chapter 8
Third parties that break off from one of the two dominant parties are known as
factional parties.
The rise of candidate-centered campaigns has
made it easier for political newcomers to win high office. increased the importance of money in political campaigns.
The largest expenditure in presidential campaigns is for which of the following?
media
A ______ political system is made up of at least three political parties.
multiparty
The strongest ideological party in U.S. history was the
Populist Party.
Which are the major political parties in the United States?
Republican Party Democratic Party
Local party organizations operate
only during campaign periods.
When does a national party committee defer to the president to chose a national chair?
when the party controls the White House
Which of the following voting blocs was largely notable for its migration to the Republican Party during the 1980s?
Southern whites
Until the early 20th century, the major party's nominees for president were selected via which method?
picked by the party organization
What percentage of party activists work within local political party organizations?
95 percent
What usually happens after a third party is relatively successful in attracting votes during a U.S. national election?
One or both major parties will try to co-opt the issue or issues that made the third party successful.
The strongest reform party in U.S. history was the
Progressive Party.
Which two political parties were competitive during the first party system?
Democratic-Republicans Federalists
______ lost control of the Congress in 2008 after they failed to follow through on policy promises to restore the nation's economy.
Republicans
The most important minor parties in the 20th century have been ______ parties.
factional
Voting for a candidate's past performance rather than future promises is an example of what is called ______ voting.
retrospective
Today, political candidates tend to
set up and run their own campaign organizations
What is the purpose of a primary election (direct primary)?
to enable voters to select their respective party's candidates for a general election
State parties are involved with which of the following activities?
voter registration election of U.S. senators
True or false: The Internet has overtaken television as the principal medium of election politics.
False
Today's political campaigns rely on which of the following to be successful?
campaign strategists pollsters media producers
Organizations that nominate and seek to elect candidates to government office are known as
political parties.
True or false: Rather than being the result of an abrupt shift in response to a single disruptive issue, realignments are caused by gradual changes in response to several issues.
True
Which is a reason that some scholars think we have moved into a new party alignment?
The Republican Party has become stronger in the South and the Democratic Party had become stronger in the Northeast.
Which type of third party is highly organized around a framework concerning the nature and role of government in society?
ideologically oriented parties
When a realignment in the electorate occurs, which of the following occurs?
The parties reorganize themselves.
On a ______, citizens vote for candidates from different parties.
split ticket
The groups and interests that support a political party are collectively referred to as a
party coalition.
Which political party has been known for its advancement of civil rights and expansion of social welfare programs?
the Democratic Party
_____ refers to the selection of the individual who will run as the party's candidate in the general election.
Nomination
Which of the following statements about televised debates in presidential campaigns are true?
They are usually part of presidential campaigns.
In a proportional representation system, which of the following is true?
Political parties win a number of seats in the legislature in rough proportion to the percentage of the vote each party receives.
Which of the following statements is true regarding a single-member district electoral system?
The candidate with more votes than any opponent wins the election in the district.
How did many of the founders of the United States view political parties?
They viewed political parties with suspicion.
Which of the following best describes the voting electorate after the expansion of voting rights during the era of Jacksonian democracy?
all white males
Political parties and their ability to control politics in the United States.have been weakened by ______-centered campaigns.
candidate
What group was most concerned about what Scammon and Wattenberg called the "social Issue"?
conservative Christians
The fact that more white women than white men vote for the Democratic Party is an example of a(n) ____________ gap.
gender
Which of the following characteristics of political campaigns have undergone change?
length of the campaign focus of the campaign amount of money required
On a variety of issues, white women hold opinions that are on average ______ than those of white men.
more liberal
A(n) ______ primary is one in which any registered voter, regardless of party affiliation, may vote.
open
Which of the following contributed to the decline of the old system of party organizations?
primary elections
Third parties formed to promote a stance on a particular issue are known as
single-issue parties.
During the 1930s the Democratic Party became the party of federal power rather than the ______ party.
states' rights
Which of the following are roles that national political parties have?
to raise money for presidential campaigns to raise money for congressional campaigns to seek media coverage of party positions and activities
Although party organizations still manage many tasks related to elections, the lead role in elections now lies with the
candidate.
The Civil War triggered a party realignment. What were the two major parties following this realignment period?
Republican Party Democratic Party
Since 1968 the Republican Party has been weaker at the national level than it was in the decades after the Great Depression.
False
Which of the following led to the start of the political party realignment in the 1930s that worked to the benefit of the Democratic Party?
the Great Depression
Primaries in which candidates of both parties are on the same ballot and the top-two finishers compete in the general election are called ______ primaries.
top-two
Which of the following statements describe how U.S. campaigns are both party centered and candidate centered?
Candidates organize their own campaigns. The same parties are represented nationwide.
Which of the following statements about negative ads and negative campaigning are true?
Negative campaigning in presidential elections was used as long ago as when Thomas Jefferson ran for office. Abraham Lincoln was the target of insulting comments about his appearance during election campaigns.
Which of the following are distinct disadvantages of the rise of candidate-centered campaigns?
They make it easier for officeholders to deny responsibility for government actions. They provide opportunities for powerful interest groups to donate money to candidates.
The highlighting of candidates' attributes is called
packaging.
A reason political parties have emerged whenever democracy has been established is that
political parties provide individuals a way to join together in order to exercise their collective influence.
As compared to on television, ______ have greater control over the message on the Internet.
individual users
Which party benefited from the 1896 realignment, which was triggered by an economic depression following a banking crisis under President Grover Cleveland?
Republican Party
Which of the following states have closed/partially closed primaries?
Nevada Florida North Carolina
Which theory argues that a party can maximize its vote by placing itself at the location of the middle voter's preference?
median voter theory
Which of the following ranks the amount of media coverage of candidates from highest to lowest?
presidential candidates, Senate candidates, House candidates
Which president was elected under his promise that he would do something about the Great Depression?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Which two candidates for president lost in overwhelming landslides in part because they diverged too far from the middle of the ideological spectrum?
George McGovern Barry Goldwater
Which of the following are true of grassroots parties?
They operate at the local level. The are open to all citizens.
The main opposition to the Democratic Party in the 1830s and 1840s was the ______ Party, which eventually died out.
Whig
Which party formed during the 1830s was competitive against the Jacksonian Democratic Party?
Whig Party
Countries with multiparty systems tend to have what kind of electoral system?
a proportional representation system
Because of the increasing cost of political campaigns,
candidates must constantly work to raise funds.
Which of the following sum up the various functions of political consultants?
gathering voter opinions advising on how to run a successful campaign production of promotional materials
Political parties began to emerge in the United States
in spite of many of the founding fathers' mistrust of them.
To date, the Internet has proven itself to be better than television as a medium for
mobilizing supporters. fundraising.
Although state parties do not work full time, they are ______ likely to have full-time employees than local parties.
more
Which type of third party arises from a belief that partisan politics is a corrupting influence that needs to be changed?
reform parties
The national, state, and local organizations of the Republican and Democratic parties are
relatively independent; that is, each level does not have much control over the others.
Many voters cast a ______, where they only vote for candidates of one party.
straight ticket
The in-party's chances of staying in power has historically depended primarily on
the condition of the economy.
Who oversees the day-to-day operations of the political party's national organization?
the national chair
The U.S. government functions as a(n) ______ system.
two-party
What is another name for the plurality system?
winner-take-all system
What percentage of voters today cast a split ticket?
20 percent
Over ______ percent of presidential campaigns spending is for media.
59
