POLS 1101 2nd Half

Political Party

An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization's name

Nomination

Designation as an official candidate of a political party

Political System

A set of interrelated institutions that links people with government

Caucuses

A closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide questions of policy and the selection of candidates for office

National Convention

A gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president and to adopt a party platform

Party Platform

The statement of policies of a national political party

Critical Election

An election that produces a sharp change in the existing pattern of party loyalties among groups of voters

Electoral Realignment

The change in voting patterns that occurs after a critical election

Two-Party System

A political system in which two major political parties compete for control of the government. Candidates from a third party have little chance of winning office

Electoral Dealignment

A lessening of the importance of party loyalties in voting decisions

Majority Representation

The system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes

Proportional Representation

The system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that party wins in an election

Party Identification

A voter's sense of psychological attachment to a party

National Committee

A committee of a political party composed of party chairpersons and party officials from every state

Party Conferences

A meeting to select party leaders and decide committee assignments held at the beginning of a session of Congress by Republicans or Democrats in each chamber

Congressional Campaign Committees

An organization maintained by a political party to raise funds to support its own candidates in congressional elections

Party Machine

A centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections

Responsible Party Government

A set of principles formalizing the ideal role of parties in a majoritarian democracy

Lobbyists

An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also call a lobby

Agenda Building

The process by which new issues are brought into the political limelight

Program Monitoring

Keeping track of government programs, usually done by interest groups

Trade Associations

An organization that represents firms within a particular industry

Interest Group Entrepreneur

An interest group organizer or leader

Free-Rider Problem

The situation in which people benefit from the activities of an organization (such as an interest group) but fo not contribute to those activities

Direct Lobbying

Attempts to influence a policymaker through personal contact with that individual

Grassroots Lobbying

Lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and other supporters

Information Campaigns

An organized effort to gain public backing by bringing a group's views to public attention

Coalition Building

The banding together of several interest groups for the purpose of lobbying

Citizen Groups

Lobbying organization built around policy concerns unrelated to members' vocational interests

Mass Media

the means employed in mass communication; traditionally divided into print media and broadcast media but now includes the internet and social media

Attentive Policy Elites

Leaders who follow news in specific policy areas and are highly politically engaged

Two-Step Flow of Communication

the process in which a few policy elites gather information and then inform their more numerous followers, mobilizing them to apply pressure to government

Newsworthiness

The degree to which a news story is important enough to be covered in the mass media

Infotainment

a mix of information and diversion oriented to personalities or celebrities, not linked to the day's events, and usually unrelated to public affairs or policy; often called "soft news"

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

An independent federal agency that regulates interstate and international communication by radio, television, telephone, telegraph, cable, and satelite

Net Neutrality

the view that information online is essential for modern democratic life and should not be restricted by internet service providers

Gatekeepers

Media executives, news editors, and prominent reporters who direct the flow of news

House Race Journalism

Election coverage by the mass media that focuses on which candidate is ahead rather than on national issues

Media Events

A situation that is so "newsworthy" that the mass emdia are compelled to cover it; Candidates in elections often create such situations to garner media attention

Television Hypothesis

The belief that television is to blame for the low level of citizens' knowledge about public affairs

Soft News

General entertainment programming that often includes discussions fo political affairs

Political Agenda

A list of issues that need government attention

Going Public

A strategy whereby a president seeks to influence policy elites and media coverage by appealing directly to the American people

Watchdog Journalism

Journalism that scrutinizes public and business institutions and publicizes perceived misconduct

Public Opinion

the collective attitudes of citizens concerning a given issue or question

Opinion Polling

Interviewing a sample of citizens to estimate public opinion as a whole

Random Sample

a sample where every individual of the population in question has the same chance of being selected to participate in a survey

Skewed Distribution

An asymmetrical but generally bell-shaped distribution (of opinions); its mode, or most frequent response, lies off to one side

Bimodal Distribution

A distribution (of opinions) that shows two responses being chosen about as frequently as each other

Normal Distribution

A symmetrical bell-shaped distribution (of opinions) centered on a single mode, or most frequent response

