Essay Questions

Review Questions:

1. Why do political party realignments occur in American politics? Include the following points in your essay: (a) What is a political party realignment? (b) Why are many potential realignments unsuccessful? (c) How do changes in the electorate influence realignments? (d) How are broad political issues reflected in a realignment?
2. Identify the activities of mass membership parties and cadre parties, and explain why their activities differ so substantially.
3. Why did political clubs develop in California?
4. What characteristics are most closely related to voter turn-out. Does turn-out advantage either political party?
5. Why do centrist coalitions dominate the American electoral system? What broad type of issues move the political center closer to the Democratic Party? What broad type of issues move the political center closer to the Republican party? Why?
6. Explain how the California Political Reform Act (CPRI) is intended to meet the objection of Buckley v. Valeo (1996).
7. Discuss the use of "soft money" in election campaigns. Include in your essay the following:
   • a definition of soft money;
   • what soft money was intended for originally;
   • how soft money is used in contemporary election; and
   • why is the use of soft money in elections a problem?
8. Explain the advantages of incumbents in terms of campaign finance and the provisions of Prop. 208 (The California Political Reform Initiative) that attempt to reduce the advantages of incumbency in financing election campaigns.
9. Compare and contrast Proposition 208 and Proposition 34. How would Explain the differences in the two propositions in terms of their origin.

New Essay Questions:

10. Compare and contrast the issue positions and the demographic compositions of the the four ideological groups (i.e., liberals, conservatives, populists, libertarians).
11. What ideological groups made-up the New Deal coalition? How have the Democratic and Republican coalitions changed in terms of the four ideological groups in the last two decades?
12. Define the term "retrospective voting", and explain how it effects voting behavior in presidential elections. Give at least two examples

13. The 1960s and 1970s were characterized by a decline in partisanship, and an increase in the percentage of the electorate who identify themselves as Independents. What trends characterize partisan identification during the Clinton era and George W. Bush era?
14. Identify the major characteristics that tend to distinguish Republicans from Democratic party identifiers.
15. Identify the voters who have made major shifts in party identification between 1972 and the present. Explain why those changes have taken place.
16. Independent voters are considered by many to be well informed and an example of rational voting. Does the evidence found in studies of American voting behavior support this concept of the Independent voter? Explain your answer.
17. Do Independent voters who lean toward a political party behave more like pure Independents or party identifiers? Explain your answer.
18. Do American political parties in any way meet the criteria of responsible political parties? Include in your essay:
    1. a definition of a responsible political party; and
    2. identify the areas of public policy in which American political parties behave like responsible political parties
    .
19. Is there any evidence to support the contention that party identification plays a role in judicial decisions? What differences are observed between Democratic and Republican judges on the same bench?

 

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