Unit 3 Political Parties and Interest Groups Vocab

Party Competition

The battle of the parties for control of public offices. Ups and downs of the two major parties are one of the most important elements in American politics.

Political Party

An organization that seeks political power by electing people to office so that its positions and philosophy become public policy.

Linkage Institutions

The channel through which people’s concerns become political issues on the government’s policy agenda. In the United States, linkage institutions include elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media

Rational Choice Theory

Popular theory in political science to explain the actions of voters as well as politicians. It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives

Party Image

The voter's perception of what the Republicans or Democrats stand for, such as conservatism or liberalism

Party Registration

The act of declaring party affiliation; required by some states when one registers to vote

Party Identification

An affiliation with a political party that most people acquire in childhood. The best predictor of voting behavior in partisan candidate elections.

Platform

Every four years the political parties draft a document stating the policy positions of the party. This party platform details general partywide issue stances. The process sometimes engenders disputes among fellow partisans but is rarely an election issue and often is written to avoid controversy.

Ticket Splitting

Voting with one party for one office and with another party for other offices. It has become the norm in American voting behavior

Party Machines

Type of political party organization that relies heavily on material inducements, such as patronage, to win votes and to govern

Patronage

The dispensing of government jobs to persons who belong to the winning political party.

National Party Convention

 A national meeting of delegates elected in primaries, caucuses, or state conventions who assemble once every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president, ratify the party platform, elect officers, and adopt rules

National Committee

One of the institutions that keep the party operating between conventions. The national committee is composed of representatives from the states and territories

Coalition

Group of individuals with a common interest upon which every political party depends

Party Eras

Historical periods in which a majority of voters cling to the party in power, which tends to win a majority of the elections.

Critical Election

An electoral "earthquake" where new issues emerge, new coalitions replace old ones, and the majority party is often displaced by the minority party. Critical election periods are sometimes marked by a national crisis and may require more than one election to bring about a new party era.

Party Realignment

Displacement of the majority party by the minority party

Dealignment

Weakening of partisan preferences that point to a rejection of both major parties and a rise in the number of independents.

Third Party

Electoral contenders other than the two major parties. American third parties are not unusual, but they rarely win elections

Proportional Representation

An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.

Blue Dog Democrats

A caucus of United States Congressional Representatives from the Democratic Party who identify as conservative Democrats.

Winner-take-all System

Election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins.

Nonpartisan Election

A local or judicial election in which candidates are not selected or endorsed by political parties and party affiliation is not listed on ballots.

Honeymoon

Period at the beginning of the new president's term during which the president enjoys generally positive relations with the press and Congress, usually lasting about six months.

Divided Government

Governance divided between the parties, as when one holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress.

Party-independent expenditure

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals, groups, and parties can spend unlimited amounts in campaigns for or against candidates as long as they operate independently from the candidates. When an individual, group, or party does so, they are making an independent expenditure.

Interest Group

A collection of people who share a common interest or attitude and seek to influence government for specific ends. Interest groups usually work within the framework of government and try to achieve their goals through tactics such as lobbying.

Pluralist Theory

 A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies

Elite Theory

 A theory of government a politics contending that societies are divided along class lines and that upper-class elite will rule, regardless of the formal niceties of governmental organization

Hyperpluralist Theory

A theory of government and politics contending that groups are so strong that government is weakened

Potential Group

All the people who might be interest group members because they share some common interest

Actual Group

The part of the potential group consisting of members who actually join

Collectve Good

Something of value (money, a tax write-off, prestige, clean air and so on) that cannot be withheld from a group member

Free Rider

An individual who does not want to join a group representing his or her interests yet receives the benefit of the group's influence.

Selective Benefits

Goods (such as information publications, travel discounts, and group insurance rates) that a group can restrict to those who pay their annual dues

Single-issue Groups

Groups that have a narrow interest, tend to dislike compromise, and often draw membership from people new to politics

Lobbying

Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact.

Lobbyist

A person who is employed by and acts for an organized interest group or corporation to try to influence policy decisions and positions in the executive and legislative branches.

Public Interest Lobbies

According to Jeffery Berry, organizations that seek "a collective good, the achievement of which will not selectively and materially benefit the membership or activities of the organization."

Electioneering

Direct group involvement in the electoral process. Groups can help fund campaigns, provide testimony, and get members to work for candidates, and some form political action committees

Union Shop

 A provision found in some collective bargaining agreements requiring all employees of a business to join the union within a short period, usually 30 days, and to remain members as a condition of employment

Open Shop

A company with a labor agreement under which union membership cannot be required as a condition of employment.

Closed Shop

A company with a labor agreement under which union membership can be a condition of employment

Right-to-work States

A state law forbidding requirements that workers must join a union to hold their jobs

Collective Bargaining

The process in which a union represents a group of employees in negotiations with the employer about wages, benefits, and workplace safety.

Issue Advocacy

Unlimited and undisclosed spending by an individual or group on communications that do not use words like "vote for" or "vote against," although much of this activity is actually about electing or defeating candidates.

Revolving Door

Employment cycle in which individuals who work for governmental agencies that regulate interests eventually end up working for interest groups or businesses with the same policy concern.

Issue Network

Relationships among interest groups, congressional committees and subcommittees, and the government agencies that share a common policy concern.