POS 332

A person who use to watch CBS broadcast news, but now watches Rick and Morty after getting cable television is called which of the following?

a switcher

According to the lecture, which decades saw the most competitive elections between Democrats and Republicans in the House, Senate, and Presidential elections?

1990s, 2000, and 2010

Although Kyrsten Sinema is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, she still votes with the Democratic Party approximately how much of the time?

84% of the time

Which of the following are hurdles or challenges faced by third party candidates in the United States?

All of the above. There are many reasons third parties fail and the two-party system is maintained. A few of these reasons described in the lecture are a lack of finances due to a lack of donor networks, challenges to get on the ballot in all 50 states, and less media exposure.

According to the Civic Volunteerism Model described in the textbook, what explains why activists participate in politics?

All the above: they are invited to participate, strong interest in an issue, resources (wealthy)

According to the textbook, what two political candidates solidified the Republican Party as the conservative party in the United States?

Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan

According to the textbook, polarization has occurred along two dominant dimensions. Which of the following best describes the two dimensions on which parties have divided on in modern politics?

Economic and civil right/racial issues

According to the textbook, the destabilization of partisan coalitions following the 1960s was mostly due to economic issues?

False

True or False: Citizens had strong attachments to the newly formed political parties in the party system of 1815.

False. Most Americans viewed the parties as temporary solutions to solve social choice problems in government. Citizens held weak attachments to the parties and distrusted them.

According to the lecture, which of the following statements is accurate.

It is difficult to predict when the next realignment will occur

Which of the following groups was NOT a member of the Democratic Party's New Deal coalition?

Northern business interests

Which of the following does the textbook describe as important functions of political parties?

Organize political competition, Organize policy-making efforts

Which of the following is NOT a claim of realignment theory?

Realignments are triggered by party leaders

One potential reason why people might choose to expose themselves to information sources that fit their prior beliefs is to,

Reduce cognitive dissonance

The tendency for Republicans to watch Fox news for information and Democrats to watch MSNBC for information is an example of,

Selective exposure

According to the textbook, which of the following is NOT a "push" factor?

Strong third party candidates are a pull, not a push, factor. A high quality third party candidate pulls people toward the third party rather than pushing them away from the major parties.

Explain how the Democratic New Deal coalition was able to satisfy the demands of Southern Whites and low-income, urban dwellers?

The Democrats let Southern Whites handle race relations in their states as they saw fit, i.e., the party did not interfere with racial policies that were in place that benefited or satisfied Southern Whites. It gained the support of low-income, urban dwellers (including African-Americans) by delivering specific public programs that benefited these groups (social security, labor rights, welfare).

Which of the following eras weakened state political parties?

The Progressive Era

The conclusion of the textbook describes several contributions of the UCLA model of politics? In other words, how has this model helped improve our understanding of political parties?

The UCLA model highlights the role of group interests in party politics and the reason parties adopt non-centrist policies. It helps explain nomination contests and the adoption of policy positions on certain issues such as abortion of major party candidates. It has also led scholars to think more critically about political parties.

True or False: The Mixed Presidential Nomination System of 1912-1968 allowed party leaders to reject the candidate that was most popular among voters.

True: primaries allowed voters to choose a nominee or at least input into the process, but party leaders controlled large blocs of delegates necessary to elect the final nominee.

According to the textbook, which of the following contributions to the American Party System can be attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt?

a shift in power from state/local parties to the national parties

According to the textbook, partisanship plays a significant role in how people vote in which of the following elections?

all of the above: Low information elections; High information elections; when ideological concerns are high

Which of the following is TRUE regarding how the changing media environment contributes to partisan polarization?

all of the above: People that prefer entertainment media are more moderate than people who prefer the news; Entertainment media decreases probability of voting; People who watch the news and vote tend to be strong partisans

According to the textbook, which of the following was a contribution of George W. Bush to the Republican Party?

all of the above: created a link between the president's agenda and the Republican Party; attempted to court disadvantaged/poor citizens into the Republican Party; strengthened the national Republican Party

True: Polarized members of Congress lead to more gridlock and less legislative output. Moderate members compromise and produce more legislation.

both A&B: greater legislative gridlock; decreases in public support for Congress

Which of the following is a problem when measuring partisan polarization within the fifty U.S. states?

