Question 1

The emergence of hyperpartisanship has brought the American party system ______ the standards for a responsible party system.

Accepted Answer

farther away from

Question 2

Of the following choices, party discipline applies only to the ______.

Accepted Answer

party-in-government

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT true regarding issue positions of the major parties?

Accepted Answer

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that government should let each person get ahead on his or her own rather than guaranteeing jobs and standards of living.

Question 4

The statement that third parties are irrelevant in modern-day politics is ______.

Accepted Answer

less accurate than in the past due to the Tea Party victories of the 2010 midterm elections

Question 5

The current party era is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT this:

Accepted Answer

A weakening in party identification among voters

Question 6

Realignments are significant because they ______.

Accepted Answer

usually result in a change in policy direction

Question 7

Party officials complain about the open primary because ______.

Accepted Answer

members of the other party can contaminate the nomination process

Question 8

Party organizations engage in recruiting candidates ______.

Accepted Answer

for races they think they can win but that are not attractive to ambitious politicians

Question 9

In contrast to the ideas of James Madison, political observers today argue that political parties ______.

Accepted Answer

are essential to the maintenance of democracy

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT a reason the United States has a two-party system?

Accepted Answer

The American public strongly supports a two-party system.

Question 11

Parties help to overcome the problem of ______ created by the Constitution.

Accepted Answer

fragmented government

Question 12

The responsible party model ______.

Accepted Answer

makes it easier for voters to hold parties accountable for their actions

Question 13

Since the 1960s, ______.

Accepted Answer

Republicans and Democrats have become more consistent with respect to their ideologies

Question 14

The Democratic Party has become more liberal and the Republican Party more conservative because of the ______.

Accepted Answer

movement of conservative, southern Democrats to the Republican Party

Question 15

The election of 1828 was significant to the development of electoral politics because ______.

Accepted Answer

it was the first election in which mass participation occurred

Question 16

An election signaling a significant change in popular allegiance from one party to another is a ______ election.

Accepted Answer

critical

Question 17

Electioneering refers to ______.

Accepted Answer

the process of getting a person elected to public office

Question 18

The two functions of parties are ______.

Accepted Answer

electioneering and governing

Question 19

The third party mentioned in the text that had a significant impact on the 2010 midterm elections is the ______.

Accepted Answer

Tea Party

Question 20

According to the textbook, the relationship between citizens and parties today is best reflected by ______.

Accepted Answer

citizens\' growing dissatisfaction with parties because moderates find themselves poorly represented and frustrated at the emergence of hyperpartisanship

Question 21

All of the following statements concerning party identification in the electorate are true EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

Most people who are registered members of a party work actively for their party organization.

Question 22

Election campaigns changed during the twentieth century in all of the following ways EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

The voters became less important in the nomination process.

Question 23

Party activists are important to the parties for all of the following reasons EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

They are the source of the drive to capture moderate voters and win elections.

Question 24

Which of the following statements is NOT true regarding party machines?

Accepted Answer

Party machines were strongest in rural areas.

Question 25

The party activity of governing involves ______ and ______.

Accepted Answer

controlling government; enacting the party\'s policy agenda

Question 26

One impact of televising the national conventions is that ______.

Accepted Answer

political parties choreograph events during prime time

Question 27

The positive aspect of partisanship is that it ______.

Accepted Answer

keeps politicians honest and allows the best political ideas and policies to emerge

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the responsible party model?

Accepted Answer

Each party should act in a polarized fashion to such an extent that their behavior impedes government functions.

Question 29

Why would the two American parties feel the need to take more extreme issue positions?

Accepted Answer

To satisfy the party activists

Question 30

Parties appeal to moderate voters by all of the following EXCEPT this:

Accepted Answer

Publicly denouncing the more extreme wing of their own party

Question 31

All of the following statements are true of party eras EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

Throughout American history, the balance of parties has usually resulted in different parties controlling the executive and legislative branches of the federal government.

Question 32

A critical election leads to a(n) ______.

Accepted Answer

realignment

Question 33

American political parties are decentralized for all of the following reasons EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

Americans resist efforts of the parties to become more centralized.

Question 34

All of the following statements concerning parties in American democracy are true EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

They have become an impediment to the operation of modern democracy.

Question 35

Which of the following statements is NOT true about the American party system?

