U.S. Government Practice Test: Political Parties
- Political Parties
- 10 questions
- 12 minutes
These 10 questions cover where American parties came from and what they do today. Keep in mind that the Constitution never mentions parties; they grew up outside it within a few years of its ratification.
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Question 1
Which kind of party system does the United States usually have?
Correct answer: A
Since the 1850s, national politics has been dominated by two parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Third parties exist but rarely win national offices.
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Question 2
Which early leader warned the nation about the dangers of political parties in his Farewell Address of 1796?
Correct answer: D
Washington warned against "the spirit of party" when he left office. Jefferson and Madison founded one of the first parties, and Hamilton led the other.
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Question 3
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led which early political party?
Correct answer: C
The Democratic-Republicans favored strong states and a strict reading of the Constitution. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, wanted a stronger national government.
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Question 4
The Republican Party was founded in the 1850s mainly to oppose what?
Correct answer: B
The Republican Party formed in 1854 in reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened western territories to slavery. Abraham Lincoln became its first President in 1861.
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Question 5
What does the U.S. Constitution say about political parties?
Correct answer: D
The Constitution never mentions political parties. Parties developed in the 1790s as leaders disagreed over the national bank, foreign policy and the power of the national government.
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Question 6
Why do third-party candidates rarely win seats in Congress?
Correct answer: A
In single-member districts where the candidate with the most votes wins, votes for smaller parties usually elect no one, so voters tend to choose between the two strongest parties. No law limits ballots to two parties.
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Question 7
What is a party platform?
Correct answer: B
A platform sets out the party's goals and positions, and each position is called a plank. National conventions adopt the platform every four years.
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Question 8
In 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt ran for President as the candidate of which third party?
Correct answer: C
After losing the Republican nomination, Roosevelt ran as a Progressive and finished second, ahead of the Republican incumbent William Howard Taft. The split helped Democrat Woodrow Wilson win.
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Question 9
In some states, party members pick their preferred presidential candidate at local neighborhood meetings run by the party, rather than in a regular statewide election. What are these meetings called?
Correct answer: D
Caucuses are local party meetings where members gather, often discuss the candidates and then show their support. Primaries are run like regular elections, and a national convention is one nationwide gathering.
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Question 10
Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s built a coalition that made which party the majority party for decades?
Correct answer: C
The New Deal coalition of workers, farmers, city voters, many minority groups and the South kept Democrats in the majority in Congress for most of the period from the 1930s to the 1990s. The Whig Party had disappeared in the 1850s.
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