Chapter 8 Quiz (100% correct)

A __________ is a tax-exempt group that is not subject to contribution limits and spending caps and that is formed primarily to influence elections through voter mobilization efforts and issue ads that do not directly endorse or oppose a candidate.

527 organization

In what way were parties that emerged around the time of the country's founding similar to parties today?

Both were created to enact policies their members like.

The __________ parties defined the first party system on the issue of the proper role and size of the national government.

Federalist and Democratic-Republican

Which statement about political independents is true?

Most Independents actually do lean towards one party or another.

What is the BEST explanation for why members of the same political party in Congress may vote different ways on an issue?

Parties are ideologically diverse coalitions.

What is the BEST way to describe the effectiveness of parties in helping members of Congress work together?

Parties can help members build winning coalitions, but only on some issues.

What is the BEST description of party organizations in America?

Party organizations are decentralized and not hierarchical.

__________ is made up of politicians who were elected as candidates of a party, whereas __________ involves the structure of national, state, and local parties, including party leaders and workers.

The party in government; the party organization

Which statement BEST characterizes the nature of political action committees and 527s?

They are not part of the political party organization.

Party leaders are often frustrated when individual candidates fail to follow the party line on certain issues. What prevents them from reining such candidates in and forcing them to promote the party's goals?

They have little formal power to compel candidates to do anything.

What document would a party use to craft its party platform?

a list of what issues to emphasize in the upcoming campaign

In Congress, the Democrats are organized by a ______, whereas the Republicans are organized by a _______.

caucus; conference

The American political parties are

decentralized organizations with loose coordination across groups.

During the last several decades, the number of ideologically moderate members in Congress has

decreased significantly.

When do nominating conventions happen?

every four years when a party must pick its presidential candidate

If you were to advocate for a system that encouraged as many people as possible to vote in a primary election, what type of primary would you suggest?

open

If a voting system has a rule that whichever candidate receives the most votes wins, even if he or she does not get over 50 percent of the votes, we describe that system as what kind of voting?

plurality

When the United States goes from one party system to another, this is known as a

realignment.

The second party system ultimately split over the issue of

slavery.

According to Duverger's Law, if we want to know how many major political parties a country will have, what should we look at?

the rules for determining how many votes are needed to win an election, along with other electoral rules

If Albert volunteers for a presidential campaign immediately after reading about the spoils system, what motivated him to get involved?

He was hoping he would get a job if his candidate won

If the Democrats control the Senate and the White House, and the Republicans control the House of Representatives, what is this an example of?

divided government

What would be the BEST way to help third parties gain traction in the American political system?

get rid of single-member districts

What do we call the principal or main body in each party organization in America?

national committee

From 1897 until 1932 one of the major parties, the Republicans, won most presidential elections, whereas the other major party, the Democrats, won when the Republicans were divided. The major issues of the time were industrialization and immigration. The Republicans had the support of business, whereas the Democrats relied on urban immigrants and southern whites. This description is an example of a __________.

party system