Political Parties Exam Questions Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Political Parties

Test Bank

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 01

1) Liberals have sorted themselves into the _____ Party.

Feedback: factual

a. Republican

b. Socialist

c. Democratic

d. Green

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 02

2) Conservatives have sorted themselves into the _______ Party.

Feedback: factual

a. Democratic

b. Green

c. Republican

d. Socialist

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 03

3) The national party conventions have become displays of

Feedback: applied

a. discord.

b. corruption.

c. partisanship.

d. drama.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 04

4) _______ have evolved through the years, but their essential purpose remains the same: they are organizations, with a public following, established to win elections, generally by promoting a set of principles.

Feedback: applied

a. Democrats and Republicans

b. Liberals and conservatives

c. Political parties

d. Political factions

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 05

5) In a 2020 poll cited in the textbook, more people identified themselves as _______ than as Democrats or Republicans.

Feedback: factual

a. environmentalists

b. liberals

c. conservatives

d. independents.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 06

6) What did George Washington warn against, in his Farewell Address, because of their “destructive,” “frightful,” and “fatal” consequences?

Feedback: applied

a. Federalists

b. Anti-Federalists

c. radicals

d. political parties

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 07

7) What percentage of people identified themselves as Democrats in a 2018 poll?

Feedback: factual

a. 10 percent

b. 20 percent

c. 80 percent

d. 30 percent

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 08

8) How many political parties, other than Republican and Democratic, have received at least one Electoral College vote in the last forty years?

Feedback: factual

a. zero

b. one

c. two

d. three

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 09

9) Which political party is known as the “Grand Old Party"?

Feedback: factual

a. Democrats

b. Republicans

c. independents

d. Whigs

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 10

10) Which political party is known for its strong environmental policy positions?

Feedback: applied

a. Republicans

b. independents

c. Democrats

d. Libertarians

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 11

11) Which Green Party candidate in the 2000 presidential election upset the results in the state of Florida?

Feedback: factual

a. Al Gore

b. Jeb Bush

c. Ralph Nader

d. Jerry Brown

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 12

12) Who or what determines ballot access in American elections?

Feedback: applied

a. Supreme Court

b. Federal Elections Commission

c. federal laws

d. state laws

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 13

13) Approximately how many formal single-party systems exist in the world today?

Feedback: applied

a. seven

b. two

c. zero

d. fourteen

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 14

14) Approximately what percentage of voting-age Americans identify with one of the two major political parties today?

Feedback: applied

a. 60 percent

b. 74 percent

c. 47 percent

d. 98 percent

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 15

15) What type of party system does the United States have today?

Feedback: applied

a. a two-and-a-half party system

b. a single-party system

c. a two-party system

d. a multiparty system

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 16

16) How many members are in the United States House of Representatives?

Feedback: factual

a. 435

b. 471

c. 443

d. 376

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 17

17) _______ is the largest two-party state in the world.

Feedback: factual

a. The United Kingdom

b. The United States

c. South Africa

d. South Korea

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 18

18) The vast majority of the world’s democracies are governed by which type of party system?

Feedback: conceptual

a. a multiparty system

b. a single-party system

c. a two-party system

d. none of the above

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 19

19) In U.S. history, who is the only third-party candidate to ever finish second in a presidential election?

Feedback: factual

a. Woodrow Wilson

b. William Howard Taft

c. Theodore Roosevelt

d. Ross Perot

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 20

20) The _______ provide(s) support for a party’s candidates and elected officials.

Feedback: conceptual

a. standing committees in Congress

b. party planks

c. party organizations

d. Electoral College

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 21

21) During the 2016 election cycle, who was the chair of the Democratic National Committee?

Feedback: factual

a. Al Gore

b. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

c. Hillary Rodham Clinton

d. Olympia Snow

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 22

22) An easy way to find a candidate with views similar to yours is to look at the _______ they belong too.

Feedback: factual

a. branch of government

b. state organizations

c. business

d. political party

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 23

23) What do the initials RNC stand for as they relate to political party organizations?

Feedback: factual

a. Republican National Conference

b. Republican Native Committee

c. Republicans Never Commit

d. Republican National Committee

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 24

24) Active Republicans believe that Democrats will

Feedback: factual

a. eventually become Republicans.

b. lose the next election.

c. ruin the country.

d. give up on health care.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 25

25) What is the document that contains a political party’s core convictions and issue priorities?

