Deck 4: The Parties National Organizations

Question 1

Officially, each major party's supreme national authority is the:

A) Constitution
B) party in the electorate
C) national convention
D) national campaign committee

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Between conventions, the two parties' main governing bodies are:

A) the national party committees
B) the congressional campaign committees
C) the various state party organizations
D) the president or the majority leader of the U.S. Senate

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The chair of the party that holds the presidency is chosen by:

A) the party's national committee
B) the state chairs
C) the voters
D) the incumbent president

Answer 3

D

Question 4

During the past half-century, which of these is true about the relationship between the president and the national committee of the president's party?

A) The national committee has usually been at odds with the president.
B) The national committee has frequently been dominated by the president.
C) The national committee usually ignores the president and focuses on its own goals.
D) The president has disbanded the national committee.

Question 5

The parties' Congressional Campaign ("Hill") Committees:

A) can choose who the party's congressional candidates will be
B) can spend independently in congressional campaigns
C) are not allowed to try to recruit congressional candidates
D) are not allowed to spend money in coordination with congressional campaigns

Question 6

A party organization that supports campaigns with money and other resources as opposed to running the campaigns itself can be termed:

A) a mass membership party
B) a political party machine
C) a minor party
D) a service party

Question 7

The idea of "service parties":

A) was first developed in the Republican Party
B) started in the Democratic Party and spread to the Republicans
C) exists only at the national level, not among the state parties
D) has given the national parties the power to abolish state primary elections

Question 8

Campaign finance reform passed in 2002 did what?

A) Barred the national committees from collecting hard money after the 2002 elections.
B) Barred the use of independent expenditures in any party ads.
C) Barred the national committees from collecting soft money after the 2002 elections.
D) Barred 501(c)(3) organizations from any fundraising for political purposes.

Question 9

By 2020, the biggest portion of party fundraising came from individuals, but an increasing proportion of party committees' money came from:

A) the federal treasury
B) donors outside the U.S.
C) local party organizations
D) members of Congress

Question 10

Winning candidates are typically told by their party's Hill Committee to spend several hours each day:

A) attending congressional committee hearings
B) consulting with their national committee chair
C) on the phone raising money for their next campaign
D) setting up their own database of their constituents

Question 11

The two national parties' committees have created databases to:

A) identify the voters most likely to support their party's candidates
B) track the types of people who are not registered to vote
C) be able to reduce their campaign spending
D) keep track of the state and national parties' computers

Question 12

The great majority of party funds in recent House and Senate races are now spent in the form of:

A) soft money
B) independent expenditures
C) loans to candidates' campaigns
D) direct grants to campaigns

Question 13

Independent spending is:

A) money spent by party organizations in cooperation with the candidate they're trying to help
B) money spent on campaign activities that do not involve media
C) money spent by party organizations independently of the candidate they're trying to help
D) money candidates spend on their own campaigns, independent of their party

Question 14

Party committees target their spending on which types of congressional campaigns?

A) Reelection of incumbents.
B) Campaigns in which challengers are having trouble raising money.
C) Campaigns with women candidates.
D) The most competitive races.

Question 15

One of the areas of greatest conflict between the national parties and their state and local brethren centers on national party involvement in ______.

A) fundraising
B) providing services to state and local party organizations
C) field offices
D) primaries

Question 16

In recent decades, the national party organizations have:

A) taken over the functions of the state parties
B) become hierarchical organizations in which the national party gives orders to the state parties
C) greatly increased their funding and other resources
D) reduced their efforts at grassroots campaigning

Question 17

The 50-state strategy involved

A) The Democratic National Committee paying field organizers in every state
B) The Democratic convention giving every state an equal number of convention votes
C) The Republican National Committee paying for polling for all local Republican parties
D) The Republican National Committee giving each state party chair a turn as national chair of the party

Question 18

Define each of the following and briefly explain why it is relevant to the study of political parties.
-The parties' national conventions.

Question 19

Define each of the following and briefly explain why it is relevant to the study of political parties.
-The parties' national committees.

Question 20

Define each of the following and briefly explain why it is relevant to the study of political parties.
-The parties' Congressional Campaign ("Hill") Committees.

Question 21

Define each of the following and briefly explain why it is relevant to the study of political parties.
-Party networks.

Question 22

Define each of the following and briefly explain why it is relevant to the study of political parties.
-"Service parties."

Question 23

Define each of the following and briefly explain why it is relevant to the study of political parties.
-The Democrats' "50-state strategy."

Question 24

How does the increasing activity of the two parties' national committees affect the activities of the various state parties? Does this increased national party activity strengthen or weaken the state party organizations?

Question 25

How does the increasing activity of the two parties' national committees affect the workings of Congress? Has it led to greater polarization in the U.S. House and Senate? How do these more powerful national committees relate to the president of the U.S.?

Question 26

If someone told you that changes in national politics in recent decades have led to the development of a centralized party system in the U.S., what evidence would you present to respond to their contention? (Hint: is federalism involved?)

Question 27

In what ways does a stronger national party organization lead to benefits for a democratic society, and in what ways does a stronger national party disadvantage a democracy?

Question 28

What led the two national parties to become "service parties"? Did both parties follow the same path in becoming service parties, or did they follow different paths? How has this change affected the parties' behavior today?

Question 29

If you were chair of one of the major parties' Hill committees, what are the arguments that your trying to intervene in a local primary election for a U.S. House seat would help the party locally and nationally, and what are the arguments that such intervention would hurt the party?