| Word |
Definition |
| reapportionment |
the redistribution of legislative seats |
| Generational effect |
Effect that events have on political opinions, thoughts, and preferences of people affect a generation |
| Peer Group |
Members share common relevant social characteristics ; They play important parts in socialization process helping to shape attitudes and beliefs |
| Political Spectrum |
The range of political ideas and beliefs |
| Communism |
Workers collectively owning the land |
| Socialists |
Mixed government with private ownership of factors of production |
| Reactionary |
A person who favors a return to earlier more conservative system |
| Fascism |
Likes dictators |
| Political ideology |
Collectively held ideas and beliefs concerning the nature of the ideal political system, economic order, social goals, and moral values |
| Public opinion |
What most people think and feel about a subject |
| Public Opinion polls |
Polls to test how the public felt on a topic |
| Random Sample polls |
Names are drawn at random to be polled |
| Tracking polls |
Follow candidates on particular issues or how they vote |
| Exit polls |
Conducted after vote; People stand outside to ask how people voted |
| Latent public opinion |
Political opinions that citizens hold but don’t express or act on |
| Intensity |
The strength one feels for or against an issue or political policy |
| Fluidity |
Changing of public opinion as time passes |
| Australian Ballot |
Ballot is printed with all names and proposals and put into an envelope. The envelope is given to the person who votes in secret behind a curtain. They put it back in the envelope and it is put into a machine to be read |
| Linkage |
Linkage institutions are institutions that link people to the government |
| Political Party |
A group of people who hold similar political beliefs and goals and organize to win political elections, set policy and to generally take over the machinery of government |
| Party Organization |
How a political party is structured and its leadership |
| Party in Government |
All elected and appointed officials with party identification |
| Party in Electorate |
Citizens with political identification and has clear preference of one party over another |
| Independent |
doesn’t associate with a political party |
| Caucus |
meeting of party followers at which delegates are picked |
| Critical elections |
Election that could establish dominance of a political party for several years |
| 1800 presidential election |
Democratic Republicans organized at state and local levels; Federalists didn’t and died out; Democratic Republicans dominated next 20 years |
| 1824 presidential election |
Democratic Republicans only political party but they had four candidates; No one had a majority so the House had to pick; They chose John Quincy Adams even though Andrew Jackson had more of the popular vote |
| 2 Party System |
Political system where only two parties have a realistic chance of winning |
| Duverger’s Law |
In our system, majority winner earns the seat; If you’re second, you get nothing!; This discourages minority parties |
| Single Member district |
Electoral district (US) from which a single member is chosen; One person wins, second place gets nothing |
| Proportional representation |
A system where the degree of representation is decided by the amount that needs to be represented |
| Single Issue Party |
focuses on one issue |
| Spin off Party |
party created when there’s a faction in the bigger party |
| Splinter Party |
composed of people broken away from another party |
| Economic Protest Parties |
protest economic issues |
| National Conventions |
A meeting where a political party approves the platform and finds a presidential candidate |
| National Committee |
The committee at the head of a national level party - has nothing to do with local/ state parties; do all the work for national candidates |
| Spoilage |
rewarding favorite people with government positions once in office |
| Congressional Campaign Committee |
The committee that works to get congressmen reelected |
| Patronage |
Tangible incentives such as money, political jobs or an opportunity to get favors from government |
| Superdelegates |
Party leaders and elected officials who become delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses |
| Ideological Party |
A party that holds principle above all else |
| Solidary Groups |
Most common form of party organization; Members motivated by solidary incentives |
| Sponsored Parties |
Created or sustained by another organization |
| Personal Following |
a group that follows a specific person; people with them include Kennedys, Curley, Talmadges, Longs |
| Platform |
An important statement of principles held by the party/ candidate |
| Primary |
preliminary election where voters narrow the field of candidates |
| Blanket primary |
primary system in which each voter receives a single ballot and they list the parties candidate for each nomination (you see both the Dem. and Rep. candidates) and you can do crossover voting |
| Closed primary |
A primary limited to registered political party members only; you can only vote for the candidates in your party |
| Open primary |
Primary where voters can just go and vote ; Voters do not have to state party affiliation but are not allowed to split the ticket |
| Presidential primary |
primary for deciding presidential candidates |
| General Election |
an actual presidential election |
| Robert M. La Follette |
Wisconsin 1902 - authored our countries first state law about primaries |
| Crossover voting |
voting for some candidates from one party and some candidates from another |
| Splitting the ticket |
