AP Gov unit 5 AMSCO Vocab

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Prohibited poll taxes in federal elections, removing a barrier that often prevented low-income people from voting.

Voter Turnout

The percentage of eligible voters who actually vote in an election.

Political Efficacy

The belief that one's political participation makes a difference.

Rational Choice Voting

Voting based on what is perceived to be in the citizen's individual best interest.

Retrospective Voting

Voting based on the past performance of a candidate or political party.

Prospective Voting

Voting based on predictions of how a candidate or party will perform in the future.

Party-Line Voting

Voting exclusively for candidates of one political party across the ballot.

Linkage Institutions

Structures within society that connect citizens to the government (e.g., political parties, elections, media, interest groups).

Political Party

An organized group that seeks to gain power by electing members to public office.

Split Ticket Voting

Voting for candidates of different parties on the same ballot.

Party Platform

A political party's formal statement of its principles, goals, and policy positions.

Primary Election

An election held to determine a party's nominee for the general election.

Open Primary

A primary election in which voters are not required to declare party affiliation.

Closed Primary

A primary election in which only registered party members may vote to select their party's candidate.

Proportional Representation

An electoral system where parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them.

Single Member Districts

Electoral districts in which only one candidate is elected to each office; often leads to a two-party system.

Ideological Groups

Interest groups that focus on promoting a set of core political or moral beliefs.

Public Interest Groups

Organizations that seek to benefit the public at large.

Single Issue Groups

Interest groups that focus on one specific area of policy, often pushing for major legislative change.

Professional Associations

Groups that represent the interests of professionals in a specific field (e.g., AMA for doctors).

Lobbying

The act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government.

Iron Triangle

A mutually beneficial relationship between a bureaucratic agency, a congressional committee, and an interest group.

Issue Network

A web of people—including interest groups, policy experts, and media—who collaborate on policy issues.

Grassroots Lobbying

Efforts by interest groups to influence government by mobilizing ordinary citizens.

Political Action Committee (PAC)

An organization that collects and donates money to candidates and political parties.

Winner-Take-All System

An electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes wins all of the electoral votes or representation.

Swing State

A state where support for Democratic and Republican candidates is about equal, making it highly competitive in elections.

Super PACs

Independent political action committees that may raise unlimited sums of money to advocate for or against political candidates, but cannot coordinate directly with candidates or parties.

Free Press

Media that is not controlled by the government and is free to report on events and issues without censorship.

Horse Race Journalism

Media coverage that focuses on polling data and campaign strategy rather than policy issues.

Gatekeeper

The media's role in determining which issues are important enough to receive public attention.