AP GOV Chapter 8 Vocab

Blanket Primaries

A nomination contest where the voters get a ballot with all the candidates from all of the parties on one sheet, but you can only vote for one.

Coalition Governments

Governments where smaller political parties combine with larger ones to control at least half of a legislature.

Closed Primaries

A nomination contest where only people registered with the party can vote or participate.

Critical Elections

An election where a party’s coalition of support begins to break up and reform into new coalitions.

Linkage Institutions

The channels through which people's concerns become political issues on the government's policy agenda. In the United States, they include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

National Chairperson

Person who runs the political party day to day.

National Committee

A group of representatives from the states that maintain the political party between elections.

National Convention

Meets every 4 years for parties to choose a candidate for elections and write its platform.

Open Primaries

A nominating contest where the voters decide whether they participate or not.

Party Competition

Battle between the two dominant parties in American politics.

Party Dealignment

the gradual disengagement of people and politicians from the parties, as seen in part by shrinking party identification.

Party Eras

historical period in which one party has been dominant for long periods of time.

Party Identification

self-proclaimed preference for a party.

Party Image

the voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for, such as conservatism or liberalism

Party Machine

A type of party organization that depends on material rewards for their loyal party members.

Party Neutrality

A term used to describe the fact that many Americans are indifferent toward two major political parties.

Party Realignment

The displacement of the majority party by the minority party, usually during a critical election period.

Patronage

Jobs given for political reasons rather than competence.

Political Party

"a team of men (and women) seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election".

Proportional Representation

when legislative seats are allocated according to a party’s percentage of the vote.

Rational-Choice Theory

A theory that tries to explain political processes and outcomes is the result of some doing it on purpose.

Third Parties

electoral contenders other than the two major parties.

Ticket-Splitting

When you vote for one party for one office and another one for other offices.

Winner-Take-All System

an electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come first in their constituencies. (President who wins popular vote in state takes all the electoral votes)