Chapter 9: Political Parties
The two major parties in the United States during the 1830s and 1840s were the ________ and the ________.
Democrats; Whigs
________ are independent, nonprofit groups that receive and distribute funds to influence the nomination, election, and/or defeat of a candidate.
The 527 committees
A major cause of political polarization in Congress is
gerrymandering.
Organizing for America is a
group that mobilizes grassroots support for President Obama's legislative agenda.
State ballot access laws, such as registration fees and petition requirements, have the effect of
increasing the number of third-party and independent candidates who can run for office.
What were the most common favors political bosses distributed to loyal party members during the era of political machines?
jobs
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, strong and often corrupt urban political party organizations were called ________.
machines
The American system for electing members of Congress is often referred to as "first past the post" because
a candidate can win an election only if he or she wins a majority of the popular vote.
Political scientists have found that on economic issues, both the Democratic and Republican parties are
more responsive to the preferences of the upper and middle classes than the lower class.
Party activists are ________ likely to contribute time to party affairs and ________ likely to hold more extreme views than the party's rank-and-file voters.
more; more
A party activist is an individual who
not only votes but also contributes time, energy, effort, and financial resources to party affairs.
The Tea Party movement is an
organized challenge to incumbents in the Republican Party by the most conservative wing of the Republican Party.
The division between the two major parties on most policy issues, with members of each party unified around their party's positions with little crossover, is called
partisan polarization.
A party's ________ contains its philosophy, principles, and policy positions.
platform
During the 1980s, the Republicans added ________ to their coalition.
religious conservatives and working-class whites
What issue led to the demise of the Whig Party?
slavery
Third parties in the United States typically represent
social and economic interests that are disregarded by the two major parties for certain reasons.
Women in the United States are ________ the ________ Party.
somewhat more likely to support; Democratic
Voters who prefer third-party candidates but vote for the major-party candidate whom they regard as the "lesser of two evils" are engaged in
strategic voting.
In 1994,
the Republican Party won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the 1950s.
During the early nineteenth century, the Jeffersonian Party's main base of strength was in ________.
the South
John Boehner resigned from his position as Speaker of the House in 2015 because of
the opposition he faced from Tea Party activists who wanted him to take a harder line against President Obama and the Democrats.
Between 1812 and 1830, the United States had
two political parties: the Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans.
America's ________ developed during the early nineteenth century.
two-party system
In the United States, party identification
varies significantly by income, race, and gender.
The Populist Party appealed to which of the following groups?
western mining interests, small farmers, and urban workers
Historically, realignments occur
when new issues combine with economic or political crises to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties.
________ was the only president to have been elected without a political party affiliation.
George Washington
In which of the following years was there an electoral realignment?
1896
As a third-party candidate, Ross Perot captured approximately ________ percent of the popular vote in the 1992 presidential election.
20
The average winning margin in House elections is ________ percent.
40
The United States has had ________ party systems since 1789.
6
In 2008, about ________ percent of Latino Americans voted for Barack Obama.
67
Which of the following groups is NOT currently a strong source of support for the Republican Party?
African Americans
Which of the following statements about parties in Congress is true?
All members are allowed to take part in the election of the Speaker of the House.
Soft money was made illegal as a result of the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.
________ occurs when one party controls the presidency while another party controls one or both houses of Congress.
Divided government
________ is the practice of tailoring campaign messages to individuals in small, homogenous groups.
Micro-targeting
From 1896 to 1932, the ________ Party was the nation's majority party.
Republican
From the end of the Civil War to the 1890s, the ________ Party was the party of the North, while the ________ Party was the party of the South.
Republican; Democratic
Which of the following statements about party building is true?
Republicans have paid much more attention to party building than Democrats since the Eisenhower presidency.
When Richard Nixon employed his "Southern strategy," he
appealed to disaffected white voters in the South.
The 527 committees are an important part of the American political system because they
are able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they do not coordinate their activities with a political party.
Internal mobilization occurs when
conflicts within the government create divided factions that try to mobilize popular support.
Issues such as the environment, health care, retirement benefits, and taxation are on the political agenda in the United States because
contemporary political parties mainly compete for the support of middle-class Americans and these issues are important to the middle class.
The campaign funds raised and spent by 501(c)(4) organizations are called "dark money" because
donors and amounts contributed do not have to be made public.
What is the ultimate goal of a political party?
winning elections