John Adams.
C)Alexander Hamilton.
D)Thomas Jefferson.
E)James Madison.

Question 12

According to Edmund Burke,the reason people unite in parties is to​

A)​get elected.
B)​enact a set of policies.
C)​control the government.
D)​acquire individual power with the help of others.
E)​protect the status quo.

Question 13

In his first run for the presidency,Andrew Jackson

A)won a majority of the electoral votes and became president.
B)won a plurality of the popular vote but was not chosen as president by the House of Representatives.
C)was chosen president by the House of Representatives.
D)became president after a run-off election.
E)lost the presidency because an elector changed his official vote.

Question 14

The first nomination process for two opposing candidates for the presidency was conducted in 1800 by

A)a nationwide primary.
B)statewide conventions.
C)congressional caucuses.
D)a vote of the nation's governors.
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 15

Who was the leader of the Federalists?

A)Aaron Burr
B)George Washington
C)James Madison
D)Thomas Jefferson
E)Alexander Hamilton

Question 16

What most distinguishes political parties from interest groups like the AFL-CIO and the National Association of Manufacturers is that

A)political parties focus on multiple issues, whereas each interest group only focuses on one.
B)political parties have more money than interest groups.
C)interest groups do not nominate candidates to run as their avowed representatives.
D)interest groups have no clear political ideology.
E)pluralists do not think interest groups are necessary for democracy to function.

Question 17

According to a 2013 poll,____ percent of Americans think the political parties do an adequate job of representing the American people.​

A)​5
B)​24
C)​47
D)​62
E)​81

Question 18

The __________ party is probably the oldest political party in existence.​

A)​Republican
B)​British Conservative
C)​United Russia
D)​British Whig
E)​Democratic

Question 19

In the early days of America,​ the president was chosen by

A)​a group of political elites in the Electoral College.
B)​the state legislatures directly.
C)​the Supreme Court.
D)​Congress.
E)​a vote of the people requiring a simple plurality.

Question 20

The Era of Good Feelings was characterized by

A)unprecedented cooperation between the two political parties.
B)a lack of party competition.
C)smooth relations between Congress and the president.
D)high public esteem for the two political parties.
E)good economic conditions.

Question 21

During the decades from the economic depression of the 1890s until the stock market crash in 1929,presidential elections were dominated by the __________ Party.​

A)​Democratic Republican
B)​Democratic
C)​Populist
D)​Whig
E)​Republican

Question 22

The __________ Party won most presidential elections from 1932,during the Great Depression,through the election of 1964,when the turbulent 1960s created the environment for a major political realignment.​

A)​Democratic
B)​Tea
C)​Populist
D)​Republican
E)Liberal​

Question 23

During the Jacksonian Era,parties had to appeal to much larger numbers of voters,and one response was using _________ to select presidential candidates.​

A)​party caucuses
B)​national primaries
C)​state-by-state primaries
D)​national conventions
E)​congressional caucuses

Question 24

__________,candidate for president in 1992,ran as an independent and won 19 percent of the popular vote.

A)Ron Paul
B)Ralph Nader
C)Frank Baum
D)Ross Perot
E)John Edwards

Question 25

​If someone formed the "Second Amendment Party," a political party to run on a platform of removing regulations on gun ownership,that would be an example of a _________ party.

A)​Bolter
B)​Protest
C)​Farmer-Labor
D)​Single-issue
E)​Reform

Question 26

The term Solid South refers to the

A)strength of the old Confederacy.
B)South's habit of consistently voting for the eventual winner in presidential elections.
C)South's consistent Democratic voting record for much of the twentieth century.
D)South's consistent Republican voting record for much of the twentieth century.
E)dominance of the agricultural issue in the South.

Question 27

The People's Party (or Populist Party)could at least brag that it was the first third party since 1860 to

A)win the presidency.
B)collect over 20 percent of the popular vote.
C)collect over 30 percent of the popular vote.
D)win any electoral votes.
E)control the Senate.

Question 28

A critical event that helped end the Republican Party's domination of national politics in the 1920s was

A)the Civil War.
B)the Spanish-American War.
C)World War I.
D)the Great Depression.
E)the Korean War.

Question 29

The best the Socialist Party has ever done in America was to capture 6 percent of the vote in the election of

A)1896.
B)1912.
C)1932.
D)1968.
E)2004.

Question 30

The short-lived __________ Party nominated Robert La Follette of Wisconsin for the presidency in 1924,but carried only La Follette's home state and ceased to nominate candidates in 1925.

A)Populist
B)Reform
C)Progressive
D)Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL)
E)American Independence

Question 31

The _______ Party was an agrarian "free-silver" party that was attractive in part because it was seen as a response to the depression of 1896.

