a. Men were more likely Democratic in 1964 than in 2008.
b. Men were more likely Democratic in 2008 than in 1964.
c. Women were more likely Republican in 1964 than in 2008.
d. Women were more likely Republican in 2008 than in 1964.
Answer: a
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q6.3.26
Topic: American Parties Today
Learning Objective: LO 6.3: Evaluate the functions of parties
as institutions, parties in government, and parties in the
electorate.
Page Reference: 181
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
27. The __________ is the oicial statement of party policy
established by each party every four years.
a. party code
b. party literature
c. party mandate
d. party platform
Topic: American Parties Today
Learning Objective: LO 6.3: Evaluate the functions of parties
as institutions, parties in government, and parties in the
electorate.
Page Reference: 177
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
28. In __________ electoral systems, parties at the extremes are likely
to have more inluence.
a. majoritarian
b. multiparty
c. plurality
d. two-party
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
174
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 169
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
29. How are critical elections and party realignments interrelated?
a. A party realignment occurs before a critical election.
b. A party realignment occurs after a critical election when new
voters outnumber old voters.
c. A party realignment occurs before a critical election during
periods of national crisis.
d. A party realignment occurs after a critical election.
Topic: A Brief History of American Political Parties
Learning Objective: LO 6.2: Describe changes in American
political parties and identify four realigning elections.
Page Reference: 172
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
30. How do party committees typically allocate independent
expenditures in campaigns?
a. They focus on a few competitive races.
b. They spend funds equally across races.
c. They focus on candidates who are behind in the polls.
d. They focus on reelecting incumbents.
Topic: How Parties Raise and Spend Money
Learning Objective: LO 6.4: Explain party fund-raising and
expenditures, and assess their regulation.
Page Reference: 184 – 185
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
31. How do party-independent expenditures difer from soft money?
a. Party-independent expenditures are spent by parties, whereas
soft money is spent by candidates’ campaigns.
175
b. Unlike soft money, party-independent expenditures can only
use funds raised with normal hard money contribution limits.
c. Unlike party-independent expenditures, soft money is subject
to disclosure requirements.
d. Party-independent expenditures are limited to party-building
activities, whereas soft money can be spent on election
communications.
Topic: How Parties Raise and Spend Money
Learning Objective: LO 6.4: Explain party fund-raising and
expenditures, and assess their regulation.
Page Reference: 184
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
32. Which democratic function of political parties was nonexistent
until the early twentieth century and has given voters greater
input into politics?
a. party nominations
b. policy coordination
c. critical elections
d. primary elections
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 173
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
33. Since the 1950s, the parties in government have been
characterized as __________ more often than not.
a. autocratic
b. divided
c. inclusive
d. uniied
176
Topic: A Brief History of American Political Parties
Learning Objective: LO 6.2: Describe changes in American
political parties and identify four realigning elections.
Page Reference: 174
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
34. Which of the following was a Progressive Era reform?
a. direct election of senators
b. party conventions
c. establishment of patronage
d. establishment of single-member districts
Topic: A Brief History of American Political Parties
Learning Objective: LO 6.2: Describe changes in American
political parties and identify four realigning elections.
Page Reference: 173
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
35. Why did the party convention come to replace the caucus as a
mechanism to nominate candidates for political oice?
a. The caucus system was opaque, favoring party elites and
incumbents.
b. The caucus system was ineicient and arbitrary.
c. The caucus system overly favored urban business interests.
d. The caucus system was too clearly controlled by the executive
branch.
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 166
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
36. Approximately how many patronage positions are there in the
national government?
177
a. 500
b. 1,000
c. 3,000
d. 10,000
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 165
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
37. Which of the following changes to the American electoral
system would most help minor parties obtain representation?
a. if more elections in America took place in single-member
districts
b. if more elections in America were decided with winner-take-
all systems
c. if elections in America were based on proportional
representation
d. if ballot access requirements were strengthened
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 169
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
38. Which of the following best corresponds to the three functions
of political parties?
a. party activity within the presidential, legislative, and judicial
branches of government
b. party identiication by voters as Democrats, Republicans, and
Independents
c. party platforms, constitutional constraints, and the will of the
electorate
178
d. party control of Congress and the presidency, party
organizations, and Democratic and Republican voters
Topic: American Parties Today
Learning Objective: LO 6.3: Evaluate the functions of parties
as institutions, parties in government, and parties in the
electorate.
