US Political Parties

Question 1

What are key democratic polices?

Answer 1

Large government to help poorest Americans
Higher taxes on wealth to fund social welfare
Expansion of affordable healthcare
Civil rights
Pro-choice generally
Supreme Court judges who favour a ‘living’ and judicial activist position
A diverse and multi-region USA
Humane and sensible reforms to the Immigration like DACA policy and DREAM Act
Policy reforms with regard to racial issues
USA should work with international organisation and nations
Environmentalism, with some wanting a ‘Green New Deal’

Question 2

What are the key Republican policies?

Answer 2

Major government programs are often wasteful and inefficient
Limited government
lowering taxes
Healthcare provision should reflect personal choice and the ability to pay
No further extension. to civil rights
Much antipathy toward LGBTQ+ rights
Tend to be pro-life
Religion in daily life
Believe in the Second Amendment
Supreme Court judges with ‘originalist’ and judicial restraint position
Fear diversity
Tighter immigration
Want less internationalism
Sceptical of science and climate change

Question 3

Who is the current leader of Republicans in the Senate?

Answer 3

Mitch McConnell

Question 4

Who is the current leader of Democrats in Senate?

Answer 4

Charles Schumer

Question 5

Who is the current Speaker of the House, and Republican leader?

Answer 5

Kevin McCarthy

Question 6

Who is the House minority leader, and the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives?

Answer 6

Hakeem Jeffries

Question 7

What name do local Democrats in Minnesota run on?

Answer 7

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labour Party

Question 8

What are both parties national party organisation?

Answer 8

Democratic NAtional Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC)

Question 9

What are the main roles of both parties national party organisation?

Answer 9

Organise the national convention and to draw up the party’s national platform

Question 10

What are the aim of the four ‘Hill committees’?

Answer 10

Get members of their party elected to Congress on Capitol Hill by coordinating campaigns and donors, helping to direct supporters financial donations to target seats or shore up vulnerable incumbents, sometimes run ads and attacking opponents in close races

Question 11

What are the four ‘Hill committees?

Answer 11

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)

Question 12

What is an example of an associated group to a US political party?

Answer 12

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organisation, which though independent of official Democratic Party Structure, has a members of around 50,000 and works to secure victory of very progressive Democrats like in 2018 when it endorsed Rashida Tlaib and AOC to get elected to the House

Question 13

When was the last time a Democrat comprehensibly won the south in a presidential election?

Answer 13

1976

Question 14

What are significant hangs that US political parties have faced in the last 50 yers?

Answer 14

Geography, where they get their support from
Ideology, the parties core values
Demographics, which voters support each party
Cohesiveness, how united and uniform their representatives in elected offices are

Question 15

In which directions have each party become in the past 50 years?

Answer 15

Republicans have become more conservative, Democrats have become more liberal

Question 16

What is their far less of compared to the past in terms of the growing divide between parties?

Answer 16

Bipartisanship, for example with Obamacare and Trump’s tax cuts, compared to the Civil Rights Act 1964 and the Voting Right Act 1965, he relied on Republican votes to get the legislation through

Question 17

Why do divides arise between both parties?

Answer 17

Ideology
Geography
Personalities

Question 18

What are some Democrat factions?

Answer 18

Blue Dog Coalition’s, which promotes ‘fiscal responsibility’ and a natural line on social issues
New Democrat coalition: the largest Democrat House Causes with 104 members in 2020, committed to pro-economic growth, pro-innovation, and fiscally responsible polices
Congressional Progressive Caucus, compromising 98 members and is the most progress Democrat caucus

Question 19

What are some Republican factions?

Answer 19

Tuesday Group, moderate/centrist Republicans
Republican Study Committee, 147 Republicans and stands for limited government, high defence spending, preserving traditional value and the Second Amendment
Freedom Caucus, The most right-wing Republican caucus having about 30 members in the House

Question 20

What was the title of David Broder’s important work in 1972?

Answer 20

‘The Party’s over’

Question 21

What observations did Border make about party decline?

Answer 21

That parties had abdicated to much of the role in formulating policy and too much had been left to ‘experts’
Parties to be reinvigorated and their congressional leaderships given greater powers, with less emphasis on seniority
The end to Senate filibuster and the Electoral college
Dangers party renewal and party centralisation
Restrictions for campaign finance

Question 22

What was the main point of Broder’s work?

Answer 22

That the US party system was not working effectively and had contributed to a dysfunctionality in US politics

Question 23

What are the weakness of US parties?

Answer 23

US parties lack a single leader
Most election campaigns and political adversing focus
Powers within parties is dispersed not concentrated
The federal nature of the USA exacerbates the problem, wit state parties
The rise of direct primaries opposed to old style machine politics to select candidates makes parties weaker with more independent politicians
The absence of effective sanctions

Question 24

When was the last time a third-party or candidate won an Electoral College vote?

Answer 24

1968

Question 25

On the topic of third parties lacking a lengthy pedigree, when were the Greens and Libertarians founded?

Answer 25

Libertarians: 1971
Greens: 1980s

Question 26

What is some examples of high-profile independents having close association with major parties?

Answer 26

Sander with Democrats, Bloomberg when he ran as president as independent for president in 2020 with Republicans