Deck 9: Political Parties

Question 1

In a proportional representation electoral system,

A) seats in the legislature are allocated to political parties based on their share of the total vote cast in the election.
B) each political party receives an equal number of seats in the legislature.
C) every candidate that receives above a certain percentage of the vote (usually set at 20 percent) is awarded a seat in the legislature.
D) candidates can only win an election if they receive a majority of the overall votes.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The establishment of the Republican Party is a good example of ________.

A) external mobilization
B) internal mobilization
C) elite bargaining
D) proportional representation

Answer 2

A

Question 3

How many political parties have dominated American politics throughout its history?

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The American system for electing members of Congress is often referred to as "first past the post" because

A) a candidate can win an election only if he or she wins a majority of the popular vote.
B) a candidate must win both a primary election and a general election before taking office.
C) seats in the House of Representatives and Senate are allocated to political parties based on their share of the total vote cast in the election.
D) the candidate with the most votes wins, even if he or she did not win a majority of the popular vote.

Question 5

Which of the following groups is NOT currently a strong source of support for the Republican Party?

A) whites
B) older people
C) religious individuals
D) African Americans

Question 6

External mobilization occurs when

A) conflicts within the government create divided factions that try to mobilize popular support.
B) party leaders try to rally support for their platforms once they are in the government.
C) citizens deemed to be undesirable outsiders are excluded from the party.
D) a group of politicians outside government organizes popular support to win governmental power.

Question 7

________ was the only president to have been elected without a political party affiliation.

A) Thomas Jefferson
B) James Madison
C) George Washington
D) John Quincy Adams

Question 8

The idea of "unequal democracy" refers to the fact that

A) women were not allowed to vote in the United States until 1920.
B) lower-income citizens have little representation by either party, except when their opinions overlap with more-affluent citizens.
C) women and African Americans are underrepresented in elected offices at the state and federal levels.
D) the electoral college gives more weight to small states than large states in selecting the president.

Question 9

What is the ultimate goal of a political party?

A) raising the most money
B) creating the party platform
C) winning elections
D) nominating candidates

Question 10

Political scientists have found that on economic issues, both the Democratic and Republican parties are

A) more responsive to the preferences of the upper and middle classes than the lower class.
B) more responsive to the preferences of the lower and middle classes than the upper class.
C) more responsive to the preferences of the lower and upper classes than the middle class.
D) equally responsive to the preferences of the different classes.

Question 11

A political party is an organization

A) that falls under section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code.
B) established by the Constitution to nominate candidates.
C) that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office.
D) that collects fees from its members in order to pay the salaries of government officials.

Question 12

Internal mobilization occurs when

A) conflicts within the government create divided factions that try to mobilize popular support.
B) party leaders try to rally support for their platforms once they are in the government.
C) citizens deemed to be undesirable outsiders are excluded from the party.
D) a group of politicians outside government organizes popular support to win governmental power.

Question 13

Third-party candidates are better off under ________.

A) the majority system
B) the plurality system
C) proportional representation
D) the spoils system

Question 14

One important cause of the two-party system in the United States is

A) the Constitution's requirement for bipartisanship in Congress.
B) single-member electoral districts.
C) multimember electoral districts.
D) proportional representation.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a problem solved by political parties?

A) regulating the number of people seeking public office
B) limiting the influence of "factions"
C) mobilizing voters
D) achieving and maintaining the majorities needed to accomplish legislative goals once in office

Question 16

America's ________ developed during the early nineteenth century.

A) single-party mandate
B) two-party system
C) multiparty system
D) 527 committees

Question 17

________ is the practice of tailoring campaign messages to individuals in small, homogenous groups.

A) Micro-targeting
B) Winnowing
C) Message bundling
D) Redlining

Question 18

The ________ Party originated from internal mobilization.

A) Jeffersonian
B) Green
C) Reform
D) Republican

Question 19

During the early nineteenth century, the Jeffersonian Party's main base of strength was in ________.

A) the South
B) the West
C) New England
D) the western territories

Question 20

________ warned Americans against the dangers of political parties in his farewell address.

A) George Washington
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) James Madison
D) James Monroe

Question 21

An individual who identifies a problem as a political issue and brings a policy proposal into the political agenda is referred to as a(n)

A) venue shopper.
B) idea capitalist.
C) policy entrepreneur.
D) whip.