both A&B: the ideological make-up of parties differs across states; parties do not vote on the same issues across states

According to the textbook, the fall of the Whig Party, and the rise of the Republican Party, resulted from which of the following?

both a&b: increasing immigration of Catholics, Irish, and Germans; attempts to expand slavery into the West

According to the UCLA model, which of the following explains the rise of candidates outside the party mainstream such as Donald J. Trump, Barack Obama, and John Kerry in winning their parties nomination?

factional conflict within parties

Which of the following is NOT one of the duties of political parties within Congress?

help organize state parties

Which of the following is NOT a claim of realignment theory?

incumbents lose elections during realignment elections

Which if the following is NOT a measure of the strength of a party organization?

its ability to control the media. There is no single measure of party strength. However, we can reasonable assume that a strong and more influential party will have more resources and staff as well as the structure to achieve its electoral goals. Controlling the media does not represent party strength since parties themselves do little to control the media beyond trying to get their message across.

According to the textbook, what factor became an important source of cleavage in the party system during the New Deal for the first time in American history?

social-economic class

According to the textbook, the Michigan Model of partisanship suggests that the displacement of partisanship (or a change in partisan identification) should most likely occur when?

the first decade of political life (when someone first becomes politically active)

Which of the following is NOT a potential reason party coalitions have changed?

the rise of international terrorism

Which of the following reforms did NOT seek to weaken the control of state political parties?

the use of superdelegates

According the the classic definition of partisan identification, partisan attachments develop,

through childhood and early adult socialization from parents and social peers

According to the textbook, which of the following does NOT describe the make-up of Congress during the low partisan polarization period of the 1930s to the 1970s?

There were fewer liberal Democrats

Which statement more closely reflects the revisionist definition of partisan identification?

A sense of personal attachment to a political party based on a running tally of past party performance

According to the UCLA model, the most important unit in party organizations is the organized group (e.g., interest group, citizen group, group of candidates). According to the UCLA model, why must these organized groups form a political party?

According to the UCLA model, organized groups must form political parties with other organized groups in order to deliver the votes of a majority. Groups must cooperate with other groups to mobilize support for candidates who represent the coalitions policy demands.

In order to reduce electoral uncertainty, organized groups must for "long coalitions"---that is coalitions that can cooperate with each other over time. Explain at least TWO theories presented in the chapter that might help explain why coalition partners maintain such cooperation over time. In other words, how come members of the party coalition do not defect and form a new coalition with other organized groups that might offer them more policy concessions?

1. Coalition merchants that provide an ideological framework linking policy demands across groups. 2. Party coalitions are a series of extended networks that make it costly to shift into a new coalition. 3. Groups must cede power to a central authority (political party organizations) that can maintain party discipline and make defection costly.

According to the textbook and lectures, which of the following are POTENTIAL reasons for partisan polarization?

All of the above: Southern Realignment; New media/high choice media environment; Gerrymandering

According to the textbook, which of the following statements describes the party system of the 1820s and 1830s?

All of the above: a strong nationalistic surge from National Republicans; The emergence of Democratic-Republicans in favor of state's rights; an increase in parties rather than loose coalitions

True or False: One reason third-parties may survive across multiple elections is that the two major political parties often address issues of importance to third-party supporters.

False. Third parties often rise due to making salient an issue neglected by the major parties. The major parties will often address the issue thereby making the third party unnecessary. This leads to a quick decline in the life of many third parties.

True or False: The classic definition of partisan identification specifies that partisanship is more cognitive (based on thought and reason) than affective.

False. According to the classical definition of partisanship, it is a more affective attachment to a political party. The revisionist definition posits that partisanship is a cognitive based attached to a political party that develops as people think (i.e., a cognitive process) about their own issue and candidate preferences and those issues and candidates supported by each political party.

True or False: During the Cannon Era in the House of Representatives, partisan power was highly decentralized (i.e., spread out among individual party members).

False. During the Cannon Era, party power was highly centralized with Speaker Cannon. He chaired the rules committee and used it to control what legislation made it to the House floor. He became the de facto party leader and was able to prevent legislation from members who did not conform to the party.