Feedback: applied

a. the party statement

b. the party constitution

c. the party platform

d. the party compact

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 26

26) Which is the least organized part of the tripartite party structure?

Feedback: conceptual

a. party organizations

b. party in government

c. party in the electorate

d. all three parts are equally disorganized

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 27

27) What are the electoral incentive for political parties?

Feedback: factual

a. Cooperation

b. Block the opposing party

c. Eliminate the opposing party

d. Pass as much legislation as possible before next election

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 28

28) Besides the donkey, what other animal has the Democratic Party used as a mascot?

Feedback: factual

a. rooster

b. eagle

c. vulture

d. All of the above

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 29

29) In what time period did the donkey and elephant become the primary mascots of the Democratic and Republican political parties?

Feedback: applied

a. in the post–Civil War era: 1870s

b. at the end of World War II

c. only in the past thirty years

d. in the first days of the Republic

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 30

30) How long has it been since the colors red and blue have been used to identify the Republican and Democratic Parties, respectively?

Feedback: factual

a. only since 2000

b. since the early 1900s

c. since about 1960

d. since the post–Civil War era

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 31

31) In the first party system, who was more inclined to advocate for a strong national government?

Feedback: applied

a. Thomas Jefferson

b. James Madison

c. Thomas Payne

d. Alexander Hamilton

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 32

32) In the first party system, who was more inclined to advocate for a weaker national government and more states’ rights?

Feedback: applied

a. George Washington

b. Thomas Jefferson

c. Alexander Hamilton

d. John Adams

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 33

33) Which party system witnessed the birth of modern party politics?

Feedback: conceptual

a. the second

b. the third

c. the fourth

d. the fifth

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 34

34) The Whig Party in the United States got its name from Britain, where the term stood for opposition to

Feedback: conceptual

a. monarchy.

b. authoritarian rule.

c. tyranny or mob rule.

d. the House of Lords.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 35

35) During the second party system (alignment), which political party favored genocidal Indian (Native American) removal?

Feedback: applied

a. Federalists

b. Whigs

c. independents

d. Democrats

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 36

36) What political party did Abraham Lincoln help to form?

Feedback: conceptual

a. Republican

b. Democratic

c. Federalist

d. Anti-Federalist

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 37

37) Which of the following was an issue position of the “Radical Republicans” in the aftermath of the Civil War?

Feedback: applied

a. higher tariffs to promote southern agriculture

b. political rights for former slaves

c. an end to western expansion

d. giving back a certain amount of land to Native Americans

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 38

38) “A hierarchical arrangement of party workers, often organized in an urban area to help integrate immigrants and minority groups into the political system” is the textbook’s definition of what?

Feedback: conceptual

a. party boss

b. national party organization

c. party machine

d. state party organization

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 39

39) The party boss was the leader of the

Feedback: applied

a. party machine.

b. political party.

c. state government.

d. local government.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 40

40) Who won the election of 1896, which marks the beginning of the fourth party system in the United States?

Feedback: applied

a. William Jennings Bryan

b. William McKinley

c. William Howard Taft

d. Woodrow Wilson

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 41

41) A primary tension during the fourth party system was between which of the following?

Feedback: applied

a. Big business and progressive reform favoring fair pay and better working conditions

b. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions

c. Those advocating the admission of new states and those who felt the country had grown too large

d. All of the above

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 42

42) In what year did the United States ban the sale of alcohol?

Feedback: factual

a. 1869

b. 1920

c. 1932

d. 1956

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 43

43) Who was president during the New Deal?

Feedback: factual

a. Franklin D. Roosevelt

b. Theodore Roosevelt

c. William McKinley

d. Woodrow Wilson

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 44

44) Prior to the New Deal, which political party was considered the most progressive in the promotion of civil rights and social justice?

Feedback: conceptual

a. Republicans

b. Democrats

c. Populists

d. Know-Nothings

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 45

45) Which political party dominated in the fifth party system?

Feedback: applied

a. Republicans

b. Democrats

c. Populists

d. Know-Nothings

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 46

46) What was Franklin Roosevelt’s economic system known as?

Feedback: applied

a. New Deal

b. Old Deal

c. Depression Recovery Deal

d. Economic Recovery Deal

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 47

47) What statement best characterizes party electoral competition in the sixth party system?

