1 Chapter 7 Political Parties 1. Why is voter turnout higher abroad? 2. Why are political parties in the U. S. weak today? 3. Define: political party 4. Identify the three political arenas where political parties work, and explain the purpose of each arena. 5. Identify 3 factors that explain the differences between American and European political parties. 6. How do Americans "join" political parties? 7. What did George Washington say about political parties? Why did he feel frustrated by them? 8. Identify the first organized political party in the U. S., its founder, its name, and when it began. 9. What was the label used by the followers of Alexander Hamilton? 10. Why were the Federalists so fearful of Jefferson? 11. Why does the donkey symbolize Democrats and the elephant symbolize Republicans? 12. How does a "one-party" state affect political parties? 13. Define: Mugwumps (progressives/reformers): 14. Why did Progressives favor primary elections rather than nominating conventions? 15. What is a referendum? 16. Define: critical (or realigning) period? 17. What was the cause of the realignment in 1932? 18. Explain the reasons for the shift in party alignment in the South from 1972 to the present. 2 19. 20. Define: a. split ticket – b. straight ticket – c. office-bloc ballot – d. party-column ballot – Define: a. a national party convention – b. national committee – c. congressional campaign committee – d. national chairman – 21. Describe the differences in the organizations between the Democrats and the Republicans. 22. How do the national political parties get around laws limiting the amount of spending they may do to support their candidates? 23. What were the McGovern rules adopted by the Democrats for their 1980 convention? 24. Define: political machine 25. Describe a "new-style" machine. 26. Define: ideological party 27. Define: solidarity incentive, sponsored party, personal following, two-party system, plurality system 28. How does the winner-take-all feature of American elections support a two-party system? What other factors encourage the two-party system in the U. S.? 29. How does the winner-take-all system impact the electoral college? Which states do not require that all of the states electoral votes go to the candidate with the most votes? 30. How does the party system impact who wins the presidency? 3 31. Which is the only minor party to have become a major political party? 32. What third parties have carried states in presidential elections? 33. What are the two contrary forces that face major parties? 34. Why don't delegates to national nominating conventions have the same policy views as most voters? 35. Who typically votes in party primary elections/ 36. Define: caucus 37. What motivates people to become delegates to modern nominating conventions? 38. Why do Democrats seem to have a more difficult time electing their candidate president than electing members of the House of Representatives and U. S. Senate?