Question 22

A ________ is a meeting of a political group's members who gather to determine strategy and select candidates.

A) convention
B) caucus
C) party
D) primary

Question 23

What were the most common favors political bosses distributed to loyal party members during the era of political machines?

A) money
B) jobs
C) tariffs
D) tax cuts

Question 24

The campaign funds raised and spent by 501(c)(4) organizations are called "dark money" because

A) they are technically illegal under an unenforced provision of federal campaign finance law.
B) donors and amounts contributed do not have to be made public.
C) they can only be used during nonelection years.
D) they are only used to support candidates from relatively unknown third parties.

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT accomplished at a party's national convention?

A) nomination of the presidential candidate
B) determination of the party's rules and bylaws
C) nomination of the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates
D) nomination of Senate and House candidates

Question 26

During the nineteenth century, party machines depended heavily on ________ in order to reward loyal party supporters.

A) the 527 committees
B) patronage
C) soft money
D) caucuses

Question 27

Which of the following statements about party building is true?

A) Republicans have paid much more attention to party building than Democrats since the Eisenhower presidency.
B) Democrats have paid much more attention to party building than Republicans since the Eisenhower presidency.
C) Both parties have completely abandoned party building since the Eisenhower presidency.
D) The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act outlawed party-building activities.

Question 28

The 527 committees are different from 501(c)(4) organizations because

A) there are strict limits on the amount of money 527 committees can raise and spend.
B) there are not strict limits on the amount of money 527 committees can raise and spend.
C) 527 committees do not have to publicly report who their donors are and how much they gave.
D) 501(c)(4) organizations do not have to publicly report who their donors are and how much they gave.

Question 29

________ are independent, nonprofit groups that receive and distribute funds to influence the nomination, election, and/or defeat of a candidate.

A) Political action committees
B) The 527 committees
C) Political caucuses
D) Party machines

Question 30

________ referred to himself as a "New Democrat" in the 1990s.

A) John McCain
B) Bill Clinton
C) George W. Bush
D) Al Gore

Question 31

Organizing for America is a

A) government program funded through the 2009 stimulus bill that provides job training for unemployed Americans.
B) 501(c)(4) organization that raises and spends money to reduce taxes.
C) group that mobilizes grassroots support for President Obama's legislative agenda.
D) 527 committee that contributes to Republican Party candidates at the state and local levels.

Question 32

Soft money is

A) money that is illegally given by an interest group to an elected official in return for a political favor.
B) money contributed directly to political parties and other organizations at the state and local levels for political activities that are not regulated by federal campaign spending laws.
C) nonmonetary donations made to a party in exchange for privileges that are not officially considered income, such as airplanes and hotel rooms.
D) money that is contributed by a candidate to a political party in order to receive the party's support in an upcoming election.

Question 33

A party's platform is best understood as a

A) negotiated agreement among the various factions in the party.
B) public relations program designed for media consumption.
C) clear statement of the principles to which each party candidate will be committed.
D) set of rules for determining who can and who cannot become a member of the party.

Question 34

Which of the following statements about parties is true?

A) The national leadership of the Democratic Party supports cuts in social services spending.
B) The national leadership of the Republican Party supports less regulation of business.
C) Republicans tend to have a high level of political support in urban America.
D) Democrats tend to have a high level of political support in suburban America.

Question 35

Soft money was made illegal as a result of the

A) 1965 Voting Rights Act.
B) Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.
C) Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
D) Supreme Court's decision in Buckley v. Valeo.

Question 36

A party's ________ contains its philosophy, principles, and policy positions.

A) caucus
B) convention
C) platform
D) machine

Question 37

The 527 committees are an important part of the American political system because they

A) operate the caucuses of each of the two main political parties.
B) work closely with political parties to coordinate election campaign strategies and fund-raising efforts.
C) are charged with enforcing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.
D) are able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they do not coordinate their activities with a political party.

Question 38

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, strong and often corrupt urban political party organizations were called ________.

A) gangs
B) juntas
C) machines
D) corporations

Question 39

Which of the following statements about parties in Congress is true?

A) Committee appointments of individual members are determined by a vote of the House and Senate.
B) All members are allowed to take part in the election of the Speaker of the House.
C) Granting permission to transfer to another committee is a decision of the Speaker of the House.
D) Advancement up the committee ladder toward chair is a decision made by both the majority and the minority parties.

