US Chapter Nine
As a third-party candidate, Ross Perot captured approximately ________ of the popular vote in the 1992 presidential election.
20%
The United States has had ________ party systems since 1789.
6
In 2020, the DNC used performance polls to determine which candidates could participate in televised presidential debates. Despite objections from candidates, the DNC could do this in its capacity
to set the rules for primary and caucus elections as a national committee.
At any given time in American politics, how many parties have tended to dominate politics?
two
Which statement best characterizes the influence average citizens and party elites have over the nomination process in the United States?
Although average citizens have some influence in the nominations process, party elites play an outsized role in selecting the candidates who will compete in the general election.
An individual who identifies as an independent believes that the United States needs to seriously address climate change and increase taxes on the wealthy. The person is more likely to lean toward which party?
Democratic Party
Emerging in the late 1780s, America's first two political parties were the
Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans.
The first party system was characterized by conflict between the ________ and the ________.
Federalists; Jeffersonian Republicans
________ warned Americans against the dangers of political parties in his farewell address.
George Washington
A third party that gained some leverage in national and gubernatorial elections in the 1890 was the
Populist Party.
Which of the following statements about ranked-choice voting is most accurate?
Ranked-choice voting has been implemented in some countries (such as Australia) and in a handful of American states and cities.
After the Civil War, African American men were more likely to vote for which party?
Republican
From 1896 to 1932, the ________ Party was the nation's majority party.
Republican
From the end of the Civil War to the 1890s, the ________ Party was the party of the North, while the ________ Party was the party of the South.
Republican; Democratic
Support for the Republican Party currently comes from the
South, Great Plains, and Mountain West.
________ are independent, nonprofit groups that receive and distribute funds to influence the nomination, election, and/or defeat of a candidate.
Super PACs
Which statement about party identification in the United States is most accurate?
The number of people identifying as Democrats has outnumbered Republican identifiers for a long time.
Which of the following statements concerning third parties is true?
Third parties often have their programs adopted by one of the two major parties.
The New Deal coalition was severely strained and ultimately broken apart by the
Vietnam War and the issue of civil rights.
The goal of political parties is to
control the government
The Jeffersonian Republicans were best known for their support of
a weak national government, with the states retaining most powers.
When Richard Nixon employed his "southern strategy," he
appealed to White voters in the South.
A ________ is a meeting of a political group's members who gather to determine strategy and select candidates.
caucus
The Progressive movement of the early 1900s was motivated, in large part, by the
excessive power, corruption, and abuses of party machines and their bosses.
Which list of issue positions is most likely to be supported by the national leadership of the Democratic Party?
expanding funding for education, public spending for infrastructure, and raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations
National party conventions are held every
four years and attended by delegates from all 50 states.
The majority party
has the most seats in either the House of Representative or the Senate, or both.
According to political scientist Larry Bartels, the idea of "unequal democracy" refers to the fact that
lower-income citizens have little representation by either party, except when their opinions overlap with more-affluent citizens.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, strong and often corrupt urban political party organizations were called
machines.
Which list of issue positions is most likely to be supported by the national leadership of the Republican Party?
maintaining high levels of military spending, instituting tax relief for upper-income voters, and reducing corporate taxes
When Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House in 2018, her selection was made by the
majority party.
The political party that holds fewer seats in the Senate than any other party is known as the
minority party
Compared to other members of a party, party activists tend to be
more likely to have an ideologically extreme position.
Political scientists have found that on economic issues, both the Democratic and Republican parties are
more responsive to the preferences of the upper and middle classes than the lower class.
Party activists are ________ likely to contribute time to party affairs and ________ likely to hold more extreme views than the party's rank-and-file voters.
more; more
The process by which a party selects a single candidate to run for each elective office is known as
nomination.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, surveys showed that Democrats were more likely than Republicans to believe that the virus was a serious problem. Which of the following best explains this division?
party polarization
During the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, all Republicans except one voted against impeachment. This illustrates the power of
party polarization
The House vote to impeach President Trump is an example of
party-line voting.
During the nineteenth century, party machines depended heavily on ________ in order to reward loyal party supporters.
patronage
According to Duverger's law, which political system would most likely result in two dominant parties?
plurality rule elections with single member districts
An individual who identifies a problem as a political issue and brings a policy proposal into the political agenda is referred to as a(n)
policy entrepreneur
A system that allows voters to rank candidates from the most preferred to the least preferred on the ballot is called
ranked-choice voting
During the 1980s, the Republicans added ________ to their coalition.
religious conservatives and working-class whites
One important cause of the two-party system in the United States is
single-member, winner-take-all electoral districts.
What issue led to the demise of the Whig Party?
slavery
Third parties in the United States typically represent
social and economic interests that are disregarded by the two major parties for certain reasons.
Women in the United States are ________ the ________ Party.
somewhat more likely to support; Democratic
Men in the United States are ________ the ________ Party.
somewhat more likely to support; Republican
Which of the following best characterizes the components of a party organization? Answer:the formal structure of a political party, including leadership, election committees,
the formal structure of a political party, including leadership, election committees, members, and paid staff
Men are more likely than women to prioritize economic and national security issues. Women are more likely to prioritize healthcare and education issues. The difference in who men and women tend to vote for is known as
the gender gap.
