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US Elections and Direct Democracy

Party Coalitions and Voting Behaviour

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2

Overview

Recall questions on the strongest predictor of an American's vote, what a party coalition is, the New Deal coalition and the modern Democratic base.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What is the single strongest predictor of how an American votes?

Key term

What is the gender gap in US voting?

Key term

Why is the Hispanic vote harder to predict than the African American vote?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is the single strongest predictor of how an American votes?

    Model answer

    Party identification is the strongest predictor, meaning the long-term attachment a voter feels to one of the two main parties.

  2. 2

    What is meant by a party coalition?

    Model answer

    A party coalition is the combination of social groups that reliably supports a party and together makes up its electoral base.

  3. 3

    Describe the New Deal coalition.

    Model answer

    It was the alliance Roosevelt assembled from the 1930s of the white South, the urban working class, Catholic and Jewish voters, trade unionists and African Americans.

  4. 4

    Which groups form the core of the modern Democratic coalition?

    Model answer

    Its core is made up of African American voters, most Hispanic and Asian American voters, religiously unaffiliated voters, younger voters, graduates and city dwellers.

  5. 5

    Which groups form the core of the modern Republican coalition?

    Model answer

    Its core is made up of white voters without a college degree, white evangelical Protestants, regular churchgoers and rural and small-town voters.

  6. 6

    What is the gender gap in US voting?

    Model answer

    The gender gap is the persistent tendency for women to vote Democratic in higher proportions than men do.

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Veto means formal rejection of legislation.
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