Chapter 8- Political Parties, Candidates, and Campaigns: Defining the Voter's Choice

Which are the major political parties in the United States?

Democratic Party Republican Party

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

False

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

Federalists Democratic-Republicans

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 of Hispanic voters in the United States?

Hispanics tend to be liberal on economic issues and conservative on social issues. They lean heavily toward the Democratic Party.

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

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

Which of the following states have closed primaries?

Nevada Kansas Florida

Which of the following are considered functions of a political party?

Parties seek to govern Parties endeavor to represent a majority

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

Republican Party

Which is a reason why some scholars think we have moved into a new party alignment?

The Republican Party has become stronger in the South and the Democratic Party had become stronger in the Northeast.

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

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

Which of the following are true of grassroots parties?

They are open to all citizens They operate at the local level

Which of the following statements about televised debates in presidential campaigns are true?

They are usually part of presidential campaigns.

How do candidates encourage people to vote on Election Day?

They contact prospective voters on Election Day. They rely on organizations to spread the word.

How did many of the founders of the United States view political parties?

They viewed political parties with suspicion.

True or False: The median voter theory helps to explain why a party may lose an election when it veers too far from the middle of the ideological spectrum.

True

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

Whig Party

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

a proportional representation system

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

advising on how to run a successful campaign production of promotional materials gathering voter opinions

In order to have the best chance to win in a two-party system, political parties normally

align themselves near the middle of the voting spectrum

Modern campaigns for high office

are much longer than they were historically.

Which of the following voting blocs has moved heavily into the Democratic Party since the 1960s?

black Americans

The internet has proven itself to be superior to televised political advertising

by spreading awareness of issues to a greater audience as a means of getting campaign contributions from small donors

Which of the following factors have contributed to the weakening of party organizations?

candidate-centered campaigns primary elections

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

candidate.

A state that prevents members from one political party fro9m voting fr another party's nominees has which type of primary?

closed

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?

encouraged the major parties to address issues introduced by the third party drawn attention to an issue previously ignored by the two major candidates

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

factional parties

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

fundamentalist Christians

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

gender

Political parties began to emerge in the United States

in spite of the founding fathers' beliefs about them.

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

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

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

media producers campaign strategists pollsters

Local party organizations operate

only during campaign periods.

Until the early 20th century, the major party's nominees for the president were selected via this method?

picked by the party organization

An election in which voters chose the party's nominees is call a(n) ________ election.

primary

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

realignment

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

reform parties

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.

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

retrospective

Many voters cast a ______, where they only vote for candidates of one party.

straight ticket

Which single expenditure accounts for the most spending on U.S. political campaigns?

television ads

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

the condition of the economy.

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

the national chair

In politics, what are linkage institutions?

they connect citizens with government

State parties are involved with which of the following activities?

voter registration election of U.S. senators