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Chapter 9
Vocabulary
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Political Party | An association of voters with broad, common interests who want to influence or control decision making in government by electing the party's candidates to public office |
Two-Party System | A system of government in which two parties compete for power. |
Third Party | a party that challenges the two major parties |
Platform | A series of statements expressing the party's principles, beliefs, and positions on election issues. |
Plank | each individual part of the platform |
National Committee | helps raise funds for presidential elections and organizes the party's national convention |
Caucus | meetings of state and local party organizations |
Precint | geographic area that contains a specific number of voters |
Ward | several adjoining precincts making up a larger election unit |
Political Machine | a strong party organization that can control political appointments and deliver votes |
Direct Primary | election in which voters choose candidates to represent each party in a general election |
Closed Primary | election in which only the declared members of a party are allowed to vote for that party's nominees |
Open Primary | election in which voters don't need to declare thier party preference in order to vote for the pary's nominees |
Plurality | most votes among all those running |
Majority | a number that is more than 50 percent of the total |
Petition | process by which candidates who are not affiliated with one of the two major parties can get on the ballot for the general election in most states |