Chapter 12 Study Guide

Front 1

Are parties included in the Constitution?

Back 1

No

Front 2

What are some incentives for building political parties? Why are they important?

Back 2

In any system where collective choices are made by voting, organization pays. When action requires winning majorities on a continuing basis in multiple settings, organization is absolutely essential.

Front 3

What are the three segments (parts) that form the overarching party?

Back 3

1) The party in government, an alliance of current officeholders cooperating to shape public policy.
2) The party organization, dedicated to electing the party’s candidates.
3) The party in the electorate, composed of those voters who identify with the party and regularly vote for its nominees.

Front 4

What are the basic features of the American Party System?

Back 4

1) Two-Party Competition
2) Decentralized, Fragmented Party Coalitions
3) Professional Politicians

Front 5

Why do we have a two party system?

Back 5

During the first few Congresses, national leaders gradually divided into two major camps, initiating a pattern of two-party competition that has continued, with a few temporary exceptions, to this day.

Front 6

What do we mean by decentralized, fragmented party coalitions?

Back 6

The parties are fragmented because of Federalism. The decentralized policy-making system allowed these local parties to work together to elect national leaders while going their own way on matters closer to home.

Front 7

What is a “professional” politician?

Back 7

People with the skills to build networks of party workers, manage alliances of local leaders, and mobilize voters on Election Day.

Front 8

Why do third parties not like a system that gives only the top vote getter the office?

Back 8

Even if they have a strong support, their supporters will realize that their votes are wasted by voting for the third party so they will instead vote for their preference of the two large parties.

Front 9

A ______________ is when specific parties are formed and work towards a common goal. The parties eventually change and become another ____________.

Back 9

party system

Front 10

How many party systems have there been?

Back 10

There have been five party systems and one more is being proposed at the moment.

Front 11

Describe the First Party System.

Back 11

The first party system illustrates logic that led to the creation of national parties. This one was born in the first few Congresses as leaders with opposing views on national political issues sought to have their views prevail. The Federalists (led by Alexander Hamilton) supported the ratification of the Constitution to make a stronger national government. The Democratic-Republicans (led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson) were the other group and they opposed The Federalists views.

Front 12

Describe the Second Party System.

Back 12

The second party system consisted of institutional innovation that set parties on their basic organizational course. The Federalists were destroyed by this time and the Democratic-Republicans became the main party. There were conflicts within the party before the presidential election, and when nomination time came there were four or five men nominated all from the same dominating party. They used caucuses to nominate their presidential candidates. This was the era that the Democrats and Republicans were both formed.

This system had coalitions that supported the Whigs and the Democrats fell apart when the extension of slavery became the dominant national issue because Republicans felt so strongly against slavery.

Front 13

Describe the Third Party System.

Back 13

The third party system was characterized by the full flowering and then decline of party machines under Progressive assault. The Republican Party was formed in 1854 as an anti-slavery coalition. This party was a third party and eventually it became just the Republicans and Democrats. Party machines were built in this era along with the Progressive Attack in the Progressive Era and the consequences of the progressive reform in which turnout declined, there were tighter registration laws, Australian ballots and literacy tests discouraged voting. The Progressives

Front 14

Describe the Fourth Party System.

Back 14

The Republican ultimately lost its ascendancy to the Great Depression because they got blamed for the fall in the economy. Democrats gained the majority with Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Front 15

Describe the Fifth Party System.

Back 15

The Democrats took on a Populists or Peoples Party role because of the New Deal Coalition which was when people of all different facets of life came together to vote for the Democratic Party. Democrats gained the majority with The New Deal Coalition.

Front 16

Describe the potential Sixth Party System.

Back 16

White southerners are more predominantly Republican than ever before. Men have become more Republican in general. The Democratic among Catholics has shrunk. Religious people have become relatively more Republican.

Front 17

Why was the Progressive era important to parties?

Back 17

The Progressives wanted to reform the government and electoral institutions in an attempt to reduce corruption and weaken parties. The reformers began a civil service system in which political jobs became professional jobs in which you could not be fired just because of your party affiliation; it had to be because you weren’t doing your job. Also, appointment and advancement depended on merit and not political pull.

Front 18

____________________ are elections held before the general election in which voters decide which of a party’s candidates will be the party’s nominee for the general election. The government began primary elections because they were attempting to regulate the ballots in elections and in order to do that they needed more control over who was nominated. So they held __________to regulate the nominees.

