Content Areas - GED Social Studies

In the American two-party system politicians often adopt broad opinions on a wide variety of issues to appeal to the largest number of people as possible. This generally ensures that both political parties are quite moderate when compared to the liberal or conservative parties in countries with a multi-party system.

A realignment election takes place when many votes switch their political-party allegiance. Often, a realignment election sees the rise of a third party or a previously unknown party into the two-party system. Other times it sees voters switching which of the two major parties they support. A realignment election often reflects widespread voter dissatisfaction with one or both of the two major parties.

A presidential candidate must win a majority of the Electoral College in order to become the next President. This is a slightly tricky question. Many people are under the incorrect assumption that a candidate must win a majority of the popular vote in order to become President. In reality, becoming the President requires a majority of the Electoral College-- which does not necessarily require a majority of the popular vote (due to the way that we count votes).

Political patronage is the term used to describe the granting of favors, passing favorable legislation, or making government appointments in exchange for financial support during a campaign. Meritocracy is fairly close to being the opposite, as it is a system whereby only the most qualified and skilled person is able to get a job.

Of these answer choices, only the Liberal-Democrats (a British political party) have never existed in United States political history.

The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by the Federalists in 1798 during the presidency of John Adams. The stated reason for passing the Alien and Sedition Acts was to provide greater security for the young nation in the wake of rising tensions with the French. The Alien Act made immigration more difficult for people from certain nations, and the Sedition Act made it illegal to speak out against the government or to incite rebellion against the government. The Acts were heavily criticized by Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans.

The traditional political spectrum (from left to right) goes like this:

Radical - Liberal - Moderate - Conservative - Reactionary

So, the furthest to the right would be a reactionary. Someone who holds reactionary ideas passionately (and sometimes violently) opposes some kind of political or social change. Reactionaries may even want to return to a previous social or political order.

The traditional political spectrum (from left to right) goes like this: Radical; Liberal; Moderate; Conservative; Reactionary. So the furthest to the left would be a radical. A radical would support complete, dramatic, and immediate overhaul of existing social or political norms. Radicals might resort to violence in order to achieve their goals.

For many Americans, party loyalty is the least pronounced it has ever been. Recent elections have seen a greater and greater number of voters who would declare themselves independent. This mirrors another contemporary trend in the American political landscape: more and more Americans are voting based on the candidate and his orher policies rather than simply voting along party lines; however, it is worth nothing that the majority of voters still vote very consistently for the same party.

The correct answer is "2." Currently, those two parties are the Democrats and the Republicans (and have been since the Civil War). That's not to say that there are NO other parties in the US, simply that there are only two major parties. This is partially due to our electoral system (that is, the way that we vote).

A totalitarian government, also called an autocracy, is defined by an extremely centralized government in which one person, or one group, wields complete and unchallenged control over the rest of the state. Totalitarian governments are increasingly uncommon around the world, but certainly far from nonexistent.

"Rule by the few," an oligarchy is defined as a system of government in which a small group of people have complete control over all functions of government.

A system of government ruled by religious leaders and where law is established according to religious codes is called a theocracy.

Apartheid was a social policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. It was enforced by the government, which reduced the economic and political rights of black people in the country.

Communism is an economic system where all property and the means of production are owned by the state. One of the driving forces of capitalism, ownership of private property, is completely eliminated in favor of (in theory) fairly distributing all property and economic goods.

The United Nations is an international body designed to prevent warfare and represent the collective interests of all the nations of humanity, at least in theory. It was formed after the end of World War Two, in 1945. The League of Nations (the first attempt at such an international organization) was formed in 1918, at the end of World War One, but suffered from a lack of American participation and subsequent ineffectiveness.

The Italian state under Mussolini was a prominent examples of Fascism. In a fascist government, liberal democracy is rejected as being too weak, and a system of totalitarian control over the media and the population is instituted. Fascist philosophy believes that the technological advancements of the early twentieth century rendered the distinction between civilian and military combatant obsolete. In a fascist state, the civilian population is mobilized as part of the war effort and is under complete control of the government. Violent nationalism is an important part of fascist ideology.

The economic and political system of feudalism arose after the fall of the Roman Empire. In the political and military vacuum created by Rome’s fall from power, there was a large number of people and groups contending for power. It was a time of brutal violence and great instability. To try to create stability, various rulers began to offer portions of land, or “fiefdoms,” to lesser rules, who could then have serfs work the land to provide food and income. The system of feudalism was effective because it promoted stability in a very violent time and offered protection in exchange for loyalty and subservience.

A theocracy is a system of government ruled by a priest, or other religious figure, who claims to interpret the word of god when establishing laws and rules in the country. In a theocracy, the government is essentially a conduit for religious belief.

Despotism is another word for Autocracy. A Despot is an autocratic ruler, or a tyrant: someone who rules with absolute authority and who cannot be questioned or removed from power by legal means.