Feedback: applied

a. too close to call

b. Democratic Party dominance

c. Republican Party dominance

d. no competition exists

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 48

48) Which two Republican presidential candidates developed a “southern strategy” that, in the end, converted the South to a Republican region of the country?

Feedback: applied

a. Nixon and Reagan

b. Goldwater and Nixon

c. Reagan and George H. W. Bush

d. Dole and George W. Bush II

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 49

49) How long have Republicans and Democrats dominated U.S. party politics?

Feedback: factual

a. since 1856

b. since 1902

c. since 1933

d. since 1984

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 50

50) What term best describes the transition from the fifth to the sixth party system in the United States?

Feedback: conceptual

a. abrupt

b. gradual

c. unexpected

d. planned

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 51

51) Around what year did the sixth, and current, party system begin?

Feedback: applied

a. 1969

b. 1964

c. 1984

d. 2002

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 52

52) What percentage of Hispanic voters identify as Republicans in 2020?

Feedback: factual

a. 17 percent

b. 10 percent

c. 53 percent

d. 29 percent

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 53

53) What percentage of White voters identify as Democrats in 2020?

Feedback: conceptual

a. 72 percent

b. 63 percent

c. 83 percent

d. 42 percent

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 54

54) “Party members who tend to vote loyally for their party’s candidates in most elections” is the textbook's definition of

Feedback: applied

a. split-ticket voters.

b. straight-ticket voters.

c. base voters.

d. loyalists.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 55

55) Which type of voting is most likely to lead to divided government?

Feedback: conceptual

a. split-ticket voting

b. straight-ticket voting

c. base voting

d. loyalist voting

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 56

56) When people choose what signals in the media environment to accept or reject according to political party, they are practicing

Feedback: conceptual

a. censorship.

b. agenda-setting.

c. split-ticket voting.

d. filtering.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 57

57) People with a strong sense of duty and discipline tend to be

Feedback: applied

a. Democrats.

b. Republicans.

c. independents.

d. split between the two major parties.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 58

58) In the early 1990s, approximately what percentage of Democrats tended to support stronger environmental regulations?

Feedback: factual

a. 51 percent

b. 67 percent

c. 93 percent

d. 100 percent

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 59

59) What has happened to Republican Party support for tougher environmental regulations?

Feedback: conceptual

a. It has been roughly cut in half.

b. It has more than doubled.

c. It has stayed the same at a very high level.

d. It has stayed the same at a very low level.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 60

60) Which Republican Party faction generally supports a return to what it believes to be America’s strong Christian culture?

Feedback: applied

a. Libertarians

b. traditionalists

c. neoconservatives

d. moderates

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 61

61) Which Republican Party faction generally supports U.S. intervention in world affairs to spread democracy?

Feedback: applied

a. Libertarians

b. traditionalists

c. neoconservatives

d. moderates

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 62

62) Which Republican Party faction generally supports some tax increases along with spending cuts?

Feedback: applied

a. Libertarians

b. traditionalists

c. neoconservatives

d. moderates

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 63

63) Which Democratic Party faction is skeptical of U.S. military action and corporate power?

Feedback: applied

a. organized labor

b. progressives

c. deficit hawks

d. “Third Way” proponents

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 64

64) Which Democratic Party faction helps build rainbow coalitions?

Feedback: applied

a. organized labor

b. progressives

c. Civil Rights Caucus

d. centrists

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 65

65) Which Democratic Party faction generally seeks to reduce the number of abortions while preserving a woman’s right to choose?

Feedback: applied

a. organized labor

b. progressives

c. deficit hawks

d. “Third Way” proponents

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 66

66) Which of the following has not been identified as a probable cause of individual party identification?

Feedback: conceptual

a. personality

b. parental influence

c. careful study of political issues

d. political context

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 67

67) How many factions within each party do most party members identify with?

Feedback: applied

a. usually all five

b. one or two

c. one and only one

d. four

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 68

68) In which decade were political scientists guessing that political parties might be going away?

Feedback: factual

a. 1940s

b. 1950s

c. 1960s

d. 1990s

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 69

69) After the 2000 election, how many Democrats and how many Republicans were there in the Senate?

