Study Guide: Political Parties

Date Due	Assignments
Thurs., Sept. 3	1. Read p. 149 –157 2. Answer questions 1 - 4
Fri., Sept. 4	1. Read p. 157 – 168 2. Download and read the article “How a little-known task force helped create Red State/Blue State America 3. Answer questions 5 - 11
Tues., Sept. 8	1. Read “The Decline of Collective Responsibility in American Politics by Fiorina 2. Make a list of arguments for a stronger party system (p. 275-277); a list of reasons why the party system has been declining. (278- 281); and the consequences of the decline of parties (p. 281-284)
Weds., Sept. 9	1. Read “The Rise of the Southern Republicans” by Earl and Merle Black in the Readings book, p. 527 - 534 2. Take notes on the article 3. Do the Ideology Assignment and answer the questions
Thurs., Sept 10/Fri., Sept. 11	Work on your homework for Monday next week.
Mon., Sept. 14	1. Read p. 169 – 177 2. Answer questions 12 - 14 3. Download from my website the articles, “America Vs. Third Parties” and “Two’s Company.” Read and take margin notes of the points they make about why the U. S. doesn’t have third parties.
Tues., Sept. 15	Review for the test
Weds., Sept. 16	Test on Political Parties
Thurs., Sept. 17	Ideology Assignment due

Terms to Know

1.	political party	14.	caucus	27.	Party Dealignment
2.	progressives	15.	linkage institutions	28.	“personal following”
3.	direct primary	16.	“loyal opposition”	29.	proportional representation
4.	national convention	17.	“out party”	30.	coalition
5.	national committee	18.	realignment	31.	party platform
6.	congressional campaign committee	19.	First Party System	32.	Progressives
7.	national chairman	20.	Second Party System	33.	Dixiecrats
8.	super-delegates	21.	New Deal Coalition	34.	Strom Thurmond
9.	winner-take-all-system	22.	Spoils System	35.	George Wallace
10.	political machine	23.	Civil Service	36.	American Independent Party
11.	Tammany Hall	24.	caucus	37.	Ross Perot
12.	patronage	25.	linkage institutions	38.	Critical Elections
13.	plurality system	26.	McGovern-Frasier Commission

Reading Questions - Chapter Seven

1. What are the three political arenas within which a party may be found?

2. In what ways are American political parties weak? (This is an extremely important point so be sure that you understand it and can explain all the reasons. This concept will turn up again and again in this class.) This would be a good question for writing a detailed answer. As you read through the chapter, any time you see a mention of weakened parties, add to this list. Then leave room for more notes or plan to add more later since we’ll be talking about this all unit (and year).

3. Briefly summarize the differences between political parties in the United States and in Europe. You can make a bullet point chart.

4. Briefly trace the development of the party system through its four periods, and give reasons for why the parties have been in decline since the New Deal period. Do not go overboard in your notes on the four party systems; just make sure you’re familiar with the parties and the terms and the chronology. Basically, the important thing is that you understand the broad pattern in Figure 7.2 on p. 156.

5. Describe the structure of the major political parties, making sure you understand the roles of the national committees, congressional committees, and the national chairmen.

6. What has been the difference between the two parties in terms of structure and organization?

7. After reading the textbook and the article “How a little-known task force helped create Red State/Blue State America,” answer this question: How have changes in how they choose delegates affected the last few Democratic nominating conventions? Take note of the 1972 McGovern changes (known as the McGovern-Frasier Commission) and the 1981 Hunt Commission. What were the effects of these changes?

8. What is a political party machine? How has the power of party machines been weakened? What were some of the positive aspects of party machines?

9. Define and give examples of an ideological party.

10. How does having a personal following reflect a weakened party system?

11. What explanations does the book give for the persistence of the two-party system?

12. Explain why minor parties form, and briefly summarize different kinds of parties.

13. Analyze why third parties are so rarely successful.

14. Describe some of the issue differences between delegates at Democratic and Republican conventions, and indicate whether there are major differences between the parties. Compare these differences with those between delegates of each party and average voters.