What political parties do, and how the two-party system grew

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to E on parties and the rules for choosing a President (the excerpts are exact; card D is in our words from a reference summary of the 1796 and 1800 elections; card E is made up). Card A, "Washington's Farewell Address (1796)". Who made it: President George Washington, leaving office. When: September 1796. For whom: the American people. Why: to give advice on keeping the union. Excerpt 1: "I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations." Excerpt 2: "There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged." Excerpt 3: "The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism." Card B, "The Federalist, No. 10". Who made it: James Madison, writing as Publius. When: November 23, 1787. For whom: New York voters deciding on ratification. Why: to explain how a large republic could control faction. Excerpt 1: "The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man" Excerpt 2: "The inference to which we are brought is, that the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS." Excerpt 3: "Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens;" Card C, "How electors voted for President". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention (1787) and Congress (the Twelfth Amendment, proposed December 9, 1803, ratified June 15, 1804). Excerpt 1 (Article II, Section 1, as written in 1787): "The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves." Excerpt 2 (1787): "The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President;" Excerpt 3 (1787): "But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote;" Excerpt 4 (1787): "In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President." Excerpt 5 (Twelfth Amendment): "The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President" Card D, "The elections of 1796 and 1800". Who made it: a reference summary (Wikipedia, read Nov 14, 2026). Summary in our words: 1796, 138 electors, 70 needed. John Adams, a Federalist, won 71 electoral votes, Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, 68, Thomas Pinckney, a Federalist, 59, and Aaron Burr, a Democratic-Republican, 30. Adams became President and Jefferson Vice President. 1800: both parties named a presidential and a vice-presidential candidate. Jefferson and Burr, both Democratic-Republicans, each received 73 electoral votes. Adams, a Federalist, received 65, Pinckney 64 and John Jay 1. The House then chose among 16 state delegations, with 9 needed. In the first 35 ballots Jefferson had 8 states and Burr 6. Vermont's delegation was evenly split and cast a blank ballot. Maryland's delegation had five Federalists and three Democratic-Republicans, but one Federalist voted for Jefferson, so Maryland also cast a blank ballot. Georgia's only Federalist representative voted for Jefferson. On the 36th ballot, February 17, 1801, Jefferson had 10 states and Burr 4. Card E, "A made-up state". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In State Q, two parties have formed on geography. The Tidewater Party wins about 90 percent of the votes in the coastal counties and the Upland Party about 90 percent in the inland counties. The inland counties hold 60 percent of the voters. A proposal would add a third region of farmland to the state. Its voters would number half as many as the inland counties' and would likely vote like them.

2. 1.

   State Q on card E would add a region that votes like its inland counties. Kira compares cards A and B. Which reasoning is strongest?

   • Madison's cure works here, since any enlargement of the state dilutes a majority and so weakens both regional parties
   • Washington would welcome the change, since he calls parties useful checks and the new region adds one more such check
   • Neither card applies, since both concern the national government and a single state is far too small to test them
   • Madison's cure needs added variety, and a region voting like the inland one adds none, so regional parties grow
3. 2.

   Milo uses cards C and D. Which statement best explains why Adams and Jefferson served together as President and Vice President after 1796?

   • Washington's advice led electors to choose men from both parties, so the split between the two offices was intended
   • No one had a majority, so the House chose Jefferson as Vice President from the five highest on the list
   • Electors cast two undifferentiated votes and the runner-up became Vice President, so Adams's chief rival took the second office
   • The Constitution required the President and Vice President to come from different parties, to balance the executive
4. 3.

   In the first 35 House ballots of 1801, Pia looks for one member whose vote could alone have decided the election on card D. Who was it?

   • Any Democratic-Republican member, since their seven delegations voted for Jefferson and carried him to the White House
   • A member of Vermont's split delegation or Maryland's: one switch to Jefferson would give him a ninth state
   • Georgia's lone Federalist, whose vote for Jefferson gave him that state and so decided the whole election in his favor
   • No one, because the tie in the Electoral College put the choice beyond the reach of any single House member
5. 4.

   A student says Washington's warning failed, since party tickets ran in 1800. Ren tests the claim against cards A and D. What is the best verdict?

