Political Behavior
Why are Minor Parties important?
-"Spoiler Role" -Critic -Innovator
What are the 5 critical realignments in history?
-1800: Jefferson elected-> Democratic Republicans take over -1828: Jackson elected-> Democratic party splits into Democrats and Whigs -1860: Lincoln elected-> Emergence of Republicans -1896: McKinley wins-> Major support from labor unions and minorities as a Republican -1932: FDR wins-> Democratic remerges
What are the types of Direct Primaries?
-Closed Primary: Only declared party members can vote for a specific party -Open Primary: Any Qualified voter can take part-still can only vote for one party -Runoff Primary: If a required majority is not met, the two people with the most votes run again -Nonpartisan Primary: Candidates are not identified by party labels
What is the current party situation?
-Factionalize within selves-distribute power and lose elections -Initiative and Referendum take away power of party and bring more power to the people -Dems have become more liberal -Reps have become more conservative -Primaries especially to secure the "regulars" -Aim toward the middle general elections
What are the factors that influence Party Membership?
-Family -Economic Status -Occupation -Major Events -Religion -Age
Why is there a two Party System?
-Historical Basis: two original parties; federalists and anti-federalists -Force of Tradition: America has always had a two-party system because it always had one winner. Minor parties lack political support. -Ideological Consensus: Most Americans have a general agreement that several rival parties cannot exist
Types of Minor Parties
-Ideological Parties -Ex: Libertarian: Party-rights of the individual -Single-issue Parties -Ex: Free Soil Party- Eliminate Slavery -Economic Protest Parties -Ex: The Greenbackers Party- Encouraged farm subsidies -Factional/Splinter Parties -Ex: The Tea Party- Extreme limited government
What are some reason of Party Decline?
-Mistrust of Government -Independents (Divided Governments) -Split Ticket Voting -"Open" primaries -Technology -End of Patronage -------Electoral Independence!-------
What are the Party Systems?
-One-party; totalitarian, undemocratic -Bi-party; less choice, lots of stability -Multi-party; more choice, less stability -Problem of coalition government ^
The Process (Dates, times)
-Primaries: Start February of Election year -National Party Convention: Summer of Election year -Campaign Season: August to November -General Election: First Tuesday after first Monday in November -Electoral College: Meets in December to officially and constitutionally elect -Jan 6th: President of Senate officially counts electoral votes -Jan 20th: President is inaugurated
The Electoral College Facts!
-While state laws determine how electors are chosen, they are generally selected by the political party committees within the states -Voters actually vote for electors who then select the president -There are currently 538 electors and the votes of a majority - 270 votes - are required to be elected -States with larger populations get more Electoral College votes
The advantages of incumbency in congressional elections include which of the following? 1.Incumbents receive more campaign contributions than do challengers. 2.Incumbents are able to provide important services for individual voters. 3.The government provides campaign funds for incumbents. 4.The President usually endorses incumbents for reelection. 5.Most American voters believe Congress does a good job.
1 and 2 only
Which of the following represents a consequence of candidate-centered electoral campaigns?
A decrease in the role of political parties in campaign management
Which of the following scenarios is most closely related to the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) ?
A labor union spends millions of dollars to independently run negative advertisements about a presidential candidate shortly before the election.
Which of the following demographic groups has voted most consistently for the Democratic Party in national elections over the last three decades?
African Americans
Baker v Carr (1962)
Baker filed a law suit claiming that Tennessee's reapportionment efforts ignored significant economic growth and population shifts within the state Supreme Court responded that there were no such questions to be answered that legislative apportionment was a justiciable issue. Concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection issues which Baker and other raised in this case merited judicial evaluation.
Which of the following is NOT a way in which the federal government regulates campaigns?
By prohibitions on negative advertising
Which of the following is a result of the electoral college system?
Candidates focus on the states with the largest populations.
When party members meet to nominate a candidate for office, they participate in which of the following?
Caucus
Which of the following is a type of primary election that requires registration as a party affiliate to vote?
Closed
Which of the following statements about voting behavior in the United States is correct?
College graduates are more likely to vote than are those who have at most a high school diploma.
Which of the following would result from the direct election of presidential candidates?
Each vote would count equally in determining which candidate won the election.
What is America's party orientation?
Election-oriented
A chief executive officer (CEO) of a corporation believes that the Republican candidate for president will enact policies that are more beneficial to her business. The CEO donated the maximum amount allowed by law directly to the candidate's campaign fund. To increase the candidate's chances for election, the CEO also directed her corporation to donate funds to an independent political action committee to create ads criticizing the opposing candidate. According to the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), which provision of the Constitution protects her actions?
Freedom of speech in the First Amendment
When none of the presidential candidates receives a majority of the votes in the electoral college, the winner is chosen by the
House of Representatives only
The use of direct primaries instead of the convention system in selecting presidential candidates results in which of the following? I.A weakening of party control over nominations II.A reduction in the costs of election campaigns III.An increase in the number of people involved in the choice of candidates IV.An increase in voter turnout in midterm elections
I and III only
Which of the following explains how The Federalist 10 relates to the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) ?
In both, a limited approach to government regulation was argued for.
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) did which of the following?
It banned soft money donations to national parties.
Which of the following describes the Twenty-Fourth Amendment?
It eliminated poll taxes.
Which of the following is true of the electoral college system?
It encourages candidates to concentrate their campaigns in competitive, populous states.
Which of the following is an accurate statement about the voter turnout rate in the United States?
It is lower than in most other Western democracies.
Which of the following is NOT an explanation for low voter turnout?
