Deck 9: Political Parties

Question 1

Classic political scientists, such as V. O. Key, use the term "__________" to describe the general patterns of voters' party identification and their behavior on election day.

A) party as an organization
B) party in government
C) party in the electorate
D) political agenda
E) political socialization

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In presidential primaries, voters are not actually voting for the candidates themselves, rather they are voting for _______ who will support that candidate at the party nominating convention.

A) delegates
B) superdelegates
C) electors
D) majority delegates
E) bi-annual electors

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A(n) __________ primary is one in which voters must affiliate with a party before casting a vote, either by registering prior to the election or on primary election day.

A) blanket
B) closed
C) open
D) party
E) semiclosed

Answer 3

B

Question 4

One manner in which political parties select candidates, when more than one person is seeking the office, is to hold a ________.

A) general election
B) primary election
C) straw poll
D) caucus
E) bifurcated election

Question 5

The state of Oklahoma, as well as several others, has a closed primary, which means that voters must ______.

A) affiliate with a political party
B) identify with a political party
C) donate to a political party
D) associate with a political party
E) not affiliate with a political party

Question 6

The broadest and most open gateway to participation is offered to the American people by _______.

A) elections
B) special interest groups
C) lobbying
D) political parties
E) voting

Question 7

A(n) __________ primary is one in which voters do not have to affiliate with a party before voting. Instead, voters are given ballots with each party's list of candidates; they can choose which ballot to use but are restricted to voting for only one party's set of nominees.

A) blanket
B) closed
C) open
D) party
E) semiclosed

Question 8

A(n) __________ primary is one in which party-affiliated voters cast votes in their party's primary, and nonaffiliated voters can choose which party's primary to vote in.

A) blanket
B) closed
C) open
D) party
E) semiclosed

Question 9

Besides raising funds, one of the primary jobs of the congressional party committees is to _______

A) recruit voters
B) recruit advocates
C) recruit lobbyists
D) recruit incumbents
E) recruit qualified challengers

Question 10

An election in which voters choose their elected officials is known as a _________.

A) primary election
B) caucus
C) general election
D) straw poll
E) bi-annual election

Question 11

__________ are at the top of the party organization, and their members are chosen by each state party organization.

A) Campaign committees
B) National committees
C) Party caucuses
D) Party presidents
E) State central committees

Question 12

A meeting of party members in town halls, schools, and private homes to choose a presidential nominee is known as a(n) ________.

A) primary
B) open primary
C) closed primary
D) blanket primary
E) caucus

Question 13

What is typically required to register to vote?

A) the ability to read English
B) the ability to speak English
C) literacy
D) proof of identity and address
E) all of these are required

Question 14

In  California v. Jones,  the Court ruled that blanket primaries were ________.

A) a violation of the First Amendment
B) not a violation of the First Amendment
C) a secured right for political parties
D) a viable solution to diminish partisanship
E) a nonviable solution to diminish partisanship

Question 15

The main purpose of a political party is to _______ in order to control government and implement its policies.

A) nominate candidates
B) win elections
C) control Congress
D) make laws
E) control the White House

Question 16

Political parties provide a key function in American politics by providing voters with a mechanism in which to _____________.

A) make claims reasonable
B) enforce self-interest
C) hold government accountable
D) keep politics functional
E) keep politics pliable

Question 17

An attachment or allegiance to a political party is referred to as

A) party as an organization.
B) party identification.
C) party in the government.
D) party in the electorate.
E) party loyalty.

Question 18

A(n) __________ lays out the party's core beliefs and policy proposals.

A) agenda
B) charter
C) constitution
D) party platform
E) party position paper

Question 19

If political parties can develop a solid majority of the party in the electorate, they can translate this into a strong

A) party system.
B) party as an organization.
C) party in the government.
D) party as a structure.
E) party in the state.

Question 20

A(n) __________ is a group of individuals who join together to choose candidates for elected office, whether by informal group voting or a formal nominating process.

A) interest group
B) political party
C) labor union
D) lobby
E) special interest

Question 21

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.

