Chapter 9 Reading Guide – Political Parties
Define each of the following items.
1. political party
2. mugwumps/progressives
3. initiative
4. referendum
5. critical/realignment periods
6. split ticket voting
7. straight ticket voting
8. office-bloc ballot (Massachusetts ballot)
9. party column ballot (Indiana ballot)
10. national convention
11. national committee
12. congressional campaign committee
13. national chair
14. superdelegates
15. political machine
16. Hatch Act (1939)
17. ideological party
18. solidary incentives
19. sponsored party
20. personal following
21. two-party system
22. plurality system
23. caucus
1. Why were some Founders (such as George Washington) concerned about the
beginning of political parties early on in the nation’s history?
2. List the reasons for US political parties becoming weaker over time.
3. Identify three areas where party strength can be assessed and describe the trends for
each.
4. Describe the rise of political parties in the Founding Era.
5. Describe the changes in the political party system in the Jacksonian Era.
6. Describe the changes in the political party system in the Progressive Era of the late
1800s and early 1900s.
7. Describe the changes that took place in each realigning election in US political
history (1800, 1828, 1860, 1896, 1932) considering the candidates and the issues/reason
for realignment.
8. Describe the history of split ticket voting.
9. Describe the distribution of delegates to the national conventions and how it
generally differs in purpose between the Democrats and Republicans.
10. Describe the changes in the rules for the Democratic Convention made by the Hunt
Commission.
11. Describe the two reasons for the two party system of the US.
12. Contrast the runoff election with the plurality system of election.
13. Describe the four types of minor parties and provide examples of each.
14. Describe the impacts of minor parties on American politics.
15. Contrast the electoral and policy objectives of the parties.