True or False: Motivated reasoning is more consistent with the revisionist definition of partisanship than the classical definition of partisanship

False. Motivated reasoning is more consistent with the classicial definition of partisan identification. Motivated reasoning leads partisans to view political issues and candidates through a partisan lens. Partisanship is responsible for how people think about issues and public officials rather than the other way around. According to the classicial definition of partisan identification, issues do not guide party identification.

True or False: Partisan polarization is a new phenomenon that hasn't existing in previous eras.

False. Partisan polarization is dynamic. There are periods where polarization is less and periods where polarization in more. Today's polarization is greater than past eras of polarization, but polarization itself is not unique to this era. The causes of today's polarization, however, might be different than the causes of polarization in the past.

True or False: Scholars often divide political parties into parties as organizations, parties within government, and third parties.

False. Scholars divide political parties into parties as organizations, parties within government, and parties in the electorate (among citizens).

True or False: The main goal of the Campaign "Hill" committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate is to help raise money for state party officials.

False. The main goal of these organizations is to raise money to ensure their party maintains control of the U.S. Congress.

True or False: State political parties have been unable to improve their ability to raise money due to the rise of strong national parties.

False. The rise of national party strength has not hampered the ability of state political parties to raise money. In fact, state party organizations have improved their fundraising abilities in more recent years.

According to the textbook, bipartisanship still exist on party brand issues, i.e., issues that distinguish one party from another?

False: According to the textbook, bipartisanship is less likely on party brand issues, i.e., issues that distinguish one party from another. Instead, it still exists on non-brand issues such as transportation policy and agriculture.

True or False: According to the textbook, during the mid-1800s the Democratic Party favored a strong central government and the Republican Party favored state's rights.

False: According to the textbook, during the mid-1800s the Democratic Party favored a weak central government or state's rights and the Republican Party favored a strong central, national government. This looks quite different than the parties position on these issues today as most Southern conservative Democrats shifted into the modern Republican Party.

True or False: Partisan polarization is only high during non-realigning elections.

False: Polarization has been high during some realignment elections and low during some realignment elections. It has also been high during some non-realignment elections and low during some non-realignment elections.

True or False: A political party on the procedural path to power will raise money for its candidates, providing polling information, and views its main goal as helping candidates get elected.

False: Raising money for candidates is a service that a party might provide to its members. This is part of the service path.

True or False: The use of superdelegates in the Republican Party primaries reduces the voice of citizens or regular delegates in the nomination process.

False: The Republican Party does not use superdelegates. Superdelegates are only used by the Democratic Party.

True or False: According to the lecture, polarization in the states is greater than polarization in Congress.

False: The gap between Democrats and Republicans is larger in Congress (for 2015) than for the aggregate of all state governments (for 2015).

True or False: According to the lecture on partisanship and national elections, the number of Independents has increased in recent years, while the number of Independents that lean toward one of the major parties has decreased.

False: The lecture shows that Independents have declined to less than 10% of the public, while Independents that lean toward a party have increased to almost 30%.

True or False: According to the textbook, pure or true Independents grew significantly in the 1970s and continue to grow today.

False: The number of "pure" or "true" Independents "grew hardly" in the 1970s and declined to the same levels as 1960 by the 1990s. Pure Independents are those that identify as an Independent AND fail to lean towards one of the two major parties. Most people that claim to be Independent lean or slightly favor one of the major parties and behave similarly to strong partisans.

True or False: Third Party candidates run for office during realigning elections more than they do during non-realigning elections.

False: Third Party candidates run for office during realigning and non-realigning elections at an equal rate.

True or False: According to the lecture, when people are given the option of more television channels (i.e., cable), they are more likely to watch cable news.

False: When given access to cable news, about half of Americans are going to tune into entertainment television with only 8% tuning into cable news. About 35% of Americans continue to watch broadcast news.

According to the textbook, which two groups formed a coalition within the Democratic Party in the 1930s?

In the 1930s, the Congress of Industrial Organizations and African-Americans formed a coalition within the Democratic Party allowing the destruction of Jim Crow segregation against the wishes of Southern Whites within the Democratic Party. This coalition allowed both groups the power to push the Democratic Party toward it's preferred legislative goals.