   • Shown: the tickets and the tie of 1800 show that parties grew despite his words, so the warning had no effect
   • Weakly supported: party tickets ran in 1800, but the cards cannot show what would have happened without the warning
   • Unsupported: in 1796 the President and Vice President came from opposite parties, so the warning had worked by then
   • Unsupported: Washington wrote about parties built on geography alone, so tickets in 1800 do not bear on his warning

6. Use this

   Cards A to E on electoral rules and the number of parties (the excerpts are exact; card B is copied from a reference summary of the 2015 election; card D copies the official tallies of the American Presidency Project; card E is made up). Card A, "Duverger's law". Who made it: a reference summary (Wikipedia, read Nov 14, 2026), describing a proposal by the political scientist Maurice Duverger. Excerpt 1: "In political science, Duverger's law … is the proposition that single-member districts using plurality voting (first-past-the-post) tend to favor two-party competition." Excerpt 2: "Maurice Duverger attributed this tendency to a mechanical effect, in which smaller parties have difficulty winning seats, and a psychological effect, in which voters and political parties may coordinate around candidates perceived as more viable." Excerpt 3: "The proposition describes a tendency rather than an invariant rule; its effects also depend on social and political context, the geographical distribution of party support, and strategic behavior." Card B, "The 2015 United Kingdom general election". Who made it: a reference summary of the official results. Note: each of the 650 seats is won by the candidate with the most votes in a single-member district. The table shows the party, its votes across the United Kingdom, its share of those votes and its seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) ran candidates only in Scotland. Conservative: 11,299,609 votes, 36.8 percent, 330 seats. Labour: 9,347,273 votes, 30.4 percent, 232 seats. UK Independence Party (UKIP): 3,881,099 votes, 12.6 percent, 1 seat. Liberal Democrats: 2,415,916 votes, 7.9 percent, 8 seats. SNP: 1,454,436 votes, 4.7 percent, 56 seats. Green: 1,111,603 votes, 3.8 percent, 1 seat. Card C, "How the Electoral College counts". Who made it: the National Archives. For whom: voters. Why: to explain the Electoral College. Excerpt 1: "Most States have a 'winner-take-all' system that awards all electors to the Presidential candidate who wins the State's popular vote. However, Maine and Nebraska each have a variation of 'proportional representation.'" Excerpt 2: "The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President." Card D, "Two Presidential elections with strong independent candidates". Who made it: the American Presidency Project (presidency.ucsb.edu), official tallies. 1992: Bill Clinton (Democratic) 44,909,326 votes, 43.0 percent, 370 electoral votes. George Bush (Republican) 39,103,882 votes, 37.4 percent, 168 electoral votes. Ross Perot (independent) 19,741,657 votes, 18.9 percent, 0 electoral votes. 1996: Clinton 47,402,357 votes, 49.2 percent, 379 electoral votes. Robert Dole (Republican) 39,198,755 votes, 40.7 percent, 159 electoral votes. Perot (Reform) 8,085,402 votes, 8.4 percent, 0 electoral votes. Card E, "Country X (made up)". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Country X has 100 single-member districts and elects legislators by plurality. In a recent election Party A won 40 percent of the votes and 62 seats, Party B 35 percent and 38 seats, Party C 15 percent and no seats, and Party D 10 percent and no seats. A majority needs 51 seats. A bill would give each party seats in proportion to its votes.

7. 5.

   Tala writes one claim from card B about how plurality districts turn votes into seats. Which claim does the table support best?

   • The Conservatives and Labour won 562 of the 650 seats between them, the usual result under plurality voting
   • The Conservatives won a majority of the votes across the country, which is why they won 330 of the 650 seats
   • Plurality voting shuts small parties out, since the Liberal Democrats and Greens, under 8 percent each, won almost no seats
   • Seats followed concentrated votes: the SNP won 56 seats with 4.7 percent, while UKIP won one seat with 12.6 percent
8. 6.

   A student says Perot's 18.9 percent proves voters do not vote strategically. Ari tests the claim against cards A, C and D. What is the best verdict?

   • Unsupported: the cards give his vote in just two elections, so they say nothing about voters' reasons
   • Supported: Duverger's psychological effect applies to legislatures, so it cannot explain a Presidential race
   • Not supported: his share fell from 18.9 to 8.4 percent after he won no electors, which fits strategic coordination
   • Supported: 18.9 percent is too large a share for strategic voters to have given a candidate who could not win
9. 7.

   Country X on card E switches to proportional seats. Bo applies the vote shares on card E. Which party gains the most bargaining power?