Accepted Answer

American parties are more ideologically extreme than many of their European counterparts.

Question 36

The party ______ are the members of a political party who consistently vote for that party\'s candidates.

Accepted Answer

base

Question 37

Which of the following questions is NOT one that needs to be asked by a critical reader of party platforms?

Accepted Answer

Do public opinions polls show this party\'s platform was the one supported by the voters at the time it was written?

Question 38

Primary voters, party activists, and big-money donors ______.

Accepted Answer

tend to be more ideological and issue oriented than the voters in the general election

Question 39

The current state of American political parties can be described as ______.

Accepted Answer

being in a period of both realignment and dealignment

Question 40

Media coverage of the general election process has ______.

Accepted Answer

made campaigns more candidate centered

Question 41

According to the text, ______ should find it easiest to band together to pursue common goals due to the nature of their goals.

Accepted Answer

business owners

Question 42

At the time the health care bill was being debated in Congress, the insurance industry was in a tough position because ______.

Accepted Answer

if it stayed outside of the political process but was unable to stop health care reform, it risked being stuck with a policy it hated

Question 43

Selective incentives are necessary for some interest groups because ______.

Accepted Answer

collective benefits cannot be kept from those who do not join the group, and the group needs paying members to join

Question 44

Expressive benefits are ______.

Accepted Answer

selective incentives that derive from the opportunity to express values and beliefs and to be committed to a greater cause

Question 45

Which statement best reflects the political influence of labor unions?

Accepted Answer

Labor union membership has decreased, but unions still provide a formidable political force.

Question 46

Corporate and business interest groups are the most numerous and powerful of all interest groups because ______.

Accepted Answer

the government plays a key role in regulating the economy and setting the rules for economic competition

Question 47

Based on the definitions in the textbook, the difference between factions and other interest groups is that factions ______.

Accepted Answer

have goals that are opposed to the rights of other citizens or to the interests of the whole community

Question 48

The part of the federal government that is least subject to the revolving-door phenomenon is ______.

Accepted Answer

the courts

Question 49

So-called 527 groups are important because they can ______.

Accepted Answer

raise unlimited amounts of money to mobilize voters with issue advocacy ads

Question 50

Traditional social protest has been used most effectively by ______.

Accepted Answer

civil rights leaders

Question 51

The likelihood that people with a shared interest will form a group is increased when each of the following occurs EXCEPT this:

Accepted Answer

The potential members are unemployed and have a great deal of time to engage in politics.

Question 52

A common feature of all interest groups is that they ______.

Accepted Answer

are organized around shared interests among members

Question 53

______ are interest groups that try to influence government to produce collective goods or services that benefit the general public.

Accepted Answer

Public interest groups

Question 54

The text indicates that ______ are the type of interest group that is least likely to meet Madison\'s definition of \"factions.\"

Accepted Answer

public interest groups

Question 55

After reading the sections of the textbook on group formation and on types of interest groups, one could conclude all of the following EXCEPT this:

Accepted Answer

Worthy interests will be served regardless of whether or not they are organized.

Question 56

The only way an interest group can directly lobby the judiciary is to ______.

Accepted Answer

challenge the legality of laws or administrative regulations by filing suit or filing amicus briefs in courts

Question 57

PAC money is directed primarily toward ______.

Accepted Answer

congressional incumbents

Question 58

In addition to the usual goals of other types of indirect lobbying, demonstrations and spontaneous protests seek to ______.

Accepted Answer

recruit those who have not formed an opinion on a certain topic or change the minds of those who have

Question 59

Interest groups perform all of the following roles in politics EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

Electing members to public office

Question 60

An interest group ______ is an effective leader who is likely to have organized an interest group and can effectively promote its interests.

Accepted Answer

entrepreneur

Question 61

The argument that there is a \"free rider problem\" means that ______.

Accepted Answer

people obtain the benefits provided by an interest group without being part of it because the benefit is available to everyone

Question 62

What is often the most important triggering mechanism that causes interest groups to form?

Accepted Answer

An external threat that causes citizens to band together to protect their well-being

Question 63

AARP is very large because ______.

Accepted Answer

AARP provides a wide variety of selective benefits for a small cost

Question 64

To be a critical consumer of direct mail, one should ask all of the following questions EXCEPT this one:

Accepted Answer

Are they registered with the federal government as a lobbying organization?

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