Page Reference: 176 – 180, 182
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
39. Advocates of the responsible party system believe parties should
craft an articulate platform and __________.
a. be consistently held accountable to it
b. be lexible to the will of the electorate
c. do what is in the best interest of the entire nation
d. act in a way that adheres to the Constitution
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 165
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
40. What was unique about the 1896 presidential election and party
realignment?
a. The Federalists won.
b. The Democratic Party won.
c. The party in power did not switch.
d. The Fair Deal emerged.
Topic: A Brief History of American Political Parties
Learning Objective: LO 6.2: Describe changes in American
political parties and identify four realigning elections.
Page Reference: 173
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
179
Diiculty Level: Moderate
41. During the Great Depression, the major dividing line between
Democrats and Republicans was __________.
a. whether the national federal government should impose
mandates on the states
b. whether the national government should play an active role in
regulating the economy
c. whether industrialization should be promoted over agrarian-
fundamentalist interests
d. whether the civil rights of African Americans should be
recognized
Topic: A Brief History of American Political Parties
Learning Objective: LO 6.2: Describe changes in American
political parties and identify four realigning elections.
Page Reference: 173 – 174
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
42. What was the signiicance of the Supreme Court’s decision in
McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission?
a. It expanded the ability of parties to raise and spend money.
b. It limited the ability of parties to raise and spend money.
c. It placed new limits on campaign fund-raising by corporations
and unions.
d. It increased the transparency of campaigns by imposing strict
disclosure requirements.
Topic: How Parties Raise and Spend Money
Learning Objective: LO 6.4: Explain party fund-raising and
expenditures, and assess their regulation.
Page Reference: 185
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
43. The number of independent voters increased in the 1970s,
indicating a possibility of __________.
a. dealignment
180
b. critical elections
c. realignment
d. converting realignment
Topic: American Parties Today
Learning Objective: LO 6.3: Evaluate the functions of parties
as institutions, parties in government, and parties in the
electorate.
Page Reference: 182 – 184
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
44. When can a party change its platform?
a. after a federal census
b. at the start of each iscal year
c. during the national party convention
d. virtually anytime
Topic: American Parties Today
Learning Objective: LO 6.3: Evaluate the functions of parties
as institutions, parties in government, and parties in the
electorate.
Page Reference: 176 – 177
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
45. How does the Democratic Party allocate delegates at the
national party convention?
a. through a winner-take-all system, with all of a state’s
delegates going to the winner of the primary
b. through a proportional system, in which candidates receive
delegates in proportion to their share of the primary vote
c. through a combination of winner-take-all and proportional
voting
d. through a vote of the “superdelegates”
Topic: A Brief History of American Political Parties
181
Learning Objective: LO 6.5: Assess the efects of recent party
reforms and the long-term prospects for the current party
system.
Page Reference: 186 – 187
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
46. When did party conventions come into existence?
a. in 1791, after ratiication of the Constitution
b. in the 1830s and 1840s
c. in the early twentieth century, during the Progressive Era
d. during the New Deal of the 1930s
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 166
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
47. Which of the following groups is least likely to participate in
politics?
a. Libertarians
b. Democrats
c. Independents
d. Republicans
Topic: American Parties Today
Learning Objective: LO 6.3: Evaluate the functions of parties
as institutions, parties in government, and parties in the
electorate.
Page Reference: 182
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
48. What is a consequence of direct primaries?
a. Direct primaries increase the inluence of political party
leaders.
182
b. Direct primaries increase cohesion within parties.
c. Direct primaries increase the autonomy of elected politicians.
d. Direct primaries increase the electability of party-line
candidates.
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 166 – 167
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
49. In a winner-take-all system, __________.
a. the candidate with a majority of vote wins
b. the candidate with the most votes wins
c. the party with the most votes wins
d. the party that is able to form a majority coalition wins
Topic: What Parties Do for Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 6.1: Identify the primary functions of
parties in democracies and distinguish the U.S. party system
from those in European democracies.
Page Reference: 169
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
50. Which of the following is an efective counterargument to the
party decline argument?
a. The parties still assist candidates with monetary and other
resource support.
b. Campaigns have become more candidate-focused in recent
years.
c. Television and social media play an important role in modern
campaigns.
d. There has been an increase in the number of primaries over
the past half century.
183