The Logic of American Politics: Chapter 12 Quiz

"We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman" is an example of a Republican Party platform.

True.

Fractious coalitions are a common thread running across all the different party systems over the course of U.S. history.

True.

In today's politics, primaries and caucuses effectively determine the parties' nominees.

True.

Many early observers of the presidential selection process expected the House to make the choice most of the time.

True.

Party entrepreneurs, for their part, have simply redesigned party organizations to operate more effectively in today's media-based electoral arena.

True.

President Obama and his Republican Congress are an example of divided government.

True.

Republicans typically favor a smaller, cheaper federal government; they advocate lower taxes, less regulation of business, and lower spending on social welfare. They would be more generous only to the Defense Department.

True.

The Democrat-Republicans protested the aristocratic inclinations of the federalists, eventually becoming known just as Democrats.

True.

The ______ ballot, introduced during the Progressive Era and still in use today, lists candidates from all parties and is marked in the privacy of a voting booth.

Australian

Which of the following is true about the two-party system in the United States?

It has continued with a few exceptions since very shortly after the nation's founding.

Anyone trying to mobilize the citizens to vote has to overcome the electorate's tendency to ______.

free ride

No matter how well organized, electoral alliances fail:

if they cannot get enough people to vote for their candidates.

Political scientist John Aldrich observed, "A new form of party has emerged, one that is in service to its ambitious politicians but not ______ them."

in control of

Throughout U.S. history, party coalitions have shifted periodically in response to:

new national issues and conflicts.

Political parties are:

not mentioned in the Constitution.

Typically, ______ of voters tell pollsters that the two major parties do such a bad job that a third party is needed.

over one half

Despite their expressed disdain for parties, voters still rely heavily on party cues in making their decisions because:

party labels continue to provide useful, cheap information about candidates.

One consequence of the electoral reforms of the Progressive Era was to:

shift the focus of electoral politics from parties to candidates.

The two-party system arises from ______ in the winner-take-all competition for the presidency.

strategic voting

The political incentives for parties can best be explained by:

the idea that action requires winning majorities on a continuing basis in multiple settings, organization is absolutely essential.

Because candidates are the focus of modern political campaigns:

the party's activities are aimed more at helping individual candidates compete more effectively than at promoting the party brand.

Duverger's law explains:

why in any election in which a single winner is chose by plurality voting, there is a strong tendency for serious competitors to be reduced to two.

The Republicans' competitive status is threatened, however, by demographic trends. The Republican coalition includes a disproportionate share of White (87%), male, older, religiously active, and socially conservative people, all shrinking portions of the electorate.

True.

The chief reason for their longevity is that the institutions created by the Constitution make the payoffs for using parties—to candidates, voters, and elected officeholders—too attractive to forgo.

True.

The legality of political party activities are ensured by the first Amendment's guarantees of freedom to speak, write, and assemble.

True.

The nomination process enables the parties to solve the coordination problem posed by competing presidential aspirants.

True.

The organization of modern Democrat and Republican parties can be depicted as pyramidal organization that function hierarchically.

True.

The superdelegates accounted for almost 20% of the votes at the 2008 Democratic Party's presidential nominating convention.

True.

The threat of collective punishment by the voters gives the majority party a strong incentive to govern in ways that please voters.

True.

The two-party system has been strengthened by laws that treat the parties as official components of the electoral machinery.

True.

When issues have arisen that split the existing party coalitions in the United States, partisan identities weaken, and the party label may not provide the information voters want.

True.

Thomas Jefferson once declared that, with respect to political parties:

"If I could not get to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all."

The New Deal coalition of Democrats began to unravel due to which of the following issues?

Civil rights for African Americans, the Vietnam War, and new economic initiatives such as housing subsidies and school nutrition programs.

Mandating primary elections has weakened the role of parties as official components of the electoral system.

False.

Paradoxically, the Progressive Era left the Republican Party and the Democratic Party organizationally much stronger but in a much weaker electoral position.

False.

The parties are the focus of modern political campaigns.

False.

The years of the Monroe presidency were dubbed the Era of Good Feelings because unemployment was low, GDP was high, and there were no international conflicts.

False.

Typically only 20% of voters tell pollsters that the two major parties do such a bad job that a third party is needed.

False.

When it comes to voter identification, the Democratic party supports legislation to require photo identification for voting and to prevent election fraud.

False.

Which of the following was true about the 2012 party platforms, which were statements of the policy positions of each party?

Few voters learn of the difference between the parties from them; rather, voters learned about the parties' positions through political news and campaign advertising.

Which of the following describes the distribution of those willing to call themselves Democrats or Republicans—that is, partisan identification—from 1952 through 2010?

It remained surprisingly stable.

Which of the following weakened traditional party organizations and ended their monopoly control of campaigns?

Progressive Era Reforms

The Federalists, one of the first two major parties, faded as a national force when which of the following occurred?

Their pro-British leanings put them on the wrong side of the War of 1812.

One implication of our winner take all system is:

a smaller number of political parties.

In An Economic Theory of Democracy, Anthony Downs defined a political party as:

a team of men seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.

Divided government:

allows each party to block the other party's more extreme proposals and forces both to compromise when making policy.

Republican party identifiers have ______ overtime.

become increasingly conservative

The "party organization" refers to one part of a connected three-part system that is:

dedicated to electing the party's candidates.

Typically more than half of voters tell pollsters that the two major parties:

do such a poor job that a third major party is needed.

The federal system offers powerful incentives for ______ to win and exercise political power.

political parties