POLS 1101, Exam 2: Political Parties
Valdosta State University
What is Duverger's Law? - ANSWER-SMP favors 2 party system (don't want to waste votes on a 3rd party)
What is a PR (proportional representation) electoral system? - ANSWER-proportion of seats based on percent of votes
What is a minimum vote threshold? - ANSWER-Minimum [ercent of votes a politcial party must have to gain a seat in government
What is a coalition government? - ANSWER-No party has majority in legislature > multiple parties rule
What is preferential voting? - ANSWER-Single member districts and voters rank candidates
What is a district magnitude? - ANSWER-# of seats per district
What is ballot structure? - ANSWER-how the ballot is designed
What is the electoral formula? - ANSWER-how seats are allocated based on votes
What is an SMP (single-member plurality) electoral system? - ANSWER-Single member district run by whoever has the most votes
What is a political party? - ANSWER-Organization that runs candidates for election
What was the Whig Party? - ANSWER-One of the parties before the Civil War (replaced by Republicans)
What is a party system? - ANSWER-# of effective parties in a system
What type of party system does the United States have? - ANSWER-Two-Party System
What is an electoral system? - ANSWER-overarching rules on how elections are run
How many parties does the SMP system tend to produce? - ANSWER-two
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