Political Parties

All of the following are characteristic of a party realignment EXCEPT

A very close electoral result

American party organizations...

Are still important, but their role in campaigns is secondary to that of candidates.

The Democratic Party's long-time regional stronghold, "The Solid South," stemmed from a realignment during which historical period?

Civil War era

Organizationally, the U.S major parties are...

Decentralized and fragmented

The major emerging voting blocs are..

Hispanics and young people

Political parties serve to

Link the public with its elected leaders, enable people with different backgrounds and opinions to act together, and offer the public a choice between policies and leaders.

95% of all political activists in the U.S. work at

Local level

During the twentieth century, American parties lost their complete control over...

Nominations, financing, and platforms.

Negative television campaign ads..

Now constitute the largest share of political ads.

If a minor party gains a large following, it is almost certain that..

One or both major parties will absorb its issues and the minor party will lose support.

The main reason for the high cost of American political campaigns is the cost of...

Paying for media ads.

The winner-take-all system is also known as?

Plurality system

The issue of slavery gave birth to the ________________ party as a major political party

Republican

Proportional Representation

Seats in the legislature are allocated according to each political party's share of the popular vote.

The first American political parties emerged from the conflict between...

Small farmers and states' rights advocates, and those favoring commercial and wealthy interests.

Indication of strong party loyalty

Straight-ticket voting

The MOST obvious sign of the party realignment of recent decades has been the strong tendency of..

The South to vote Republican

Represents the greatest blow to the organizational strength of U.S. parties

The direct primary

The major reason for the persistence of the American two-party system is..

The existence of single-member election districts.

Encourages the two major parties to build broad coalitions

The two-party system and the need to gain a plurality

Democrats and Republicans have endured as the two major U.S. parties primarily due to..

Their ability to adapt to changing circumstances

George Washington

Warn Americans of the "baneful effects" of factions in his 1797 farewell address.

Proportional representation systems encourage the formation of smaller parties by enabling parties to..

Win legislative seats even though they do not receive a majority of votes in elections.

Andrew Jackson 's contribution to the development of political process was the..

formation of a new type of grassroots party organization