Unit POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

15th Amendment

Civil War Amendment. Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

17th Amendment

Progressive Era Amendment. Established the direct election of Senators (instead of being chosen by State Legislatures).

19th Amendment

Progressive Era Amendment. Gave women the right to vote.

23rd Amendment

Citizens of Washington DC have the right to vote in Presidential Elections.

24th Amendment

Abolishes ALL poll taxes.

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

Electorate

The citizens eligible to vote.

Suffrage

The legal right to vote.

Franchise

The right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government, this especially refers to the rights of citizenship and the right to vote.

Party Identification

A citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other.

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on whether a party candidate in power should be reelected based on the past.

Gender Gap

The regular pattern in which women are more likely to support Democratic candidates, in part because they tend to be less conservative than men and more likely to support spending on social services and to oppose higher levels of military spending.

Voting Blocs

A group of voters that are so motivated by a specific concern or group of concerns that it helps determine how they vote in elections.

Voter Turnout

The number of eligible voters who actually "turn out" on election day to cast their ballots.

Voting-Age Population

All U.S residents age 18 and older.

Voting-Eligible Population

All U.S. citizens age 18 and over, who are not excluded from voter eligibility due to criminal status (felony convictions, incarceration, or parole), or excluded due to being declared being incompetent to vote.

Voter Registration

The process by which people sign up to vote.

Midterm Election

Elections in the United States that are held two years after elections for the President of the United States. Federal offices up for election are all of the seats in the House and 33 or 34 of the 100 seats of the Senate.

Polling Place

The location where voting is carried out.

Precincts

A geographic area that contains a specific number of votes. Between 1000-3000 voters.

Wards

A unit into which cities are often divided for the election of city council members. Might be a little larger than a precinct.

Australian Ballot

A government printed ballot of uniform size and shape to be cast in secret. They used to be printed by political parties...

National Voter Registration Act (1993)

Requires states to permit people to register to vote at the same time they apply for their drivers license. Also known as the MOTOR VEHICLE ACT.

Help America Vote Act (2002)

Required that the states offer provisional ballots for those persons whose names were not on the voter list and required that the states create standards for counting disputed ballots to avoid an outcome similar to Florida in 2000.

Linkage Institutions

A structure within a society that connects the people to the government or centralized authority. These institutions include: elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

National Chairperson

Chairperson and National committee run day to day.

National Convention

The meeting of party delegates every 4 years to choose a presidential candidate, and to write the platform (this is what we stand for).

Platform

What the party stands for. Or a set of positions on policies.

Democratic National Committee (DNC)

Committee that heads the national Democratic party between national conventions. They raise funds for campaigns and try to enhance the media's perception of the party.

Democratic Party

Follows a liberal program, tending to promote a strong central government and expansive social programs. Favors more taxes, and more government spending. Bigger Government.

Republican National Committee (RNC)

Committee that heads the national Republican party between national conventions. They raise funds for campaigns and try to enhance the media's perception of the party.

Republican Party

Favoring a conservative stance, limited central government, and a strong national defense. Favors less taxes, less spending. Smaller government.

Robocalls

An automated telephone call that delivers a recorded message; typically on behalf of a political party or telemarketing company.

Social Media

Link people to networks and allow the exchange of personal and professional information as well as common interests such as product and brand preferences; use has increased.

War Chest

Funding obtained from donors well in advance of a campaign. Can also come from a wealthy candidate for their own campaign.

Critical Elections

Majority party becomes minority party, and the minority becomes the majority. This indicates that a party realignment had occurred.

Party Realignment

An election in which voters respond strongly to an issue that has disrupted the political order. A realignment has a lasting impact on public policy, popular support for parties, and the composition of party coalitions

Party Dealignment

A trend or process whereby a large portion of the electorate abandons its previous partisan (political party) affiliation, without developing a new one to replace it.

Democratic-Republicans

Original Political Party. Feared centralized political power, supported states' rights, opposed Hamilton's financial plan, and supported ties with France. It was heavily influenced by a agrarian interests in the southern states.

Jeffersonians

Favored a weak central government,believed that common men should hold political power, and believed debt should be paid off. Supported states rights and followed constitution strictly.

Jacksonian Democracy

A policy of spreading more political power to more people. It was a "Common Man" theme.

Whig Party

In the mid 1830s, the Whig Party opposed Jackson's strong-armed leadership style and policies. The Whigs promoted protective tariffs, federal funding for internal improvements, and other measures that strengthened the central government.

Grand Old Party (GOP)

The Republican Party, commonly referred to as GOP is one of the two major current political parties in the United States. The party of Lincoln.

McGovern-Fraser Commission

A commission formed out of the 1968 Dem. national convention in response to the demands for reform to get minority groups and others more representation. Required a certain % of the Dem. convention to be women and minorities. Required the candidate to be selected by primaries and caucuses open to the people. Republicans followed suit 4 years later.

Superdelegates

Party leaders and elected officials could become delegates to the national convention without having to run in primaries or caucuses. This is undemocratic because it can change the will of the people. The purpose of a primary and caucus is to win delegates who are going to the national convention to vote for you. Each state gets a number of delegates based on how many people voted in the last election. Republican have 35 superdelegates, and democratic have hundreds of delegates.

Divided Government

When one party controls the presidency and the other party controls one or both houses of Congress. Divided government called gridlock.