Question 40

Which of the following is not a job of a party's national committee?

A) minimizing disputes within various parts of the party
B) enhancing the party's media image
C) determining committee assignments for members of Congress
D) raising campaign funds for party candidates

Question 41

In the United States, party identification

A) does not vary significantly by ideology.
B) varies significantly by gender, but not by race.
C) varies significantly by income, race, and gender.
D) does not vary by income, race, and gender.

Question 42

Which of the following groups is most likely to support the Republican Party?

A) Latinos
B) women
C) the wealthy
D) Jewish Americans

Question 43

The Federalist Party disappeared, in part, as a result of ________.

A) Lincoln's election in 1860
B) the War of 1812
C) Alexander Hamilton being killed by Aaron Burr
D) the Civil War

Question 44

Men in the United States are ________ the ________ Party.

A) overwhelmingly committed to; Republican
B) somewhat more likely to support; Republican
C) overwhelmingly committed to; Democratic
D) somewhat more likely to support; Democratic

Question 45

Historically, realignments occur

A) when new issues combine with economic or political crises to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties.
B) when Congress approves of them.
C) after midterm congressional elections but not after presidential elections.
D) only when the Constitution is amended.

Question 46

An individual's psychological attachment to one party or another is called a party ________.

A) ideology
B) opinion
C) identification
D) tradition

Question 47

The two major parties in the United States during the 1830s and 1840s were the ________ and the ________.

A) Federalists; Jeffersonians
B) Federalists; Whigs
C) Democrats; Whigs
D) Democrats; Republicans

Question 48

The Jeffersonian Republicans were best known for their support of

A) a weak national government with the states retaining most powers.
B) a strong national government with little role for state governments.
C) women's suffrage.
D) abolishing slavery.

Question 49

Women in the United States are ________ the ________ Party.

A) overwhelmingly committed to; Republican
B) somewhat more likely to support; Republican
C) overwhelmingly committed to; Democratic
D) somewhat more likely to support; Democratic

Question 50

Solid support for the Republican Party currently comes from the ________.

A) South and Mountain West
B) South, Northeast, and Midwest
C) Northeast, Midwest, and West
D) Northeast and South

Question 51

Party activists are ________ likely to contribute time to party affairs and ________ likely to hold more extreme views than the party's rank-and-file voters.

A) less; less
B) less; more
C) more; more
D) more; less

Question 52

The United States has had ________ party systems since 1789.

A) 2
B) 6
C) 9
D) 12

Question 53

Dealignment refers to

A) the decline of partisan attachment within the electorate, the growth in the number of voters identifying themselves as independents, and the rise of split-ticket voting.
B) the point in history where a new party becomes the dominant political force by supplanting the ruling party.
C) conflicts within the government that create divided factions, each of which tries to mobilize popular support.
D) attempts by politicians outside of government to mobilize popular support in order to win governmental power.

Question 54

In 2008, about ________ percent of Latino Americans voted for Barack Obama.

A) 20
B) 45
C) 67
D) 95

Question 55

The Alien and Sedition Acts

A) were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1801.
B) were enacted by the Jeffersonian Republicans in the late 1790s.
C) made it illegal to criticize the government.
D) allowed the Whigs to expand their political power in the 1830s.

Question 56

Between 1812 and 1830, the United States had

A) three political parties: the Federalists, the Jeffersonian Republicans, and the Whigs.
B) two political parties: the Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans.
C) one political party: the Jeffersonian Republicans.
D) one political party: the Federalists.

Question 57

The first party system was characterized by conflict between the ________ and the ________.

A) Federalists; Jeffersonian Republicans
B) Whigs; Democrats
C) Whigs; Jeffersonian Republicans
D) Whigs; Federalists

Question 58

Since the 1930s, most African Americans have identified as ________.

A) Republicans
B) Democrats
C) libertarians
D) independents

Question 59

A party activist is an individual who

A) attends every social function that a political party stages.
B) writes favorable news reports for the national media.
C) commits acts of civil disobedience when asked to by a political party.
D) not only votes but also contributes time, energy, effort, and financial resources to party affairs.

Question 60

Between the Civil War and the 1960s, the ________ was a Democratic stronghold.

