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GOV CH 5-4 MINOR PARTIES

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 
 
Section 4 Minor Parties
Objectives
Identify the types of minor parties that have been active in American politics
Understand why minor parties are important despite the fact that none has ever won the presidency
Why It Matters
Many minor parties have played important roles in American politics. They have provided alternatives to the positions of the major parties, and sometimes have affected particular elections and shaped public policies.
Political Dictionary
Ideological Parties
based on a particular set of beliefs, a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters
Single-issue parties Parties that concentrate on only one public policy matter
Economic protest parties Parties rooted in poor economic times, lacking a clear ideological base, dissatisfied with current conditions and demanding better times
Splinter parties Parties that have split away from one of the major parties
 

 1. 

Parties based on a particular set of beliefs, a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters
a.
splinter parties
c.
ideological parties
b.
single issue parties
d.
economic protest parties
 

 2. 

Parties rooted in poor economic times, lacking a clear ideological base, dissatisfied with current conditions and demanding better times.
a.
ideological parties
c.
economic protest parties
b.
splinter parties
d.
single issue parties
 

 3. 

Parties that have split away from one of the major parties
a.
ideological parties
c.
splinter parties
b.
single issue parties
d.
economic protest parties
 

 4. 

Parties that concentrate on only one public policy matter
a.
single issue parties
c.
economic protest parties
b.
ideological parties
d.
splinter parties
 
 
Minor Parties in the United States
Their number and variety make minor parties difficult to describe and classify. Some have limited their efforts to a particular locale, others to a single State, and some to one region of the country. Still others have tried to woo the entire nation. Most have been short-lived, but a few have existed for decades. And, while most have lived moth like around the flame of a single idea, some have had a broader, more practical base.
Still, four distinct types of minor parties can be identified:
1. The ideological parties are those based on a particular set of beliefs  —a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters. Most of these minor parties have been built on some shade of Marxist thought; examples include the Socialist, Socialist Labor, Socialist Worker, and Communist parties.
A few ideological parties have had a quite different approach, however  —especially the Libertarian Party of today, which emphasizes individualism and calls for doing away with most of government  ’s present functions and programs. The ideological parties have seldom been able to win many votes. As a rule, however, they have been long-lived.
2. The single issue parties focus on only one public-policy matter. Their names have usually indicated their primary concern. For example, the Free Soil Party opposed the spread of slavery in the 1840s and 1850s; the American Party, also called the   “Know Nothings,  ” opposed Irish-Catholic immigration in the 1850s; and the Right to Life Party opposes abortion today.
Most of the single-issue parties have faded into history. They died away as events have passed them by, as their themes have failed to attract voters, or as one or both of the major parties have taken their key issues as their own.
 

 5. 

Which party is most opposite from Marxist parties?
a.
Communist Parties
c.
Free Soil Party
b.
Libertarians
d.
Green parties
 

 6. 

Which statement below is true about ideological parties in the United States?
a.
ideological parties rarely last more than a single election
c.
there are very few ideological parties in the U.S.
b.
they frequently win elections and last a long time
d.
they usually don’t win elections but they last a long time.
 

 7. 

Which statement is true about single issue parties.
a.
they are all against abortion
c.
they tend to disappear after the issue is no longer important
b.
married people rarely get involved in single issue parties
d.
they tend to last longer than their issue
 
 
3. The economic protest parties have been rooted in periods of economic discontent. Unlike the socialist parties, these groups have not had any clear-cut ideological base. Rather, they have proclaimed their disgust with the major parties and demanded better times, and have focused their anger on such real or imagined enemies as the monetary system,   “Wall Street bankers,  ” the railroads, or foreign imports.
Most often, they have been sectional parties, drawing their strength from the agricultural South and West. The Greenback Party, for example, tried to take advantage of agrarian discontent from 1876 through 1884. It appealed to struggling farmers by calling for the free coinage of silver, federal regulation of the railroads, an income tax, and labor legislation. A descendant of the Greenbacks, the Populist Party of the 1890s also demanded public ownership of railroads, telephone and telegraph companies, lower tariffs, and the adoption of the initiative and referendum.
Each of these economic protest parties has disappeared as the nation has climbed out of the difficult economic period in which that party arose.
4. Splinter parties are those that have split away from one of the major parties. Most of the more important minor parties in our politics have been splinter parties. Among the leading groups that have split away from the Republicans are Theodore Roosevelt  ’s   “Bull Moose  ” Progressive Party of 1912, and Robert La Follette  ’s Progressive Party of 1924. From the Democrats have come Henry Wallace  ’s Progressive Party and the States  ’ Rights (Dixiecrat) Party, both of 1948, and George Wallace  ’s American Independent Party of 1968.
Most splinter parties have formed around a strong personality  —most often someone who has failed to win his major party  ’s presidential nomination. These parties have faded or collapsed when that leader has stepped aside. Thus, the Bull Moose Progressive Party passed away when Theodore Roosevelt returned to the Republican fold after the election of 1912. Similarly, the American Independent Party lost nearly all of its brief strength when Governor George Wallace rejoined the Democratic Party after his strong showing in the 1968 election.
The Green Party, founded in 1996, points up the difficulties of classifying minor parties in American politics. The Greens began as a classic single-issue party but, as the party has evolved, it simply will not fit into any of the categories set out here. The Green Party came to prominence in 2000, with Ralph Nader as its presidential nominee. His campaign was built around a smorgasbord of issues  —environmental protection, of course, but also universal health care, gay and lesbian rights, restraints on corporate power, campaign finance reform, opposition to global free trade, and much more.
The Greens refused to renominate Ralph Nader in 2004. They chose, instead, David Cobb  —who built his presidential campaign around most of the positions the Greens had supported in 2000.
 