   • Party C: A needs 11 more seats, D's 10 fall one short, and C's 15 are the one single partner that gives A a majority
   • Parties C and D together: they hold 25 seats, so either A or B needs both of them to form a government
   • Party A keeps control: with the largest vote share, 40, no other party can block it from governing the country
   • Party D: its 10 seats, the smallest, are what put either A or B over the 51 seats needed to form a government

10. Use this

    Cards A to E on ballots and debates (the excerpts are exact; card C is in our words from a reference summary; card D uses official tallies of the American Presidency Project; card E is made up). Card A, "Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party (1997), the majority". Who made it: Chief Justice William Rehnquist, for a Supreme Court that voted 6 to 3. When: April 28, 1997. For whom: the parties, the states and other courts. Why: to decide whether Minnesota could ban a candidate from appearing on the ballot as the nominee of more than one party. Excerpt 1: "This interest does not permit a State to completely insulate the two-party system from minor parties' or independent candidates' competition and influence ... nor is it a paternalistic license for States to protect political parties from the consequences of their own internal disagreements." Excerpt 2: "That said, the States' interest permits them to enact reasonable election regulations that may, in practice, favor the traditional two-party system ... and that temper the destabilizing effects of party-splintering and excessive factionalism." Excerpt 3: "The New Party remains free to endorse whom it likes, to ally itself with others, to nominate candidates for office, and to spread its message to all who will listen." Card B, "Timmons, the dissents". Who made it: Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Justice David Souter wrote separately. When: April 28, 1997. For whom: the parties, the states and other courts. Why: to explain why they would have kept the New Party's candidate on the ballot. Excerpt 1 (Stevens): "But the right to be on the election ballot is precisely what separates a political party from any other interest group." Excerpt 2 (Souter): "Surely the majority is right that States 'have a strong interest in the stability of their political systems,' ante, at __, that is, in preserving a political system capable of governing effectively. If it could be shown that the disappearance of the two-party system would undermine that interest, and that permitting fusion candidacies poses a substantial threat to the two-party scheme, there might well be a sufficient predicate for recognizing the constitutionality of the state action presented by this case." Card C, "The Commission on Presidential Debates". Who made it: a reference summary (Wikipedia, read Nov 14, 2026). Summary in our words: the Commission is a nonprofit corporation, not a state. Since 2000 it has invited only candidates who reach at least 15 percent in five national polls. Ross Perot polled high enough in 1992 to join all three debates. In 1996 the Commission declined to invite him, finding that he had no 'realistic chance to win'. Lawsuits challenging the 15 percent rule have been rejected by the courts. Card D, "Perot's vote". Who made it: the American Presidency Project, official tallies. 1992: Perot (independent) 19,741,657 votes, 18.9 percent. 1996: Perot (Reform) 8,085,402 votes, 8.4 percent. Card E, "Four made-up cases". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Case 1: State M passes a law that no candidate may appear on its general-election ballot unless nominated by the Democratic or Republican Party. Case 2: State N requires an independent candidate to file by February with signatures from 1 percent of the state's voters. Case 3: A student says the 15 percent rule shows that Timmons lets the government keep third parties out of debates. Case 4: A student says Perot's fall from 18.9 to 8.4 percent was caused by his exclusion from the 1996 debates.

11. 8.

    Case 1 on card E bans every candidate not nominated by the two largest parties. Esme applies card A. Which reasoning is strongest?

    • The ban looks like the complete insulation of the two-party system that Timmons says a State may not impose
    • The ban is valid because Timmons upheld Minnesota's rule and States have a strong interest in the stability of their systems
    • The ban is valid because the New Party stayed free to endorse and campaign, so a ban on ballot lines burdens nothing
    • The ban is invalid because Timmons held that a State may not favor the two-party system in any way
12. 9.

    Case 3 on card E says the 15 percent rule shows Timmons lets government keep third parties out of debates. Luz tests it against cards A and C. What is the best verdict?

    • Overstated: Timmons concerned a State's ballot law, while card C describes a nonprofit's rule that Timmons does not govern
    • Unsupported: Perot joined the three debates of 1992, so the 15 percent rule has not kept a third party out of a debate
    • Supported: courts rejected suits against the 15 percent rule, so the Court approved the rule itself in Timmons
    • Supported: both Timmons and the 15 percent rule favor the two-party system, so the same legal reasoning applies to each
13. 10.

    Noah reads Souter's excerpt on card B. What would he need to be shown before treating a fusion ban as valid?

    • That fusion candidacies threaten the two-party scheme, and that losing that scheme would undermine stability
    • That the New Party had few members, since a small party has no right to a place on the ballot at any election
    • That Minnesota's voters were confused by fusion candidacies, since confusion is the harm that the ban is meant to prevent
    • That the two-party system is required by the Constitution, since a State may not protect what is not required