A) Midwest
B) West
C) South
D) Southwest

Question 61

In 1964, Republican Party presidential nominee ________ was in favor of less taxation and less government regulation of the economy-two ideas that became major themes for the modern Republican Party.

A) Richard Nixon
B) Barry Goldwater
C) Ronald Reagan
D) Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Question 62

As a third-party candidate, Ross Perot captured approximately ________ percent of the popular vote in the 1992 presidential election.

A) 10
B) 20
C) 30
D) 40

Question 63

The average winning margin in House elections is ________ percent.

A) 5
B) 10
C) 25
D) 40

Question 64

The Populist Party appealed to which of the following groups?

A) western mining interests, small farmers, and urban workers
B) eastern bankers, southern planters, and wealthy merchants
C) northern bankers, landowners, and factory workers
D) eastern mining interests, southern merchants, and small farmers

Question 65

When Richard Nixon employed his "Southern strategy," he

A) used the FBI to help collect secrets and blackmail southern Democratic leaders.
B) ignored the southern states in favor of voters in the Midwest and Northeast.
C) appealed to disaffected white voters in the South.
D) appealed to black southerners who had recently mobilized for civil rights.

Question 66

In 1994,

A) the Republican Party won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the 1950s.
B) the Republican Party lost control of the Senate for the first time in 20 years.
C) Bill Clinton defeated Bob Dole and won his second term in office.
D) House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigned his seat after the Republican Party suffered severe losses.

Question 67

________ occurs when one party controls the presidency while another party controls one or both houses of Congress.

A) Electoral realignment
B) Divided government
C) Internal mobilization
D) External mobilization

Question 68

Which of the following groups was not part of the New Deal coalition?

A) Jews
B) Catholics
C) Asian Americans
D) African Americans

Question 69

Reconstruction after the Civil War was led by the ________ Party.

A) Democratic
B) Republican
C) Whig
D) Free Soil

Question 70

"Self-sorting" refers to the

A) increasing numbers of young people who think of themselves as independents rather than as Democrats or Republicans.
B) recent growth in party-line voting within Congress.
C) fact that people will vote for candidates who share their partisanship even if they know nothing about them.
D) tendency of individuals to segregate themselves by choosing to live in liberal or conservative geographic areas.

Question 71

The division between the two major parties on most policy issues, with members of each party unified around their party's positions with little crossover, is called

A) partisan polarization.
B) divided government.
C) unified government.
D) party unity voting.

Question 72

During the 1980s, the Republicans added ________ to their coalition.

A) religious conservatives and working-class whites
B) African Americans and upper-class intellectuals
C) Latinos and the business community
D) Jews and unionized workers

Question 73

From 1896 to 1932, the ________ Party was the nation's majority party.

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

Question 74

During the late 1840s and early 1850s, both the Democratic and Whig parties were divided by

A) conflicts over slavery.
B) fiscal policies imposed during the tariff crisis.
C) the westward expansion of the United States.
D) the appropriate amount of government regulation of the economy.

Question 75

Which of the following occurs when one party replaces another party that has dominated national politics for a lengthy period of time?

A) electoral realignment
B) proportional representation
C) divided-party government
D) external mobilization

Question 76

In which of the following years was there an electoral realignment?

A) 1864
B) 1896
C) 1942
D) 1976

Question 77

What issue led to the demise of the Whig Party?

A) slavery
B) the admission of California into the Union
C) the death of Andrew Jackson
D) industrialization

Question 78

"Me too" Republicanism refers to

A) the tendency of Republican politicians during the New Deal to support popular programs such as Social Security rather than advocate alternative policies.
B) the tendency of southern Republican politicians after the Civil War to demand that all federal laws apply equally to the northern and southern states.
C) the tendency of northern Republican politicians after the Civil War to demand that all federal laws favor the northern states over the southern states.
D) an ideology that argues a strong federal government should promote economic equality.

Question 79

Today, more than ________ percent of the votes in Congress are passed with unanimous party-line voting.

A) 50
B) 65
C) 75
D) 90

Question 80

From the end of the Civil War to the 1890s, the ________ Party was the party of the North, while the ________ Party was the party of the South.

A) Democratic; Republican
B) Republican; Democratic
C) Federalist; Whig
D) Whig; Federalist