 8. 

What are splinter parties?
a.
Parties the support socialist philosophies
c.
Parties that support the lumber industry
b.
Parties that have broken off from one of the major parties
d.
Parties that support conservative philosophies
 
 
Why Minor Parties Are Important
Even though most Americans do not support them, minor parties have still had an impact on American politics and on the major parties. For example, it was a minor party, the Anti-Masons, that first used a national convention to nominate a presidential candidate in 1831. The Whigs and then the Democrats followed suit in 1832. Ever since, national conventions have been used by both the Democrats and the Republicans to pick their presidential tickets
Minor parties can have an impact in another way. A strong third-party candidacy can play a decisive role  —often a   “spoiler role  ”  —in an election. Even if a minor party does not win any electoral votes, it can pull votes from one of the major parties, as the Green Party did in 2000. This spoiler effect can be felt in national, State, or local contests, especially where the two major parties compete on roughly equal terms.
The 1912 election dramatically illustrated this point. A split in the Republican Party and Roosevelt  ’s resulting third-party candidacy produced the results shown below. Almost certainly, had Roosevelt not quit the Republican Party, Taft would have enjoyed a better showing, and Wilson would not have become President.
Historically, however, the minor parties have been most important in their roles of critic and innovator. Unlike the major parties, the minor parties have been ready, willing, and able to take quite clear-cut stands on controversial issues. Minor-party stands have often drawn attention to some issue that the major parties have preferred to ignore or straddle.
Over the years, many of the more important issues of American politics were first brought to the public  ’s attention by a minor party. Examples include the progressive income tax, woman suffrage, railroad and banking regulation, and old-age pensions.
Oddly enough, this very important innovator role of the minor parties has also been a major source of their frustration. When their proposals have gained any real degree of popular support, one and sometimes both of the major parties have taken over those ideas and then presented the policies as their own. The late Norman Thomas, who was the Socialist Party  ’s candidate for President six times, complained that   “the major parties are stealing from my platform.  ”
Seventeen minor party presidential candidates, some of them nominated by more than one party, appeared on the ballots of at least one State in 2004. The most visible minor-party presidential campaigns in 2004 were those of the Libertarian, Constitution, and Socialist parties. More than a thousand candidates from a wide variety of minor parties also sought seats in Congress or ran for various State and local offices around the country.
 

 9. 

If a third party splits the vote of one of the major parties allowing the other party to win, we say they are playing the
a.
minority role
c.
majority role
b.
spoiler role
d.
ace card
 

 10. 

What is the most important job that minor parties do?
a.
They are more pro-American than the Democrats or Republicans
c.
The help the major parties to hide controversial issues
b.
They support the major parties
d.
They force the major parties to pay attention to issues that are important
 

 11. 

What usually happens after the minor parties bring issues to the publics attention?
a.
The major parties always ignore issues of the minor parties
c.
The general public always ignores the issue because it comes from a minor party
b.
One of the major parties will take over the issue, stealing it from the minor party
d.
The public goes against the issue because it was advocated by a minor party
 
 
nar005-1.jpgInterpreting Tables This bar graph shows the votes received by the major and the minor parties in 1912. (a) Which party ? “came in second? ”? (b) Even though the Bull Moose Progressives were a minor party, how did they help determine which major won the election? H-SS 12.6.1
 

 12. 

Which party one the Presidential election in 1912
a.
Democrat
c.
Progressive
b.
Republican
d.
Socialist
 

 13. 

Who was the Democrat candidate in 1912
a.
Wilson
c.
Taft
b.
Roosevelt
d.
Debs
 

 14. 

Who was the Republican candidate for President in 1912?
a.
Taft
c.
Roosevelt
b.
Debs
d.
Wilson
 

 15. 

Which party did the Bull Moose party split from in 1912?
a.
Progressive Party
c.
Socialist Party
b.
Republican Party
d.
Democrat Party
 

 16. 

Which party finally got its main issue to become part of the Constitution with passage of the 18th Amendment?
a.
Democrat
c.
Prohibition
b.
Republican
d.
Progressive
 

Multiple Response
Identify one or more choices that best complete the statement or answer the question.
 
