1.
Explain what the terms “party era,” “critical election,” and “party realignment” mean and how they are
connected to each other. Use two examples from the timeline completed in class to illustrate the terms.
A party era is the historical period in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to
win a majority of the elections.
A critical election is an election that heralds a realignment, during which large numbers of voters deviate
from their traditional party allegiances in what turns out to be a lasting change.
A party realignment is a shift from one party system to another, the result of a lasting, long-term adjustment
in the groups that identify with the major political parties.
Two examples from the timeline we used in class were
2.
Analyze the difference between a primary and a caucus.
Include the various types of primaries.
Briefly
discuss the benefits and drawbacks to the primary and caucus system.
A primary is a method of candidate selection in which party identifiers vote for the candidate who will run
on the party label in the general election. In presidential primaries, voters select delegates to the national
convention.
There are four different types of primaries: open (anyone of any political party affiliation may vote), closed
(only those voters registered with that particular party may vote), semi-open (anyone of any political party
affiliation may vote but can only vote in one primary), and runoff (a few states hold a second primary
between the two candidates with the most votes).
A caucus is a method of candidate selection in which party identifiers gather in a series of meetings to
select delegates to the national convention.
The difference between a primary and a caucus is that a caucus are local gatherings where voters can decide
which candidate to support, where as a primary is a statewide voting process where voters cast secret
ballots for the candidate they prefer. (Caucus participants also make their preferences more public.)
Some benefits to primaries are that they are quick and private; some drawbacks are that there is no dialogue
and pre-research. Some benefits to caucuses are that they are accurate and contain political dialogue; some
drawbacks are that they can take a long time, be disorganized, not private, and have more peer pressure.