Laws protecting minority voting rights
Which of the following is an accurate comparison between the relative functions and electoral success of the two major political parties (Democratic and Republican) and third parties?
Major Parties The rules of the electoral college favor the major-party candidates in presidential elections. Third Parties Winner-take-all voting districts hinder the electoral success of third-party candidates.
In the United States, which of the following is a rule on voting found in the Constitution or its amendments?
No person eighteen years of age or older may be denied the right to vote on account of age.
Shaw v. Reno (1993)
North Carolina had racially gerrymandered and as a result, the Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina's district shape was bizarre enough to suggest that it constituted an effort to separate votes into different districts based on race, which is unconstitutional.
Which of the following best describes the difference between an open and closed primary?
Only voters who register as members of a political party may vote in that party's closed primary, while independents and others may be eligible to vote in open primaries.
Which of the following best explains how parties link citizens to the electoral process?
Parties send volunteers to knock on doors to register voters.
In which of the following ways do political parties primarily rely on to finance their election activities?
Parties solicit funds from private donors who oftentimes contribute large sums of money.
Which of the following is the most important influence on the choice made by voters in presidential elections?
Partisan identification
Which of the following is the leading predictor of how an individual will vote in a congressional election?
Partisanship
Which of the following best explains why delegates to both the Republican and Democratic Conventions in 1996 were much more likely to have college and postgraduate degrees than was the rest of the voting population?
Political activism increases with education levels.
Which of the following describes a fundamental difference between political parties and interest groups?
Political parties represent broad arrays of issues, whereas interest groups are more likely to focus on narrow sets of issues.
Which of the following best explains how most candidates are recruited to run for office?
Political parties usually recruit and train people at the local level they believe are most fit to run for office.
A person votes for Democratic candidates based on the belief that the policies of the Democratic Party will be personally beneficial. This type of voting matches which of the following voting behavior models?
Prospective voting
What are the two major parties in American Politics?
Republicans and Democrats
Which of the following public policies would Democrats be most likely to support?
Securing a universal health care system
A state has 11 electoral votes. In a presidential election, the Democratic candidate receives 48 percent of that state's popular vote, the Republican candidate receives 40 percent of the vote, and an independent candidate receives 12 percent of the vote. If the state is similar to most other states, how will the electoral votes most likely be allocated?
The Democratic candidate will receive all 11 electoral votes.
Which of the following is a correct statement about political action committees (PAC's)?
The amount of money that PAC's can contribute directly to an individual candidate is limited by law.
Which of the following statements about political parties and the United States Constitution is true?
The issue of political parties is not addressed in the Constitution.
Considering all elections at all levels of government, which of the following best describes electoral behavior in the United States?
The majority of the electorate does not vote in most elections.
Which of the following is the most accurate statement about political parties in the United States?
The percentage of voters identifying themselves as either Democrats or Republicans has been declining since the 1970's.
The America First Action is a super PAC led by former administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda McMahon. Which of the following best explains how the organization can operate to influence elections, according to the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (2010) ?
The super PAC can spend unlimited money on issue-advocacy advertisements that are not coordinated with the campaign.
Critics of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college are most likely to make which of the following arguments?
The winner-take-all system of the electoral college encourages presidential candidates to focus their time and effort disproportionately on battleground states with larger populations.
A political science professor is researching the effects that the Fifteenth and Twenty-Sixth Amendments have had on the American political system. What are these amendments?
To study the expansion of voting rights
Which of the following scenarios explains how demographic factors affect voter participation in elections?
Wealthier individuals are more likely to become involved in campaigns because they believe that their actions may influence the candidates.
Since the 1960s, support for the Democratic Party has declined the most among which of the following groups?
White southerners
A primary election in which voters are required to identify a party preference before the election and are not allowed to split their ticket is called
a closed primary
During the past twenty-five years, all of the following changes in public opinion and political behavior have occurred in the United States EXCEPT
a decline in party competition in the South
What is a political party?
a group of people who seek to control government by winning elections and holding office
What is a Party Realignment?
alternation of one party dominance to the other party
Typically, presidential candidates implement their campaign strategies by
focusing on larger, competitive states, because they might tip the balance of the electoral college
All of the following are reasons incumbents in the House of Representatives enjoy an electoral advantage over challengers EXCEPT that incumbents
get substantial financial support from their party's national committee
Of the following, which best predicts the likelihood that citizens will vote?
heir educational level
When a child's parents both identify strongly with the same political party, the child will most likely
identify with the parents' party
When contributing to congressional campaigns, political action committees (PACs) are most likely to contribute to
incumbents of both major parties
In response to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act), the United States Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), ruled that
independent campaign expenditures by corporations and unions are protected by the First Amendment
Explanations for low voter turnout include all of the following EXCEPT
laws protecting voting rights for minorities
What is gerrymandering?
manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class
Children are most likely to adopt the party identification
of their parents
The most common criterion that people use when voting for a presidential candidate is the candidate's
party identification
The concept of "critical elections" is most closely associated with
party realignment
The primary function of political action committees (PAC's) is to
raise campaign funds to support favored candidates
What is a Critical Election?
sharp, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one of both parties
Of the following, the most important role in the political socialization of children is played by
the family
The concept of realignment refers to changes in
the social bases of the parties' voting support
The process known as front-loading refers to
the tendency of states to choose an early date on the primary calendar
The most common form of political activity undertaken by United States citizens is
voting in political elections
A citizen who uses the rational choice model of voting behavior selects candidates for office based on
what is thought to be in the citizen's own self-interest
Critical elections in the United States typically have occurred
when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party loyalties
