AP Gov Topic 5.3-5.5

Which of the following best explains how most candidates are recruited to run for office?

• Candidates for office usually first work as lawyers for political parties before running for office.

• Political parties usually recruit and train people at the local level they believe are most fit to run for office.

• Most candidates who run for office are recruited by political leaders to do so because they are famous.

• Most candidates running for office are selected after earning merit working for the government.

Answer explanation

Correct. Political parties usually seek out individuals they know through local networks and recruit them to run for office.

The concept of realignment refers to changes in

• the United States system of international alliances

• the media’s criticism of the president and Congress

• spending priorities in the federal budget

• the social bases of the parties’ voting support

Which of the following statements about political parties and the United States Constitution is true?

• According to the Constitution, only two major political parties may exist at any time.

• The Constitution requires political parties to be restricted by both federal and state law.

• The Constitution indicates that political party leaders at the national level be elected by political party leaders at the state level.

• The issue of political parties is not addressed in the Constitution.

Critical elections in the United States typically have occurred

• when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party loyalties

• whenever a third party has secured more than fifteen percent of the presidential vote

• whenever a third party has secured more than fifteen percent of the presidential vote

• as a result of a temporary shift in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties

Which of the following statements about political parties and the United States Constitution is true?

• According to the Constitution, only two major political parties may exist at any time.

• The Constitution requires political parties to be restricted by both federal and state law.

• The issue of political parties is not addressed in the Constitution.

• The Constitution indicates that political party leaders at the national level be elected by political party leaders at the state level.

Since the 1960s, support for the Democratic Party has declined the most among which of the following groups?

• White southerners

• Native Americans

• Business leaders

• Labor union members

Which of the following is the most accurate statement about political parties in the United States?

• Parties increasingly identify themselves with coherent ideologies to attract large blocs of voters.

• National party organizations are generally the strongest party organizations.

• The percentage of voters identifying themselves as either Democrats or Republicans has been declining since the 1970's.

• It is increasingly difficult for third parties to gain more than two percent of the popular vote.

Which of the following is LEAST characteristic of the history of political parties in the United States during the twentieth century?

• An increase in the number of organized interest groups

• An increase in the influence of political action committee (PAC) money in congressional elections

• The loss of party patronage power

• The splitting of the two major parties into a multiparty system

Since the early 1980s, the Republican Party platform has been increasingly influenced by

• environmental activists

• evangelical Christians

• civil libertarians

• active military officers

One reason for the persistence of a two-party system in the United States is

• the lack of divisive issues in United States politics

• the separation of powers

• the single-member district electoral system

• the lack of a strong labor movement