A)​Whig
B)​Conservative
C)Populist
D)​Grand Old
E)​Radical

Question 32

Which event helped to shape the partisan patterns of the North and South for nearly a century?

A)The Revolutionary War
B)The Great Depression
C)The Civil War
D)The civil rights movement
E)Adoption of the new Constitution

Question 33

Since the present two-party system was established,how many minor-party candidates have been elected to the presidency?

A)Zero
B)One
C)Two
D)Three
E)Four

Question 34

Congressman __________ was the 1988 Libertarian Party presidential candidate.He was elected to Congress as a Republican in 1996,where he served until 2013.

A)William Jennings Bryan
B)Ross Perot
C)George Wallace
D)Newt Gingrich
E)Ron Paul

Question 35

The Republican Party was established in response to the issue of

A)taxes.
B)slavery.
C)school prayer.
D)free trade.
E)silver.

Question 36

____________ was the first candidate elected as a Republican​.

A)​Abraham Lincoln
B)​John Quincy Adams
C)​John Fremont
D)​Andrew Jackson
E)​Warren G. Harding

Question 37

__________ captured the presidency in 1968 and won five of the eleven southern states in the old Confederacy,signaling an electoral realignment that has seen Republican candidates for president do very well in the south.

A)Hubert Humphrey
B)George Wallace
C)Richard Nixon
D)Ronald Reagan
E)Eugene McCarthy

Question 38

The __________ was the first "third" party in American history to challenge the two major parties for the presidency and called the first national party convention.

A)the Free Soil Party
B)the Bull Moose Party
C)the Reform Party
D)the Anti-Masonic Party
E)the Whig Party

Question 39

All of the following were considered part of the "Roosevelt coalition" except

A)middle-class liberals.
B)new European ethnic voters.
C)Catholics.
D)Jews.
E)African Americans.

Question 40

In the 2000 election,the candidacy of Ralph Nader

A)had no significant impact.
B)resulted in a loss of support for the Democratic candidate, Al Gore.
C)resulted in a loss of support for the Republican candidate, George W. Bush.
D)resulted in an equal loss of support for Gore and Bush.
E)has not been determined in its impact.

Question 41

In the discipline of political science,party identification refers to

A)a sense of psychological attachment to a party.
B)one's voting record.
C)formal membership.
D)ability to discuss the platforms of a number of political parties that one admires.
E)one's voting record and formal membership.

Question 42

One of the most convincing explanations for the persistence of the two-party system in the United States lies in its use of

A)single winners chosen by an absolute majority of votes.
B)multiple winners chosen by a proportional representation of votes.
C)multiple winners chosen by a simple plurality of votes.
D)single winners chosen by a proportional representation of votes.
E)single winners chosen by a simple plurality of votes.

Question 43

Federalism in the electoral system refers to

A)​difference between national election trends and trends in states.
B)​national government control of the mechanisms of elections.
C)​the attempt to regain the values of the Federalist founders of the American republic.
D)​commingling national and state political parties so they have a single set of priorities.
E)​media attention exclusively to presidential politics.

Question 44

The Democratic Party national committee changed its internal procedures to ​be more open and inclusive in response to

A)​the end of the Civil War and of slavery.
B)pressures caused by the Great Depression.
C)​​the 1950s "McCarthy Era" blacklisting of citizens.
D)​a traumatic 1968 convention following the assassination of Robert Kennedy and emphasizing opposition to the Vietnam War.
E)​a desire for more transparency following publicity about surveillance of citizens by the NSA and other national security agencies.

Question 45

Content analysis of the 2012 party convention platforms found that Republicans were more likely to mention the word __________ whereas Democrats were more likely to mention the word __________.

A)freedom; equality
B)order; freedom
C)freedom; order
D)equality; freedom
E)equality; order

Question 46

Research indicates that one important reason​ for the decline of third-party voting starting in the 1930s may be

A)disenchantment with rules promulgated by the Federal Election Commission restricting who can vote for third parties.
B)​realization that issues raised by third parties are always insignificant.
C)​leftward drift of the Democratic Party to adopt issues otherwise raised by third parties.
D)​voter fraud sabotaging the actual results earned by third-party candidates.
E)belief that the Republican Party was going to have a platform that would accomplish anything a third party would otherwise work toward.

Question 47

Surveys show today that approximately __________ of the American population today think that the United States needs a third party.

A)one-fourth
B)one-third
C)one-half
D)two-thirds
E)three-fourths

Question 48

The South still casts many votes for Democrats because of the high proportion of

A)middle-class voters.
B)labor union members.
C)members of the military.
D)Protestants.
E)African Americans.