A) enlarged
B) decreased
C) did not change
D) popularized
E) polarized

Question 22

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

A) Majority vote
B) Minority vote
C) Plurality vote
D) Single-member plurality vote
E) Median voter theorem

Question 23

__________ 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.

A) Punch card
B) Electronic ballot
C) Optical scans ballot
D) Australian ballot
E) None of these

Question 24

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

A) plurality party system
B) two-party system
C) multi-party system
D) controlled party system
E) registered party system

Question 25

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

A) political parties
B) interest groups
C) lobbyists
D) political action committees
E) actionable groups

Question 26

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

A) Frederick Douglass
B) Al Sharpton
C) Herman Cain
D) Jesse Jackson
E) Barack Obama

Question 27

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

A) proportional representation
B) winner-take-all
C) open primary
D) semiclosed primary
E) party nomination

Question 28

Parties used the patronage system as a way to _____________.

A) shrink party loyalty
B) gain access to Congress
C) build party loyalty
D) build party disloyalty
E) gain access to interest groups

Question 29

__________ 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.

A) Antifederalists
B) Antinationalists
C) Federalists
D) Nationalists
E) Republicans

Question 30

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

A) second choices
B) third parties
C) alternative parties
D) green parties
E) choice parties

Question 31

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

A) Alien and Sedition Act
B) Taft-Hartley Act
C) Contract with America
D) Pendleton Act
E) Smith Act

Question 32

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

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5
E) More than 10

Question 33

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

A) statistical association
B) possible number
C) rank order
D) total number
E) percentage

Question 34

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 _____________.

A) a merit-based system for government employment
B) an end of the party machine system
C) a patronage-based system for government employment
D) a responsible-based system for government employment
E) none of these

Question 35

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

A) party closer to the right wins
B) party closer to the left wins
C) party closer to the middle wins
D) party closer to the Democrats wins
E) party closer to a third party wins

Question 36

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.

A) Antifederalist Party
B) Democratic-Republican Party
C) Republican Party
D) Green Party
E) Democratic Party

Question 37

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

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

Question 38

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

A) The Free Soil Party
B) The Green Party
C) Democrats
D) Republicans
E) Third Parties

Question 39

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.

A) cohorts
B) factions
C) militias
D) political parties
E) unions

Question 40

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

A) Democrats and Democratic-Republicans
B) Democrats and Republicans
C) Democrats and Whigs
D) Republicans and Democratic-Republicans
E) Republicans and Whigs

Question 41

__________ was given credit for forcing the two major party candidates in 1992, President George H. W. Bush and Governor Bill Clinton, to address the federal deficit, the amount by which annual government spending exceeds incoming revenue.

A) George Wallace
B) John Anderson
C) Ralph Nader
D) Strom Thurmond
E) Ross Perot

Question 42

_________ are the most loyal demographic constituency to the Democratic Party.

A) Latinos
B) African Americans
C) LGBTs
D) Caucasians
E) Asians

Question 43

When political parties offer voters a clear choice through a distinct range of policies and programs they are acting as __________.

A) partisan parties
B) proactive parties
C) responsible parties
D) broadcast parties
E) party alignment

Question 44

The Tea Party movement's success in defeating incumbent Republicans in primaries and electing Republicans who espoused more __________ views created a more polarized and less effective governing environment in Congress.

A) independent
B) conservative
C) democratic
D) republican
E) none of these

Question 45

Today's voters might describe themselves as __________ and ____________, but voters before 1932 typically saw themselves as connected with a political party.

A) Democrats; Republicans
B) liberal; conservative
C) conservative; independent
D) independent; individualistic
E) none of these

Question 46

During the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, __________ was (were) signed into law.

A) the Civil Rights Act
B) the Voting Rights Act
C) the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act
D) the Fair Housing Act
E) all of these

Question 47

When voters identify with a party in repeated elections, it is referred to as a

A) new deal.
B) party alignment.
C) splinter party.
D) spoiler.
E) temporary coalition.

Question 48

After he took office, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt championed a vast array of new government programs, commonly referred to as the

A) Great Depression.
B) Great Society.
C) New Deal.
D) New Party Alignment.
E) Progressive Movement.