Stable Distribution

A distribution (of opinions) that shows little change over time

Political Socialization

The complex process by which people acquire their political values

Transmission Model

The theory that parents transmit their partisan identification to their children

Civic Education

School curricula that aim to prepare students for meaningful engagement with democratic processes

Socioeconomic Status

Position in society based on a combination of education, occupational statis, and income

Symbolic Ideology

the ideological label that people use to describe themselves

Operational Ideology

The ideological label that appropriately describes one's policy positions

Self-Interest Principle

The implication that people choose what benefits them personally

Sociotropic Responses

Opinions about how the country as a whole is doing affect political preferences more strongly than one's own personal circumstance

Issue Framing

The way that politicians or interest group leaders define an issue when presenting it to others

Political Participation

Actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics

Conventional Participation

Relatively routine political behavior that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the dominant culture

Unconventional Participation

Relatively uncommon political behavior that challenges or defies established institutions and dominant norms

Terrorism

Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents

Direct Action

Unconventional participation that involves assembling crowds to confront businesses and local governments to demand a hearing

Supportive Behavior

Action that expresses allegiance to government and country

Influencing Behavior

Behavior that seeks to modify or reverse government policy to serve political interests

Class Action Suit

A legal action brought by a person or group on behalf of a number of people in similar circumstances

Voter Turnout

The percentage of eligible citizens who actually vote in a given election

Suffrage

the right to vote, also called the franchise

Franchise

the right to vote, also called suffrag

Progressivism

A philosophy of political reform based on the goodness and wisdom of the individual citizen as opposed to special interests and political institutions

Direct Primary

A preliminary election run by the state government in which the voters choose each party's candidates for the general election

Recall

The process for removing an elected official from office, eighteen states allow recall

Referendum

An election on a policy issue

Initiative

A procedure by which voters can propose an issue to be decided by the legislature or by the people in a referendum. It requires gathering a specified number of signatures and submitting a petition ot a designated agency

Standard Socioeconomic Model

A relationship between socioeconomic status and conventional political involvement: people with higher status and more education are more likely to participate that those with lower status

Election Campaign

An organized effort to persuade voters to choose one candidate over others competing for the same office

Primary Election

A preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election

Closed Primaries

Primary elections in which voters must declare their party affliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party's potential nominees

Open Primaries

Primary elections in which voters need not declare a party affliation and can choose one party's primary ballot to take into the voting booth

Modified Closed Primaries

Primary elections that allow individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and, if so, for which offices

Modified Open Primaries

Primary elections that entitle independent voters to vote in a party's primary

Presidential Primary

A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party's national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate

Caucus/Convention

A method used to select delegates to attend a party's national convention; generally a local meeting selects delegates for a county-level meeting, which in turn selects delegates for a higher-level meeting; the process culminates in a state convention that actually selects the national convention delegates

Front-Loading

States' practice of moving delegate selection primaries and caucuses earlier in the calendar year to gain media and candidate attention

General Election

A national election held by law in November of every even-numbered year

Straight Ticket

Voting for a single party's candidates for all the offices

Split Ticket

Voting for candidates from different parties for different offices

First-Past-the-Post-Elections

A British term for elections conducted in single-member districts that award victory to the candidate iwth the most votes

Open Election

An election that lacks an incumbent

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

A bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns

Political Action Committees (PAC)

An organization that collects campaing contributions from group members and donates them to candidates for political office

Civil Liberties

Freedoms guaranteed to individuals taking the form of restraint on government

Civil Rights

Powers of privileges guaranteed to individuals and protected from arbitrary removal at the hands of government or individuals

Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

Part of section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which requires state governments to adhere to certain procedures and forbids unreasonable state government action that infringes on important sobstantive freedoms

Establishment Clause

The first clause in the First Amendment, which forbids government establishment of religion

Free-Exercise Clause

The second clause in the First Amendment, which prevents the government from interfering with the exercise of religion

Strict Scrutiny

A standard used by the Supreme Court in deciding whether a law or policy is to be adjudged constitutional; to pass strict scrutiny, the law or policy must be justified by a 'compelling goevrnmental interest," must be narrowly tailored, and must be the least restrictive means for achieving that interest

Free-Expression Clause

the press and speech clauses of the First Amendment