Feedback: factual

a. sixty Democrats and forty Republicans

b. fifty-five Democrats and forty-five Republicans

c. fifty-five Republicans and forty-five Democrats

d. fifty Republicans and fifty Democrats

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 70

70) Ordinary people make up the

Feedback: applied

a. party in the electorate.

b. party in government.

c. party organization.

d. big tent.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 71

71) A meeting of all Democrats or all Republicans in either the House of Representatives or the Senate is commonly known as a

Feedback: applied

a. party manifesto.

b. party caucus.

c. party platform.

d. party meeting.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 72

72) Differences within each of the two major parties in Congress

Feedback: conceptual

a. have all but disappeared.

b. have intensified dramatically in recent years.

c. intensified dramatically in the 1990s but have waned a little since then.

d. have stayed about the same over time.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 73

73) Which media outlet is noted for holding conservative views?

Feedback: factual

a. Fox News

b. NBC

c. MSNBC

d. CBS

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 74

74) People who are worried about bitter partisanship suggest that

Feedback: conceptual

a. it was the Founders' intention.

b. it is based on constitutional principles.

c. it leads to bad policy.

d. it leads to entertaining drama.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 75

75) People who are worried about bitter partisanship suggest that

Feedback: conceptual

a. it was the Founders’ intention.

b. it discourages good people from running for office.

c. it has always been this way.

d. it leads to entertaining drama.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 76

76) What term signifies that at least one house of Congress is controlled by a party different from the party in control of the White House?

Feedback: applied

a. checks and balances

b. divided government

c. separation of powers

d. party division

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 77

77) Which statement is true as it relates to major party competition in the United States today?

Feedback: conceptual

a. The parties work together more today than in the 1960s.

b. The parties work together less today than any time in the recent past.

c. The parties work together more today than in the 1930s.

d. The parties work together less today than in the 1960s but more than in the 1950s.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 78

78) How many single-member districts are used to elect members of the House of Representatives?

Feedback: factual

a. 500

b. 270

c. 50

d. 435

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 79

79) In the United States, how many people are elected to the House of Representatives from each district?

Feedback: applied

a. one

b. two

c. four

d. fifteen

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 80

80) What do the initials “PR” normally stand for as they relate to electoral systems?

Feedback: applied

a. plurality rule

b. proportional return

c. poorly represented

d. proportional representation

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 81

81) Which of the following arguments is made by individuals who advocate for proportional representation elections?

Feedback: conceptual

a. They would increase voter turnout.

b. They would lead to automatic majorities.

c. They would reinforce two-party dominance.

d. All of the answer choices are correct.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 82

82) Which of the following arguments is made by individuals who advocate for proportional representative elections?

Feedback: conceptual

a. They would lead to better policy by ensuring that a wider spectrum of policy options are considered.

b. They would help ensure that only the most educated are allowed to vote.

c. They would prevent third parties from confusing electoral options.

d. They would lead to better policy by limiting the number of voices that are heard in Congress.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 83

83) Which of the following arguments is made by individuals who advocate for proportional representation elections?

Feedback: conceptual

a. They would increase representation of women and minorities.

b. They would help to prevent coalition governments.

c. They would discourage multiparty democracy.

d. They would increase the influence of elites and the most educated.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 84

84) Which of the following is an example of how third political parties are discouraged by the U.S. electoral system?

Feedback: conceptual

a. They are disadvantaged by proportional representation election laws.

b. They are disadvantaged by multimember districts.

c. They are outlawed in many states.

d. They are rarely allowed to participate in debates.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 85

85) Which of the following is not an element of “postpartisan” politics, as it is discussed in the textbook?

Feedback: applied

a. changes rules to reinforce two-party dominance

b. limits negativity in election campaigns

c. limits campaign spending

d. changes rules regarding the money spent in elections by advocacy groups

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 86

86) Who helped organize the first political party?

Feedback: factual

a. George Washington

b. John Adams

c. Thomas Jefferson

d. Alexander Hamilton

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 87

87) What does the Greek term agonistic imply as it relates to political debate?

Feedback: applied

a. the need for everyone to get along

b. the importance of holding your ground and never compromising

c. the assumption that the rules will define the nature of the debate

d. a willingness to disagree while respecting the other person’s point of view

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 88

88) One of the threats of strict or strong partisanship is that it can lead to

Feedback: conceptual

a. increased participation.

b. effective conflict.

c. a decrease in ideological thinking.

d. increased apathy.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 89

89) Which Republican leader told Ron Machtley, “No more basketball”?

