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CHAPTER 8: POLITICAL PARTIES
MULTIPLE CHOICE:
1) Political parties in other nations are
a) much weaker than those in the US
b) usually controlled by the national government
c) much more formal organizations than those in the
US
d) more numerous than in the US
2) The 'party in government' refers to
a) Voters, who are free to affiliate with any
political party any time they wish
b) Partly members, who perpetuate the party as
formal organization.
c) Winning candidates, who become the main
spokespersons for the party that elected them.
d) Coalitions of interest and ideologies, which
support a party's candidates.
3) By helping to put people's policy preferences on the
government's agenda, the political party
a) Demands party loyalty
b) Affects public opinion.
c) Serves as a linkage institution.
d) Establishes a coalition
4) An example of a critical election is
a) The Republican Party era between 1860 and
1932.
b) The elections of two Democratic presidents
between 1860 and 1932
c) Party realignment over the issue of slavery in
the 1860's.
d) Both a and b
5) The Republican Party rose to prominence in the late
1850's as the
a) Party of the wealthy elite.
b) Antislavery party
c) Gold standard party
d) Party of the rural farmers
6) Between the 1930's and the 1960's, people attracted
to the Democratic party included.
a) Urban working classes and intellectuals.
b) Northerners and the rich
c) Blacks and ethic minorities
d) Both a and c
7) The split-level party refers to
a) A party that is ever stronger at the elite level
and weaker still at the mass level.
b) The difference between national, state and local
organizations.
c) The tendency of the major parties to incorporate
the policies of third parties.
d) The difference between presidential party
politics and state-level politics.
8) The work of the McGovern-Fraser Commission
appointed during the turbulent Chicago
Convention of 1968 was a reflection of concern over
a) The Democrats' image as a party of
representation
b) The Republicans' image as a party of
regeneration
c) The declining strength of Democratic power in
Congress and state governorships
d) The catastrophic defeat of Goldwater in 1964.
9) According to the text, today
a) The Democratic Party has relaxed its
affirmative action requirements and makes use
of many superdelegates.
b) Democratic delegates tend to be more
conservative on issues than the party's rank-infile members
c) Republican delegates tend to be more liberal
than the party's rank-in-file
d) All of the above.
10) The two major groups of loyalist in the Republican
party are
a) Wealthy elites and farmers
b) Union members and the elderly
c) Enterprisers and moralists
d) Registered voters and college graduates.
11) A party organized around a single issue, and
extreme ideology, or a splinter group of another
party is called
a) A second front
b) A third party
c) a multiparty system
d) Ticket-splitting
12) If the United States had a multiparty system,
a) Each party would have more distinct policy
positions
b) People would have to pay dues to belong to a
party
c) Third parties would become to dominate politics
d) The necessity for a coalitions would be
eliminated
13) The political "party-in-the-electorate" is defined as
people who
a) Register as members of a party
b) Identify with a party
c) Vote for the candidates from one party
d) Work for a party's candidates
14) The trend in party identification in America over the
last 30 years has shown an increase in
a) Republican identifiers
b) Democratic identifiers
c) Independents
d) Both Republican and Democratic identifiers.
15) Power in the major U.S. political parties is
a) Hierarchically distributed from the national to
local levels.
b) Centralized in national party organizations.
c) Concentrated in party machines at the local
level
d) Fragmented among local, state and national
party organizations
16) Politicians often give jobs to their supporters. This
is called
a) Graft
b) Nonpartisanship
c) Patronage
d) A political machine
17) The job of nominating the presidential and vicepresidential candidates and writing the party's
platform
a) National Convention
b) National Committee
c) National Chairperson
d) Electorate
18) The policy positions stated in party platforms are
a) Very important because nearly three-fourths of
them result in policy action when the party is in
power
b) Of some importance because they are
unambiguous statements on where a party
stands.
c) Of little importance because only 10 to 25
percent of the positions are acted upon by
government
d) Intended to get a candidate elected, not to be
implemented.
19) Dealignment means the
a) Increasing inability of minority parties to win
elections
b) Decreasing influence of both parties on voters
and government
c) Lack of party cohesion in Congress
d) Realignment of party coalitions
20) A sign of hard times for party power is
a) the increase in party dealignment
b) the tendency for incumbents to be reelected
c) the increase in ticket-splitting
d) Both a and c
TRUE AND FALSE: There are four false statements
21) The core function of the major political parties in
America is to win elections.
