CHAPTER 9

Political Parties

1. Political parties are organizations that seek influence over government. Political parties as they are known today developed along
with the expansion of suffrage, and actually took their shape from the electoral process.
2. In modern history, political parties have been the chief points of contact between governments and groups and forces in society. By
organizing political parties, social forces attempt to gain some control over government policies and personnel.
3. Political parties, as coalitions of those with similar interests, are also important in making policy.
4. Historically, parties originate through either internal or external mobilization by those seeking to win governmental power.
Internal mobilization occurs when political conflicts break out and government officials and competing factions seek to mobilize
popular support. External mobilization takes place when a group of politicians outside government organizes popular support to
win governmental power.
5. The United States has usually had a two-party system, meaning that only two parties have a serious chance to win national
elections.
6. The United States has experienced five realigning eras, which occur when the established political elite weakens sufficiently to
permit the creation of new coalitions of forces capable of capturing and holding the reins of government.
7. American third parties have always represented social and economic protests ignored by the other parties.
8. The structure of America’s single-member districts and plurality voting limit the electoral prospects of third parties.
9. Party organizations exist at virtually every level of American government—usually taking the form of committees made up of active
party members.
10. Although national party conventions no longer have the power to nominate presidential candidates, they are still important in
determining the party’s rules and platform.
11. The national committee and the congressional campaign committees play important roles in recruiting candidates and raising
money.
12. Individuals tend to form psychological ties with parties in “party identification.” This identification often follows demographic,
ideological, and regional lines.
13. The two major national parties do not draw equal support from members of every social stratum. A variety of group characteristics
are associated with party identification, including race and ethnicity, gender, religion, class, ideology, region, and age.
14. Parties are important in the electoral process for recruiting and nominating candidates for office.
15. Though not so important today as in the past, parties also can make a big difference in convincing voters to vote.
16. Parties also help voters choose among candidates.
17. The differences between the two parties reflect a general difference in philosophy but also an attempt to appeal to core
constituencies. The policy agenda that party leaders adopt often reflect these differences.
18. Political parties help to organize Congress. Congressional leadership and the committee system are both products of the two-party
system.
19. The president serves as an informal party head by seeking support from congressional members of the party and by supporting
their bids for re-election.
20. Democracy depends on strong parties, which promote electoral competition and voter turnout and enable governance through
their organizations in Congress.
21. The ties that parties have to the electorate are currently weak; the resulting “candidate-centered” politics has some negative
consequences, including lower voter turnout, increased influence of interest groups, and a lack of effective decision making by
elected leaders.
1. The process by which a party selects a single candidate to run for an elective office is defined as a
nomination
2. The following are considered a function of political parties:
 Nominating candidates
 Getting out the vote
 Influencing voters’ choices
3. Which of the following is a task of the Democratic and Republican National Committees? Raising
campaign funds
4. Until recent years at least, the major parties have been the principal agents responsible for giving
citizens the motivation and incentive to vote.
5. African American overwhelmingly vote democratic
6. What method of policy making has become popular as a means of direct democracy? Referendum
7. Which of the following reasons best explains the short lives of third parties?
 Their causes are usually eliminated by the ability of the major parties to absorb their programs and
to draw their supporters into the mainstream
8. After thirty-six years of dominating U.S. political life, the Republican Party lost power after the Great
Depression began.
9. From the Civil War to the 1960s, the south was a Democratic stronghold
10. The following are example of political patronage:
 A party activist is given a federal job
 A campaign donor receives preference in the granting of a federal contract
 A party boss is able to give a supporter preferential treatment as he or she seeks government
benefits.
11. The first "party system" in the United Stated consisted of Federalists and Jeffersonian Republican
12. One important cause of the United States’ two-party system is single-member electoral districts
13. The original party system in the United States pitted the Federalists, supported by merchants against
the Jeffersonian Republicans, supported by agrarian interests
14. A psychological tie to a political party is the definition of party identification
15. The party platform is a party document, written at a national convention that contains party
philosophy, principles, and positions on issues.
16. Partisan ties in the United States have declined in recent years.
17. The authors of the textbook argue that one of the major factors responsible for the relatively low
rates of voter turnout that characterize U.S. national elections is the declined of political parties
18. A proportional-representation electoral system is a multiple-member district system that gives each
political party representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote.
19. 527 committees are nonprofit independent groups that receive and disburse funds to influence
elections.
20. Which person came up with the "southern strategy" to get white southerners to start voting
Republican? Richard Nixon
21. Which party has controlled the White House for most of the last thirty years? Republican
22. The Republican Party was formed as a coalition of antislavery forces
23. Upper-class Americans are considerably more likely to affiliate with the Republican Party;
conservatives are more likely to identify with the Republican Party; and citizens living in the
northeast region are more likely to identify with the Democratic Party.
24. The Speaker of the House is actually selected by the party that holds the majority of seats in the
House.
25. Which of the following differentiates an interest group from a political party? An interest group seeks
to influence government on a narrow range of issues, whereas a party attempts to win elections
26. Who was the founder of the Democratic Party? Andrew Jackson
27. In general, Democrats support social programs and regulations of businesses
28. Which famous American, in his farewell address, encouraged his fellow citizens to avoid partisan
politics? George Washington

Vocabulary
1. Political parties: organized groups that attempt to influence the government by electing
their members to important government offices
2. Two-Party system: a political system in which only two parties have a realistic
opportunity to compete effectively for control
3. Electoral realignment: the point in history when a new party supplants the ruling party,
becoming in turn the dominant political force; in the Unites States, this has tended to
occur roughly every 30 years.
4. Divided government: the condition in American government wherein the presidency is
controlled by one party while the opposing party controls one or both houses of
Congress.
5. Party polarization: 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
6. Third parties: parties that organize to compete against the two major American political
parties
7. Party organization: the formal structure of a political party, including its leadership,
election committees, active members, and paid staff.
8. Caucus (political): a normally closed meeting of political or legislative group to select
candidates, plan strategy, or make decisions regarding legislative matters
9. National convention: a national party political institution that nominates the party’s
presidential and vice presidential candidates, establishes party rules, and writes and
ratifies the party’s platform.
10. Platform: a party document, written at a national convention, that contains party
philosophy, principles, and positions on issues
11. Soft money: money contributed directly to political parties and other organizations for
political activities that is not regulated by federal campaign spending laws; in 2002
federal law prohibited unregulated donations to national party committee.
12. 527 committees: nonprofit independent groups that receive and disburse funds to
influence the nomination, election, or defeat of candidates. Named after section 527 of
the Internal Revenue Code, which defines and grants tax-exempt status to nonprofit
advocacy groups.
13. Machines: strong party organizations in late-nineteenth and early twentieth century
American cities. These machines were led by bosses who controlled party nominations
and patronage.
14. Patronage: the resources available to higher officials, usually opportunities to make
partisan appointments to offices and to confer grants, licenses, or special favors to
supporters.
15. Party identification: and individual voter’s psychological ties to one party or another.
16. Party activist: partisans who contribute time, energy, and effort to support their party
and its candidates.
17. Gender gap: a distinctive pattern of voting behavior reflecting the differences in views
between women and men
18. Nomination: the process by which political parties select their candidates for election to
public office.
19. Policy entrepreneur: an individual who identifies a problem as a political issue and
brings a policy proposal into the political agenda
20. Majority party: the party that holds the majority of legislative seats in either the House
or the Senate.
21. Minority party: the party that holds a minority of legislative seats in either the House or
the Senate