POLS 1100: Elections, Political Parties, Congress, and Interest Groups

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering institutional design, voter turnout, political parties, congressional behavior, and interest group lobbying models from POLS 1100 lectures.

Political Equality

The foundational democratic principle holding that every citizen's political voice carries equal weight in elections, often summarized by the phrase "one person, one vote."

Popular Sovereignty

The democratic standard asserting that the legitimate authority and power of government are created, sustained, and guided by the consent of the people.

Institutions

The established organizations and formal rules that manage political conflicts, help promote collective decisions, and enforce society's collective agreements.

Single-Member, Plurality-Winner District (SMD)

An electoral system in which geographic districts elect a single representative, with the seat awarded to whichever candidate receives the most votes, regardless of whether they achieve an absolute majority.

Duverger's Law

The political science principle stating that plurality-rule elections in single-member districts tend to produce two-party systems, whereas proportional representation electoral systems tend to favor multi-party systems.

Proportional Representation

An electoral mechanism in which legislative seats are allocated to political parties in direct proportion to the percentage of the overall vote each party receives.

Electoral College

The U.S. presidential selection mechanism consisting of $538$ state-allocated electors (equal to each state's House members plus two Senators), where a candidate requires a majority of $270$ electoral votes to win.

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC)

An interstate agreement pledging that participating states will allocate all of their presidential electors to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote, taking effect once member states hold an Electoral College majority.

Faithless Electors

Electors in the Electoral College who cast their presidential or vice-presidential ballots for someone other than the candidate to whom they pledged their support.

Gerrymandering

The practice of manipulating the boundaries of electoral constituencies to favor one political party, named after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry who signed an 1812 redistricting plan.

Political Efficacy

An individual's belief in their ability to understand and participate in politics (internal efficacy) and their belief that government institutions are responsive to their actions (external efficacy).

Civic Duty

A citizen's internalized sense of moral or societal obligation to actively engage in political processes and public life, notably by voting.

Persuasion Window (Kalla & Broockman)

The empirical finding from field experiments that direct campaign contact persuades only about $1$ in $800$ voters within two months of an election, with early persuasive impacts fading before election day.

Zaller's Paradox

The political communication paradox wherein voters who are most exposed and attentive to campaign information are the least likely to be persuaded, as they already possess firm partisan beliefs.

Political Party

A coalition of people who organize to control government power by contesting and winning elections.

Super-delegates

Unpledged delegates to national party conventions—consisting of party leaders and elected officials—who can vote for any candidate (comprising $16\%$ of Democratic delegates and $7\%$ of Republican delegates in 2024).

"The Party Decides" Theory

The political theory arguing that party elites, interest groups, and activists exert substantial control over presidential nominations by coordinating early endorsements, funding, and resources prior to primary voting.

Collective Choice Problem

The institutional difficulty legislators face when trying to formulate and pass coherent public policy among numerous actors with conflicting goals and preferences.

Party Identification (Partisanship)

An individual's enduring affective and psychological attachment to a political party, typically acquired during childhood or adolescence and functioning as a perceptual screen for political events.

Partisan Sorting

The alignment of social identities—including geographic residence, religion, and race—with political party affiliation, leading to homogeneous partisan groups and deeper political polarization.

Affective Polarization

The trend whereby partisans view members of the opposing political party with increasing hostility, distrust, and negative emotion, rather than merely disagreeing on policy issues.

Independent Leaners

Self-identified political independents whose voting behavior strongly aligns with one party, frequently motivated by negative feelings toward the opposing party's platform.

Asymmetric Ideological Extremity (Broockman)

The research finding that elected legislators exhibit far more ideologically extreme and cohesive policy positions than the mass public, which tends to hold moderate or cross-cutting viewpoints.

Bicameralism

A legislative branch structured into two distinct chambers: the House of Representatives (based on population with short terms) and the Senate (equal state representation with staggered six-year terms).