According to the lectures, do parties in Congress mostly rely on punishing rogue or maverick members of the party who do not conform to the party or do they mostly try to provide incentives for members of the party to conform to the party?

Incentives

According to the lecture, which of the following is true?

Partisan voting in presidential elections is greater than partisan voting in congressional elections

Which of the following is NOT a function of the national party organization?

Regulate campaign finance rules. The national party organizations distribute polls and policy information, help recruit candidates, help get the party's presidential nominee elected, raise money, and coordinate on national strategy with state parties. The national party organization does not have the ability to regulate campaign finance. That is in the jurisdiction of the federal and state governments.

According to the textbook, which of the following is a reason for the lack of cross-party coalitions in the modern era?

Sorting; The sorting of conservatives into the Republican Party and liberals into the Democratic Party (along with a loss of moderate members in both parties) contributed to partisan polarization and the reduction of bipartisanship in Congress.

Suppose Jim is a Democrat. He always votes for Democratic candidates, however, he recently has been displeased with the Democratic Party's inability to pass legislation protecting the environment. Jim decides to join the Green Party and votes for the Green candidates in future elections. Jim's behavior most closely resembles,

The revisionist definition of partisanship

True or False: According to the textbook, activists who support a losing candidate in a primary election often support the party's eventual nominee.

True. Although early research suggested that these activists became bitter and abstained from backing the party's nominee, the most recent evidence suggests activists are quite pragmatic and will back the candidate most likely to represent their interests in the general election (which is most often the party's nominee).

True or False: According to the textbook, state political parties help provide representation for societies poor or "have nots."

True. One-party states that with a lack of ideological competition leads to the poor to be left out of politics since the party that dominates does not need to the poor in their coalition to win elections.

According to the lecture, ideological disagreement within third parties is one reason third-parties are not successful.

True. Philosophical differences often splinter third-parties, e.g., the Arizona Libertarian Party split in the 1990s due to differences in opinion over whether to accept public campaign contributions.

True or False: According to the textbook chapter on parties in Congress, as congressional parties began to become more internally cohesive, and polarized from the other party (e.g., as evidenced by voting patterns), it became more difficult to identify coalitions or factions within parties.

True. Policies were often made by bipartisan coalitions or factions. As polarization increased, these coalitions vanished.

True or False: Duverger's law states that simple-majority single-ballot systems leads to a two-party system.

True. The lack of a proportional representational system helps sustain the two-party U.S. system.

True or False: According to the textbook, one consequences of the rise of political parties in the 1820s to 1840s was an increase in voter turnout in national elections.

True. The parties helped nationalize US politics. Voter turnout in national/federal elections during the 1840s rose to about 80% of all eligible voters.

True or False: According to the lecture, Republicans in the states have become more conservative at a faster rate than Democrats in the states have become more liberal.

True. The rate of change among Republicans within states has been greater (with greater movement toward conservative preferences) than the rate of change among Democrats (with less movement toward liberal preferences). Thus, Republicans are contributing to polarization more so than Democrats (within the states).

True or False: The weakening of the seniority system within the House of Representatives---the system that awarded the most powerful committee assignments to the most senior members of the House---increased the power and influence of political parties within the House.

True. The weakening of the seniority system shifted power from committees to parties. Parties could reward members for conforming to the party with the best committee assignments.

True or False: High voter turnout occurs in realigning and non-realigning elections.

True. There is no relationship between a realignment election and voter turnout.

The election of Donald J. Trump as president led many rank-and-file Republicans to change their position on several traditional Republican issues such as trade, immigration, and moral codes of conduct. (Even if you disagree with this statement, assume it is True for this question). True or False: The changing policy positions among many Republicans during and after the election of President Donald J. Trump is consistent with Aldrich's definition of political parties.

True: Aldrich views political parties as organizations that serve elected office holders. Trump, as a central actor within the Republican Party, used the party to suit his electoral and policy goals leading to shifts in the policy positions of many rank-and-file Republicans and dissension among some Republicans such as Senator Jeff Flake.

True or False: The New Deal coalition saw the Democratic Party favor an increased role in business regulation and the economy, while the Republican Party became the party advocating for a more limited role for the federal government.