Back 18

Primary elections

Front 19

What does it mean when a voter splits their ticket?

Back 19

The act of voting for candidates from different political parties for different offices—for example, voting for a Republican for president and a Democrat for senator.

Front 20

What was the New Deal Coalition?

Back 20

The New Deal Coalition was an electoral alliance that was the basis of Democratic dominance from the 1930s to the early 1970s. The alliance consisted of Catholics, Jews, racial minorities, urban residents, organized labor, and white southerners.

Front 21

What impact did it have for parties in the United States then and subsequently?

Back 21

The Democratic party became dominant during that time period and has subsequently almost consistently stayed that way.

Front 22

How do the parties nominate their candidates?

Back 22

Parties nominate their candidates in either Caucuses or Primaries. Caucuses are closed meetings of a political or legislative group to choose candidates for office or to decide issues of policy. Primaries are elections that occur in just the one party to determine who their final presidential nominee is going to be in the final election.

Front 23

A term used to describe government when one political party controls the executive branch and the other political party controls one or both houses of the legislature.

Back 23

Divided government

Front 24

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on abortion?

Back 24

Democrats are pro-choice.

Republicans are pro-life.

Front 25

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on education and school vouchers?

Back 25

Democrats are still supporting No Child Left Behind and want to continue helping all schools that need help because there are a number that have been left behind.

Republicans support choice in education for private schools and faith based schools.

Front 26

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on energy?

Back 26

Democrats want to invest in forms of new energies—solar, wind as well as technologies to store energy through advanced batteries and clean up coal plants. They also want to invest in advanced bio-fuels and green innovations as well as lowering the price of gas.

Republicans support drilling and developing American resources. They want to encourage refinery construction and then pursue increases in nuclear power.

Front 27

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on guns?

Back 27

Democrats believe in gun regulation, but mainly common-sense laws and improvements like improving the background check system and reinstating the assault weapons ban.

Republicans believe in the right to own a gun no matter what and they believe that gun control will have no affect on the safety of gun usage.

Front 28

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on same sex marriage?

Back 28

Democrats believe in same-sex marriage fully and completely.

Republicans believe in marriage between a man and a woman and do not think that gay marriage should be proven equivalent.

Front 29

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on income tax?

Back 29

Democrats want to shut down the corporate loopholes and tax havens and use the money so that we can provide immediate middle-class tax cut. They support tax cuts for the middle class, but not upper class. They believe in eliminating income taxes for retirees and they want to expand the Earned Income Tax cuts.

Republicans believe in lower their tax burden by doubling the exemption for dependents. They want a reduction in the corporate tax rate as well as continuing to fight the federal death tax.

Front 30

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on Global Warming?

Back 30

Democrats believe in changing global warming in order to decrease all of the problems that it has caused.

Republicans believe in taking steps to fix global warming but in a reasonable way and not one that will affect our economy.

Front 31

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on Health Care?

Back 31

Democrats believe in everybody having the right to health care and having it available to them through certain programs.

Republicans believe that people who choose a health insurance plan in the individual market face no tax penalty.

Front 32

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on Stem Cell Research?

Back 32

Democrats believe in stem-cell research.

Republicans believe in stem cell research as long as it does not ruin embryonic human life.

Front 33

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on Iraq?

Back 33

Democrats want to end the war in Iraq and take all troops out carefully.

Republicans believe that we should stay in until we have stabilized the Iraqi nation. Also, they believe that if we make an ally in Iraq then it will limit Iranian influence and strengthen moderate forces there.

Front 34

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on Social Security?

Back 34

Democrats believe in keeping Social Security Programs.

Republicans believe that younger people should not be able to depend on Social Security but instead have to depend on the paybacks that they get from their contributions.

Front 35

What is the Democratic/ Republican stance on Immigration?

Back 35

Democrats believe that illegal immigrants should have to pay a fine, pay taxes, learn English and go to the back of the line when it comes to becoming a citizen. They also believe that they need to help the nations that are sending migrants to the U.S. as well as securing our borders in a more effective way.

Republicans believe that immigrants are not allowed. Period.

Front 36

What is the President’s role in his party’s activities and the organization itself?

Back 36

Basically the president’s role in his party’s activities is to push his party’s agenda on the legislation.