1. The major impact third parties have on presidential elections has been to
a. encourage larger voter turnout
b. recruit leaders from the Democrats and Republicans to run for President
c. generate increased party identification among the electorate
d. develop issues that are later adopted by the major political parties
e. draw enough votes from the major parties to throw the election into the House of Representatives
2. Critical elections in the United States typically have occurred
a. as a result of a temporary shift in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties
b. whenever a third party has secured more than fifteen percent of the presidential vote
c. each time a Republican has been elected president
d. when voter turnout has declined significantly from the previous election
e. when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party loyalties
3. A libertarian would be more likely than a pure liberal to vote for
a. lower defense spending
b. lower taxes
c. abortion rights
d. business regulation
e. criminal rights
4. Interest groups and political parties both promote United States democracy by
a. expressing detailed, ideologically distinct programs
b. centralizing public authority
c. linking citizens to the political process
d. increasing domination of the political process by elites
e. lobbying members of Congress
5. Someone who identifies with the Democratic Party would most likely support all of the following except
a. freedom of choice in abortions
b. government regulation
c. increased taxes on the rich
d. social welfare programs
e. prayer in schools
6. A conservative refused to watch MSNBC because she believes it is a liberal news network. She is engaging in
a. prejudice questioning
b. selective exposure
c. infotainment
d. stereotype challenging
e. narrowcasting
7. Which of the following best describes the practice of “ticket-splitting”?
a. a presidential nominee selects a running mate who can appeal to voter groups whose support of the nominee is weak
b. a voter chooses the presidential nominee of one major party, but chooses congressional nominees of the other major party
c. a delegate to a national party convention supports the front runner but remains uncommitted to the party platform
d. a member of Congress votes against legislation proposed by his party leader
e. a major orders the local police force to hand out fewer parking violations in the weeks prior to an election
8. All of the following are recognized functions of the major political parties except
a. establishing channels of communication between public and government
b. providing personnel to staff elections and run the government
c. recruiting candidates for public office
d. aggregating interests into electoral alliances
e. providing payments for supporting interest groups
9. The term “horse-race journalism” refers to the tendency of the media to
a. cover Congress by focusing on committee chairs rather than on the work of the committees
b. cover campaigns by emphasizing the relative standings of the candidates in the polls rather than the issues they discuss
c. cover politics by concentrating on scandal and corruption rather than on instances of integrity and honorable action
d. compete for access to sources rather than to cooperate in gathering news
e. compete to be first with major breaking stories rather than trying to present full, accurate accounts of such stories
10. Policy gridlock is most likely to occur when
a. the same party wins the majority in both houses of Congress
b. a party wins a significant majority of seats in Congress
c. a political party forms a coalition around a specific policy
d. there is a third-party candidate in the presidential election
e. the president is of a different party from the majority party in Congress
11. Which of the following elections led to several coalitions, including African-Americans, leaving the Republican Party and
joining the Democratic Party?
a. 1800
b. 1824
c. 1896
d. 1932
12. An election involving more than two candidates in which the person who receives the most votes is the winner is called
a. a majority election
b. a proportional election
c. a plurality election
d. a simple election
e. an indirect election
13. Which of the following groups would be considered part of Democratic coalition?
I. African-Americans
II. urban dwellers
III. Protestants
IV. Southerners
V. Hispanic
a. I,II,II, IV, V
b. I, II, III
c. I, IV, V
d. IV, V
e. I, II, V
14. All of the following explain the lack of success of American Third Parties except
a. their issues are often absorbed by major parties
b. lack of name recognition
c. lack of resources
d. most states have laws preventing third parties from being included on ballots
e. people are afraid voting for a third party wastes their vote
15. What was the name of Ross Perot’s third party that brought the issue of balancing the budget to the public’s
attention?
a. Green Party
b. Reform Party
c. Libertarian Party
d. Fiscal Responsibility Party
e. Democratic-Republican Party
16. The ability of the media to influence which policies the government addresses is called
a. adversarial media
b. watchdog tendency
c. horserace journalism
d. agenda setting
e. dealignment
17. The Green Party is a single-issue Third Party focused on
a. economic concerns
b. race issues
c. environmental issues
d. foreign relations
e. personal freedoms
18. Which of the following political parties would most likely be described as purely conservative?
a. Democratic Party
b. Libertarian Party
c. Republican Party
d. Green Party
e. Populist Party
19. The modern trend of more and more Americans identifying as independent is called
a. realignment
b. dealignment
c. selective exposure
d. homogenization
e. agenda setting
20. Which of the following describes the tendency of different media sources to cover the same stories?
a. scorekeeper
b. watchdog
c. horserace journalism
d. homogenization
e. agenda setting
21. The following platform would belong to which party?
- Pro-life
- No same-sex marriage
- war on drugs
- lower taxes
a. Democratic Party
b. Republican Party
c. Libertarian Party
d. Populist party
e. Green Party
For #s 97-100, match the correct political party to the place it would belong on the grid. Write the letter that
corresponds to the political party for each question.
22. Republican Party
23. Democratic Party
24. Populist Party
25. Libertarian Party
A. __________________________
- Progressive views on social issues
- government should fund social
welfare programs
- Government should regulate
business
B. _________________________
- progressive views on social issues
- government should not provide
funding for social welfare
programs (people can donate
voluntarily if they want to)
- government should not regulate
business
C. __________________________
D. _________________________
- orthodox views on social issues
(more traditional)
- orthodox views on social issues
- government should not regulate