CLEP US Government

Category - Parties

According to Anthony Downs, if political parties in the US were acting rationally, where would they position themselves ideologically?
  1. One party would be liberal and the other party would be conservative.
  2. Both parties would be conservative
  3. Both parties would be liberal.
  4. Both parties would try to hide their views on policy.
  5. Both parties would try to get as near to the ideological center as they could.
Explanation
Answer: E - If voters and parties are acting rationally, Downs believed, both major parties would try to appeal to the people in the ideological middle. This assumes that the goal of voters is to vote for those closest to them ideologically and that the goal of parties is to win elections. Since more voters are toward the middle, the parties should position themselves to that ideological space. The liberals and conservatives, then, would be left to vote the centrist party that was closest to them.
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