Question 49

Political party platforms probably matter most to​

A)​presidential candidates appealing to voters in swing states.
B)​intraparty factions at party conventions.
C)​congressional candidates involved in debates on the floor of the legislature.
D)​fundraisers working with potential donors.
E)​lobbyists trying to round up votes for or against proposed legislation.

Question 50

Black Americans shifted significantly to the Democratic Party in the 1960s largely in response to​

A)​Republican support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
B)Democrats' opposition to the "Great Society."
C)​Democratic Party support for civil rights legislation.
D)​growing realization that the 1930s New Deal was not such a great deal.
E)​a backlash against urban violence that erupted in cities across the nation.

Question 51

According to a 2012 survey in your text,which of the following individuals is most likely to identify as a Republican?

A)Earning under $30,000, no high school degree, female, and Hispanic
B)Living in the South, age between 18-29, Catholic, and an advanced degree
C)Earning between $75,000 to $99,999, college degree, male, age between 42-53
D)Earning over $100,000, advanced degree, black, unaffiliated with any religion
E)High school degree only, Protestant, female, living in the Northeast

Question 52

Which of the following has not been a factor encouraging the continued dominance of Democrats and Republicans as the nation's two major parties?

A)The United States' voting system of majority representation
B)The electoral college
C)Over a hundred years of Democrat-Republican political socialization
D)Signature requirements for third parties to get onto the ballot
E)The use of proportional representation to distribute electoral college votes

Question 53

According to the __________,political parties are essential in making government responsive to public opinion.

A)procedural model of democracy
B)substantive model of democracy
C)majoritarian model of democracy
D)pluralist model of democracy
E)responsible model of democracy

Question 54

The two ideological protest parties​ that together managed just over 1 percent of the vote in the 2012 presidential race were the _______ Party and the ________ Party.

A)​Green; Progressive
B)Libertarian; Green
C)​​Labor; Libertarian
D)​Populist; Progressive
E)​Libertarian; Populist

Question 55

In 2009,how many of the House Democrats voted against reforming health care,President Obama's most important policy initiative?

A)0
B)39
C)83
D)258
E)7

Question 56

The text uses the examples of Ronald Reagan and George W.Bush to make the point that,with respect to government spending,​

A)​Republicans consistently oppose big government spending programs.
B)​Democrats are more responsible stewards of the federal budget.
C)​Republicans are primarily concerned about keeping the federal budget deficit down.
D)​Democrats really are the political party that will go on a spending spree.
E)​Republicans don't hesitate to spend large sums on federal programs that suit their ideology.

Question 57

The presidency supports the two-party system because

A)the Constitution requires all electors to vote for candidates under the same party label.
B)the presidency is a big enough political prize to induce parties to harbor uncomfortable coalitions of voters just to win the electoral vote and the presidential election.
C)presidential candidates cannot run as independents.
D)no one could hope to win the presidency without the backing of a political party.
E)competition from multiple parties would simply prove too costly.

Question 58

Which statement about American political parties is false?

A)A person's party identification, once developed, tends to endure.
B)The number of Democrats in the electorate consistently exceeded the number of Republicans until the mid-1990s.
C)Independents outnumber Democratic Party and Republican Party identifiers, combined, in the U.S. electorate.
D)The proportion of Democrats in the electorate has shrunk over time, to the benefit of both Republicans and Independents.
E)Fifty percent of children adopt the same party affiliation as their parents.

Question 59

Which president portrayed the Democrats as big spenders,but his administration spent more than $1 trillion for defense?

A)Richard Nixon
B)Dwight Eisenhower
C)Ronald Reagan
D)Lyndon Johnson
E)None of these choices is true.

Question 60

About __________ of all Americans adopt their parents' party.

A)15 percent
B)25 percent
C)30 percent
D)50 percent
E)80 percent

Question 61

How has party identification changed amongst white southerners from 1952 to the present?

Question 62

Explain what a party machine is and how such machines generally lost power over time.

Question 63

Describe the principles of responsible party government and how well they are being achieved in American politics today.​

Question 64

Discuss the functions served by political parties in today's political system.​

Question 65

Voters ​favor one-party control of the presidency and the congress when

A)​there is general agreement on national priorities between the parties.
B)​it is wartime.
C)​their party is in control.
D)​unemployment is low.
E)​it is not an election year.

Question 66

Explain how the party reforms of the Republicans and Democrats have differed since the 1970s.

Question 67

Explain the primary difference between a political party and an interest group,being sure to provide examples.

Question 68

Discuss two of the ways the electoral college originally undermined presidential-vice presidential party tickets,and how the Twelfth Amendment fixed this problem.

Question 69

Summarize the major explanations for why the United States features a two-party system and why it has remained stable for so long.

Question 70

Describe the ideological differences between the Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson.

Question 71

Identify and describe the four different eras of ​political party dominance since the Civil War.