Feedback: factual

a. Newt Gingrich

b. Ronald Reagan

c. George W. Bush

d. John McCain

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 90

90) Political parties are discussed in which article of the Constitution?

Feedback: factual

a. Article I

b. Article II

c. Article III

d. not mentioned in the constitution

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 91

91) The largest number of House seats held by any party was 333, held by the

Feedback: factual

a. Republicans (1937–1939)

b. Democrats (1937–1939)

c. Federalists (1821–1823)

d. Democrats (1821–1823)

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 92

92) How many presidents have lost the popular vote and won the electoral college?

Feedback: factual

a. thirteen

b. eleven

c. four

d. seven

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 93

93) If you support the environment, public radio, lowering taxes, and traditional families, you are likely

Feedback: factual

a. an independent

b. a Democrat

c. a Republican

d. a Libertarian

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 94

94) Once in office, Donald Trump won the support of _______ of Republican Party members.

Feedback: factual

a. 100 percent

b. 90 percent

c. 80 percent

d. 70 percent

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 95

95) Local government often relies on

Feedback: factual

a. multiparty elections.

b. two-party elections.

c. nonpartisan elections.

d. appointments rather than elections.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 96

96) In a proportional representation system, a party that won 20 percent of the vote would get what percentage of seats in the legislature?

Feedback: factual

a. 0 percent

b. 5 percent

c. 10 percent

d. 20 percent

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 97

97) A candidate who breaks out of the two-party system will be accused of being

Feedback: factual

a. a spoiler.

b. a renegade.

c. an outcast.

d. a traitor.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 98

98) How many signatures must be gathered in Florida to get a third party candidate on a presidential primary ballot?

Feedback: factual

a. 100,000

b. 112,000

c. 118,000

d. 500,000

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 99

99) The only state to elect a third-party candidate governor was

Feedback: factual

a. California.

b. Alaska.

c. Minnesota.

d. New Hampshire.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 100

100) What happens when a third party becomes popular?

Feedback: factual

a. It can elect the president.

b. It gets more money.

c. It wins elections.

d. Its issues are adopted by a major party.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 101

101) What are the DNC and RNC, and what function do they perform?

Feedback:

The national party committees.

Assist party candidates in electoral contests.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 102

102) Discuss why Congressman Machtley was asked to stop playing basketball.

Feedback:

Playing with members of the other party.

Democrats were seen as enemy.

Republicans too comfortable in minority.

Parties no longer work together.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 103

103) What role did the Green Party play in the 2000 presidential election?

Feedback:

Spoiler.

Bush won Florida’s Electoral College votes as a result of votes for Green candidate.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 104

104) Discuss the differences between Democrats and Republicans.

Feedback:

Democrats: liberal, freedom from want.

Republicans: conservative, freedom from government coercion.

List some issues that divide the parties.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 105

105) Which is the least organized of the three parts of a party, and why?

Feedback:

Party in the electorate, because it is the largest, and there are no qualifications for membership.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 106

106) Discuss what the parties do. (Discuss at least three of the following.)

Feedback:

Champion ideas.

Select candidates.

Mobilize voters.

Organize governing activity after the election.

Help integrate new groups into the political process.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 107

107) How would you characterize the first two presidents (Washington and Adams) in terms of their involvement in party politics?

Feedback:

Above the fray—not involved.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 108

108) Which political parties dominated the second party system (ca. 1828 –1860)?

Feedback:

Whigs and Democrats.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 109

109) What role did the Republican Party play in organizing Union forces during the Civil War?

Feedback:

Lincoln used the party to recruit soldiers, name officers, and distribute aid to war widows.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 110

110) What were two of the issue positions of the “Radical Republicans” in the aftermath of the Civil War?

Feedback:

Rebuilding the nation by occupying the South.

Protecting the political rights of former slaves.

Making it possible for former slaves to run for public office.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 111

111) Discuss political socialization.

Feedback:

Define political socialization.

Identify some agents of political socialization.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 112

112) Who was president during the New Deal, and what reforms did he promote?

Feedback:

Franklin Roosevelt.

Job creation, infrastructure improvements.

Government aid to the elderly (Social Security).

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 113

113) What was Theodore Roosevelt’s role in gaining acceptance of third parties?

Feedback:

Ran for president as a third-party candidate.

Came in second.

Party dissolved within four years.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 114

114) What is the difference between straight-ticket voting and split-ticket voting?

