unit 5: poltical participation

15th Amendment

Gave all men the right to vote

17th amendment

Changed how senators were elected from the old way: state legislatures elected senators to the new way: people of the state elected senators.

19th Amendment

Women can vote

24th Amendment

Poll taxes were no longer permitted

26th Amendment

The voting age was lowered to 18

Rational choice voting

Voter make a decision not based on class, age, ethnicity or gender or party identification but on who will benefit them and their families.

Retrospective voting

Voting for or against a candidate or party in office because one likes or dislikes how things have gone in the recent past.

Prospective voting

Voting for a candidate because one favors his or her ideas for addressing issues after the election (forward looking).

Political efficacy

The citizens’ faith and trust in government and their belief that they can understand and influence political affairs.

Voter Registration

Th process of completing the paperwork to be permitted to vote

Compulsory voting

Some governments require citizens to vote

Midterm Elections

The elections that occur two years after a presidential election. All members of the House of Representatives and 1/3 of the senate are up for re election.

Linkage Institutions

Institutions that connect citizens to government

Political Parties

A group of citizens who organize to win elections, hold public offices, operate governments and determine public policy

Party platform

The statement of policies the party believes in and emphasizes during the general election

Candidate centric campaigns

Campaigns that focuses on candidates, their particular issues and character, rather than their party affiliation

Direct primary

A preliminary election in which party’s candidates for public office are nominated by direct vote of the people

Critical election

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

Party Realignment

when a political party changes itself based on new principles. It usually happens after a major event that shakes the party’s existing principals. Example: After the Great Depression and FDR’s use of the New Deal, the party embraced the ideas of national government playing a larger role in social policy. 

Proportional system

an electoral system used throughout most of Europe that awards legislative seats to political parties in proportion to the number of votes won in an election.

Winner take all

electoral system in which legislative seats are awarded only to the candidates who come in first in their constituencies. In American presidential elections, the system in which the winner of the popular votes in a state receives all the electoral votes of that state.

Free rider

someone who benefits from other people’s work but does not contribute to the work; someone who is a U.S. citizen and criticizes the government but does not vote, or maybe does not pay taxes

Single issue parties

political parties that focus on a narrow area; Example: the Green Party focuses on environmental issues

Ideological social movement

- an organized effort by a large number of people to bring about or impede social, political, economic, or cultural change

Incumbency advantage

The person already in office is very likely to be re-elected

Open primaries

voters can vote for candidates from either party: independents can vote in these elections

Closed primaries

democrats are only allowed to vote for democratic candidates and republicans are only allowed to vote for republican candidates; independent voters (voters not registered as a republican or as a democrat) cannot vote for any candidates

Caucus

A closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide who they want their candidate to be

National convention

 a large summer meeting that kicks off the general presidential election and lasts for a week. It is where a political party lays out its platform to the electorate and advertises the positives of their nominee and points out the weaknesses of the opponent

Electoral College

a body of electors chosen by each party to cast ballots for president and vice president. If the democratic party candidate wins the most votes in the state, the democratic party electors vote for president and vice president. If the republican party candidate wins the most votes, the republican electors vote for president and vice president. 

Popular vote

Votes of the people

Political consultants

Experts who help candidates get elected

Bipartisan campaign reform act

law that limited how much soft money could be given to political parties and political party committees; it also limited when corporations and unions could create “issue” ads (ads that are supposed to be informational) and run them

Soft money

money given to super pacs and political parties so that those entities can spend the money in ways that support the candidate(s) of their choice

Stand by your Ad provision

The provision that requires candidates to state I approve this message is commonly referred to as "Stand By Your Ad."

PAC

a group that pools donations from many individuals and gives them to candidates

Super PAC o

a 527 group that has few limitations on how much money it can collect and how much it can spend to “educate” voters about the issues in the upcoming election

Gatekeepers

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

Horse race journalism

- election coverage by the media that focuses on which candidate is ahead in the polls instead of the issues

Ideologically oriented programming

Media aimed at a certain ideological group

Media bias

When media takes a poltical side

Nomination

the designation as an official candidate of a political party; example: Hillary Clinton earned the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party.   

Solid south

during the first ¾ of the 20th century the majority of the electorate in the southern states consistently elected Democratic candidates; from the late 20th century to the the present, the South consistently elects Republican candidates     

Two party system

political system where two major parties compete for control of the government

                                     

Minor/third parties

- political parties other than the Democratic and Republican parties; minor parties can influence an election by taking votes away from one of the major parties

Election Campaign

the process political candidates go through to try to convince voters to vote for them   

Primary election

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

Straight ticket

when someone votes for all democratic candidates or all republican candidates during an election

Split ticket

when someone votes for some democratic candidates and some republican candidates during an election

First past the post elections

- elections in single member districts (almost all U.S. elections) that award victory to the candidate with the most votes

Hard money

Directly given to candidates

Front loading

when states move their primaries/caucuses earlier in the year so the candidates will pay more attention to them

General election

the election we have every four years when we elect the president along with all members of the House of Representatives and one-third of Senate; state and local issues are on the ballot as well

527 groups

These organizations can take unlimited amounts of money if they do not “expressly advocate” for the election or defeat of a candidate or party. They spend money “educating the public” on the issues. Super Pacs are 527 groups. There are some reporting requirements for 527 groups.

501 c 3

an organization that can take unlimited amounts of money and use it for voter education; less regulation and reporting required for these groups

Mass media

methods of communicating with large audiences like: TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, twitter, and other social media

Infotainment

A mix of information and entertainment

Federal Communications Commission

The government agency that regulates communications in the U.S

Political agenda

list of issues that a candidate or interest group feels the government should address

Coalition

Partnership

Earmark

special spending clause added to a bill about something else that brings money (jobs) to a member of Congress’s district or state; members of Congress do this to encourage the constituents (voters in their district or state) to re-elect them; another name for earmark is “pork”

Intrest group

an organization that tries to persuade government officials to make policy the way the interest group want it to be made

Lobbying

the process of attempting to persuade government officials to make policy the way you want policy made

Patron

Person willing to support organization

Issue framing

the way  politicians or interest groups define an issue when presenting it to others

Muckraking

Investigations by journalists into corruption

Narrowcasting

media sources that do not give a balanced view of the issues but focus on the argument of one side of the issue; Example: Fox News is slanted toward the conservative viewpoint

Trade association

an interest group formed by the companies in an industry to advance industry policy goals

Party machine

centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections

Single member district

only one candidate is elected to each office 

Plurality election

no candidate wins a majority of the votes; the winning candidate is the one who wins the most votes; Example: if there are three candidates and Candidate A wins 45% and Candidate B wins 44% and Candidate C wins 11%, then Candidate A wins in a plurality election

Divided government

when the president is a different political party than one or both houses of congress