Government Ch. 8 Questions

What percentage of voters today cast a split ticket?

20 percent (less than)

Which of the following sum up the various functions of political consultants?

Advising on how to run a successful campaign. Gathering voter opinions. Production of promotional materials,

Which president was elected under his promise that he would do something about the Great Depression?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Which of the following are true about political contributions called hard money?

Hard money is subject to legal limits. Hard money is money political parties give to candidates. Hard money is money given directly to a candidate. Hard money can be spent as the recipient chooses.

In a proportional representation system, which of the following is true? (most European democracies use this form of system)

Political parties win a number of seats in the legislature in rough proportion to the percentage of the vote each party receives.

Which type of third party arises from a belief that partisan politics is a corrupting influence that needs to be changed?

Reform parties

Opposition to slavery gave rise to which party?

Republican Party

Which party benefited from the 1896 realignment, which was triggered by an economic depression following a banking crisis under President Grover Cleveland?

Republican Party

Who oversees the day-to-day operations of the political party's national organization?

The national chair

When a realignment in the electorate occurs, which of the following occurs?

The parties reorganize themselves.

Which of the following are true of grassroots parties?

They are open to all citizens. They operate at the local levels.

Which of the following are distinct disadvantages of the rise of candidate-centered campaigns?

They provide opportunities for powerful interest groups to donate money to candidates. They make it easier for officeholders to deny responsibility for government actions.

Which of the following are roles that national political parties have?

To raise money for presidential campaigns. To seek media coverage of party positions and activities. To raise money for congressional campaigns

The main opposition to the Democratic Party in the 1830s and 1840s was the ______ Party, which eventually died out.

Whig

In general, political parties are made up of a ______ constituency of supporters.

broad

All party organizations have a responsibility to

build support among voters.

Today's political campaigns rely on which of the following to be successful?

campaign strategists media producers pollsters

Because of the increasing cost of political campaigns,

candidates must constantly work to raise funds.

Since the 1980s, which group has voted most strongly for the Republican Party?

fundamentalist Christians

In Britain's 2017 election, the Liberal Democrats received 7 percent of the national vote and, thereby, roughly 7 percent of the seats in Parliament. This is an example of a _____ system.

proportional representation

A permanent shift in party allegiances or electoral support is known as a party

realignment.

The national, state, and local organizations of the Republican and Democratic parties are

relatively independent; that is, each level does not have much control over the others.

Third parties formed to promote a stance on a particular issue are known as

single-issue parties.

The Republican Party has advocated for a

smaller government that performs fewer social welfare functions.

Which of the following led to the start of the political party realignment in the 1930s that worked to the benefit of the Democratic Party?

the Great Depression

America's plurality, or winner-take-all, system of electing candidates works to the disadvantage of

third parties.

Primaries in which candidates of both parties are on the same ballot and the top-two finishers compete in the general election are called ______ primaries.

top-two

The most electorally successful factional party in U.S. history was the

Bull Moose Party

Although party organizations still manage many tasks related to elections, the lead role in elections now lies with the

Candidate

Political parties and their ability to control politics in the United States have been weakened by ______-centered campaigns.

Candidate

Which two candidates for president lost in overwhelming landslides in part because they diverged too far from the middle of the ideological spectrum?

George McGovern Barry Goldwater

What usually happens after a third party is relatively successful in attracting votes during a U.S. national election?

One or both major parties will try to co-opt the issue or issues that made the third party successful.

A(n) ______ primary is one in which any registered voter, regardless of party affiliation, may vote.

Open

The strongest ideological party in U.S. history was the

Populist Party.

Which of the following contributed to the decline of the old system of party organizations?

Primary elections

Which are the major political parties in the United States?

Republican Party Democratic Party

When does a national party committee defer to the president to chose a national chair?

When the party controls the White House.

Which party formed during the 1830s was competitive against the Jacksonian Democratic Party?

Whig party

The most important minor parties in the 20th century have been ______ parties.

factional

Political parties began to emerge in the United States

in spite of many of the founding fathers' mistrust of them.

Which theory argues that a party can maximize its vote by placing itself at the location of the middle voter's preference?

median voter theory

The groups and interests that support a political party are collectively referred to as a

party coalition.