Feedback:

Voting for one party’s candidates only versus splitting vote between the candidates of the two parties.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 115

115) How does partisanship serve to “filter” political information?

Feedback:

Filters determine what signals in the media environment people are liable to accept or reject.

Partisanship provides filters.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 116

116) What issue positions are supported by the moderate faction within the Republican Party?

Feedback:

Fiscally conservative.

Will consider tax increases if accompanied by spending cuts.

Relatively liberal on social and international issues.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 117

117) What issue positions are supported by “Third Way” proponents within the Democratic Party?

Feedback:

Reduce abortions while preserving a woman’s right to choose.

Secure borders, but offer legal protections to immigrants already living in the United States.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 118

118) What issue positions are supported by the traditionalist faction within the Republican Party?

Feedback:

Support natural law.

States’ rights (as opposed to federal government power).

Support a return to what they consider America’s Christian culture.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 119

119) What issue positions are supported by the moderate faction within the Republican Party?

Feedback:

Tax increases (or “revenue enhancements”).

Spending cuts.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 120

120) What is meant by the term divided government?

Feedback:

At least one chamber of Congress is controlled by a party different from the one occupying the White House.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 121

121) What is meant by the term party caucus?

Feedback:

A meeting of all House or Senate members of one or the other main party, usually to discuss political and policy strategies.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 122

122) What explains the decline of political parties in the 1960s?

Feedback:

Increased competition with interest groups.

A broader libertarian spirit.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 123

123) What explains the resurgence of political parties in the 1980s?

Feedback:

Rule changes in Congress, which gave party leaders more sway.

Influx of money to campaigns, which was passed through the political parties.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 124

124) How does ideological conflict break down in both the House and the Senate today?

Feedback:

Ideology determined by party, with no overlap.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 125

125) Discuss the first contested election and the first time the White House changed party hands.

Feedback:

Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson won over Federalist incumbent president John Adams.

Democratic-Republicans would dominate next six presidential elections.

Federalists noted that Jefferson won by carrying slave states, in which population was inflated by addition of three-fifths of a vote for each slave.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 126

126) Discuss two arguments against intense party competition.

Feedback:

It causes gridlock.

It leads to bad public policies.

It prevents high-quality candidates from running for government office.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 127

127) What arguments suggest that intense party competition is not a bad thing?

Feedback:

The Founders intended for the system to be gridlocked.

Delay is part of the normal process.

Congressional retirements in the 2000s actually lagged behind the pace in the 1980s and 1990s.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 128

128) What do proportional representation elections look like? How do they work?

Feedback:

Parties represented in the legislature in proportion to their support among the electorate.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 129

129) Discuss two barriers to third parties' chances in American elections.

Feedback:

Major parties adopt issues.

Winner take all.

State laws determine who gets on ballot, making it difficult for third parties to qualify.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 130

130) How are party machines, party bosses, and immigration related?

Feedback:

Immigrants came to the cities during 1870s and 1880s

Party bosses ran party machines that helped immigrants in exchange for their votes when they became naturalized citizens.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 131

131) What obstacles do third political parties face in the United States?

Feedback:

Ballot access restrictions.

Plurality-rule elections.

The Electoral College works against third parties.

Third parties generally have been excluded from presidential debates.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 132

132) Compare and contrast a two-party political system with a multiparty political system.

Feedback:

Multiparty systems are more common.

The United States has one of the few pure two-party systems left in the world.

The type of election determines the party system.

Single-member district elections with a plurality rule produce two-party systems.

Proportional representation elections produce multiparty systems.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 133

133) Why are the two major political parties in the United States considered “big tent” parties?

Feedback:

Because of federalism and the decentralized nature of politics, the major parties are forced to try to attract people from a broad array of backgrounds and political views.

Because of regional variation in political ideology, the parties are forced to broaden their appeal.

The two-party system causes the major parties to try to capture the ideological middle ground.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 134

134) Discuss characteristics of the current party system that differentiate the modern partisan alignment from partisan alignments in earlier eras.

Feedback:

Today, there is no dominant party.

The current era is defined by intense electoral competition.

It is easier to differentiate between the issue positions of the two parties today.

The change did not start abruptly; its origin cannot be easily tied to a single event or series of events.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 135

135) Describe the role of “party machines” in the third party system.

Feedback:

Controlled local governments.

Enfranchised newly arriving immigrants.

