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Party survived a long period of opposition challenge and
party realignment over many decades lasting from the
Civil War period to FDR.
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q6.2.101
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: 171
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
102. Briely assess whether dealignment in the party system has
actually occurred.
1. Indicate that dealignment, as opposed to realignment,
is a period when no party has clear domination over the
other.
2. Explain that dealignment is characterized by increased
identiication by the electorate as Independents.
3. Determine if the percentage of self-classiied
Independents (40 percent in 2010s) are pure
Independents or actual partisans, citing data presented in
Table 6.3, Voting Behavior of Partisans and Independents,
1992–2008).
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: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
103. What did the Democratic Party in the electorate look like in
2008, demographically?
1. Report that a majority of women were Democratic, with
a slight plurality of men identifying similarly. The
Democratic Party also received substantial support among
blacks, Hispanics, Jews, and young voters.
2. Discuss how most regions of the country identiied as
Democrats, but support was particularly strong in the
West and Northeast.
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
104. Assess the utility of the party platform in drawing party support
and to what extent politicians are held accountable to it.
1. Deine the platform as a rather vague document based
on broad principles rather than speciic policies.
2. Explain how the document is drafted at the national
convention.
3. Note that there is little accountability by the politician
regarding the platform, due to a lack of party
enforcement.
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
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
105. Briely discuss speciic Democratic and Republican Party
reforms and assess long-term prospects for the two-party
system in the United States.
1. Discuss the recent reforms in the Democratic Party,
including proportional voting allowing greater diversity in
delegates and more states adopting primaries.
2. Discuss the Republican Party reforms, which have given
the national committee more control, and state parties
gaining more diverse representation.
3. Persuasively assess long-term prospects of the two-
party system.
Topic: Are the Political Parties Dying?
1. Describe the national convention as a forum for
selecting the party platform and the presidential nominee
every four years.
2. Explain the importance of the party platform to the
functioning of the party and ofer a critique. (For instance,
students may argue that a party platform has little real
substance; that it is a general guide containing no speciic
policy preferences to give the party the lexibility to
compromise with the opposing party and to limit
accountability among the voting base. They may also note
that failures of party discipline often afect the utility of
the party platform.)
3. Evaluate changes that have altered electoral
participation, particularly Progressive reforms.
4. Assess the role of the party convention in promoting
democracy.
5. Ofer a concise summary and efective conclusion.
Topic: American Parties Today
204
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
107. Give an overview of the key phases of political party
development in the United States. How did the Framers
envision electoral participation in government? How has this
been realized? Be certain to demonstrate where realignments
have occurred and the reasons why. Evaluate in detail what
dealignment entails and assess whether it has occurred.
1. Provide an outline of the various phases of political
party development.
2. Explain how the Framers warned of the dangers that
parties presented and how parties soon developed despite
this warning.
3. Describe one or two coalition changes in U.S. history
and the events that precipitated each.
4. Evaluate if the United States, because of the rising
number of self-described Independents, is in a period of
dealignment.
5. Provide a concise and efective conclusion.
Topic: A Brief History of American Political Parties
Learning Objective: LO 6.2: Describe changes in American
political parties and identify four realigning elections; LO 6.3:
Evaluate the functions of parties as institutions, parties in
government, and parties in the electorate.
Page Reference: 171 – 174, 182 – 184
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
108. Examine the role of minor parties in U.S. politics. How have
minor parties afected the electoral system? What limitations
have kept them from achieving major-party status? Provide a
detailed assessment from the individual voter’s perspective on
the utility of voting for a minor party. Use the presidential
election of 2000 (Bush v. Gore) as a test case.
1. Describe the various prominent minor parties in
American history and their efects in altering the national
debate.
2. Explain the institutional limitations and attitudes that
have prevented minor parties from becoming major
parties. Institutional barriers such as winner-take-all
elections and single-member districts are the primary
hindrance to the rise of minor parties. Voter attitudes are
afected by this and thus, many see voting for minor
parties as a wasted vote and that minor parties spoil
elections. Duverger’s Law, which predicts this interaction,
may or may not be noted in the answer.
3. Using detailed evidence from the reading, assess who
voted for the Green Party in 2000 and why, giving a
detailed explanation as to why many believe Ralph Nader
spoiled the election as well as ofering
counterexplanations. Provide an argument for voting or
not voting for minor parties.
4. Provide a succinct summary and conclusion.
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: 170 – 171
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
109. How does the American two-party system facilitate or hinder
democracy? Compare the U.S. electoral system to multiparty
systems. How did the American electoral system arise, and who
has manipulated it? Ofer an analysis of the potential for
realistic prodemocratic change in the U.S. electoral system.
1. Describe the constitutional factors that have shaped the
U.S. electoral system.
2. Explain how the U.S. electoral system difers from most
European democracies.
3. Investigate the efects of progressive reforms and other
factors that have altered the electoral system for better or
worse. Campaign inancing should be assessed in detail.
4. Assess the strengths and deiciencies in the American
system in relation to other democracies, ofering
206
suggestions for feasible and useful change in promoting
American democracy.
5. Ofer a compelling summary and conclusion.
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: 164 - 170
Page Reference: 1
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
110. Explain the party fund-raising and expenditure processes. How
and why have these processes altered over time? Assess
monetary regulation of political parties and their efects on
party strength.
1. Provide an overview of the developments in party fund-
raising. This should include relections on hard money, soft
money, and party-independent expenditures. The Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 increased disclosure, and
amendments to it by the Federal Election Commission in
1979 allowed greater use of soft money. The Bipartisan
Campaign Reform Act of 2002 signiicantly lessened use of
soft money while doubling the amount of individual
contributions allowed. Discuss the signiicance of the 2014
Supreme Court ruling, which expanded the ability of
parties to raise and spend money. Note how party-
independent expenditures have been used in coordination
during key elections to compensate for the reduction of
soft money.
2. Assess the overall efects of these changes on political
parties. Discuss how individual campaign contributions
have compensated for the reduction in soft money. Make a
compelling argument for the weakening or strengthening
of parties based on this discussion.
3. Provide a brief summary paragraph tying together main
features of the discussion, restating the initial assessment.
Topic: How Parties Raise and Spend Money
Learning Objective: LO 6.4: Explain party fund-raising and
expenditures, and assess their regulation.
207
Page Reference: 184 – 185
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
208