Political Parties

A team of men and women seeking to control the government by gaining office through an election process.

Two-Party System

Where 2 major parties dominate. one dominates the legislative and represents the majority. While the other is the minority and or opposition party.

Ideological Parties

A party that values principled stands on issues above all else.

Third Parties

Any party other than one of the two major parties. Gives the electorate more of a choice on different issues.

Single-Issue Parties

A political party that campaigns on only one issue.

Economic-Protest Parties

A party that emerges in times of economic recession to express discontent with the ruling party.

Splinter Parties

3rd Parties which unite around the idea that government is not responding to some part of the constituencies demands. Revolutionary in nature. Breaks free from an established party.

Ballot Access

Allowing a political party to put a candidate on the ballot.

Single-Member District

A congressional district is held by a single office holder. In US, most elections are winner-take-all with plurality system, because of single member districts.

Swing States

A state in which no candidate has overwhelming support, meaning that any of the major candidates have a reasonable chance of winning the state's electoral college votes.

Winner-Take-All Voting

Systems elect the candidates who receive the plurality of votes will win everything. Loser gets nothing (makes third parties impossible to win.)

Pluralism

A model of democracy in which no one group dominates politics and organized groups compete with each other to influence policy.

Lobbying

The process by which interest group members or lobbyists attempt to influence public policy through contacts with public officials.

Grassroots Lobbying

A form of lobbying designed to persuade officials that a group's policy position has strong constituent support.

Grasstops

An interest group tactic of enlisting the support of people w/ strong local influence or a personal connection to lawmakers.

Free-Rider

The problem faced by unions and other groups when people do not join because they can benefit from the groups' activities without officially joining.

Endorsements

One technique used by interest groups that involves making official announcements to support specific candidates.

501 c(3)

Nonprofit group that may legally address political matters but may not lobby or campaign; donations to it are tax deductible.

501 c(4)

Nonprofit group that is permitted to lobby and campaign; donations to it are not tax deductible.

Bundling

A tactic in which PACs collect contributions from like-minded individuals (each limited to $2,000) and present them to a candidate or political party as a bundle.

Ideological Groups

Political organizations that attract members by appealing to their political convictions or principles.

Intergovernmental Lobby

An interest group made up of mayors, governors, and other state and local officials who depend on federal funds.

Material Incentives

Benefits that have a monetary value, including money, gifts, services, or discounts received as a result of one's membership in an organization.

Professional Associations

Groups of individuals who share a common profession and are often organized for common political purposes related to that profession

Public Interest Group

An organization that works for the best interests of the overall community rather than the narrower interests of one segment.

Purposive Incentive

The benefit that comes from serving a cause or principle from which one does not personally benefit.

Revolving Door

A term describing the movement of individuals from government positions to jobs with interest groups or lobbying firms, and vice versa.

Single-Issue Groups

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

Solidary Incentives

The social rewards (sense of pleasure, status, or companionship) that lead people to join political organizations.

Think Tanks

An organization that claims to serve as a center for research and/or analysis of important public issues.

Trade Associations

An interest group composed of companies in the same business or industry that lobbies for policies that benefit members of the group.

Upper Class Bias

Due to the fact that many interest groups charge to be official members, many of whom are upper class with the ability to pay, more of their views are being heard than the average person.

Primary Election

Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election.

Closed Primary

A primary in which only registered members of a particular political party can vote.

Open Primary

A primary in which any registered voter can vote (but must vote for candidates of only one party).

Caucuses

A closed meeting of members of the same political party at the state level to vote in candidates for President and to select delegates. Debate and discussion among participants.

Invisible Primary

Early attempts to raise money, line up campaign consultants, generate media attention, and get commitments for support even before candidates announce they are running.

Blanket Primary

Also known as a "Jungle Primary." Voters may pick one candidate for each office without regard to party lines; for instance, a voter might select a Democratic candidate for governor and a Republican candidate for senator.

Split Ticket

A vote for candidates of different political parties on the same ballot, instead of for candidates of only one party.

Front-Loading

The recent tendency of states to hold primaries early in the calendar in order to capitalize on media attention.

Super Tuesday

A Tuesday in early March in which many presidential primaries, particularly in the South, are held.

Incumbent

A government official who currently holds office.

Incumbency Advantage

Advantage comes from: name recognition, casework, campaign financing, redistricting, and the franking privilege (free mail)

General Elections

An election where all the party winners of the primary election run against each other.

Electoral College

A body of electors chosen by the voters in each state to elect the President and Vice President of the United States.

Plurality

Voting system in which the candidate who receives the most votes within a geographic area wins the election, regardless if they win the majority.

Proportional System

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

Gatekeeper

The media can influence what subjects become national political issues and for how long.

Watchdog

The role played by the national media in investigating political personalities and exposing scandals.

Scorekeeper

The role the press plays by keeping track of and helping make political reputations, note who is being mentioned as a presidential candidate, and help decide who is winning and losing in politics.

Horse-Race Journalism

The tendency of the media to cover campaigns by emphasizing how candidates stand in the polls instead of where they stand on the issues.

Investigative Reporting

The use of in-depth reporting to unearth scandals, scams, and schemes at times putting reporters in adversarial relationships with political leaders.

Adversarial Press

The tendency of the national media to be suspicious of officials and eager to reveal unflattering stories about them.

Broadcasting

A national group of affiliated stations through which programming and advertising are distributed to affiliates