Development patronage networks used to recruit government employees .

Provided social services to party loyalists.

Provided a ladder for upward social mobility for newly arriving immigrants.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 136

136) Discuss the policy changes that occurred during the New Deal.

Feedback:

Focused on jobs.

Infrastructure improvements.

Government aid to the elderly (Social Security).

Temporary assistance for the needy (unemployment insurance, welfare).

New federal government agencies to manage it all.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 137

137) Why do party systems matter? In other words, why do we continue to study the phenomenon of changing party alignments?

Feedback:

A new party system means new politics.

Coalitions of voters, ideas, and political leaders determine how America is governed.

Party alignment determines important policy questions, such as universal health insurance, troop commitments, and tax policies.

Many political decisions depend on the party—and ideas—in power.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 138

138) Define and describe each of the six factions within the Republican Party.

Feedback:

Populists, or Trumpists.

Religious traditionalists.

Fiscal conservatives.

Libertarians.

Neoconservatives.

Moderates.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 139

139) Define and describe each of the four factions within the Democratic Party.

Feedback:

Progressives.

Civil Rights Caucus.

Organized labor.

Centrists.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 140

140) What explanations do the authors provide for the decline of political parties in the 1960s and their subsequent reemergence?

Feedback:

Competition with interest groups contributed to decline.

People becoming more libertarian contributed to decline.

An increase in money flowing into election campaigns contributed to resurgence, because the money is “laundered” through the political parties.

Rule changes in Congress giving party leaders more power contributed to resurgence.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 141

141) What story can be told about the state of political parties, today? Are they thriving or not?

Feedback:

After declining thirty to forty years ago, both main political parties are now thriving.

Parties are highly competitive—recent national elections have featured narrow margins of victory in presidential races and frequent shifts in party control.

This competition has been accompanied by—and likely helped to fuel—a rise in partisan differences.

Most Americans—and many social scientists—believe that partisanship is affecting the quality of American government. The intensity of the conflict, they believe, will weaken our institutions.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 142

142) Elaborate on possible reforms that might encourage third parties and perhaps break up the intense two-party competition that exists in the United States today.

Feedback:

Proportional representation elections.

Removal of barriers to third-party electoral success.

Move to a postpartisan era limiting campaigns (negativity, money).

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 143

143) Discuss in detail what the parties do.

Feedback:

Champion ideas.

Select candidates.

Organize governing activity after the election.

Help integrate new groups into the political process.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 144

144) Discuss contributions that minor parties make to the political system.

Feedback:

Open the process to alternative views.

Give dissidents a voice.

Expand civic engagement.

Inject strong and controversial views into the major parties.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 145

145) What story can be told about the state of political parties, today? Are they thriving or not?

Feedback:

After declining thirty to forty years ago, both main political parties are thriving today.

Parties are highly competitive—recent national elections have featured narrow margins of victory in presidential races and frequent shifts in party control.

This competition has been accompanied by—and likely helped to fuel—a rise in partisan differences.

Most Americans—and many social scientists—believe that partisanship is affecting the quality of American government. The intensity of the conflict, they believe, will weaken our institutions.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 146

146) Discuss how early politics led to murder.

Feedback:

Party newspapers showered opponents with insults.

Distrust of party politics.

Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr despised Federalist Hamilton.

Fought a duel with and fatally wounded Hamilton.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 147

147) Discuss how the two major parties dealt with the slavery issue.

Feedback:

Democrats: leave it to the states and the territories.

Whigs divided: those from the south fought for the expansion of slavery, while those from the north opposed it. The differences destroyed the party, and a new party system arose.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 148

148) Discuss the regional identity of the parties at the end of the nineteenth century.

Feedback:

Democrats controlled former Confederate states (Solid South); drove African Americans out of politics and restored white dominance.

Republicans grew strongest in Northeast and Midwest.

Elections very close.

Presidency changed hands with each election.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 149

149) Who were the members of the Democratic Party coalition of the fifth party system?

Feedback:

Solid South.

Big city machines with ethnic supporters.

Labor unions.

Farmers.

African Americans.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 150

150) Discuss African Americans’ shift from the GOP to the Democratic Party.

Feedback:

Loyal to Grand Old Party (GOP) since Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation.

Republican Party was party of civil rights in 1920s.

Roosevelt’s employment programs and early efforts to reduce racial segregation won over many black voters to Democratic Party.