Key Terms | Definitions |
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 | A 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 | When presidential primary elections are scheduled 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 are 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 who 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 party 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 one party. |
Party Identification | Sense of affiliation that a person has with a particular political party. |
Party Platform | List of positions and programs that the party adopts at the national convention. Each position is called a plank. |
Political Culture | Widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that citizens share about their government. |
Plurality | More votes than anyone else, but less than half(Not Yet 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 | The capacity to understand and influence political events |
Political Socialization | The process in which one acquires his/her political beliefs. |
Realigning (“Critical”) Election | Election in which there is a long term change in party alignment, e.g., 1932. |
Safe Seat | 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 | When campaign contributions are not donated directly to candidates, but are instead donated to parties. |
Solid South | Historically, the South voted solidly Democratic, but now the South is 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 for 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 | Delegate to the Democratic national convention who is there by virtue of holding an office. |
Super Tuesday | Tuesday in early March in which many presidential primaries, particularly in the South, are held. |
Swing State | State that does not consistently vote either Democratic or Republican in presidential elections. |