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GOPO UII
Key terms
Question | Answer |
---|---|
attentive public | those who follow politics and public affairs carefully |
Australian ballot | secret ballot printed at the expense of the state |
Blanket primary | election to choose candidates that is opened 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 |
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 |
front loading | scheduling presidential primary elections early |
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 |
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 |
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 | 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 |
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 |
political efficacy | capacity to understand and influence political events |
political socialization | process in which one acquires his/her political beliefs |
realigning election | an election in which there is a long term change in party alignment |
safe seat | an office that is extremely likely to be won 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 the party |
solid south | historically, the south voted solidly democratic. however, the south is now strongly Republican. |
Split ticket voting | casting votes for candidates of one's own party and for candidates of opposing parties |
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 |