Political Ideology, Participation and Socialization Vocab AP Gov

Political Culture

A set of basic values and beliefs about one's country or government that is shared by most citizens and that influences political opinions and behaviors

Heterogenous society

diverse society with many political cultures (U.S)

Free Enterprise

Private businesses operate in competition and free of government control - capitalism

Limited Government

Powers of the government are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced

political socialization

the process by which citizens acquire a political identity. Several factors influence political socialization

Opinion poll

Assessment of public opinion by the questioning of a representative

Benchmark/tracking polls

polls to determine who is ahead and behind in an election

entrance/exit poll

poll to determine who voters are voting for or did vote for

Straw poll

a poll that asks the same question to a large amount of people

ideology

a consistent set up beliefs

political ideology

a set of beliefs about politics and public policy that creates the structure for looking at government and public policy

radical

favors rapid, fundamental change in existing social, economic and political order, can resort to extreme means to accomplish change

Liberal

Supports active government in promoting individual welfare and supporting civil rights. Accepts peaceful political and social change within the exiting political system. More aligned with the democratic party.

Moderate

Falls between the liberal and conservative. Tolerant of others' political opinions and not likely to hold extreme views on issues.

conservative

promotes a limited government role in helping individuals economically, supports traditional value and lifestyles, favors a more active role in government in promoting national security and approaches change cautiously, More aligned with the Republican Party.

Reactionary

Advocates a return to a previous state of affairs, often a social order or government that existed earlier in history. May be willing to go to extremes to achieve their goals.

Direct Primary

allows citizens to nominate candidates

Recall

Special election initiated by petition to allow citizens to remove an official from office before a term expires.

Referendum

allows citizens to vote directly on issues called propositions

Propositions

Proposed laws or state constitutional amendments

initative

allows voters to petition to propose issues to be decided by qualified voters

Ration choice voting

voting based on what voters perceive to be in their own best interest

Retrospective voting

voting based on the past performance of a candidate

Prospective voting

voting based on how the voter believes the candidate will perform in office

Party-line voting

voting for candidates based upon the party to which they belong, usually voting a straight ticket

Straight ticket

when voters only for candidates from one party

Political efficacy

Whether people believe their vote will make a difference

Primary elections

nomination elections in which voters choose the candidates from each party who will run for office in the general election

general elections

Elections which voters choose from among all the candidates nominated by political parties or running as independents.

closed primary

only voters who are registered in the party may vote to choose candidate.

Open Primary

Voters may vote to choose the candidate of either party, whether

belong to the party or not. Voters make the decision of which party to support in the voting booth.

Blanket Primary

Voters may vote for candidates of either party, choosing Republican for one office and Democrat for another: used in California, Washington and Louisiana.

Runoff Primary

When no candidate from a party receives a majority of the votes, the top two candidates face each other in a runoff.

Off - year elections

An election that takes place in a year when a presidential or midterm election does not also take place.

Midterm Election

• Elections when there is no presidential election

coattail effect

if the presidential candidate is popular, lesser-known candidates from the president's political party can win by riding the "coattails" of the nominee in lower level elections

caucus

Citizens of a party meet in groups to determine candidate for elections - lowa

Presidential preference primary

Determines whom the state delegates to the national

party conventions will support. Party delegates to the conventions support the winner of

the primary election.

Front-Loading

when states choose to hold primaries earlier than other states

Super Tuesday

Occurs in March when the greatest number of states hold presidential primaries on the same day

primaries on the same day.

Superdelegates

Elected party officials (Democratic Party only) attend national

convention as unpledged delegates. They can choose who they want to vote for.

Maintaining elections

• Occurs when the traditional majority power maintains power

based on the party loyalty of voters

Deviating elections

when the minority party is able to win with the support of majority-

party members, independents and new votes. The long-term party preferences of voters do not change

Critical elections

Indicates sharp changes in existing patterns of party loyalty due to

changing social and economic conditions.

Realigning elections

Occurs when the minority party wins by building a new coalition of

voters that continues over successive elections - associated with national crisis (Great Depression)

misaligning elections

• Occurs when party loyally becomes less Important to voters, as may be seen with the increase of independents and split-ticket voting.

split ticket voting

a ballot cast by a voter who votes for candidates of more than one

party

Party in the electorate

• people who associate themselves with one of the political parties

Party in government

• All of the appointed and elected officials at the national, state, and

local levels who represent the part as members (office holders)

Party in organization

• All of the people at the various levels of the party organization who work to maintain the strength of the party between elections, help raise money and

organize the conventions and party functions.

Two-party system

many political parties, but only two major parties compete for power

Single-member districts

• voters are given an either-or choice of candidates

Candidate centered campaigns

• election campaigns and other political processes in which candidate, not political parties, have most of the influence.