AP GOV 2.3

Partisanship

Bias for one political ideology over another

Polarization

The two parties becoming extremely opposite in their views

Divided Government

When Congress and POTUS are different parties

Gridlock

When its virtually impossible to get government business done

Coalition

TEMPORARY alliances

Party Coalitions

Political parties combine interest groups; Military hawks, social conservatives

Candidate coalitions

Alignments of candidates from different political parties or groups to support shared goals or interests.

Trustee

Doing what’s best for the people even if they disagree

Delegate

Doing what your constituents want even if you disagree

Politico

Faux Trustee until its unpopular, becomes a Delegate

Reapportionment

Reallocating House seats after a Census every 10 years based on changes made to population

Redistricting

Redrawing federal Congressional districts in each state AFTER reapportionment

Who does redistricting

State Legislatures

All districts

Contiguous and equal in population

Aligns with redistricting

Cracking and Packing

Gerrymandering

The practice of manipulating district boundaries to favor a particular political party or group. It involves drawing districts in unusual shapes to concentrate or dilute specific voter demographics.