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Chapter 8: Political Parties

Multiple Choice

This activity contains 20 questions.

"Critical elections" result in the

	displacement of the minority party by the majority party.
	formation of new coalitions for each political party.
	formation of new political parties.
	successful bid by a third political party.

A political party machine is a kind of local party organization that

	uses specific and material inducements to win party loyalty and power.
	remains strong in most large American cities.
	threatens the efficiency of state and national party organizations.
	has recently come to depend heavily on ethnic group support.

According to Anthony Downs' model, a rational party will adopt the policy position that is

	proposed by its senior members in Congress.
	closest to the actual needs of the country.
	closest to the views of a majority of voters.
	consistent with previous successful elections.

According to the text, the most important function of political parties is to

	establish coalitions.
	win elections.
	conduct a national convention every four years to nominate a president.
	caucus in Congress.

Critics of the "responsible party" system argue that it

	will create a decentralized party system.
	is too complex and emphasizes diversity.
	overly emphasizes local differences.
	is not appropriate for the type of limited government the founders sought to create.

In 1968 the Democratic Party was torn apart, leaving the door to the presidency open for Republican Richard Nixon primarily due to

	the failure of President Johnson's War on Poverty.
	President Johnson's Vietnam War policies.
	the dissolution of the New Deal coalition.
	the huge budget deficit created by Great Society programs.

Linkage institutions

	link political parties to the government.
	are used to implement public policies.
	translate inputs from the public into outputs from the policymakers.
	help link the three branches of government together to achieve coherent policies.

Most democratic nations have a

	one-party system.
	two-party system.
	multi-party system.
	regional party system.

Political candidates make many promises when running for office. In electing a candidate, the public can expect

	few promises to be carried out because political promises are made to be broken.
	that for every broken promise, many more will be kept.
	the opposing party to prevent the promises from being carried out.
	a significant gap between party platform and political performance.

Primaries that allow voters to decide on Election Day whether they want to participate in the Democratic or Republican contests are called

	closed primaries.
	open primaries.
	blanket primaries.
	political primaries

Recent party dealignment has been characterized by

	growing party neutrality.
	negative attitudes toward the parties.
	increased ideological entrenchment in the parties.
	the decline of party organization.

Recent trends in party identification in the United States show

	a decline of both parties and a rise in independence.
	a decline in party desertion.
	a strong movement in favor of the Republican Party.
	that voters increasingly identify with one or the other political party.

The "responsible party" model holds that parties should

	avoid ideological stands.
	present distinct, comprehensive programs for governing the nation.
	avoid making promises.
	keep to middle-of-the-road positions.

The American two-party system promotes

	greater conflict but clear policy choices.
	moderation in conflict and ambiguous policy positions.
	the organization of political parties around special interests.
	the weakness of centrist positions on policy issues.

The election of 1828 that brought Andrew Jackson to the presidency was significant because it

	was the first time the Republican Party controlled Congress.
	forged a new political coalition around a modern political party.
	marked the beginning of the dominance of northern industrialists.
	marked the ascendancy of the newly created Whig Party.

The election of 1896 is considered a realigning election because it

	gave Republicans control of the South.
	entrenched western farmers and silverites in the Republican Party.
	brought the industrial working classes and moneyed interest into the Democratic fold.
	shifted the party coalitions and entrenched the Republicans for another generation.

The key problem of the parties today is

	that the parties are no longer the main source of political information, attention, and affection.
	their decentralized structure.
	their inability to acquire adequate funding.
	their inability to formulate coherent policy.

The Republican Party rose to prominence in the late 1850s as the

	party of the wealthy elite.
	antislavery party.
	gold standard party.
	party of rural farmers.

The supreme power within each of the parties is its

	presidential candidate.
	national committee.
	national chairperson.
	national convention.

Throughout American history, third parties have

	developed as offshoots of a major party.
	promoted specific causes.
	developed as an extension of a popular presidential aspirant.
	all of the above.

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