True: Although Republicans were the party that favored an increased role for the federal government, relative to the early Democrats, business interests within the Republican Party opposed the New Deal plan which would regulate and tax businesses.

True or False: Partisan identification shapes how people view the economy?

True: Both the lectures and the textbook note that economic perceptions are often shaped by people's partisanship. People are more likely to view the economy as doing good when their party's president is in power.

True or False: We observe conflict over new issues and built up tension over existing issues during realigning and non-realigning election.

True: Built up tension and high levels of conflict over issues occur in both types of elections.

True of False: According to the lecture, the state with the most polarization is California.

True: California's state legislature is the most polarized, but since Democrats control both legislative houses in the state, polarization has little effect on its governance.

True or False: According to the textbook, rising income inequality has contributed to partisan polarization.

True: Economic inequality is related to polarization at the national and state level. Increases in inequality produces electoral support (among wealthy elites) for conservative economic policies and pushes the Republican Party rightward.

True or False: According to the lecture, the 2010 vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (health care bill) can be best characterized as a vote demonstrating party unity.

True: In the House, only two Democrats voted to repeal the ACA and all Republicans voted to repeal the ACA. In the Senate, all Democrats voted against the repeal and all Republicans voted in favor of the repeal---a perfect party unity vote.

True or False: According to the textbook, state party members are attracted to the part organization because of ideological reasons rather than simply looking for a job.

True: In the past, party organizations were mainly a form of employment, but today people work for parties due to satisfy ideological/policy goals.

True or False: According to the textbook, most evidence suggests that voters remain moderate in their policy positions.

True: Most Americans still hold moderate policy views although they are experiencing affective polarization (an increasing negative view of the other party). It is activists and elites that are taking more extreme policy positions.

According to the textbook, coalitions within parties in Congress are based on left-right ideological space.

True: Most votes fall along a single left-right ideological space and members organize sub-groups within congressional parties based on their ideological preferences.

True or False: According to the evidence presented in class, partisan identification is more stable than opinions toward capital punishment.

True: Partisan identification is one of the most stable political predispositions. Even when people's issue positions change, their partisanship often stays the same.

True or False: Partisan conflict within Congress decreases public approval of Congress, which reduces the incumbency advantage.

True: People dislike the conflict associated with partisan conflict. They assume this is representative of poor public policy-making and therefore punish those currently in office (incumbents) by voting for the non-incumbent in the next election.

True or False: When Congress is populated with centrists or moderates, bipartisanship and compromise is possible leading to less gridlock.

True: Polarized members of Congress lead to more gridlock and less legislative output. Moderate members compromise and produce more legislation.

True or False: According to the lecture, the relationship between partisanship and vote choice (partisan voting) increased between 1972 and 1996.

True: The data shows that 1972 was the nadir of party voting. Party voting remains strong today.

True or False: According to the textbook, there is little evidence that the primary election system has contributed to partisan polarization.

True: most research suggests that moving from an open-primary system from a partisan primary system does very little to elect more moderate public officials.

True or False: According to the textbook, most of the movement in partisan identification are changes in the intensity of partisan identification (movement from being a strong Republican to a weak Republican) rather than changes in the party you prefer (movement from Republican to Democrat)?

True: partisan identities are stable, but people do change how much they identify with each party based on short term factors such as the economy.

According to the textbook, which of the following were new features of the party system in the 1820 and 1830s?

all of the above: greater organization of parties; an effort to target voters across states; the acceptance of parties as legitimate institutions

Which of the following is true about the concept of "momentum?"

all of the above: it is any effect that primaries have on subsequent primaries, it provides candidates with publicity, It helps voters decide a candidates electibility

According to the lecture, what are some common themes in definitions of political parties?

all of the above: parties are collections of organized interests; parties care about winning elections; parties help voters by developing a party brand

According to the lecture, which of the following are reasons political parties form?

all of the above: solve social choice problems in governance; aggregate preferences to obtain political power; recruit political leaders

According to the textbook, which of the following conditions must be met to prove that polarization is the result of a polarized electorate, i.e., voters are becoming polarized first and then selecting representatives that support the public's extreme views.

both a & b: voters must attach themselves to parties based on issues and ideology; voters are becoming more extreme in their policy and ideological views