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GOPO UNIT 2
flashcards
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Attentive Public | those who follow politics and public affairs carefully |
Australian Ballot | secret ballot printed at the expense of the state |
Balancing the ticket | occurs when a presidential nominee chooses a vice presidential running mate who has different qualities in order to attract more votes for the ticket. |
Blanket Primary | election to choose candidates that is open to independents, and that allows voters to choose candidates from all the parties |
Caucus | local party meeting |
Closed Primary | Party election to choose candidates that is closed to independents. Voters may not cross party lines |
Coattail effect | the influence of a popular presidential candidate on the election of congressional candidates of the same party |
Demographics | characteristics of populations, e.g., race, sex, income |
Direct Election | election of an official directly by the people rather than by an intermediary group such as the Electoral college |
Direct Primary | election in which the people choose candidates for office |
Fixed Terms | terms of office that have a definite length of time, e.g., two years for a member of the House |
Front Loading | scheduling presidential primary election early (e.g., February or March) in an election year |
Gender Gap | difference in voting patterns for men and women, particularly in the greater tendency of the latter to vote for Democratic Presidential Candidates |
General Election | election in which the officeholders are chosen. Contrast with a primary election, in which only the candidates are chosen |
Hard Money | campaign contributions donated directly to candidates. |
Ideology | Set of beliefs about political values and the role of government |
Incumbent | an officeholder who is seeking reelection |
Independent | one is not registered with a political party. Independent leaners tend to vote for candidates of one particular party, whereas pure independents have no consistent pattern of voting |
Issue Advocacy Ads | ads that focus on issues and do not explicitly encourage citizens to vote for a certain candidate. |
Open Primary | election to choose candidates that is open to independents, and in which voters may choose candidates from any party |
Party Identification | a sense of affiliation that a person has with a particular political party |
Party Platform | a list of positions and programs that the party adopts at the national convention. Each position is called a plank |
Political Culture | the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that citizens share about their government |
Plurality | more votes than anyone else, but less than half, e.g. Clinton won a plurality (43%) of popular votes in 1992, but not a majority. Plurality elections such as those for Congress are won by the person with the most votes, regardless if he/she has a majority |
Political Efficacy | Capacity to understand and influence political events |
Political Socialization | process in which one acquires his/her political beliefs |
Realigning ("critical") Election | an election in which there is a long term change in party alignment e.g. 1932 |
Safe seat | an office that is extremely likely to be won by a particular candidate or political party |
Single Member District System | system in which the people elect one representative per district. With a winner-take-all-rule, this system strengthens the two major parties and weakens minor parties |
Soft Money | Campaign contributions that are not donated directly to candidates, but are instead donated to parties |
Solid South | Historically, the South voted solidly Democratic. However, the South is now strongly Republican:Bush carried every Southern state in 2000 |
Split Ticket Voting | casting votes for candidates of one's own party and for candidates of opposing parties, e.g., voting fro a Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic congressional candidate |
Straight Ticket Voting | Casting votes only for candidates of one's party |
Suffrage | the right to vote |
Superdelegate | a delegate to the Democratic national convention who is there by virtue of holding an office |
Super Tuesday | a Tuesday in early March in which many presidential primaries, particularly in the South, are held. |
Swing State | A state that does not consistently vote either Democratic or Republican in presidential elections |