 
3. The economic protest parties have been rooted in periods of economic discontent. Unlike the socialist parties, these groups have not had any clear-cut ideological base. Rather, they have proclaimed their disgust with the major parties and demanded better times, and have focused their anger on such real or imagined enemies as the monetary system,   “Wall Street bankers,  ” the railroads, or foreign imports.
Most often, they have been sectional parties, drawing their strength from the agricultural South and West. The Greenback Party, for example, tried to take advantage of agrarian discontent from 1876 through 1884. It appealed to struggling farmers by calling for the free coinage of silver, federal regulation of the railroads, an income tax, and labor legislation. A descendant of the Greenbacks, the Populist Party of the 1890s also demanded public ownership of railroads, telephone and telegraph companies, lower tariffs, and the adoption of the initiative and referendum.
Each of these economic protest parties has disappeared as the nation has climbed out of the difficult economic period in which that party arose.
4. Splinter parties are those that have split away from one of the major parties. Most of the more important minor parties in our politics have been splinter parties. Among the leading groups that have split away from the Republicans are Theodore Roosevelt  ’s   “Bull Moose  ” Progressive Party of 1912, and Robert La Follette  ’s Progressive Party of 1924. From the Democrats have come Henry Wallace  ’s Progressive Party and the States  ’ Rights (Dixiecrat) Party, both of 1948, and George Wallace  ’s American Independent Party of 1968.
Most splinter parties have formed around a strong personality  —most often someone who has failed to win his major party  ’s presidential nomination. These parties have faded or collapsed when that leader has stepped aside. Thus, the Bull Moose Progressive Party passed away when Theodore Roosevelt returned to the Republican fold after the election of 1912. Similarly, the American Independent Party lost nearly all of its brief strength when Governor George Wallace rejoined the Democratic Party after his strong showing in the 1968 election.
The Green Party, founded in 1996, points up the difficulties of classifying minor parties in American politics. The Greens began as a classic single-issue party but, as the party has evolved, it simply will not fit into any of the categories set out here. The Green Party came to prominence in 2000, with Ralph Nader as its presidential nominee. His campaign was built around a smorgasbord of issues  —environmental protection, of course, but also universal health care, gay and lesbian rights, restraints on corporate power, campaign finance reform, opposition to global free trade, and much more.
The Greens refused to renominate Ralph Nader in 2004. They chose, instead, David Cobb  —who built his presidential campaign around most of the positions the Greens had supported in 2000.
 

 17. 

What is true about economic protest parties (pick all that apply)
 a.
They are focused on bad economic times
 c.
They usually come from one part of the country
 b.
They usually have a socialist philosophy
 d.
They tend to blame business for the bad times
 

 18. 

Sometimes splinter parties are led by politicians with strong personalities. Pick two such personalities.
 a.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1912
 c.
Harry Truman, 1948
 b.
George Wallace, 1968
 d.
Ronald Reagan, 1980
 
 
Why Minor Parties Are Important
Even though most Americans do not support them, minor parties have still had an impact on American politics and on the major parties. For example, it was a minor party, the Anti-Masons, that first used a national convention to nominate a presidential candidate in 1831. The Whigs and then the Democrats followed suit in 1832. Ever since, national conventions have been used by both the Democrats and the Republicans to pick their presidential tickets
Minor parties can have an impact in another way. A strong third-party candidacy can play a decisive role  —often a   “spoiler role  ”  —in an election. Even if a minor party does not win any electoral votes, it can pull votes from one of the major parties, as the Green Party did in 2000. This spoiler effect can be felt in national, State, or local contests, especially where the two major parties compete on roughly equal terms.
The 1912 election dramatically illustrated this point. A split in the Republican Party and Roosevelt  ’s resulting third-party candidacy produced the results shown below. Almost certainly, had Roosevelt not quit the Republican Party, Taft would have enjoyed a better showing, and Wilson would not have become President.
Historically, however, the minor parties have been most important in their roles of critic and innovator. Unlike the major parties, the minor parties have been ready, willing, and able to take quite clear-cut stands on controversial issues. Minor-party stands have often drawn attention to some issue that the major parties have preferred to ignore or straddle.
Over the years, many of the more important issues of American politics were first brought to the public  ’s attention by a minor party. Examples include the progressive income tax, woman suffrage, railroad and banking regulation, and old-age pensions.
Oddly enough, this very important innovator role of the minor parties has also been a major source of their frustration. When their proposals have gained any real degree of popular support, one and sometimes both of the major parties have taken over those ideas and then presented the policies as their own. The late Norman Thomas, who was the Socialist Party  ’s candidate for President six times, complained that   “the major parties are stealing from my platform.  ”
Seventeen minor party presidential candidates, some of them nominated by more than one party, appeared on the ballots of at least one State in 2004. The most visible minor-party presidential campaigns in 2004 were those of the Libertarian, Constitution, and Socialist parties. More than a thousand candidates from a wide variety of minor parties also sought seats in Congress or ran for various State and local offices around the country.
 

 19. 

In 2004 what were the most popular minor parties. (pick all that apply)
 a.
Whig Party
 c.
Socialist Party
 b.
Constitution Party
 d.
Libertarian Party
 



 
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