Government Unit 5: Political Participation

all unit 5 vocab, essential documents, and SCOTUS Cases

Political Participation

Political Participation

Different ways individuals take action to shape the laws and policies of a government

Linkage Institutions

Channels that connect individuals with government, including election, political parties, media and interest groups

Voter Turnout

participation rate of a given election

Suffrage

right to vote

15th Amendment

grants the right to vote for all male citizens regardless of their ethnicity or prior slave status.

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

17th Amendment

Allows for the direct selection of senators

24th Amendment

Prohibits imposing poll taxes as a condition for voting in federal elections

Voter turnout

Measures the portion of eligible voters who actually cast a vote

Political Efficiency

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

Rational Choice Voting

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

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on an assesment of an incumbent’s past performance

Prospective Voting

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

Party-Line Voting

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

Winner-Take-All system

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

Swing States

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

FEC (Federal Election Commision)

Overseas campaign finance laws

Citizens United v FEC

Independent groups were not allowed to run ads sixty days before general election. These limits were challenged as a violation of the 1st Amendment

super PAC

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

Poll Tax

voters pay a fee in order to enter the polling places to cast their ballots

Political Party

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

GOTV (get out the vote)

efforts to mobilize supports

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 alliance to a different political party

Critical Election

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

Delegate

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

Open Primary

A primary election in which all eligible voters may vote. Regardless of their party affiliation

Closed Primary

a primary election in which only those who have registered as a member of a political party may vote

Caucus

a process through which a states eligible voters meet to select delegates to represent their preferences in the nomination process

Third Party

A minor political party in competition with the two major parties

Interest Groups

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

Pluralist Theory

a theory that political power is distributed among many competing groups, which means no single group can grow too powerful

Free riders

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

lobbying

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

revolving door

the movement of individuals between positions in government and lobbying position

Front-Loading

a decision by a state to push its primary or caucus to a date as early in the election season as possible to gain more influence in the presidential nomination process

amicus curiae brief

a brief filed by someone who is not a party to a case in an attempt to persuade the Court to agree with the arguments set forth in the brief. Interest groups attempt to influence how the laws in their policy area will be interpreted well into the future

public interest groups

groups that act on behalf of the collective interest 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

grassroots lobbying

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

Horse-race journalism

coverage of a political campaign that focuses more on the drama of the campaign than on policy issues

Grandfather Clause

a section of a law, regulation, or other legal document that limits how changes will be applied to legal relations and activities existing prior to the change.

Literacy Test

Test the ability to read and write

white primary

primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate

mid-term elections

happen mid-way through every 4-year presidential election cycle

Presidential election

U.S. citizens vote for president and vice president

referenedum

a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue

recall

a power reserved to the voters that allows the voters, by petition, to demand the removal of an elected official

Initiative

a process that enables citizens to bypass their state legislature 

precinct

the smallest unit into which electoral districts are divided

Civic engagement

individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern

ideological orientation

an individual's or group's set of beliefs, values, and preferences regarding political issues

Contemporary political issues

current debates, challenges, and policies

Electorate

body of people allowed to vote in an election

voter mobilization

the process of encouraging and facilitating voter participation in elections

Invisible Primary

when a candidate formally announces their plans to run for office. It's an opportunity to find out how much support they can gather.

Iowa Caucuses

Iowa voters have their say in the state's caucuses.

New Hampshire Primary

is the first in a series of nationwide party primary

Majority

a government formed by one party with a majority over all other parties in the legislature

retail politics

type of political campaigning in which politicians directly talk to and interact with their supporters

party platforms

a formal set of principal goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, to appeal to the general public

party chairperson

the head of a political party at the local, state, or national level

coattail effect

the popularity of a political candidate or leader results in higher voter counts for other candidates of the same party

candidate recruitment

refers to the process of identifying, attracting, and selecting individuals to run for political office

dealignment

a trend or process whereby a large portion of the electorate abandons its previous partisan affiliation, without developing a new one to replace it

independent candidate

any candidate who claims not to be affiliated with a political party

Coalition

an alliance for combined action, especially a temporary alliance of political parties forming a government or of states.

“spoiler” role

third political party formed to draw votes away from one of the two major parties

faithless elector

electors who ultimately vote for someone other than for whom they pledged

single-member district

an electoral district represented by one legislative representative

incumbency advantage

to the benefits that current officeholders have over challengers in elections

national popular vote

an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states

election cycle

begins the day after the previous general election for a given federal office and ends on the date of the general election for that office

case law

the body of law developed from judicial opinions or decisions over time

war chest

funding obtained from donors well in advance of a campaign

soft money

unregulated donations to political parties for general "party-building" purposes, not the support of a particular candidate

hard money

Money given directly to a political candidate

dark money

spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public

attack ads

an advertisement designed to wage a personal attack against an opposing candidate or political party in order to gain support for the attacking candidate and attract voters

issue ads

the ad might influence potential voters for or against one of the candidates, it does not specifically advocate action to elect a candidate for office

independent expenditures

campaign involves spending money to support or oppose political candidates without coordinating with any candidate's campaign

527 groups

a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527

501 (c ) 3s

the portion of the US Internal Revenue Code that allows for federal tax exemption of nonprofit organizations that meet the code's requirements

501 (c ) 4s

social welfare organization described in Internal Revenue Code

Gatekeeper

The donors, politicians, and influencers who control endorsements and funding.

Scorekeeper

The role the press plays by keeping track of and helping make political reputations, note who is being mentioned as a presidential candidate, and help decide who is winning and losing in Washington politics

Watchdog

An individual or group that monitors the activities of another entity

Media bias

journalists and news producers show bias in how they report and cover news

Ideologically oriented

an individual's or group's set of beliefs, values, and preferences regarding political issues

consumer-driven media outlets

media whose content is influenced by the actions and needs of consumers

sound bite

a very short part of a speech or statement

adversarial press

form of investigative journalism that exposes political corruption and abuses of power to the public