AP Government Political Parties

The official statement of a party's policy goals, released as part of the national party convention, is known as

• grassroots organization
• the party in the electorate
• the party platform
• the party pyramid

A shift in party allegiances, such as Southerners leaving the Democratic Party and moving support to the Republican Party , is known as

• realignment
• dealignment
• coattail effect
• proportional representation

Which of the following is true about proportional representation?

• It tends to encourage multi-party systems
• It is the system currently used in American elections
• It gives all available seats to the winner of the most votes
• It tends to encourage two-party systems

Political parties today are arguably ...

• As strong as ever

• Growing increasingly weaker

• Unimportant in the American political process

• Virtually nonexistent

The primary role of a third party is to:

• keep the best candidate from winning
• inform the public about the shortcomings of the other parties
• highlight an outstanding candidate in order to gain name recognition for the next election
• introduce new ideas or push for a particular issue

The current "party era" in American politics is

• one of divided government
• dominated by the Republicans
• dominated by the Democrats
• in realignment

Voting for candidates of different parties for various offices in the same election?

• Straight ticket

• Split ticket

• Partisan ticket

• party-column ticket

An electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections

• Multi-party system

• Two-party system

• Plurality system

• One-party system

An electoral system in which the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if he or she does not receive a majority.

• Two party system

• Winner take all system

• Majority system

• Plurality system

Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding primary elections?

• Only about half as many people vote in primaries as in general elections.

• Voters in primary elections tend to be ideologically extreme

• To win most primaries you need to get a majority of the votes cast

• Primary elections are used to nominate candidates for office