amircan government | Homework Writings
In this unit, you learned about political parties and interest groups.
In this activity, you’ll be applying what you’ve learned about political parties to a real world situation. Read the scenario below, visit the websites and read the information, and then compose an answer the short prompt.
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Scenario
You’ve learned about the purpose of interest groups and political parties, as well as the history of our party system. But we haven’t spent much time figuring out which political party best represents you.
You learned that Duverger’s Law states that a political party system like ours favors fewer political parties. The two major political parties in our current system are the Democrats and the Republicans. Let’s briefly glance at the two parties and their stances on some policy issues.
The Republican Party tends to prefer:
Limited government regulation and intervention in the economy
Limits on abortion
Fewer regulations on gun ownership
More state and local control of policy areas
The Democratic Party tends to prefer:
A social safety net for needy individuals
Promotion of rights for women, minoritys, and LGBT individuals
Environmental protection regulations
More federal oversight of policy areas
Note that these examples are just broad statements. Individuals within each party are varied and diverse! Take a moment to peruse the websites below, and then see for yourself which party (including some of the smaller parties) best represents you.
https://www.gop.com/the-2016-republican-party-platform/
https://www.democrats.org/party-platform
http://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz
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Prompt
Write 2-3 sentences (around 50 words) in response to the prompt below.
1) Which candidate or political party did you most side with according to the quiz? Were you surprised by the result?