Legislative Stalemate (Gridlock)

A condition in which Congress is paralyzed and incapable of enacting legislation to address pressing national problems due to deep ideological divides and numerous institutional veto points.

Super-majoritarianism (Senate)

Senate rules and traditions, such as the $60$-vote threshold required for cloture to end debate, that prevent simple majorities from easily passing legislation without broad consensus.

Legislative Veto Points

Institutional roadblocks throughout the lawmaking process (committee gatekeeping, floor amendments, bicameral clearance, and presidential vetoes) where proposed bills can be halted.

Delegate Model of Representation

A philosophy of representation in which an elected official strictly votes and behaves according to the express preferences and instructions of their constituency.

Trustee Model of Representation

A philosophy of representation in which an elected official uses their own personal conscience and judgment to decide what policy is best for their constituents.

The Electoral Connection (Mayhew)

David Mayhew's thesis asserting that members of Congress are single-minded seekers of reelection, causing their official behavior to center around activities that enhance reelection prospects.

Advertising (Mayhew)

Any effort by a member of Congress to disseminate their name and cultivate a favorable public brand identity without engaging substantive or controversial policy issues.

Credit Claiming (Mayhew)

Efforts by an elected official to convince voters that they are personally responsible for causing the federal government to accomplish something specifically beneficial for their district.

Position Taking (Mayhew)

Public enunciation of a judgmental stance on an issue of public concern, allowing a lawmaker to signal values to constituents without having to pass legislation.

Casework

Direct constituent assistance performed by congressional staff to help individual voters resolve issues with federal administrative agencies, such as the IRS, VA, or Social Security.

Incumbency Advantage

The electoral benefits held by sitting politicians over challengers, including name recognition, casework records, subsidized mail, media access, and established donor networks.

Vasiliy Arkhipov

The Soviet submarine brigade chief of staff who refused to authorize the launch of a nuclear torpedo from submarine B-59 during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, averting global nuclear war.

Interest Group

An organized collective of individuals or organizations that seeks to influence government policy decisions without fielding candidates under their own electoral label.

Lobbying

Direct and indirect activities through which groups and individuals seek to influence public policy by persuading government officials to support their specific positions.

Inside Lobbying

Tactics aimed at influencing public officials directly, including private meetings with lawmakers and staff, committee testimony, and collaborative bill drafting.

Outside Lobbying

Indirect lobbying tactics designed to mobilize citizens outside the Capitol to pressure policymakers, utilizing protests, media campaigns, ballot initiatives, and grassroots letter-writing.

Amicus Curiae Brief

A legal document filed by an interested third party who is not a litigant in a court case, presenting arguments and data to influence the court's judicial ruling.

Notice and Comment (Administrative Comment)

The administrative process enabling interest groups and citizens to submit formal public comments on proposed agency regulations (via Regulations.gov) before they are enacted into law.

Conflict Expansion

An outside lobbying strategy aimed at bringing previously uninvolved segments of the public into a policy dispute to change the political balance of power.

Collective Action Problem

A dilemma in which a group of individuals would benefit from cooperating on a shared goal, but conflicting self-interests and costs discourage individual contributions.

Free-Riding

Benefiting from the provision of a collective good or group's political accomplishments without contributing personal time, money, or effort toward its achievement.

Selective Benefits

Private benefits (material, informational, solidary, or purposive) restricted exclusively to dues-paying group members, proposed by Mancur Olson to overcome free-riding.

Exchange Model of Lobbying

The traditional, transactional model asserting that groups provide political contributions or favors to lawmakers directly in exchange for votes and policy changes.

Legislative Subsidy Model (Hall & Deardorff)

The model proposing that lobbyists provide strategic policy information, expert analysis, and staff labor to allied lawmakers who already share their policy preferences.

Faction (Federalist #10)

James Madison's term for a group of citizens united by a shared passion or economic interest that is adverse to the rights of others or the permanent interests of the community.