Which of the following outcomes would have been most likely if Ralph Nader had not been a third-party candidate in the 2000 presidential election?
The Democratic candidate would win the election.
Which of the following statements best describes how national party conventions have changed over time?
Though national conventions prior to World War II were primarily devoted to debating and negotiating about who the party's nominee would be, today's conventions serve mostly as media events to promote the candidate the party has already selected.
Which of the following groups was NOT part of the New Deal coalition?
Asian Americans
In 1964, Republican Party presidential nominee ________ was in favor of less taxation and less government regulation of the economy—two ideas that became major themes for the modern Republican Party.
Barry Goldwater
Since the 1930s, most African Americans have identified as
Democrats
The two major parties in the United States during the 1830s and 1840s were the ________ and the ________.
Democrats; Whigs
________ is the practice of tailoring campaign messages to individuals in small, homogenous groups.
Micro-targeting
Duverger's law states that
a political system with single-member districts and plurality rule elections will tend to result in a two-party system.
What is the two-party system?
a system in which only two parties have a realistic opportunity to compete effectively for control
The extremely competitive elections in the United States since the year 2000 suggest the United States has
a system with responsible political parties.
There are very few party machines left today because
civil service reform and the institution of the merit system mean that party leaders can no longer control who is appointed to government jobs.
During the late 1840s and early 1850s, both the Democratic and Whig parties were divided by
conflicts over slavery.
At the national level, the Democratic Party currently attempts to appeal to ________, while the Republican Party currently attempts to appeal to ________.
educated upper-middle-class professionals; White working-class voters
A major benefit of ranked-choice voting is that it
eliminates the "spoiler" effect that occurs when votes for a third-party or minor candidate are discarded.
One of the earliest activities in which party workers engage once the general election campaign begins is
ensuring that citizens are registered to vote.
An advertisement emailed only to evangelical Christian voters about a Democratic candidate's support for abortion would be an example of
micro-targeting.
The 2020 protests against police brutality include individuals from diverse backgrounds. If protesters sought to form a political party, they would need to
mobilize popular support and build party organizations.
Political party leaders are
not willing to provide financial backing to candidates who are unable to raise substantial funds on their own.
Which of the following groups is most likely to affiliate with the Republican Party?
older White voters
Between 1812 and 1830, the United States had
one political party: the Jeffersonian Republicans.
The division between the two major parties on most policy issues, with members of each party unified around their party's positions with little crossover, is called
party polarization
A party's ________ contains its philosophy, principles, and policy positions.
platform
Frustration with the two major parties in 2016 led voters to support:
populist candidates.
The three most important tasks accomplished at a party's national convention are nominating the party's
presidential and vice-presidential candidates, drafting the party's campaign platform, and approving changes in the rules governing party procedures.
Third-party candidates are better off under
proportional representation
State ballot access laws, such as registration fees and petition requirements, have the effect of
reducing the number of third-party and independent candidates who can run for office.
In a proportional representation electoral system
seats in the legislature are allocated to political parties based on their share of the total vote cast in the election.
Political parties hold primary elections or caucuses in order to
select a single candidate to represent the party in the general election.
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a long-term Democratic voter switches party to become a Republican. Since party identification is usually formed in a voter's youth and persists over time, the voter's switch is best explained by
strong factors that convinced the voter that the Democratic Party was no longer serving his or her interests.
"Self-sorting" refers to the
tendency of individuals to segregate themselves by choosing to live in liberal or conservative geographic areas.
A political party is an organization
that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office.
Which party system saw the formation of the Republican party out of the remnants of the Whig party and had conflicts over slavery as one of the dominant political issues?
the Second Party System
During the early nineteenth century, the Jeffersonian Republican's main base of strength was in
the South
Imagine that you are looking at a Republican platform that favors government regulation, expansion of voting rights, and the creation of a national bureaucracy. This party platform most likely comes from which party system?
the System of 1896
The Federalist Party disappeared, in part, as a result of
the War of 1812.
The American system for electing members of Congress is often referred to as "first past the post" because
the candidate with the most votes wins, even if he or she did not win a majority of the popular vote.
The number of political parties there are in a country is determined primarily by
the country's electoral system and rules.
A party activist is an individual who
votes and contributes time, energy, effort, and financial resources to party affairs.
The Populist Party appealed to which of the following groups?
western mining interests, small farmers, and urban workers
All of the following are responsibilities of a party's national committee EXCEPT
determining committee assignments for members of Congress.
According to political scientist John Aldrich, which of the following problems found in democratic governments do political parties help solve?
how to regulate the number of people seeking public office, how to mobilize voters, and how to achieve the majorities needed to accomplish legislative goals once in office
A serious candidate for a U.S. House of Representatives race must raise at least several ________ dollars, while a serious candidate for a U.S. Senate race must raise at least several ________ dollars.
hundred thousand; million
What is partisanship?
identification with or support of a particular party
The Republican Party is currently most internally divided over the issues of
immigration
What were the most common favors political bosses distributed to loyal party members during the era of political machines?
jobs
Which of the following statements about parties in Congress is true?
All members are allowed to take part in the election of the Speaker of the House.
An individual's psychological attachment to one party or another is called a party
Identification.
Identification with or support for a particular party or cause is known as
Partisanship