Multiple Choice
Identify the
choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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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
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1.
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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 |
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2.
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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 |
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3.
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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 |
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4.
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Parties that concentrate on
only one public policy matter
a. | single issue
parties | c. | economic protest
parties | b. | ideological parties | d. | splinter parties |
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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.
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5.
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Which party is most
opposite from Marxist
parties?
a. | Communist
Parties | c. | Free Soil
Party | b. | Libertarians | d. | Green parties |
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6.
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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. |
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7.
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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
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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.
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8.
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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 |
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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.
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9.
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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 |
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10.
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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 |
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11.
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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 |
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 Interpreting 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
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12.
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Which party one the
Presidential election in 1912
a. | Democrat | c. | Progressive | b. | Republican | d. | Socialist |
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13.
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Who was the Democrat candidate
in 1912
a. | Wilson | c. | Taft | b. | Roosevelt | d. | Debs |
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14.
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Who was the Republican
candidate for President in 1912?
a. | Taft | c. | Roosevelt | b. | Debs | d. | Wilson |
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15.
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Which party did the Bull Moose
party split from in 1912?
a. | Progressive
Party | c. | Socialist
Party | b. | Republican Party | d. | Democrat Party |
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16.
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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 |
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Multiple Response
Identify one
or more choices that best complete the statement or answer the question.
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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.
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17.
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What is true about economic
protest parties (pick all that apply)
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18.
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Sometimes splinter parties are
led by politicians with strong personalities. Pick two such personalities.
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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.
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19.
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In 2004 what were the most
popular minor parties. (pick all that apply)
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