A reason political parties have emerged whenever democracy has been established is that

political parties provide individuals a way to join together in order to exercise their collective influence.

Voting for a candidate's past performance rather than future promises is an example of what is called ______ voting.

retrospective

During the 1930s the Democratic Party became the party of federal power rather than the ______ party.

states' rights

What is the term Darrell West uses to describes candidates' use of televised ads?

Air wars

Which two political parties were competitive during the first party system?

Federalists Democratic-Republicans

Which of the following voting blocs was largely notable for its migration to the Republican Party during the 1980s?

Sothern Whites

How many major political parties are there in the United States today?

Two

Countries with multiparty systems tend to have what kind of electoral system?

a proportional representation system

What group was most concerned about what Scammon and Wattenberg called the "social Issue"?

conservative Christians

State parties are involved with which of the following activities?

election of U.S. senators voter registration

Third parties that break off from one of the two dominant parties are known as

factional parties.

Although state parties do not work full time, they are ______ likely to have full-time employees than local parties.

more

Which of the following ranks the amount of media coverage of candidates from highest to lowest?

presidential candidates, Senate candidates, House candidates

On a ______, citizens vote for candidates from different parties.

split ticket

The in-party's chances of staying in power has historically depended primarily on

the condition of the economy.

Which of the following are part of the money chase of politics?

Raising funds. Pursuing wealthy patrons.

True or false: The Internet has overtaken television as the principal medium of election politics.

True (Television remains the principal medium, but some analysts believe the Internet will eventually overtake it)

What percentage of party activists work within local political party organizations?

95 percent

Which of the following statements about negative ads and negative campaigning are true?

Abraham Lincoln was the target of insulting comments about his appearance during election campaigns. Negative campaigning in presidential elections was used as long ago as when Thomas Jefferson ran for office.

The Civil War triggered a party realignment. What were the two major parties following this realignment period?

Democratic Party Republican Party

True or false: Local party organizations are stronger today than they were in the days of the political machines.

False (Local organizations were much stronger in the past)

Since 1968 the Republican Party has been weaker at the national level than it was in the decades after the Great Depression.

False (Recall that since 1968 Republicans have held the presidency more often than Democrats)

True or false: Today's candidates are more likely than before to owe their nomination to the efforts of their political party organization. True false question. True

False (Today's candidates are less likely to owe their political party's nomination to the party. Instead, candidates more often win the nomination themselves, by taking their campaign directly to primary voters.)

Even if a third-party candidate fails to win an election, the candidate has still done which of the following to help the third party succeed?

Drawn attention to an issue previously ignored by the two major candidates. Encouraged the major parties to address issues introduced by the third party.

The fact that more white women than white men vote for the Democratic Party is an example of a(n) ________ gap.

Gender

As compared to on television, ______ have greater control over the message on the Internet.

Individual users

Voting for a candidate's promises rather than his or her past actions is an example of what is called ______ voting.

Prospective

Which of the following characteristics of political campaigns have undergone change?

length of the campaign amount of money required focus of the campaign

The largest expenditure in presidential campaigns is for which of the following?

media

Today, political candidates tend to

set up and run their own campaign organizations.

The rise of candidate-centered campaigns has

Increased the importance of money in political campaigns. Made it easier for political newcomers to win high office

What purpose does party competition serve in American politics?

It narrows down options for voters. It allows groups of voters to act in unison.

The rise of candidate-centered campaigns has

Made it easier for political newcomers to win high office. Increased the importance of money in political campaigns.

To date, the Internet has proven itself to be better than television as a medium for

Mobilizing supporters. Fundraising.

The party realignment that began in the 1960s was completed during what presidency?

Ronald Reagan

Which of the following statements is true regarding a single-member district electoral system?

The candidate with more votes than any opponent wins the election in the district.

Current election laws in the United States favor

a two-party system. (most other Countries do a multiparty system)

In the era of Jacksonian democracy, the efforts of local party organizations, along with the extension of voting rights to citizens without property, contributed to an almost ______ increase in election turnout.

fourfold

On a variety of issues, white women hold opinions that are on average ______ than those of white men.

more liberal