POSC Midterm #2 Key Terms

Universal Suffrage

The right of nearly all adult citizens to vote. Significance: The U.S. has only recently come close to achieving it after centuries of restrictions.

Elastic Voting Rights

Keyssar's argument that voting rights expand and contract throughout history. Significance: American voting rights have not always progressed in one direction.

American Exceptionalism

The belief that America's political development is unique compared with other countries. Significance: Keyssar questions whether American democracy is truly exceptional.

Disenfranchisement

Denying or taking away someone's right to vote. Significance: Historically affected racial minorities, women, poor people, and other groups.

Federalism

The division of power between federal and state governments. Significance: States historically determined voter qualifications and still administer elections.

Property Qualifications

Laws requiring people to own property to vote. Significance: Excluded many poor Americans until most states eliminated these restrictions in the early 1800s.

Nativism

Hostility toward immigrants based on the belief that native-born citizens deserve preference. Significance: Encouraged movements to restrict immigrants' political participation.

Thick Citizenship

The belief that good citizens should be politically knowledgeable and actively participate. Significance: Creates high expectations for voters that can be used to question their competence.

Thin Citizenship

The belief that citizens deserve political rights even without extensive political knowledge. Significance: Supports voting rights regardless of education or political awareness.

Political Socialization

The process through which people develop political beliefs through family, education, and media. Significance: Explains how political opinions develop and persist.

Ideological Polarization

When people's political beliefs become increasingly divided into opposing groups. Significance: Increases political conflict and makes compromise harder.

Agenda-Setting

Media influence which issues people consider important. Significance: Media may not tell people what to think but can influence what they think about.

Priming

Media influence which issues people use to evaluate politicians. Significance: Frequent economic coverage may cause voters to judge a president mainly on economic performance.

Framing

Media influence how people interpret issues through the way information is presented. Significance: Different presentations of the same issue can create different political reactions.

Party in Government (PIG)

Elected officials who belong to a political party. Significance: Parties organize government and influence legislation and public policy.

Party in the Electorate (PIE)

Ordinary voters who identify with or support a political party. Significance: These voters form the electoral base that allows parties to win elections.

Political Realignment

A major and lasting shift in the groups supporting political parties. Significance: Changes party coalitions and which party dominates elections.

Duverger's Law

The theory that single-member plurality elections tend to produce two major political parties. Significance: Explains why third parties struggle in the United States.

Critical Election of 1896

An election associated with a major shift in American party competition. Significance: Helped establish a Republican-dominated party system.

Single-Member District

An electoral district that chooses one representative. Significance: Favors major parties and makes it difficult for smaller parties to win seats.

Winner-Take-All System

An election system in which the winner receives the entire seat or prize being contested. Significance: Voters supporting losing candidates may receive little direct representation.

Plurality Voting

A candidate wins by receiving more votes than any opponent, even without a majority. Significance: A candidate can win despite most voters supporting someone else.

Proportional Representation

A system where parties receive legislative seats approximately proportional to their vote share. Significance: Can improve representation for smaller parties and minority political viewpoints.

Electoral College

The system in which state-appointed electors formally elect the president. Significance: A candidate can win the presidency without winning the national popular vote.

Gerrymandering

Manipulating electoral district boundaries to benefit a political party or group. Significance: Can weaken fair representation and allow parties to gain disproportionate political power.

Vote Dilution

Weakening the voting influence of a particular group through election rules or district boundaries. Significance: Central to minority representation and Voting Rights Act disputes.

Gender Gap

The difference in the proportions of men and women supporting a candidate, party, or policy. Significance: Reveals differences in political preferences that are also influenced by race.

Collective Action Problem

The difficulty of getting people to cooperate toward a shared goal. Significance: Helps explain why eligible voters may choose not to participate.

Free-Rider Problem

When people benefit from collective action without contributing. Significance: Someone may benefit from an election outcome even if they did not vote.

14th Amendment (1868)

Established citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law. Significance: Important for challenging state discrimination and protecting constitutional rights.

15th Amendment (1870)

Prohibits denying voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Significance: Protected Black male suffrage after slavery, although discrimination continued.

19th Amendment (1920)

Prohibits denying voting rights based on sex. Significance: Enfranchised millions of women, although racial barriers continued to affect some women.

26th Amendment (1971)

Lowered the voting age to 18. Significance: Expanded suffrage during the Vietnam War era when young adults argued they should vote if they could serve.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Federal law designed to eliminate racial discrimination in voting. Significance: One of the most important expansions of voting protections in American history.

VRA Section 2

Prohibits voting practices that discriminate based on race or color. Significance: Allows challenges to discriminatory voting rules and electoral districts.

VRA Section 4(b)

Established a formula determining which jurisdictions needed federal preclearance. Significance: Struck down in 2013, weakening federal oversight of election changes.

VRA Section 5 (Preclearance)

Required covered jurisdictions to receive federal approval before changing voting rules. Significance: Historically prevented discriminatory changes before implementation.

1982 Voting Rights Act Amendments

Strengthened Section 2 by allowing challenges based on discriminatory results rather than requiring proof of intent. Significance: Improved protections against minority vote dilution.

National Voter Registration Act (1993)

Also called Motor Voter; expanded voter registration opportunities through motor-vehicle and other public agencies. Significance: Made registering to vote more accessible.

Help America Vote Act (2002)

Law passed to improve election administration following problems in the 2000 presidential election. Significance: Supported voting-system improvements and established the Election Assistance Commission.

South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966)

The Supreme Court upheld major provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Significance: Confirmed federal authority to combat racial discrimination in voting.

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

The Supreme Court struck down the VRA's Section 4(b) coverage formula. Significance: Made the ordinary Section 5 preclearance system largely inoperative.

Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (2021)

The Supreme Court upheld Arizona restrictions on out-of-precinct ballots and third-party ballot collection. Significance: Made certain Section 2 challenges to voting restrictions more difficult.

Louisiana v. Callais (2026)

The Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's creation of a second majority-Black congressional district was unconstitutional racial gerrymandering under the circumstances. Significance: Restricted the use of race in drawing districts and affected minority representation.

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

The Supreme Court largely upheld direct campaign contribution limits but struck down limits on independent expenditures. Significance: Established an important distinction between political contributions and spending.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

The Supreme Court protected independent political expenditures by corporations and unions under the First Amendment. Significance: Expanded outside spending in elections without allowing unlimited direct candidate contributions.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

An organization that raises money to support political candidates or causes. Significance: Traditional PACs can donate directly to candidates within legal limits.

Super PAC

An organization that can raise and spend unlimited money independently of candidates but cannot contribute directly to their campaigns. Significance: Allows wealthy donors and organizations to strongly influence elections.

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)

Federal campaign finance law requiring disclosure and regulating political contributions. Significance: Created a major framework for campaign finance transparency and regulation.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002)

Also called McCain-Feingold; banned soft money for national political parties and regulated certain election communications. Significance: Attempted to reduce the influence of large political donations.