Skip to Main Content | Colorblind Mode: On • Off

Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Political Parties

Critical Thinking Exercises

POLITICS IS CONFLICTUAL

Consider the linked report conducted by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, especially the table titled “Divided Views on Life Issues.”

http://people-press.org/report/253/abortion-and-rights-of-terror-suspects-top-court-issues
1. How able are parties to generate and maintain consistent policy preferences within their own parties? What does this table suggest about internal party cohesion? Can you think of other examples that may support or contradict such findings?

POLITICAL PROCESS MATTERS

Spend some time reviewing the results for the 2008 primaries and caucuses reported by the Washington Post, and then get to better know the caucus system by listening to the reports filed for National Public Radio.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/primaries/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17371553

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17261569
2. How might the different approaches to candidate selection affect the eventual choice of party candidate? How do primary and caucus proceedings differ from general elections? Are they simply internal party matters, or something more? Why might party officials prefer one system over the other?

POLITICS IS EVERYWHERE

Compare Gallup’s representation of party identification with that offered on the Scientific American website.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/114073/State-States-Series.aspx

http://www.gallup.com/poll/114016/State-States-Political-Party-Affiliation.aspx

http://www.sciam.com/slideshow.cfm?id=electoral-results-maps&thumbs=horizontal&photo_id=889F2CDE-FE3A-1797-5C84D607130E6E68
3. What do the different ways of illustrating party affiliation (Gallup’s map and tables as well as the six maps from Scientific American) indicate about the concept of party ID? Is it easy to measure? Is it universal?
4. What affect might local party factors have on nation-wide measures of party identification? Is it possible to reach any general conclusions about the demographic and geographic makeup of American parties? What are some potential dangers of doing so?

Submit to Gradebook:

First Name:
 
Last Name:
 
Your Email Address:
 
Your Professor's Email Address:
 

Print This Page
Bookmark and Share

In This Chapter

The Norton Gradebook

Instructors and students now have an easy way to track online quiz scores with the Norton Gradebook.

Go to the Norton Gradebook

Norton Ebooks

The ebook version American Politics Today offers the full content of the print version at half the price.

Norton Ebooks

American Politics Today Glossary

Students can download the full glossary here from American Politics Today to study key terms and concepts from the text.