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USG Chapter 9
Question | Answer |
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The objective for this chapter: I will analyze factors affecting the political process and their role in government, including the role of | political parties, interest groups, mass media, public opinion, and campaign funding |
the aggregation of views shared by a segment of society on issues of interest or concern to people | public opinion |
the choices the government makes and the actions it takes in response to a particular issue or problem | public policy |
the process by which people acquire political beliefs | political socialization |
any means of communication that provides information to a large audience, including magazines, radio, television news, and news on the Web | mass media |
information designed to shape public opinion | propaganda |
a survey of people scientifically selected to provide opinions about something | poll |
the group of people who take part in a poll | sample |
a poll’s margin of error, or uncertainty level | sampling error |
errors introduced by polling methods that lead to one outcome over others | bias |
freedom from bias and outside factors that may influence the results of a poll | objectivity |
a survey of a randomly selected fraction of voters after they have voted | exit poll |
an organization of people with common interests that tries to influence government and its policies | special interest group |
an organization created to raise and contribute money legally to the campaigns of political candidates | political action committee (PAC) |
a business group that represents certain industries or parts of industries | trade association |
organizations of workers who do the same job or work in related industries | labor unions |
to publicly declare support for a particular candidate in an election | endorse |
contacting a public official to persuade the official to support the group’s interests | lobbying |
the lowest level of an organization or society | grass roots |
organized group that seeks to win elections in order to influence the activities of government | political party |
the difference in political views held by the different political parties | political spectrum |
the process of naming candidates for elective office | nomination process |
the body of people entitled to vote | electorate |
a system of government in which a single political party controls government | one-party system |
a system of government in which two political parties compete for control of the government | two-party system |
a system of government in which several political parties compete for control of the government | multiparty system |
any political party in a two-party system besides the two major ones | third party |
a candidate who is not associated with any political party | independent candidate |
the smallest unit of area for administering elections and local voting | precinct |
a voting district made up of several precincts | ward |
money that is donated to an individual campaign | hard money |
money that is given to a political party rather than to a specific candidate | soft money |
political candidates who announce that they are running for office and ask voters to write in their names on the ballot | write-in candidates |
a meeting of all the House members from a particular party held to elect party officers | party caucus |
a primary, or first, election in which the party’s candidate for office is chosen directly by voters | direct primary |
a primary election in which only voters registered as party members can vote in selecting that party’s candidates | closed primary |
a primary election in which any registered voter may vote in either party’s primary election | open primary |
when a candidate in an election has more votes than any other candidate | plurality |
a ballot submitted on or before election day by a voter who cannot be present on election day | absentee ballot |
A newspaper’s investigative series exposing corruption in a public agency would be an example of how the mass media might | help determine the public agenda. |
The purpose of exit polls is to | predict election results before polls close. |
What is a goal common to all interest groups? | influencing public policy |
What is the relationship between interest groups and political action committees? | Many interest groups have political action committees to support candidates for office. |
An interest group that wants to contribute to candidates for Congress would most likely | form a political action committee. |
In what way would the National Organization for Women most likely differ from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? | representing a societal rather than business group |
An interest group that endorses a candidate is | asking voters to elect the candidate. |
A significant difference between political parties and interest groups is that | the main goal of political parties is to elect their members to public office. |
What party system is the most common party system? | multiparty |
What is the origin of the today’s two major U.S. political parties? | a party split |
In our two-party system, each major party tries to | appeal to as broad a base as possible. |
How does the fact that parties provide a political “brand name” help a political party? | Voters may vote for an unknown candidate because they support the party’s views |
Compared with political parties in multiparty systems, what are parties in our two-party system more likely to do? | lack party unity |
In a local election that uses nomination by petition, a candidate would be required to | collect the signatures of a certain number of qualified voters. |
A meeting of party members to endorse candidates for office and select delegates is called a | caucus |
How has the nominating process changed since the 1890s? | Voters have gained a greater voice |
The main task of a national nominating convention is to | choose a party’s candidate for president. |
What takes place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of all even-numbered years? | congressional election |
A common criticism of election campaigns is that they are too | negative |