SOL CE 5 Part A - The Basics

An organization of people who share the same views about the way power should be used in a country or society (through government, policy-making, etc) is known as a?

• Campaign

• Cabinet

• Political Party

• Congress

Answer explanation

Political parties have members who share similar views about public policy. While they may agree with most aspects of the party views some members have varied ideas about specific policies.

Political parties serve all of the following roles within elections. Choose all that apply.

• Recruiting and nominating candidates for office.

• Appoint members to the U.S. Senate and U.S. Supreme Court.

• Help candidates to win elections by raising money and educating voters about the candidate's views.

• Voting for laws that they would like to see introduced to the U.S. Congress.

• Monitoring the actions of officeholders.

Answer explanation

Political parties do all of the following.

Recruit candidates they would like to run as representatives of their party.

Help candidates by assisting in raising money and paying for campaigns.

Monitor the actions of their officeholders and those of the other party.

Educate the voters about their candidate's views and those of their opponent.

The United States has what is considered a two-party system since there are two primarily dominant political parties. These parties are?

• Libertarian

• Republican

• Constitution

• Democratic

• Green

Answer explanation

The Republican and Democratic parties are the two current dominant political parties. Throughout U.S. history this has changed. There have been periods where the Federalists, Anti-Federalists, Whigs, National Republicans and Democratic-Republicans were dominant.

The two major political parties have many similarities. Some of them are what? Choose those that apply.

• Maintain identical party platforms.

• Organize at the national, state, and local level in order to win.

• Reflect both liberal and conservative viewpoints.

• Influence public policies.

• Often support the campaigns of the candidates from the other party.

Answer explanation

While political parties have differences in their views many of the ways they operate are very similar.

- They organize at the local, state, and national level in order to win.

- They reflect liberal and conservative views.

- They appeal to the political center.

- They influence public policy.

The party platform is the ...

• Location where candidates stand during an election.

• The list of candidates who are running for office.

• A collection of views a political party has on important issues during a campaign.

• Those who have pledged money to support the candidates for a political party.

Answer explanation

A party platform identifies the views of the party. While the political parties have a lot in common, the way that they want to address problems at the national, state, and local levels is different. The party platform identifies these differences in viewpoints.

Third parties are important in political elections for all of the following reasons EXCEPT?

• They often win the elections they participate in.

• They focus on a particular issue.

• They introduce new ideas that are often adopted by the major parties.

• They are led by a candidate who has political experience as a member of the major parties.

Answer explanation

Third parties rarely win elections, but in close elections they can determine who wins by who more individuals from major parties support their views. Their major contribution is by focusing on a particular issue which allows them to come up with new ideas to address that issue.

By using which of the following methods, can an individual evaluate the information about a candidate during a campaign. Choose all that apply.

• Separate fact from opinion.

• Do research on social media.

• Detect bias.

• Evaluate sources.

• Identify propaganda.

Answer explanation

Campaign information is designed to support one candidate and oppose the other. In order to understand what you truly can believe you will have to evaluate where the information comes from, does the information support one candidate specifically, and can you prove what is given as an actual fact.

The media does which of the following during elections? Choose all that apply.

• Identify candidates that are running for office.

• Endorse the candidates that they want to win.

• Broadcast different points of view.

• Emphasize specific issues important to the campaign.

• Nominate candidates for office.

Answer explanation

The media is an important source of information during elections. They identify who is running, discuss the important issues, allow for both sides to share their views, and provide editorials and political cartoons that express opinions. The idea is for the media to be unbiased, but that has become more and more challenging.

Rising campaign costs have caused all of the following issues? Choose all that apply.

• Requires candidates to do more fundraising.

• Gives an advantage to candidates with less money to start.

• Increased fees charged to vote.

• Increased the influence of special interest groups.

• Led to the development of PACs (political action committees) who give large sums of money to candidates.

Individuals can give ________ amounts of money to candidates because of campaign finance reform.

• Limited

• Unlimited

Answer explanation

Campaign finance reform are attempts by the government to limit how much money can be given to a candidate by an individual. The concern is large donations give individuals or groups too much influence with a candidate who is supposed to represent everyone in an area.