Government ch. 12

The positive aspect of partisanship is that it

keeps politicians honest and allows the best political ideas and policies to emerge

The responsible party model

makes it easier for voters to hold parties accountable for their actions

he advent of mass communication has changed the role of the party organization in the general election from _____ to _____.

organizing and mobilizing voters; providing services to candidates

Southern Democrats, Catholic immigrants, blue-collar workers, and farmers made up

the New Deal coalition

Electioneering refers to

the process of getting a person elected to public office.

Media coverage of the general election process has

made campaigns more candidate centered

The third party mentioned in the text that had a significant impact on the 2010 midterm elections is the

Tea Party

The party that usually gets the most votes is the party that

best appeals to moderate voters

Party officials complain about the open primary because

members of the other party can contaminate the nomination process

The party activity of governing involves _______ and _______

Controlling government; enacting the party's policy agenda

Political gridlock occurs when

a stalemate that results when rival parties stubbornly refuse to budge from their positions to achieve a compromise in the public interest.

According to the textbook, the relationship between citizens and parties today is best reflected by

citizens' growing dissatisfaction with parties because moderates find themselves poorly represented and frustrated at the emergence of hyperpartianism

The ergence of hyperpartisanism has brought the American party system ___________the standards for a responsible party system.

farther away from

The major source of money for party fundraisers comes from

individual donors and political action committees

Patronage was once important to political parties because

it ensured an army of supporters and workers for elections

Loyalty to a political cause or party is known as ____

partisanship

The rank-and-file members who carry out the party's electioneering efforts are the

party activist

The rank-and-file members who carry out the party's electioneering efforts are _______

party activists

In a _____, registered party members rather than party bosses nominate party candidates

party primary

One impact of televising the national conventions is that

political parties choreograph events during prime time

Parties take part in selecting candidates to run for office by engaging in all of the following EXCEPT a. providing the bulk of the money candidates use to run for office. b. recruiting candidates to be nominees. c. taking part in primary elections. d. holding conventions. e. defining the party policy agenda.

providing the bulk of the money candidates use to run for office.

A critical election leads to a(n)

realignment

A(n) _______ is a substantial and long-term shift in party allegiance by individuals and groups, usually resulting in a change in policy direction

realignment

Partisan eras are characterized by

stability in the issues that are important and in the divisions in the public between the parties.

Realignment refers to a

substantial and long-term shift in party allegiance by individuals and groups, usually resulting in a change in policy direction.

Primary voters, party activist, and big money donors

tend to be more ideological and issue oriented than the voters in the general election

Which of the following regions is NOT a stronghold of the Republican Party today? a. The West b. The Northeast c. The Midwest d. The mountain states e. The South

the Northeast

The statement that third parties are irrelevant in modern-day politics is

less accurate than in the past due to the Tea Party victories of the 2010 midterm elections

According to James Madison, political parties were

a dangerous version of factions

Which of the following statements is NOT true about the American party system? a. American parties are more ideologically extreme than many of their European counterparts. b. American parties have recently increased their party discipline. c. American party organizations are decentralized. d. The lack of success of third parties in the United States is the result of election rules. e. Third parties occasionally have had a dramatic impact on presidential election outcomes.

American parties are more ideologically extreme than many of their European counterparts

American political parties are decentralized for all of the following reasons EXCEPT a. the nature of the federal electoral structure leads to decentralization. b. Americans resist efforts of the parties to become more centralized. c. federalism leads to decentralization. d. U.S. party organizations do not control the nomination process. e. states write the laws that dictate party structure.

Americans resist efforts of the parties to become more centralized.

Which of the following is NOT true regarding issue positions of the major parties? a. Democrats want "more services" over "cutting government spending." b. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that government should provide health insurance for all. c. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to oppose abortion. d. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe that defense spending should be increased. e. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that government should let each person get ahead on his or her own rather than guaranteeing jobs and standards of living.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that government should let each person get ahead on his or her own rather than guaranteeing jobs and standards of living.

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the responsible party model? a. Each party should present a coherent set of programs to the voters, consistent with its ideology and clearly different from those of the other party. b. The candidates for each party should pledge to support their party's platform and to implement their party's program if elected. c. Voters should make their choices based on which party's program most closely reflects their own ideas and hold the parties responsible for unkept promises by voting their members out of office. d. While governing, each party should exercise control over its elected officials to ensure that party officials are promoting and voting for its programs, thereby providing accountability to the voters. e. Each party should act in a polarized fashion to such an extent that their behavior impedes government functions.

Each party should act in a polarized fashion to such a

Since the 1960s

Republicans and Democrats have become more consistent with respect to their ideologies.

Which of the following is NOT a reason the United States has a two-party system? a. The American public strongly supports a two-party system. b. The United States has experienced few serious political splits stemming from divisive issues such as religion or social conflict. c. The United States does not allocate its legislative seats proportionally. d. U.S. laws make it difficult for third parties to get placed on the ballot. e. The United States has rules that often keep third-party candidates out of debates.

The American public strongly supports a two-party system

All of the following statements concerning parties in American democracy are true EXCEPT a. They help provide a linkage between voters and elected officials. b. They help to unify a fragmented government. c. They provide a voice for the opposition to official government policy. d. They have become an impediment to the operation of modern democracy. e. They differ from interest groups in that they seek to nominate and elect officials to public office.

