AP Gov Ch8 Vocab

Voting age population (VAP)

Citizens who are eligible to vote after reaching the minimum age requirement

Voting eligible population (VEP)

All U.S. citizens age 18 and over, who are not excluded from voter eligibility due to criminal status (felony convictions, incarceration, or parole), or excluded due to being declared being incompetent to vote.

Registered voters

People who are registered to vote

Expanded suffrage

Virtually everyone over the age 18- male or female, white or non-white, rich or poor - has right to vote.

Motor voter registration (1993)

Register to vote when you renew your drivers license

Literacy test

A test given to persons to prove they can read and write before being allowed to register to vote

Poll tax

A tax of a fixed amount per person and payable as a requirement for the right to vote

Grandfather clause

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867.

White primary

A state primary election that restricts voting to whites only; outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944.

Activists

People who tend to participate in all forms of politics

No Issue Voters

Around 20% of the voters. They vote for candidates based on their looks or personality, not on the issues of the election.

Australian ballot

A government printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret that was adopted by many states around 1890 in order to reduce the voting fraud associated with party printed ballots cast in public.

Conventional participation

relatively routine political behavior that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the dominant culture

Unconventional participation

political participation that attempts to influence the political process through unusual or extreme measures, such as protests, boycotts, and picketing

Forms of political participation

Voting, Campaign work, contacting public officials, Community work, and attendance at a political meeting. US is low on voting, yet high in the other categories which are more demanding.

15th Amendment

Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color , or precious condition of servitude

19th Amendment

(1920) gave women the right to vote

23rd Amendment

(JFK), gave residents of Washington DC the right to vote

24th Amendment

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1964) eliminated the poll tax as a prerequisite to vote in national elections.

26th Amendment

18 year olds can vote

Motor-Voter Law

this was a law to encourage more people to participate in voting. This allowed people to register to vote while they renewed their license. The thought was that most people renew their license and thus it would give them a chance to register at the same time.

political participation

All the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue