7 Gr SS Ch. 8, Les 2 Political Parties Today

Question 1

Each party has a ____ ____, who’s job is to raise money for presidential elections, to organize national conventions, and to help its party win as many offices as possible.

Answer 1

National committee

Question 2

_____ is known as a special meeting where delegates are chosen through presidential primary elections

Answer 2

A caucus

Question 3

At the ____ ____, delegates choose the party’s candidates for president and Vice President

Answer 3

National Convention

Question 4

Each city or county is divided into an election district called a ______. This is a geographic area that has a specific number of voters.

Answer 4

Precinct

Question 5

Sometimes, a local party organization grows very powerful. Year after year, Its candidates win every election. Such a strong organization is known as a ____ ____.

Answer 5

Political Machine

Question 6

Why are political machines considered harmful?

Answer 6

1. Over time, they tend to ignore people’s needs

2. Some officials tend to become corrupt

Question 7

In a ____ ____, voters choose a candidate to represent a party in a general election.

Answer 7

Direct primary

Question 8

What is the difference between a closed and open primary?

Answer 8

• closed: only members of that party can vote. If you are not registered in one of the two major parties, you cannot vote.
• open: any registered voter can vote.

Question 9

Another word for getting the most votes is _____.

Answer 9

Plurality

Question 10

Political parties have 5 major functions. What are they?

Answer 10

1. Support candidates. 2. Communicate with citizens
2. Run the government. 4. Link different parts of the government
3. Act as a watchdog over government

Question 11

Explain how political parties support candidates.

Answer 11

• raise money for campaign appearances, buy ads, pay workers

- encourage and register people to vote

Question 12

How do political parties communicate with citizens?

Answer 12

Speeches, printed materials, ads, and listen to citizens’ desires

Question 13

How can political parties act as a watchdog?

Answer 13

The party who loses the election watches the party in power to make sure they do not break any laws or abuse power.

Question 14

What is a precinct captain? What are the 3 jobs of this captain?

Answer 14

This is the person appointed in each precinct by the party leader.

1. to build the party at the local level
2. Organize volunteers
3. Help Get voters to the polls

Question 15

How do political parties affect the legislative branch?

Answer 15

• make sure lawmakers support the party’s positions on bills being discussed

Question 16

How do political parties affect the executive branch?

Answer 16

• people like the president have the power to appoint people to high level jobs.
• They can pick people who share their views.

Question 17

How do political parties help to link levels of government?

Answer 17

If leaders share common views, they can work together to solve problems
It helps those in the same party to join forces to address problems of both city and states

Question 18

The winning candidate in some states must win by getting more than 50 percent of the vote. This means they must have the _____ of the votes.

Answer 18

Majority