They have become an impediment to the operation of modern democracy

All of the following statements are true of party eras EXCEPT a. The periods of stability that mark party eras have lasted around twenty-five to forty years. b. Throughout American history the balance of parties has usually resulted in different parties controlling the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. c. Changes from one era to another are often marked by a critical election. d. Realignments have been precipitated by major events such as the Civil War and the Great Depression. e. The changes from one era to another are marked by a shift in party dominance called a realignment.

Throughout American history the balance of parties has usually resulted in different parties controlling the executive and legislative branches of the federal government

The current party era is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT a. the massive migration of white southerners to the Republican Party. b. a weakening in party identification among voters. c. a shift among African Americans from limited support of the Democratic Party to overwhelming support of that party. d. the emergence of third parties, such as the Tea Party movement and FreedomWorks. e. the emergence of the South as the most reliably Republican region of the country.

a weakening in party identification among voters

In contrast to the ideas of James Madison, political observers today argue that political parties

are essential to the maintenance of democracy

Since party activists tend to be more extreme in their ideologies, they pull party policy agendas

back to their extremes

The party _____ are the members of a political party who consistently vote for that party's candidates

base

The current state of American political parties can be described as

being in a period of both realignment and dealignment

An election signaling the significant change in popular allegiance from one party to another is a ________ election.

critical

Which of the following questions is NOT one that needs to be asked by a critical reader of party platforms? a. Whose platform is it, and what do you know about that party's basic political positions? b. Do public opinions polls show this party's platform was the one supported by the voters at the time it was written? c. Who is the audience? d. What statements reflect values, and which are statements of fact? e. What is your reaction to the platform?

do public opinions polls show this party's platform was the one supported by the voters at the time it was written?

The two functions of parties are

electioneering and governing

Party organizations engage in recruiting candidates

for races they think they can win but that are not attractive to ambitious politicians

Parties help to overcome the problem of ____ created by the constitution

fragmented government

The two main advantages of incumbents in elections are that they have name recognition and

have previously assembled a winning coalition in their district.

The party organization is essential because it

helps party candidates win elections

The election of 1828 was significant to the development of electoral politics because

it was the first election in which mass participation occurred

All of the following statements concerning party identification in the electorate are true EXCEPT a. Most people who are registered members of a party work actively for their party organization. b. Most voters who identify with a party identify with the same party as their parents. c. The percentage of the electorate identifying themselves as independents grew substantially in the 1970s and 1980s. d. Most people who identify with a party regularly vote for that party in elections. e. The percentage of voters identifying with the Democratic Party has dropped significantly from its high in the 1950s.

most people who are registered members of a party work actively for their party organization

The democratic party has become more liberal and the Republican party more conservative because of the

movement of conservative, southern Democrats to the Republican party

In America's First Party Era,

parties were primarily an elite phenomenon

The ability of party leaders to bring party members in the legislature into line with the party program is known as ______

party discipline

Which of the following statements is NOT true regarding party machines? a. Party machines were strongest in rural areas. b. Party machines guaranteed people's support through patronage. c. Party machines came under attack from reformers in the early 1900s. d. Party bosses had complete control over the nomination process. e. Party machines originated with the Jacksonian Democrats.

party machines were strongest in rural areas

Of the following choices, party discipline applies only to the a. party-in-the electorate. b. party activists. c. party-in-government. d. party organization. e. party base.

party-in-government

The system in which successful party candidates reward supporters with jobs or favors is called

patronage

Candidates for elective office in the United States are most often chosen in _____

primary elections

Parties appeal to moderate voters by all of the following EXCEPT a. publicly denouncing the more extreme wing of their own party. b. not publically endorsing positions they may like but know that moderates reject. c. emphasizing issues they know are popular with moderates. d. reframing issues in ways that are more palatable to voters. e. changing positions that have been rejected by moderates.

publically denouncing the more extreme wing of their own party.

Election campaigns changed during the twentieth century in all of the following ways EXCEPT a. candidates took control of the nomination process away from the party organization. b. money became far more important in election campaigns. c. the media began playing a more important role. d. candidates took control of the general election process from the party organization. e. the voters became less important in the nomination process.

the voters became less important in the nomination process.

Party activists are important to the parties for all of the following reasons EXCEPT a. they provide the base of votes from which candidates build majorities to win elections. b. they are able to exert power over the nomination of candidates. c. they force potential candidates to take issue positions consistent with their beliefs. d. they are the source of the drive to capture moderate voters and win elections. e. they put pressure on members of the party in Congress to vote on the basis of the party's ideology.

they are the source of the drive to capture moderate voters and win elections.

All of the following statements concerning "party machines" are true EXCEPT a. Their goal was to take advantage of the expansion of voting right to all white men in the early nineteenth century. b. Their activities had the consequence of integrating masses of new immigrants into the political process. c. They were characterized by central control by a party leader or "boss." d. They dominated party primary elections. e. They were exceptionally strong in urban areas.

they dominated party primary elections

Why would the two American parties feel the need to take more extreme issue positions?

to satisfy the party activists

Realignments are significant because they

usually result in a change in policy direction.

The argument for the responsible party model is that democracy is strengthened when

voters are given clear alternatives and hold parties responsible for their promises