Chapter 5: Electoral and Party Systems

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. In the United States, longer confirmation times for judges, more frequent deadlock in congress, and budgetary difficulties—among other things—are mostly due to ______.

a. the two-party system

b. increased party polarization

c. the need for a third party

d. public skepticism

Learning Objective: 5.3: Identify the purposes of political parties..

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. A parliamentary system is one in which ______.

a. executive and legislative branches are fused, and executive functions are led by a majority party or coalition

b. citizens directly elect members of legislature and the head of government at the same time, with an electoral law that ensures an existence of a majority for the leader-elect

c. a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter being responsible to the legislature

d. executive and legislative branches are separate, along with their functions and responsibilities

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parliamentary Systems

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The head of state is a political figure ______.

a. whose power has far outstripped that of the legislative branch

b. representing the entire country, sometimes with little governing power

c. who is in charge of the functioning and day-to-day affairs of the state

d. who is typically the leader of a political party

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parliamentary Systems

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. The political figure who is in charge of the functioning and day-to-day affairs of the state is referred to as ______.

a. an imperial president

b. the head of state

c. the head of government

d. the party leader

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parliamentary Systems

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. The diminishment of the power of the British monarchy, and the evolution to its present day status, began with which of the following?

a. the English Civil War

b. the Foundation of the Church of England

c. the Breakup of the British Empire

d. the Magna Carta

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parliamentary Systems

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. A legislature or parliament that has two houses is known as ______.

a. unicameral

b. bicameral

c. unimodal

d. bimodal

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. A legislature or parliament that has one house is known as ______.

a. unicameral

b. bicameral

c. unimodal

d. bimodal

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. In general, proportional representation systems assign political parties a number of seats in the legislature based on the ______.

a. share of the vote they receive

b. whether candidates win a plurality of votes for each given seat

c. voters’ choice of political parties and individual candidates

d. voters’ rank-ordered preferences for representation

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Elections

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. In order to form a government in a parliamentary system, which of the following must occur first?

a. A political party leader becomes prime minister.

b. A political party wins a majority of seats.

c. The prime minister selects his or her cabinet.

d. The prime minister seeks the blessing of the head of state.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Party discipline refers to ______.

a. the cohesion of a party’s ideology or platform

b. the ability to prevent party members from engaging in corruption

c. party members behaving in sober fashion in the legislature

d. the ability to force party members to vote a certain way in the legislature

Learning Objective: 5.4: Understand Duverger’s law and the role of electoral systems in shaping political parties..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Legislative Process

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Which of the following feature in a system of government best allows voters to easily know who is or is NOT to blame for legislative failures?

a. a fused executive and legislature, in which the executive cannot veto legislation

b. a separate executive and legislature in which legislation depends on a variety of independent actors

c. centralized power or strong party discipline that stifles minority dissent

d. the presence of an upper house in the legislature that acts as a rubber stamp

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. In a parliamentary system, which of the following government formations should provide the least stability?

a. majority coalition

b. minority coalition

c. majority party

d. minority party

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Hard

13. In a parliamentary system, which of the following government formations should provide the most stability?

a. majority coalition

b. minority coalition

c. majority party

d. minority party

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. In Italy, if a government fails, which of the following officials can appoint a new prime minister or call for new elections?

a. Prime Minister

b. President

c. Senate

d. Council of Ministers

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Case Study: The Italian Parliament

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. In Italy, the Council of Ministers refers to ______.

a. ex officio members of the Senate

b. the cabinet

c. the lower house of parliament

d. the upper house of parliament

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems..

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Case Study: The Italian Parliament

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Which of the following is a state system in which executive and legislative branches are separate, along with their functions and responsibilities?

a. parliamentary

b. semi-parliamentary

c. semi-presidential

d. presidential

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Presidential Systems

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. In the United States and Germany, the lower houses of the legislative branch represent the ______.

a. lower classes

b. upper classes

c. general population

d. states

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Presidential Systems

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Unlike in Germany, the upper house in the U.S. legislature ______.

a. is directly elected

b. is not directly elected

c. represents the states

d. does not represent the states

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Presidential Systems

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. In the American presidential system, the president may introduce legislation ______.

a. through executive decree

b. directly to initiate the legislative process

c. through the various agencies in the executive branch

d. indirectly through political allies in Congress

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems..

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Legislative-Executive Relations

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. An ‘imperial presidency’ refers to a political figure ______.

a. whose power has far outstripped that of the legislative branch

b. representing the entire country, sometimes with little governing power

c. who is in charge of the functioning and day-to-day affairs of the state

d. who is typically the leader of a political party

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems..

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Legislative-Executive Relations

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. The premise of checks and balances refers to the ______.

a. intrinsic complementary structure of legislative and executive branches

b. process of setting a budget between executive and legislative branches

c. ways in which different branches of government may curtail each other’s power.

d. implicit division between legislative and executive branches even in parliamentary systems.

