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Parties/Interests
American Government
Question | Answer |
---|---|
"Amicus Curiae" Brief | "Friend of the court" brief filed by an interest group to influence a Supreme Court decision |
Dealignment Argument | Contention that parties are less meaningful to voters, who have abandoned the parties in greater numbers to become independents |
Divided Government | Government in which one party controls the presidency while another party controls the Congress |
Factions | term used by Madison to denote what we now call interest groups |
Fairness Doctrine | FCC rule (no longer in effect) that required broadcasters to air a variety of viewpoints on their programs |
Feeding Frenzy | The media "attacks" when they sense wrongdoing or a scandal in government, and devote great amounts of coverage to such stories |
Free Rider Problem | The problem faced by interest groups when citizens can reap the benefits of interest group action without actually joining, participating in, or contributing money to such groups |
Horse Race Coverage | The tendency of the media to report on an election campaign as if it were a horse race, i.e., who is ahead, who is behind, who is gaining ground. |
Iron Triangle | An informal association of federal agency, congressional committee, and interest group that is said to have heavy influence over policy making |
Litigation | The act or process of carrying out a lawsuit |
Lobbying | Attempting to influence policy makers |
Nonpartisan Elections | Elections in which candidates are not identified by party membership on the ballot |
Office Column Ballot | Ballot in which candidates are arranged by office rather than party. Encourages split ticket voting |
Party Column Ballot | Ballot in which candidates are arranged by party rather than office. Encourages straight ticket voting. |
Photo Opportunity | A staged campaign event that attracts favorable visual media coverage, e.g., a candidate reading to a group of school children |
Pluralism | Theory that policy making is the result of interest group competition |
Political Action Committee (PAC) | An interest group that raises funds and donates to election campaigns |
Patronage | Appointing loyal party members to government positions |
Revolving Door | The cycle in which a person alternately works for the public sector and private sector, thus blurring the individual's sense of loyalty. |
Selective Exposure | The practice of selectively choosing media sources which re in harmony with one's own beliefs |
Selective Perception | The practice of perceiving media messages the way one wants to |
Sound Bite | A short, pithy comment that is likely to attract media attention, e.g., Ronald Reagan saying, "A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose your job, and a recover is when Jimmy Carter loses his job." |
Spin Control | Placing a certain slant on a story to deflect negative public attention against a candidate or office holder. |
Unit Rule | An abandoned rule of the Democratic Party national convention in which the candidate with the most delegates from a state won all of that state's convention votes. |