Question 49

What was President Clinton's political misstep that set the stage for a Republican Party resurgence?

A) dropping opposition to the death penalty
B) facilitating free trade
C) promising a middle-class tax cut
D) emphasizing socially liberal policies on abortion and gays in the military
E) none of these

Question 50

Parties are most responsive to interest groups when they threaten to withdraw their support or start their own ____________.

A) party organizations
B) political action committees
C) straw party
D) three party coalition
E) organization committee

Question 51

There are several ways that the two major parties restrict third party access, including challenging signatures for ballot access and

A) preventing access to campaign donors.
B) preventing access to interest groups.
C) preventing them from participating in presidential debates.
D) preventing access to television networks.
E) preventing access to policy discussions.

Question 52

Today, the __________ viewpoint builds on the New Deal perspective by favoring government redistribution of income through higher taxes on the wealthy to provide social benefits, such as health care, unemployment insurance, and welfare payments to the poor.

A) anarchist
B) conservative
C) liberal
D) libertarian
E) neoconservative

Question 53

The Progressive Party was successful in getting Congress to pass and the states to ratify the __________ Amendment on April 8, 1913, which allowed for the direct election of U.S. senators by the voters themselves.

A) Eleventh
B) Fourteenth
C) Sixteenth
D) Seventeenth
E) Twenty-First

Question 54

During the 2000 election, __________ ran for president on the Green Party ticket, promoting a platform that called for stronger environmental and consumer protections.

A) George Wallace
B) John Anderson
C) Ralph Nader
D) Ross Perot
E) Strom Thurmond

Question 55

In 2013, the Democrats favored _______ gun control.

A) protracted
B) no
C) looser
D) stricter
E) broader

Question 56

A set of consistent political views about the way government should work is referred to as a

A) party alignment.
B) party platform.
C) political agenda.
D) political ideology.
E) political theory.

Question 57

__________ was governor of Arkansas when he successfully ran for president in 1992. He changed his party's direction with a campaign platform that advocated dropping opposition to the death penalty, being open to a more free-trade stance, and promising a middle-class tax cut.

A) Bill Clinton
B) George H. W. Bush
C) George W. Bush
D) Ronald Reagan
E) Walter Mondale

Question 58

Over time, voters will adjust their long-term allegiance from one party to another in a process called __________.

A) party identification
B) cross-alignment
C) bi-partisan alignment
D) party alignment
E) realignment

Question 59

In 1980, __________, former Republican governor of California, defeated the incumbent President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, partly by appealing to those who opposed the Supreme Court's legalization of abortion in Roe v. Wade (1973).

A) Bill Clinton
B) George H. W. Bush
C) George W. Bush
D) Ronald Reagan
E) Walter Mondale

Question 60

In 1912, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt ran for president as the __________ Party candidate.

A) Democratic
B) Liberty
C) Populist
D) Progressive
E) Republican

Question 61

Survey the obstacles to third parties and Independent candidates.

Question 62

Explain the role of political parties.

Question 63

Explain in your own words how the Australian ballot system has been used in politics.

Question 64

Provide a detailed explanation of the party nomination process.

Question 65

Explain the differences between the Federalists and the Antifederalists.

Question 66

Describe how a single-member plurality system encourages two parties.

Question 67

Briefly analyze what occurs during realignment.

Question 68

Explain the median voter theorem.

Question 69

Briefly explain the changes that occurred in the Republican and Democratic parties after 1932.

Question 70

What are the benefits and the risks of voting for a third-party candidate?

Question 71

Define patronage system .

Question 72

Summarize the role third parties have played in American politics.

Question 73

What is the difference between a presidential primary and a presidential party caucus?

Question 74

Identify the three arenas in which parties operate.

Question 75

Describe the impact of the New Deal on political ideology.

Question 76

Compare and contrast single-member plurality district voting systems with proportional representation voting systems .

Question 77

Describe reforms that reduced party power.

Question 78

Connect patronage and party power.

Question 79

Discuss the views of the Antifederalists to that of the Federalists in the early day of the political party evolution.

Question 80

Explain how interest groups and political parties have become more closely aligned.