22) Because political parties exist in the electorate, as an
organization, and in government, they may be seen
as linkage.
23) In our fragmented government, political parties are
necessary to coordinate policymaking among the
branches of government.
24) According to the Downs Model, 'rational' parties
match the policy preferences of the majority of
voters.
25) Throughout our party history, one party has been the
dominant majority party for long periods of time.
26) The process by which the majority party is displaced
by the minority party in a critical election is called
party realignment.
27) Thomas Jefferson founded the modern American
political party by forging a new Democratic
coalition in the election of 1828.
28) Critical elections resulting in party realignment and
the inauguration of a new party era have been
historically linked to such crises as the Civil War
and the Great Depression.
29) The basic elements of the New Deal coalition were
Protestant, whites, white-collar workers,
Northerners, and upper classes.
30) Despite party reforms, delegates to the Vietnam War
and the civil rights movement, the New Deal
coalition has remained.
31) Despite party reforms, delegates to the Democratic
national convention tend to be more liberal on issue
than the party's rank-and-file members.
32) The anti-Masonic, Populist, and American
Independent parties are examples of third parties
that had an impact on past key elections.
33) The two-party system encourages parties to take
ambiguous stands on trivial as well as controversial
issues in order to avoid alienating members of their
coalitions.
43) The model of how political parties should work that
asserts parties should offer clear choices to voters
and carry out their campaign promises is the
_______________________ model.
44) According to Down's Model, a political party that
expresses the views of the largest percentage of
voters is a
__________________________ party.
34) Because of the autonomy of state and local party
organizations, party organization at the national
level can be characterized as 'politics without
power.'
45) A long period of time in which one party remains
the dominant majority party is called party
____________________.
35) While local party organization and power weakening
in America's cities, state party organizations are
growing stronger
46) The process of a minority party replacing a majority
party during a critical election period is called party
___________
36) The states are important elements in the national
party system because they are proving grounds of
national politics and politically ambitious
politicians.
47) A group of individuals or a group of groups that
support a political party on the basis on common
interest is called a _______________________.
37) In theory, the supreme power of a political party lies
in its national chairperson.
38) Voters and coalitions of voters are attracted to the
parties mainly through the policy promises and
performance of parties.
39) The growing independence of both voters and
politicians from the parties and the decline of party
identification are signs that we may be in an era
dealignment.
FILL IN THE BLANK:
40) The battle of the parties for control of public office
is called party
__________________________________.
41) Anthony Downs defined a
________________________ as a team of people
seeking to control the governing
apparatus by
gaining office in a duly constituted election.
42) Institutions that work toward translation public
opinion into public policies- such as parties,
elections and interest groups- are called
__________________________.
48) In America, a political party founded on a single
issue, a specific ideology, or a splinter group of
another party is called a
_______________________.
49) ______________________________ is the term for
citizens' self-proclaimed preference for one or the
other political party.
50) A _________________________ is a kind of local
party organization that is highly centralized and
relies on patronage and other inducements to win
support.
51) The practice of giving jobs or awarding contracts for
political reasons rather than for merit or competence
alone is called ____________________________.
52) In national party organization, the group composed
of representatives from the states and territories,
which keeps the party operating between
conventions, is called the
___________________________________.
53) ___________________________ is the practice of
voting with one party for some offices and another
party for other offices on an election ballot
54) The disengagement of voters and politicians from
the parties, as shown in the decline of party
identification, is called party
_________________________.
ANSWERS:
1) c
2) c
3) c
4) c
5) b
6) d
7) a
8) a
9) a
10) c
11) b
12) a
13) b
14) c
15) d
16) c
17) a
18) a
19) b
20) d
FALSE STATEMENTS
27, 29, 30, 37
Fill in the Blank
40) competition
41) political party
42) linkage institutions
43) responsible party
44) rational
45) era
46) party realignment
47) coalition
48) 3rd/minor party
49) party identification
50) political machine
51) patronage
52) national committee
53) split-ticket voting
54) party neutrality/dealignment
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
55) party realignment, party dealignment, and party neutrality
56) party eras, critical election, and New Deal coalition
57) winner-take-all system and proportional representation
58) coalition government and responsible party model
59) national convention, national committee, and national chairperson