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Legislative-Executive Relations

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. Though it is Congress’ power alone to declare war, the President serves in the role as the United States’ ______.

a. symbolic head of state

b. policy and agenda-setter

c. commander-in-chief

d. comforter-in-chief

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Legislative-Executive Relations

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. Unlike in parliamentary systems, the president in presidential systems is often ______.

a. a ceremonial head of state

b. the focus of politics in a country

c. acts as the head of government exclusively

d. the only popularly or directly elected figure

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Special Role of the President

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. The annual State of the Union address is an exercise of the U.S. president’s role as ______.

a. symbolic head of state

b. policy and agenda-setter

c. commander-in-chief

d. comforter-in-chief

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Special Role of the President

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Which of the following feature in a system of government makes it difficult for voters to easily know who is or is NOT to blame for political failures?

a. a fused executive and legislature, in which the executive cannot veto legislation

b. separate executive and legislative branches in which legislation depends on a variety of independent actors with often equal powers

c. centralized power or strong party discipline that stifles minority dissent

d. the presence of an upper house in the legislature that acts as a rubber stamp

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. The APSA committee’s call for “responsible party government” in the 1950s referred to ______.

a. political parties formally taking on greater political power

b. an eventual evolution of government to a parliamentary system

c. the responsibilities of parties to act as a check on executive power

d. political parties taking on a greater role in linking citizens to government

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. Which of the following is argued to be a disadvantage of presidential systems?

a. a different pattern of recruitment for executive leaders

b. division of power between the executive and legislature so that the parliament and the majority party do not hold too much power

c. predictability in terms of how long elected officials serve

d. a single leader who can claim to represent the whole country

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Hard

28. The system of government in Fifth Republic France is characterized as a ______.

a. presidential system

b. presidential system with parliamentary leadership

c. parliamentary system

d. parliamentary system with presidential leadership

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Case Study: France’s Hybrid System of Government

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Though James Madison may NOT have supported the idea of political parties, he admits that ______.

a. “democracy is unworkable save in terms of parties”

b. they are “sown in the nature of man”

c. they are “sores” that threaten government

d. they hold governments together

Learning Objective: 5.3: Identify the purposes of political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Parties and Duverger’s Law

Difficulty Level: Hard

30. Which political scientist argued that political parties are effectively a vehicle for office seekers?

a. John Aldrich

b. Anthony Downs

c. Giovanni Sartori

d. Maurice Duverger

Learning Objective: 5.3: Identify the purposes of political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Why Parties Form

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. In arguing why parties form and exist, Downs argues that parties ______.

a. serve politicians as a tool through which politicians can seek office and hold it

b. are chiefly vote seeking organizations and not much more than that

c. are instruments for the organization of the public

d. are some combination of vote, office, and policy seeking

Learning Objective: 5.3: Identify the purposes of political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Why Parties Form

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. The theory that single member district, or first-past-the-post, electoral systems lead to a two-party system is known as ______.

a. Michel’s Law

b. Aldrich’s Law

c. Duverger’s Law

d. Sartori’s Law

Learning Objective: 5.4: Understand Duverger’s law and the role of electoral systems in shaping political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Duverger’s Law

Difficulty Level: Easy

33. Which of the following is argued to be an advantage of presidential systems?

a. a merger of the symbolic and political aspects of the executive in a single person

b. checks and balances between the different branches of government

c. a different pattern of recruitment for executive leaders

d. fixed terms and the need for a vice-president

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Hard

34. Presidential power in the United States has grown largely as a result of ______.

a. congress’ inability to act swiftly

b. periodic economic and military crises

c. congress’ constant checking of executive powers

d. enumerated powers in the constitution

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Legislative-Executive Relations

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. In the United States and Germany, the upper houses of the legislative branch represent ______.

a. the lower classes

b. the upper classes

c. the general population

d. the states

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Presidential Systems

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. A head of state can also be a head of government, and vice versa.

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parliamentary Systems

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. In a parliamentary system, members of parliament as well as the executive are elected independently.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Parliamentary Systems

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. In parliamentary systems, the existence of an upper house can at times make the legislative process difficult.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Elections

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Minority parties have little real power in parliaments.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Legislative Process

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Despite the advantages of a parliamentary system of government, Italian politics are very chaotic.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Case Study: The Italian Parliament

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. In presidential systems, the cabinet is tied to the legislature.

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Presidential Systems

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. The balance of power between executive and legislative branches in presidential systems can ebb and flow.

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Legislative-Executive Relations

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Political parties are an essential part of forming and organizing governments in both presidential and parliamentary systems.

Learning Objective: 5.3: Identify the purposes of political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Parties and Duverger’s Law

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. In parliamentary systems, upper houses serve the function of assent in the legislative process.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Legislative Process

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. In a parliamentary system, the executive branch is made up of the cabinet, who are themselves usually members of the legislature.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Parliamentary Systems

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Explain the difference between Proportional Representation and “Winner Take All” elections, and the types of outcomes they produce. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of these systems? Based on your analysis, make an argument as to which system you think is best, and why.

Learning Objective: 5.4: Understand Duverger’s law and the role of electoral systems in shaping political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Elections

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. What is the nature and advantage of checks and balances in presidential systems of government? What are the disadvantages? Does this suggest that presidential systems are superior to parliamentary ones, or just the opposite? Why?

Learning Objective: 5.2: Identify and describe presidential systems.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Presidential Systems

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Are presidential systems of government more advantageous than parliamentary systems, or is it the other way around? Why is this so? Formulate an argument that outlines pros and cons using concrete examples from history and/or the real world.

Learning Objective: 5.1: Identify and describe parliamentary systems.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Advantages and Disadvantages

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What is the purpose of political parties? How or why are they formed? What are the advantages and disadvantages of parties and party politics in the context of government?

Learning Objective: 5.3: Identify the purposes of political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Political Parties and Duverger’s Law

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Can you envision a modern society or political system without political parties of any kind? What might such a system look like? What kind of challenges might this society face, or would the absence of party politics preclude challenges? Provide conceptual examples to support your argument.

Learning Objective: 5.3: Identify the purposes of political parties.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Parties and Duverger’s Law

Difficulty Level: Hard