AP gov chapter 4

15th amendment

Granted African American men the right to vote

17th amendment

Established the direct election of United States senators in each state

23rd amendment

Allows American citizens residing in the District of Columbia to vote for presidential electors

24th amendment

Abolished poll taxes which were used to suppress minority votes.

26th amendment

Lowered voting age from 21 to 18

Types of third parties

Single issue party- focus on one specific policy interest, very narrow platform, and rarely run major candidates in national elections.

splinter party- broken off a main party, due to one or more policy differences, significant threat to the mainstream party.

candidate-centered- party- created to support a popular candidate who is not aligned with the mainstream party. These are often short lived.

3 types of primaries

Closed- registered party members can vote

open- allow voters to decide on election day whether they want to participate in the democratic or republican contests

blanket- voters can choose candidates from any political party for different offices.

Iron triangle

Congress creates laws and provides funding

bureaucracy enforces laws and carries out government policies

Interest Groups lobby congress to support policies that benefit their members.

PAC

political action committee that raises money and donates to support or oppose political canidates

super PAC

organization that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose political candidates, but cannot donate directly to candidates or coordinate with their campaigns.

FEC

Federal election commission that regulates campaign finance laws and monitors money raised and spent in federal elections.

Direct money

Money donated straight to a campaign to help pay for their election expenses.

independent expenditures

money spent to support or expose a political candidate without coordinating their campaign.