Which of the following statements regarding participation in a political party in the united states is true? a. citizens often form new political parties. b. citizens are forced to join a political party. c. citizens cannot join a political party until they are old enough. d. citizens are free to join whatever political party they want.

The correct answer is D. In the United States, citizens are free to join whatever political party they want.

Explanation:

America is a democracy. This implies that citizens choose their authorities, who represent them in the exercise of power in the positions of the federal government.

But democracy not only implies citizen participation in elections, but it is also operative in the daily political life of society. Thus, democracy implies people's rights to freedom of expression and the freedom to join the political parties that best represent them in their political thoughts and beliefs.

The freedom to join any political party is a fundamental right of American democracy. Each citizen can decide to join the Democratic Party, the Republican Party or any other third party (Green Party, Communist Party, Libertarian Party, etc.), without this being subject to any prohibition.

the earth’s crust is broken into separate pieces called tectonic plates (fig. 7.14). recall that the crust is the solid, rocky, outer shell of the planet. it is composed of two distinctly different types of material: the less-dense continental crust and the more-dense oceanic crust. both types of crust rest atop solid, upper mantle material. the upper mantle, in turn, floats on a denser layer of lower mantle that is much like thick molten tar.

each tectonic plate is free-floating and can move independently. earthquakes and volcanoes are the direct result of the movement of tectonic plates at fault lines. the term fault is used to describe the boundary between tectonic plates. most of the earthquakes and volcanoes around the pacific ocean basin—a pattern known as the “ring of fire”—are due to the movement of tectonic plates in this region. other observable results of short-term plate movement include the gradual widening of the great rift lakes in eastern africa and the rising of the himalayan mountain range. the motion of plates can be described in four general patterns:

collision: when two continental plates are shoved together

subduction: when one plate plunges beneath another (fig. 7.15)

spreading: when two plates are pushed apart (fig. 7.15)

transform faulting: when two plates slide past each other (fig. 7.15)