Download 1. Define the term politic

AP United States Government and Politics
Reading Assignment
Chapter 9: Political Parties
Objectives:
1. Define the term political party and contrast the structures of European and American parties, paying
particular attention to the federal structure of the U.S. system and the concept of party
identification.
2. Trace the development of the U.S. party system through its four periods. Explain why parties have
been in decline since the New Deal.
3. Describe the structure of a major party. Distinguish major from minor parties.
4. Indicate whether there are major differences between the parties. Describe some of the issue
differences between delegates at Democratic and Republican conventions, and compare their policy
positions with those of rank-and-file party members.
Discussion Questions:
Correlates with “Theme A: Party Structure Today”
1. Consider the five types of local political party organizations that the text lists. What advantages and
disadvantages does each type have? Rank the five types according to whether they can:

Introduce needed political reforms

Successfully assemble enough power to govern effectively

Induce a broad cross-section of society to participate

Avoid corruption

Give the voters a reasonable choice of policy makers and policies

Allow the voters to hold politicians responsible for the success or failure of their policies

Rejuvenate the political process by allowing “outsiders” in
Are some types of parties more likely to be stronger and more electorally successful than others?
Under what circumstances should each type of party, with its virtues and disadvantages, be
established? Abolished?
2. The national political parties have little control over the behavior of their members or of the
candidates representing them. For example, David Duke—a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux
Klan—entered the Louisiana legislature as a Republican despite radio broadcasts by President
Reagan calling for his defeat. How is the political system hurt by the loose organization of political
parties?
3. Over time, the influence of party delegates has caused each of the major parties to become more
ideological, and thus more polarized from one another. A review of the party platforms, for
example, reveals positional statements that would be considered extreme by mainstream
Americans. Might this be the cause of declining party membership? Is there a way to keep the
political parties from being overly influenced by these ideologues?
4. Do political parties have any incentives to offer to members to keep them interested and actively
involved in local, state, and national affairs? Should they reintroduce a modified patronage system
to reward active party members for their loyalty and commitment?
AP United States Government and Politics
Correlates with “Theme B: United States Parties as Broad Coalitions”
5. Democratic politics always requires a majority coalition to win. In the United States, the coalition is
formed before an election, in the makeup of political parties. In European multiparty systems, the
coalition is formed after the election, when a political leader bargains for the support of other
parties to form a voting coalition of a majority of seats in parliament. What difference might it make
whether the coalition is together before or after the election? Which system allows the most
meaningful elections? Which allows citizens to express their attitudes best in the polling booth?
Which most effectively allows citizens to hold politicians accountable for what they do?
6. Why do some voters believe that it is illogical to vote for a party other than one of the two major
ones? What did former Democrats gain when they voted for the Green Party candidate Ralph Nader
in 2000? What did voters gain when they defected from both major parties and supported Ross
Perot in 1992 and 1996?
7. In 1998, Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota, having run on the Reform Party ticket.
Ventura was a former professional wrestler, actor, and radio talk show host; he served as mayor of
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota’s sixth largest city, from 1991 to 1995. At the time of his election, it was
thought that the Reform Party, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot, might have an opportunity to
challenge the dominance of the Democratic and Republican parties at the state and local levels.
However, in 2000, in the middle of his gubernatorial term, Ventura left the Reform Party over
partisan differences and joined the Independence Party of Minnesota. Does this historical example
suggest that minor parties can be successful in electoral politics? Or does it highlight the difficulties
that candidates face when they stray from major party organizations?
Correlates with “Theme B Abstract: The Two Party System and the Electoral College”
8. Review each of the above critiques, noting that these points can be transformed into support for the
Electoral College. For example, the fact that the Electoral College discriminates against third-party
candidates has been viewed by some as integral to sustaining a moderate, two-party electoral
system. What other benefits can be found amongst the critiques? Ultimately, does the Electoral
College provide the United States with more benefits than costs?
9. Does the Electoral College exaggerate the partisan differences between the Democrats and
Republicans? How do the red-versus-blue Electoral College maps oversimplify election outcomes?
How might the winner-take-all system affect Republican participation in California, which is
predominantly Democratic, or Democratic participation in Utah, which is predominantly
Republican? Would dividing Electoral College votes along congressional district lines instead of
whole states improve voter participation?
10. Which is more important in establishing legitimacy: a victory in the Electoral College or a victory in
the popular vote? Would a close election in the popular vote be more or less problematic than a
close election in the Electoral College?
Key Terms:
1. caucus
2. congressional campaign
committee
3. critical or realignment
period
4. ideological party
5. mugwumps (or
progressives)
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
national chairman
national committee
national convention
office-bloc ballot
party-column ballot
personal following
plurality system
political machine
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
political party
solidary incentive
split ticket
sponsored party
straight ticket
superdelegate
two-party system
AP United States Government and Politics
Chapter Outline: