AP Gov Unit 3 Vocab

Linkage institution

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

Social Movement

Large groups of citizens organizing for political change.

Franchise (Suffrage)

The right to vote

Socioeconomic status (SES)

A measure of an individual's wealth, income, occupation, and education 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

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

Party-line voting

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

Wedge issue

Political or social issue, often of a controversial or divisive nature, which splits apart a demographic or population group.

Valence issue

An issue where there is a broad amount of consensus among voters. An issue about which the public is united and rival candidates or political parties adopt similar positions in hopes that they each will be thought to best represent those widely shared beliefs).

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

Get out the vote (GOTV)

Efforts to mobilizie supporters.

FEC

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency charged with administering and enforcing the federal campaign finance law. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, Presidency and the Vice Presidency.

Federal Elections Campaign Act 1971 (FECA)

Regulated the financing of federal election campaigns (president, Senate, and House), including the money raised and spent by the candidates pursuing those offices and by the political parties.

FECA Amendments

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

A case in which the Supreme Court struck down the portion of the Federal Election Campaign Act that set limits on the amount of money individuals could contribute to their own campaigns.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

The Court ruled, 5-4, that the First Amendment prohibits limits on corporate funding of independent broadcasts in candidate elections.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act 2002 (BCRA)

Banned the use of soft money contributions and raised the limit on donations to $2000.

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.

SuperPAC

Political-action committee that is allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, individuals and associations.

501(c)4s

An organization must not be organized for profit and must be operated exclusively to promote social welfare.

527 Groups

A tax-exempt organization that promotes a political agenda, although they can't expressly advocate for or against a specific candidate.

Independent Expenditures

Spending by political action committees, corporations, or labor unions that is done to help a party or candidate but is done independently of them.

Microtargeting

Uses consumer data and demographics to identify individuals.

Geofencing

Identifying people in an area at a certain time

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

Delegate

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

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.

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 state's eligible voters meet to select delegates to represent their preferences in the nomination process.

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.

National Convention

A meeting where delegates officially select their party's nominee for the presidency.

Two-party system

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

Office-bloc ballot

Ballot where names are listed alphabetically in their offices and not with a party.

Party-column ballot

List all parties candidate in a column under the same party name.

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.

Civil Society

Groups outside the government that advocate for policy.

Policy Agenda

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

Free riders

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

Purposive incentives

The benefit that comes form serving a cause or principal form which one does not personally benefit.

Solidary incentives

The social rewards that lead people to join local or state political organizations

Material incentives

Tangible rewards, often money. money or things and services readily valued in monetary terms.

Lobbying

Interacting with government officials in order to advance a group's public policy goals.

Ratings

An assessment of a representative's voting record on issues important to an interest group.

Revolving door

The movement of individuals between the government and lobbying positions.

Amicus Curiae Briefs

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.

Iron Triangle

The coordinated and mutually beneficial activities of the bureaucracy, Congress, and interest groups to achieve shared policy goals.

Issue Network

The webs of influence between interest groups, policymakers, and policy advocates.

Grassroots lobbying

Mobilizing interest group members to pressure their reps by contacting them directly through phone calls, emails, and social media.

Agenda Setting

The media's ability to highlight certain issues and bring then to the attention of the public.

Wire service

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

Media consolidation

The concentration of ownership of the media into fewer corporations.

Investigative journalism

An approach to news gathering in which reporters dig into stories, often looking for instances of wrongdoing.

Horse-race journalism

Coverage of political campaigns that focuses more on the drama of the campaign than on policy issues.

Consumer-driven media

Media whose content is influenced by the actions and needs of consumers.

Equal time rule

Requires broadcasters to treat political candidates equally in terms of air time.

Fairness doctrine

A policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints.

Right to reply rule

If a person is attacked on a broadcast that person has the right to reply over that same station.

Narrowcasting

The transmission of television programs, especially by cable, to a comparatively localized or specialist audience.

Ideologically oriented programming

An ideologically oriented programming is a form of software development which is used to create web pages.

"'Silo of half-truth news"

Political in nature, in order to make informed decisions as an activate member of society we need an accurate depictions of what is true in the news.

Federal communications commission

Regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

15th amendment

An amendment to the Constitution passed in 1870 granting voting rights to African American men.

19th amendment

A 1920 constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.

23rd amendment

Extends the right to participate in presidential elections to the District of Columbia.

24th amendment

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

26th amendment

Allows those eighteen years old and older to vote

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