Question Group A:
What is a political party?
An organization with like-minded political views and ideas
Identify the two major parties in American politics.
Democrats and Republicans
Identify and explain five important things political parties do.
Point out weaknesses in other parties
Point out laws and programs that can potentially better the government
Keep all citizens informed and interested
Ensure that public officials do a good job
Select candidates to run for office
What is a two-party system?
When only two political parties compete for office
Which party dominated the South between the Civil War and the 1960s?
Democratic-Republicans
How did the Framers feel about political parties?
The framers opposed political parties because they felt that parties would divide the nation
What were the first two political parties?
Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists
Question Group B:
What is a single member district?
Contests in which only one candidate is elected to each office on the ballot
How do single-member district candidates win?
Plurality—the largest number of votes cast for the office
How does this system encourage a two party system?
Voters typically must choose between the party in power or the party with the best chance of winning the election, otherwise voters believe they are wasting votes.
In general, how do the two parties differ in their positions on social welfare programs?
Democrats typically support government sponsored social welfare, Republicans typically believe government should stay out of social welfare
Identify the 9 minor parties listed at the start of chapter 5 section 4.
Libertarian
Reform
Socialist
Prohibition
Natural Law
Communist
American Independent
Green
Constitution
What are the four types of minor parties?
Ideological parties
Single-issue parties
Economic protest parties
Splinter parties
Define the purposes of each and give examples.
Ideological parties—based on a particular set of...