voting for some candidates from one party and some candidates from another |
| Focus groups |
small group of people led by a moderator; Tell you what the public wants you to talk about |
| Moderator |
leads discussion about how people feel on specific issues or candidates. |
| Front loading |
practice of scheduling presidential primaries early in campaign |
| Iowa Caucus |
1st Caucus of presidential campaign |
| New Hampshire Primary |
New Hampshire goes 1st in the primaries; Generally their winner will win in total |
| Super Tuesday |
Large number of presidential caucuses - mostly all in Southern states, but this year we are here. |
| Preference polls |
Polls where the names of presidential candidates are separated from names of party convention delegates - Most people don't know about the link |
| Mandatory Preference Polls |
link delegates to the candidate name and are pledged to vote for that candidate |
| Electoral College |
The group of people who choose the president based on the people’s votes |
| Elector |
A person in the electoral college |
| Winner-take-all |
Whoever gets the most votes wins; Second place gets nothing |
| Election Day |
The day of election - In the U.S., it is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November |
| Faithless Electors |
If an elector didn’t vote for your political party, they were called a faithless elector |
| Federal Election Committee |
A committee created to enforce the FECA which puts restrictions on federal elections and the candidates (mostly monetary restrictions) |
| Political Action Committee (PAC) |
Committee designed to raise/spend money for the candidate or political party |
| 527s |
organizations that engage in political activity through soft money to back or refute a candidate; part of the tax code so under jurisdiction of IRS |
| In-Kind Contributions |
donations other than money - ex. services, materials, space, etc. |
| Independent Expenditures |
Funds from outside group donated independently of a campaign to support a candidate; Candidate has nothing to do with it |
| Hard Money |
Money raised and spent by individuals, PACs, or party committees for specific political candidates |
| Soft Money |
Money raised and spent by organizations that aren’t coordinated directly with the candidate |
| Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002 |
Banned federal candidates and party commissions from using soft money |
| Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) |
Considered grandfather of campaign finance law ; PACs can give up to $5000 to 5 federal candidates so long as it is freely given; They can spend unlimited money mobilizing and educating voters though |
| Bundling |
A PAC solicits donations from their members and has them write the checks to the candidate; People can each give up to $2000 – PAC can only give $5000; Candidate knows its from the PAC but *wink wink* |
| US v Newberry |
1921 - Said parties and primaries not in constitution so congress can’t regulate them |
| War Labor disputes Act of 1943 |
Prohibits funding directly from labor unions; result: labor unions created first PAC |
| Federal Corrupt Practices act in 1925 |
Expands requirements to try to stop; Parties quarterly disclosure every year but vague; No way to enforce |
| Hatch Act (Political Activities Act) of 1939 |
A law limiting contributions to political parties; Made illegal to give if under federal contract |
| Buckly v Valeo |
Said most limits on contributions are unconstitutional - Ok to set limit of $1,000 though (today $2000); Violation : limit on how much you can spend unless take from public fund |
| Wesberry v Sanders |
Makes gerrymandering illegal |
| Gerrymandering |
When a state tries to redraw its districts so that a political party is favored |
| Political Interest Groups |
A group that shares interest in goals, has organizational structure and has a desire to influence political policy; Differ from political party because membership base narrower and more focused on policy issues while political parties focus on elections |
| Disturbance Theory |
Created by David Truman in the 1950’s ; There are changes in the political environment which scare us so, we organize to protect our interests - This leads to a chain reaction of everybody organizing - this doesn’t explain the degrees of passion to join |
| Selective Benefits Theory |
Primary incentive for joining an interest group is our benefit; This only explains economic groups |
| Lobbying |
art of persuading public officials to support your position |
| Revolving Door Politics |
Former government official represents interests in private sector |
| Connected PACs |
PACs made of people with a formal affiliation with an established organization |
| Nonconnected PACs |
People share the same interests but are not connected through an organization |
| Private Interest Groups |
Groups working for a small group of people; Public want to affect law while private want to affect people |
| Professional Interest Groups |
Type of private – they deal with a specific profession |
| Public Employee Interest Groups |
Interest in government employees only |
| Single Issue Group |
Concerned with one issue only |
| Direct technique or Direct Lobbying |
Interact directly with government officials; ex. Experts testify at public hearings, Provide supporting materials congressmen can use, Draft bills to give to congress people to present |
| Indirect techniques or Indirect Lobbying |
Use interest groups to influence government; Try to encourage grassroots - Make it look like people want something - Grassroots go further |
| Divided Government |
When the part identification of the president is different from that of the majority of Congress. |
Cardio Block2anatomy
