| 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. |
