Unit 5 - AP Government

Political participation

the different ways in which individuals take action to shape the laws and policies of a government.

Political action committee

an organization that raises money to elect and defeat candidates and may donate money directly to a candidate’s campaign, subject to limits.

Linkage institution

channels that connect individuals with government, including elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

Franchise/suffrage

the right to vote.

26th Amendment

allows those eighteen years and older to vote.

24th Amendment

prohibits Congress and the states from imposing poll taxes as a condition for voting in federal elections.

Poll tax

a payment required by a state or federal government before a citizen is allowed to vote.

Voter turnout

the number of eligible voters who participate in an election as a percentage of the total number of eligible voters.

Demographic characteristics

measurable characteristics of a population, such as economic status, education, age, race or ethnicity, and gender.

Socioeconomic status

a measure of an individual’s wealth, income, occupation, and educational attainment.

Political efficacy

a person’s belief that he or she can make effective political change.

Political mobilization

efforts by political parties to encourage their members to vote.

Registration requirements

the set of rules that govern who can vote and how, when, and where they vote.

Absentee ballot

voting completed and submitted by a voter before the day of an election without going to the polls.

Rational choice voting

voting based on what a citizen believes is in his or her best interest.

Retrospective voting

voting based on an assessment of an incumbent’s past performance.

Prospective voting

casting a ballot for a candidate who promises to enact policies favored by the voter in the future.

Party-line voting/straight ticket

voting for candidates who belong only to one political party for all of the offices on the ballot.

Electoral college

a constitutionally required process for selecting the president through slates of electors chosen in each state, who are pledged to vote for a nominee in the presidential election.

Winner-take-all system

a system of elections in which the candidate who wins the plurality of votes within a state receives all of that state’s votes in the Electoral College.

Battleground state

a state where the polls show a close contest between the Republican and Democratic candidate in a presidential election.

Swing state

a state where levels of support for the parties are similar and elections swing back and forth between Democrats and Republicans.

Super PAC

an organization that may spend an unlimited amount of money on a political campaign, as long as the spending is not coordinated with the campaign.

Political party

an organized group of party leaders, officeholders, and voters that work together to elect candidates to political office.

Party identification

the degree to which a voter is connected to and influenced by a particular political party.

Split-ticket voting

Voting for candidates from different parties in the same election.

Party platform

a set of positions and policy objectives that members of a political party agree to.

Recruitment

the process through which political parties identify potential candidates.

Party coalition

groups of voters who support a political party over time.

Realignment

when the groups of people who support a political party shift their allegiance to a different political party.

Critical election

a major national election that signals a change in the balance of power between the two parties.

Party era

a time period when one party wins most national elections.

Era of divided government

a trend since 1969, in which one party controls one or both houses of Congress and the president is from the opposing party.

Nomination

the formal process through which parties choose their candidates for political office.

Delegate

a person who acts as the voters’ representative at a convention to select the party’s presidential nominee.

Primary election

an election in which a state’s voters choose delegates who support a candidate for nomination.

Open primary

a primary election in which all eligible voters may vote, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Closed primary

a primary election in which only registered voters from a political party may vote.

Caucus

a process through which a state’s eligible voters meet to select delegates to represent their preferences in the nomination process.

Superdelegate

usually a party leader or activist who is not pledged to a candidate based on the outcome of the state’s primary or caucus.

Front-loading

a decision by a state to push its primary or caucus to a date as early in the season as possible to become more influential in the nomination process.

National convention

a meeting where delegates officially select their party’s nominee for the presidency.

Candidate-centered campaign

a trend in which candidates develop their own strategies and raise money with less influence from the party elite.

Two-party system

a system in which two political parties dominate politics, winning almost all elections.

Proportional representation system

an election system for a legislature in which citizens vote for parties, rather than individuals, and parties are represented in the legislature according to the percentage of the vote they receive.

Single-member plurality system

an election system for choosing members of the legislature where the winner is the candidate who receives the most votes, even if the candidate does not receive a majority of the votes.

Third party

a minor political party in competition with the two major parties.

Interest groups

voluntary associations of people who come together with the goal of getting the policies that they favor enacted.

Policy agenda

the set of issues to which government officials, voters, and the public are paying attention.

Collective action

political action that occurs when individuals contribute their energy, time, or money to a larger group goal.

Collective good

also called a public good; a public benefit that individuals can enjoy or profit from, even if they do not help achieve it.

Free riders

individuals who enjoy collective goods and benefit from the actions of an interest group without joining.

Selective benefits

benefits available only to those who join the group.

Economic interest groups

groups advocating on behalf of the financial interests of their members.

Public interest groups

groups that act on behalf of the collective interests of a broad group of individuals.

Single-issue groups

associations focusing on one specific area of public policy, often a moral issue about which they are unwilling to compromise.

Government interest groups

organizations acting on behalf of local, state, or foreign governments.

Lobbying

interacting with government officials in order to advance a group’s public policy goals.

Revolving door

the movement of individuals between positions in government and lobbying positions.

Grassroots lobbying

mobilizing interest group members to pressure their representatives by contacting them directly through phone calls, email, and social media.

News media

a broad term that includes newspapers, magazines, radio, television, Internet sources, blogs, and social media postings that cover important events.

Social media

forms of electronic communication that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Agenda setting

the media’s ability to highlight certain issues and bring them to the attention of the public.

Mass media

sources of information designed to reach a wide audience, including newspapers, radio, television, and Internet outlets.

Wire service

an organization that gathers and reports on news and then sells the stories to other outlets.

Investigative journalism

an approach to newsgathering in which reporters dig into stories, often looking for instances of wrongdoing.

Broadcast media

outlets for news and other content including radio and television that bring stories directly into people’s homes.

Media consolidation

the concentration of ownership of the media into fewer corporations.

Partisan bias

the slanting of political news coverage in support of a particular political party or ideology.