Chapter 16 Quiz

Question 1

Whenever political parties are mentioned, most Americans automatically think of __________ and ___________

Answer 1

Republicans and Democrats.

Question 2

The history of the American one-party system dates to our earliest struggles as a nation. (T/F)

Answer 2

false, two-party

Question 3

What produced two political camps—the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists?

Answer 3

Partisan struggles and personality conflicts

Question 4

The Republicans won seven of the ten presidential elections from _____ to _____.

Answer 4

1952 to 1988

Question 5

Most elections held in the United States are single-member district elections. (T/F)

Answer 5

true

Question 6

Single-member district elections are used in a ____________ system based on a candidate’s receiving a _______, or the largest number, of votes cast for an office.

Answer 6

winner-take-all; plurality

Question 7

The two major parties come together in a bipartisan manner to shape laws that make it difficult for a third-party candidate to get on the ballot. (T/F)

Answer 7

true

Question 8

bipartisan

Answer 8

a spirit of two-party cooperation

Question 9

America’s diversity is mirrored in its ___ major parties.

Answer 9

two

Question 10

This is why opposing candidates might sound quite similar on a number of issues…

Answer 10

they are trying to reach the same voters—those in the middle.

Question 11

party platform

Answer 11

a formal statement of a party’s position on current issues

Question 12

A party platform is drafted at a party’s national convention every four years and provides evidence of these distinctions. (T/F)

Answer 12

true

Question 13

A 1980 survey of the Democratic National Committee revealed that ___ percent of its members described themselves as liberal

Answer 13

36%

Question 14

What is one whose political view seeks to change the political, economic, and social status quo

Answer 14

liberal

Question 15

On the other hand, ___ percent of the Republican National Committee members described themselves as conservative.

Answer 15

63%

Question 16

What is one whose political view defends against major changes in the political, economic, and social institutions

Answer 16

Conservative

Question 17

Party membership is a matter of formal obligation. (T/F)

Answer 17

false; personal identification

Question 18

The single most influential factor in most people’s choice of a party or political philosophy is…

Answer 18

their family background

Question 19

The two-party system provides more stability than a multiparty system. (T/F)

Answer 19

true

Question 20

coalition

Answer 20

a temporary alliance of several groups

Question 21

Coalitions are formed to make new friends. (T/F)

Answer 21

false, gain a majority

Question 22

Having two parties provides an open forum for competing ideas, and that requires pliability to meet the demands of democratic government. (T/F)

Answer 22

true

Question 23

Identify the characteristics of the two-party system.

Answer 23

diverse support, broad appeal, similarities between the parties on certain issues, different ideologies, party membership by personal identification, stability, and flexibility

Question 24

How does the electoral system encourage a two-party system?

Answer 24

through single-member districts and election law

Question 25

Why does a two-party system provide more stability than a multiparty system?

Answer 25

In multiparty systems, many factions divide the electorate, making it difficult for one party to win a majority. Coalitions between these parties do not always hold together.

Question 26

Union victory in the ____ ____ ensured Republican success until well into the twentieth century.

Answer 26

civil war

Question 27

the election of Democrat who snapped the Republican hold on the presidency and Congress.

Answer 27

Franklin Roosevelt

Question 28

But since ____________ 1952 election, the Republicans have dominated the highest office.

Answer 28

Eisenhower’s

Question 29

The Republican Party made history in ____ by winning control of the Senate and expanding its control of the House.

Answer 29

2002

Question 30

The Jeffersonian victory in 1800 swept the ____________ out of power and began a long period of one-party domination.

Answer 30

Federalists

Question 31

Andrew Jackson’s victory in 1828 produced several notable results for political parties...

Answer 31

1. organized competition(voting) 2. nomination process was expanded through the use of the convention 3. patronage- the practice of giving jobs to friends and other supporters 4. political campaign- an organized effort by a political party or candidate to attract voter support

Question 32

delegates

Answer 32

party representatives

Question 33

Before the advent of the convention, a party’s nominees were chosen by a homie. (T/F)

Answer 33

false; caucus

Question 34

caucus

Answer 34

a small meeting of a party’s top leaders and legislators in Congress

Question 35

demands for reform of the entire nominating process brought about another important change in party development—____________

Answer 35

the primary

Question 36

a state election in which voters select the candidates who will run on each party's ticket in the general election

Answer 36

primary

Question 37

A ___________ ________ is a state-run election to select the party nominees for most local, state, and national offices.

Answer 37

nominating primary

Question 38

In a _____________ __________, voters elect the state party’s delegates, who will go to their political party’s national convention to select the party's candidate.

Answer 38

presidential primary

Question 39

In this system, common in most European democracies, several major and many minor parties compete for public offices.

Answer 39

multiparty system

Question 40

Each party is based on a specific interest, such as...

Answer 40

religious belief, political ideology, economic class, or section of the country

Question 41

Multiparty systems require coalitions. (T/F)

Answer 41

true

Question 42

Most of today’s dictatorships have a multiparty system of government in which many political parties are allowed. (T/F)

Answer 42

false, one-party system

Question 43

What was possibly the single most influential factor in building party organization after 1828? Why was it so influential?

Answer 43

Patronage, or the spoils system; the spoils system gave a person greater incentive to get involved in a party and to encourage voter turnout for his candidate.

Question 44

How have primaries weakened political parties?

Answer 44

by shifting the power focus from the party organization to the campaign organization and by making the party the servant and not the master of candidates and incumbents

Question 45

The key point that distinguishes political parties from groups that are simply politically oriented is that political parties are organized to gain respect by winning elections. (T/F)

Answer 45

false; power

Question 46

How long have the republicans and democrats been around?

Answer 46

two centuries

Question 47

What word means to name?

Answer 47

nominate

Question 48

How are party candidates chosen? (Hint: 3 processes)

Answer 48

convention, caucus, state primary

Question 49

Strong devotion to a political party is...

Answer 49

partisanship

Question 50

The behavior and policies of the party in power are watched carefully and reported on, so that party is more accountable to the people. What is this demonstrating?

Answer 50

watchdog

Question 51

What is the chief benefit of having political parties?

Answer 51

avoids extremists and seeks to find common ground

Question 52

________ parties are third parties that spring up around a single burning issue—often one that the major parties find too hot to handle.

Answer 52

Issue

Question 53

Parties that rise from political and social ideas outside the mainstream are called _______________ parties.

Answer 53

idealogical

Question 54

_________ parties are minor parties that split from major parties, generally over policy but sometimes over personality conflicts.

Answer 54

Splinter

Question 54

_________ parties are minor parties that split from major parties, generally over policy but sometimes over personality conflicts.

Answer 54

Splinter

Question 55

In the 1912 election, _____________ ______________ Progressive (“Bull Moose”) Party, which splintered from the Republican Party, divided that party’s votes and delivered Democrat Woodrow Wilson an electoral landslide.

Answer 55

Theodore Roosevelt’s

Question 56

Third parties draw attention to specific issues that major parties do not take a strong position on or simply ignore. (T/F)

Answer 56

true

Question 57

What are the four causes for a third party to start?

Answer 57

issue, ideology, economic depression, splinter(disagreement)

Question 58

Which constitutional amendments resulted from specific third-party issues?

Answer 58

the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments

Question 59

A party’s effectiveness at any level often depends on the ____________ and ________________ of its membership

Answer 59

strength; motivation

Question 60

The basic goal of the two major parties is to gain control of government by winning elective office. (T/F)

Answer 60

true

Question 61

_____________ ______________ is an important party function that is essential to the electoral process.

Answer 61

Nominating candidates

Question 62

The Republican National Committee (RNC) includes _________ state party chairmen.

Answer 62

several

Question 63

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) includes _________ party chairmen.

Answer 63

many

Question 64

In large cities, the districts are divided into _______ for the purpose of city council elections, then subdivided into precincts

Answer 64

wards

Question 65

__________ are the smallest units of election districts and party administration.

Answer 65

Precincts

Question 66

Identify the two major purposes of a party’s national convention.

Answer 66

to nominate the party’s candidates for president and vice president and to approve the party platform

Question 67

What group manages national-party activities during the time between national conventions? Who is the nominal party leader during that time?

Answer 67

the national committee; the national chairman

Question 68

What are three factors that contribute to the fragmented nature of political parties?

Answer 68

membership strength, federalism, and the nominating process

Question 69

In the early twentieth century, reformers introduced the _________ to open up the nominating process to broader participation

Answer 69

primary

Question 70

In _____, the violence and charges of corruption surrounding Democrat Hubert Humphrey’s nomination sparked widespread campaign reform.

Answer 70

1968

Question 71

The reform movement has resulted in greater party involvement by ____________ ________ (groups formed around a particular issue or agenda).

Answer 71

interest groups

Question 72

There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of independent voters. (T/F)

Answer 72

false; rise

Question 73

voting for candidates of both parties for different offices

Answer 73

Ticket splitting

Question 74

How did widespread protests at the 1968 party conventions spark campaign reform?

Answer 74

They led to an increase in the number of presidential primaries and an increased number of national delegates drawn from those primaries.